Why not?He was hot. He was capable. The age difference was there, but it didn’t feel off.
I chewed my bottom lip and stared at his door. Maybe his jaded outlook was right. Perhaps it was naive to think love was a requirement to marry and have babies. He was offering me everything I wanted on a silver tray. I only had to reach out and take it.
I kept my feet firmly planted on the floor and opened the Amazon app. A vicious round of shopping, finding things for the kitchen, new dishes, and other things I could live without—like throw pillows—consumed my afternoon.
And kept me from knocking on the kingpin’s closed door.
Scooping the last of the soup into an ancient orange Tupperware that would be replaced when the packages began arriving tomorrow, I jumped when my phone rang. I looked between the device and the man loading the dishwasher.
Ivan set another bowl in the bottom rack. “Your phone’s ringing.”
“I know, I—”
My teeth sank into my lip. Was this what it’d come down to? Me asking permission to take a call? I wasn’t sure if my kidnapper would allow it.
But…screw him.
It was my phone. He’d given it back to me. If he didn’t want me to answer it, he could try and stop me.
He didn’t.
“Hello?” I stammered, finger sliding over the green button just in time.
“Poppy!” Penelope choked. “Are you still in Chicago?”
Alarm bells pealed at her tone. Time slowed, and the mobster, the kitchen, and the chaos of my personal life fell away.
“Yes,” I breathed. “What happened, Penny?”
“Can you come over?” she sobbed. “I’m…I’m…bleeding.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I slammed the phone down.
Ivan glared at me. “I didn’t—”
“Stop it.” I pulled myself up straight. “You say such passionate things; you think playing with my desire will win you points, but if you’re serious about wanting me, you’ll let me go to her.”
Those lips I spent an ungodly amount of time thinking about thinned.
“Brady is playing right now. I’ll be back before his bedtime, but please, Ivan. She needs me.” I didn’t dare form the words. I knew in my heart what had happened. If it was a bullet or anything else that spilt her blood, Alessandro would have taken care of it. But she said bleeding, and she was calling me.
“I have to go,” I insisted.
Ivan stood for a moment, staring me down. Then, without a word, he stalked to his room. I was practically dancing on my toes, ready to scream. I bit my tongue, forcing myself to wait and see what he was doing. When he came back, he held his hand out. I dove for the keys, but he gripped my fingers in his.
“I am serious.” He held me. “About everything.”
I snatched my hand back. I didn’t have time for that. I opted for a simple answer.
“Thank you, Ivan.”
He nodded. “Hurry home, Poppy.”
Home….
Damn him, I had a lot to think about, and right now, there was no time to sort through any of it.
Chapter 24 – Poppy
