Page 43 of Recovering Ivy (Red Team #4)

Zane

“Zane,” I answered after checking the caller ID on my ringing cell phone.

“I found her,” the man on the other end cut to the chase.

“Where?”

“Dead in a hotel room.”

Sarah Long would never be an issue for Ivy again. The only thing I was sorry about was I hadn’t been the one to choke the life out of her. After what she’d done to Ivy and Joey I had been looking forward to it.

“How?” I asked.

“Official autopsy will show, overdose.”

“Everything clean?”

“Hundred percent,” he verified.

“’Preciate it.”

“Any time. Catch you next time.”

The man disconnected and I tossed my phone on the desk, wondering how Ivy was going to take the news. Before I could ponder too long, there was a knock on my office door.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” Ivy poked her head through the slightly ajar door.

I was still amazed that no matter how shitty my day had been, Ivy could bring a smile to my face. After all the years I denied myself the pleasure of happiness, I now craved her light. I didn’t care if it made me sound like a pansy-ass-teenage boy, I couldn’t breathe without her by my side.

“Waiting for the President and Colin,” I told her.

“Do you have a minute?”

“For you? Always.”

I scooted my chair back, knowing she was going to sit on my lap and wrap her slender arms around my neck. She did this every day, several times a day. She’d wander into my office and check on me.

Damn, I loved this woman.

“What’s that?” she asked after she’d settled herself.

I picked up the .308 bullet and handed it to her.

“Why does it say Lewis on it?”

“It’s an old superstition. You know the saying, a bullet with your name on it ?” I waited for her to nod. “Well, I have the bullet with my name on it. I have one for all my men.”

She reached down and grabbed the second bullet from my desk. “Wheeler?”

“Eric’s bullet. Gretchen was cleaning the shelves last night and his bullet fell out of his flag. She didn’t know where it went.”

“Tell me about him.”

Fuck, it still hurt to think about him. “He would’ve loved you.

You think the other guys give me shit? Eric would’ve led the pack.

He was a good soldier and a better friend.

He volunteered more than anyone I know. He donated to the battered women’s shelter, Toys for Tots, vets’ charities, you name it.

But it was more than just money. He rode with the honor guard and offered his time to anyone that needed it.

You’d never know he’d seen the perils of war up close.

He was burned and scarred from head to toe, yet he kept his sunny disposition.

Unless you mentioned the Russians.” I chuckled, remembering all the times we’d get a new case and the first thing he’d say was, the fucking Russians did it .

“It’s not your fault,” she whispered.

“I know it's not. But the what-ifs still play in my head. They always will.”

“That’s what makes you a great leader. You always think of others before yourself. Just as long as you remember I’m here to help carry the burden.”

It hasn’t been easy but it also hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be to open up and allow Ivy to see what I’d kept hidden away for so long.

“I know.”

“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” She settled back with her head on my chest.

“We have.”

“You barely freaked out last week when you saw me and Leo coming off the track.” She giggled.

Leo had thought it would be a good idea to let Ivy test drive one of the new high-performance cars I’d added to the fleet while we were at our training facility on the Eastern Shore.

I’d purchased some farmland and turned it into a commando’s playground.

I’d also had a two-mile driving track installed for high-speed maneuver drills.

“Don’t do it again,” I commanded, uncaring I sounded like an asshole. It wasn’t safe.

“What? He’s a good teacher.”

“Did he let you drive? ”

“Yes.”

“Then he’s a suck-ass teacher.”

“He spent an hour going over safety drills and another hour on technique before he let me drive. And he made me stay under one-hundred-and fifty,” she taunted me.

“Goddamnit, I’m serious.”

“I know you are. But a bit of advice. Next time don’t threaten a spanking by way of punishment. It only makes me want to do it more.”

“You’ll be the death of me.”

“But you love me.”

“Damn right, I do.”

I lowered my lips to hers and opened immediately. Gone was the unsure woman I had met; my Ivy was confident in all things. Sure and strong.

“Knock, knock,” Jasmin both called out and banged on the office door.

“What?” I barked, breaking the kiss.

“Am I interrupting?”

“Yes. But it’s never stopped you before.”

Ivy’s little hand slapped my chest and I rolled my eyes. “I mean, what can I do for you?” Sarcasm laced my words.

“Just thought I’d tell you the President is here to see you.” Jasmin laughed.

I turned my chair to face the doorway and found Tom Anderson standing next to Jasmin, a broad smile on his face.

“Oh, shit,” Ivy whispered and tried to jump from my lap. She’d already met him briefly at the hospital the night Linc and Jasmin had the boys, but obviously she was still freaked out.

“Please don’t move on my account. I’m going to visit with my niece and the twins. I’ll give you a moment to wrap up.” Tom winked and left my office .

“Did that just happen?”

“It did.”

“Kill me now. Do you think he knows we were making out?”

“Absolutely. Why do you think he left?”

“He’s the President.”

“He’s also a man. He knows there is no way if I have my woman on my lap I’m not gonna kiss the hell out of her.”

“I have to go.”

“Go where?” I chuckled. Her face was getting redder by the second.

“Gah. The nearest closet so I can die alone in peace.” I busted out laughing. “Zane, it’s not funny.”

“Baby, it totally is.”

“Whatever,” she huffed, triggering another bout of laughter.

“Love you, Zane.”

“Love you, Ivy.”

“Listen, I hate to do this now but Sarah’s body was recovered today.”

