“Thanks for telling me,” I muttered. “Drink some water, okay?”
“Kay.”
I shut the door and marched down to my car. Poppy had good reason to believe they weren’t safe here. But out there? In the great wide open? Brady was terrified of bears. He told me so in confidence, but he didn’t want his mom to know. He read the books on bears, hoping it would help.
It didn’t.
“Love is stepping back so others can be happy.” I spoke the words from memory. That stupid stuffed bear. It took him saying it to make me see it.If I love my little flower, I’ll set her free.
Part of me, the blackest part of my soul, wished the cop had been right. He’d said she loved me. He was just drunk and jealous. But it would be nice if it were true.
Chapter 31 – Poppy
The opening and closing of the door jarred me from sleep. My breath hitched. I lay waiting. The steps retreated down the hall.
Ivan has his guards posted. It’s not an intruder.
I tugged the blanket over my shoulder—or rather, I tried to. It didn’t budge. A moment later, Brady’s toes kicked out and stabbed my thigh.
Good Mother above! Co-sleeping was fun when he was small, but this had to stop.
Heat shimmered through me. There was somewhere else I desperately wanted to be sleeping. I shucked the blanket and jumped out of bed. Screw it, I was done with the distance. I’d said yes. I agreed to stay!
There would be no cold shoulders.
Even if he wasn’t capable of understanding love on a higher, philosophical level, Ivan knew what love was. It was in the way he cared for Brady. It was the combination of small things he did for me.
Maybe, in time, I could show him. Make him understand.
The lessons started tonight.
I tiptoed down the hall, looking into the shadows. Ivan’s door closed right as I stepped into the kitchen. I looked at where the front bedroom branched off the side.
He was home.
I was done avoiding this.
I rushed forward and tried the knob. The door swung open. Ivan was flopped on the mattress, half the duvet pulled over his frame. He stiffened as I closed the barrier behind me.
Pressing the lock was the final step.
“You’d better think long and hard about what you’re doing, Poppy,” Ivan growled. “I won’t answer for what happens if you come this way.”
“I’m done thinking,” I said, feeling certain in my choice. “I’m sick and tired of it.”
Peeling off my shirt, I took a small step forward. The room felt ten degrees colder than the rest of the house. It could be the ancient ventilation, or it could be something unearthly. Either way, my nipples stiffened, tingling at the sudden shift.
The fabric fell to the floor. Buttons clacked against the new wood flooring.
The kingpin’s breath hitched.
Gloom and heavy shadows filled the space. There was only the bead of light from the wall charger casting a faint, blue glow. Like an animal, I relied on my other senses.
“Poppy.”
“Ivan.” I whispered to the edge of the bed. “You were cold tonight. Why?”
He let out a frustrated growl and burrowed deeper into the pillow. I tugged back the comforter.
