Ivy leaned her head on the cool window, closing her eyes.
“I’ll have you home in a moment,” Quinn said.
He didn’t speak the short distance to their condo, and Ivy wondered if he hated her, too. She missed the Bandit Brothers. When she and Gabe had been apart, she had missed Quinn collaring Simone and Logan getting together with Harper and Xander Montague.
“Here. I’m going to walk you up,” Quinn said as he parked the truck in visitor's parking.
“Not necessary,” Ivy said.
Quinn stared into, and she sighed.
“Okay, thanks.”
“That’s better,” Quinn said. Ivy leaned on him, feeling the earth spin as she stepped out of the truck and grabbed onto Quinn. God, she felt like she was going to throw up.
The reverbing of the car tires caused Ivy to jump. Quinn grabbed her, pulling her onto the lawn. “Asshole driver. He could have hit you.”
“Glad you were here,” Ivy mumbled. The car looked silver, reminding her of the one she saw coming out of Quest Media’s building after her interview with Julien.
In the elevator, Ivy closed her eyes against the light. Quinn held her arm the entire way until it stopped. He all but marched her down the hall. He knocked on their door while Ivy tried to find her keys.
“Walsh.” Gabe opened the door.
“This belongs to you. Take better care of her.”
Ivy stumbled in the front door. “Hi.”
The glare Gabe gave her made her stomach lurch. The steely look he gave her cut like a blade through her. Ivy bit her lip but returned his glare coolly. While the men talked, Ivy poured herself a glass of water.
“Thanks, man, good night.” Gabe closed the door. He glared at Ivy, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did you have a good time?”
“I needed out. I was tired of arguing.” Ivy shrugged.
“There’s no more arguing.” His sharp tone made her feel small. She put the glass in the sink as he stood next to her.
“I wanted you to be happy for me.” A lump formed in her throat as Gabe laughed.
“Princess, I'd be happy if it was a different job.” His palm pressed into the base of her spin. Ivy shivered as his hand slid to cup the back of her neck, turning her so she faced the windows. He pressed down on her body until she leaned on the counter, her cheek cool against the marble. She swallowed, gasping out short breaths.Yes, this is what she’d asked for.
She shivered as she felt his sock-clad foot run along her nylon-clad legs. He toed off one of her heels, then the other.
He hiked her skirt, folding it into her waistband, and she yelped as his palm came down hard across her ass.
“We have to stop going in circles.” Gabe punctuated his words with another slap to her heated flesh. “Enough. When you ran out the door, Ivy, I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.”
“I didn’t mean...”
Gabe’s hand came around her mouth, covering her nose. He squeezed. “Not one word. You’re going to stand here, silently, and take it.”
Her pulse raced. She closed her eyes, stilling herself in his hard caress.
Against her thigh, she felt Gabe’s knuckles brush her thigh as he worked his belt loose. She swallowed at the sound of leather swooshing through the air.
She jumped as his belt landed on her calves.
“You don’t need a job, at least not right away. I can take care of you like you kept a roof over our heads. If you want a job, you’ll wait until one comes along that matches your impressive resume.”
Ivy’s stomach tightened as his belt slapped her other calf. It wasn’t until Gabe started working for Axis Management that he had any real money. She made almost twice as much as he had as a medic.