I watched for any signs of distress and was happy when I didn’t see any.

“How? Where?”

“In a hotel room. Overdose.”

Her brows pulled together and she looked lost in thought.

“You okay?”

Ivy

Was I okay? I sat back in Zane’s arms and took stock in my life. I was happier than I’d ever been surrounded by good people. Yes, I was doing more than okay.

“Maybe I should feel bad or something. But honestly, I feel…nothing.”

“You should feel anyway you want,” he reassured me.

“Thank you.”

“For.”

“Everything. You. Us. Fixing me.”

“Baby, you’re doing all the hard work. I just get the pleasure of watching you shine.”

Colin

Zane paced his office while President Anderson sifted through the SITREPS I had prepared. Zane already knew what they said and we were both ready for the President to go ballistic at any moment.

“What the fuck?” the President cursed. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes,” Zane answered. “It was my call not to bring you in until we had all the facts.”

The First Daughter, Erin Anderson, had picked herself up a stalker.

“He was in the residence?” he asked for clarification.

“Yes,” I answered, wondering if my employment contract offered dental coverage. Over the last few months it was a miracle I hadn’t given myself lockjaw. Every time I thought about Erin, I ground my teeth together in an effort not to tell her she was driving me crazy.

“I take it I wasn’t told immediately because you wanted to rule out Gerard? ”

He was referencing his personal security detail.

“That’s correct, sir.”

“And?”

“Squeaky clean.”

“I’ve heard some things—rumors,” Tom sighed and sat on the sofa, his forearms resting on his thighs as he hung his head. “I don’t know where I went wrong. I’ve loved that little girl with everything I have since the day she was born.”

Erin wasn’t so little, but I suppose like any father, the President couldn’t or didn’t want to see his daughter as a grown woman. A sexy, beautiful, drive-a-man-crazy woman.

“This isn’t your fault. May I be frank?” I asked.

“Please.”

I glanced at Zane, a single look telling me to tread lightly. But that was the problem. Everyone pussy-footed around her.

“Erin is the most frustrating female I’ve ever met.

Over the last seven years you’ve been President she’s gotten used to everyone kissing her ass.

She wants what she wants, and she’ll throw a hissy fit of epic proportions if you tell her no.

And most of the time she doesn’t know what she wants; she just doesn’t want to hear no. ”

“You’re telling me my daughter is a spoiled brat?”

“With all due respect, sir, yes.”

The President’s head went back, and he roared with laughter. “You’ve got to have brass balls telling the President his daughter is spoiled. But I have to say, it’s refreshing, and I appreciate your honesty. So what does she want now that’s got her in such a tizzy?”

“Me.”

“You?”

Zane’s face had turned to granite. I don’t know what he was expecting me to do, but coming straight out and telling the POTUS his daughter had unleashed a full-court-press to get in my pants probably wasn’t it. Not that I’d tell either man the lengths Erin had gone to.

“I’m prepared to step aside and get another member of the team up to speed.”

“Absolutely not. If you’re willing, I want you to stay on as her detail. Until we know who’s been in her apartment, I want you by her side at all times.”

I hadn’t expected Tom to want me to continue to be Erin’s security detail. I had banked on the fact that the mere mention of Erin’s attraction to me would have the President pulling the plug on my involvement.

“I bought a house in Texas from a friend; I close on it at the end of the week. I think it’ll be the perfect place for us to lie low for a while. We can set her up out there and have a guard sit on her while I run my investigation from here.”

“You bought Fletch’s house?” Zane asked.

“Sure did. One hell of a piece of land. After the rebuild he set the security back up; Erin will be safe there. He makes you look like a baby prepper; Fletch is a little over the top to say the least. Besides, with his team in the area, if a situation were to arise, we’d have back up.”

“You sure you wanna buy that house? I have it on good authority an exorcism needs to be sanctioned before any new owner takes possession.”

“Whatever, the realtor started some rumor because she didn’t want the house to sell for the asking price. She was trying to get her buyer a better price. I swear, one little explosion and people wanna talk about hauntings.”

“It wasn’t little, brother. It took a direct hit from an RPG.” Zane laughed. “Not only was Fletch and his team inside the house, the niece of those bad-ass PIs out of Dallas, who shall remain nameless, was in the house, too. I heard shit hit the fan.”

“Holy shit, you can’t even say their names.” I chuckled.

“They’re like voodoo. I swear you utter the name and one of them shows up on your door. Everyone in the business knows you don’t fuck with them.”

“I want you to stay on Erin,” the President cut in.

“Copy that.”

Well, fuck, it looked like me and Erin were taking a trip to Texas.

As much as I’d love nothing more than to christen every room in my new house and get lost in her sweet body, she was off limits.

My problem was the longer I was around her, the more the lines blurred and the harder it was to remember I needed to keep my hands off the spitfire.

The more I got to know her, the more I understood why she behaved the way she did.

The truth was it wasn’t as easy as her being spoiled.

She was lost in a world of users, people who wanted to be close to her because of who her father is.

The Erin I knew, the one that sat on the couch with her hair piled on top of her head, in comfy clothes watching TV, was a far cry from the stone-faced-spoiled-bitch she showed the world.

The real Erin was far more dangerous than the woman she was at high-class state dinners.

Erin Anderson wanted people to like her for her, not as the President’s daughter. I understood that all too well.

“Looks like you’re headed to Texas.”

“Seems so. I’ll call Fletch and let him know we’ll be in town.”