But leave to where? And what about Elena? What about Anna, who'd finally found happiness with Beau? What about the life I'd built here, however difficult and weird it had become?
My hands stayed on the wheel, but I didn't turn the key.
Eric returned, sliding into the passenger seat beside me. He didn't speak right away, just sat there in the growing darkness.
"Thank you," I finally managed. "For stalking me."
"I knew you'd be mad." His voice was quiet, careful. "But I had your best interests at heart."
"Oh, well that makes it so much better," I said, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. "Should I get you a creepy van with'Free Candy' painted on the side, or do you already have one? Really complete the whole stalker aesthetic you've got going."
Despite everything, the corner of his mouth twitched upward. "That's my girl."
"Don't 'my girl' me when you're literally admitting to following me around like some kind of demented guardian angel." I crossed my arms. "That's why you left me the first time, wasn't it? All this noble protector bullshit?"
He nodded slowly. "I didn't think you needed to be dragged into this life. Thought keeping you away was the right thing to do." He turned to look at me, and in the dim light from the parking lot lamps, his eyes held something raw. "But it looks like this life found you anyway."
I thought about Elena and Jackson. About Sofia and Grayson. About how my friends had chosen this world, had built their lives inside it despite the danger.
"Yeah, I guess a normal life was never in the cards for me," I said with a scoff.
"You're anything but normal, Ivy. And it's what makes you perfect, someone truly amazing."
"Wow, and here I thought getting kidnapped was the highlight of my evening," I said dryly. "But no, apparently it's getting a compliment from my stalker ex-boyfriend. My standards have really hit rock bottom."
Eric let out a genuine laugh, and some of the tension in the car seemed to dissolve. "Your sarcasm game is still unmatched."
"Years of practice dealing with terrible men," I shot back, but I was fighting a smile now. "It's like a survival skill at this point."
"Lucky me," he said, grinning. "I get to be the beneficiary of all that experience."
"Don't get too comfortable. I'm still deciding whether to be grateful or file a restraining order."
His expression grew serious again, though the warmth remained in his eyes. "As soon as I saw you again, I realized I didn't want to lose you. Not again. I want to have you in my life, Ivy. For the rest of my life, if you'll allow it."
My chest tightened, and I looked away, staring at the steering wheel instead of his face.
"Eric..." I started, then stopped. How did I even begin to respond to that? Part of me wanted to lean into the warmth in his voice, to believe that maybe we could somehow make this work. But another part, the part that had spent four years learning to live without him, was screaming warnings.
"I know it's messy," he said quietly. "I know I hurt you when I left. I know I have no right to ask for another chance."
"You're right," I said, finally meeting his gaze. "You don't. Do you have any idea what it was like? One day you were there, talking about our future, and the next you were just... gone. Just a text as an explanation, no way to actually talk to you."
His jaw clenched. "I thought I was protecting you."
"I know, but it still hurt. Then all of this… it's hard, Eric. "
He leaned back in his seat, and I could see the internal war playing out across his features. "So what do we do now? Where does that leave us?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could form the words, the sudden glare of headlights flooded the car. Then another set. And another.
"Shit," Eric muttered, his hand immediately going to his weapon as a convoy of black SUVs pulled into the parking lot, surrounding us.
18
IVY
My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched figures emerge from the SUVs. Eric's hand remained on his weapon, his body tense beside me.
