“What about him?” she asked in a deadly whisper.
Ivoree looked down at the floor, and fresh tears pooled in her eyes. “He . . . he tried to . . .”
Cashmere tried being patient, but something about this situation felt off.
“He tried to what, Vee?”
Ivoree wiped her tears and cleared her throat. “He drove me home earlier after my shift at the hospital, and he . . . he tried to push up on me, even though I said no.”
A sob tore from Ivoree while Cashmere processed what her sister said. Now, she was pissed. “Ivoree, cut out all that cryingfor a minute and talk to me. What do you mean he tried to push up on you?”
“He tried to fuck me, Cash. I don’t know how else I’m supposed to say it,” Ivoree snapped as she finally looked at her sister.
Cashmere shook her head in disbelief. Twizz was a good-looking man, and she was sure he had a harem of women. Why would he try to force Ivoree to have sex with him?
“Are you sure that’s what happened? Did he?—”
Ivoree hopped up from the couch, the robe she wore hanging open and revealing the lace bra and panties. “You really don’t believe me?”
Cashmere’s frown deepened. “Did I say that?”
“You’re insinuating it,” Ivoree argued. Her firsts were balled up, and Cashmere’s brows rose.
They never raised their voices at each other. Not in their adult life, anyway. Cashmere wasn’t about to start now. She looked up at Ivoree like she had lost her damn mind. Ivoree finally huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest. When she finally sat down, Cashmere responded, ignoring the bouncing of her sister’s leg.
“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m trying to understand what happened.”
“I just told you what happened.”
Cashmere never realized how childish her sister could be sometimes. It was hard to believe at this moment that Ivoree was twenty-seven years old because she sat there pouting with her lip poked out and her leg bouncing because she wasn’t currently getting her way. That was Cashmere’s fault. Even before she got money, Cashmere spoiled Ivoree. Ivoree ate before Cashmere, always. She always got the warmest parts of the mattress and most of the blankets and pillows.
“Vee, cut it out and tell me exactly what happened so I know how to react. My patience is running thin.”
Ivoree rolled her eyes. “Like I said, he was the one to pick me up after work. I haven’t really been with him one on one since that party, so it was kind of awkward. When we pulled up to the house, he said he wanted to talk. I sat there and waited to hear what he had to say, but instead of talk, he leaned over and tried to kiss me and slide his hand down my scrubs.”
Cashmere’s brain still wasn’t computing. She didn’t necessarily like Twizz, but something seemed so off about this.
“How did you get away?”
“Huh?”
Cashmere’s brows drew in. “How did you get away? If he was trying to rape you, because let’s be clear, that’s what you’re saying, then how did you get away?”
Ivoree blinked. Tears pooled in her eyes once again, and she shrugged. “I don’t remember. It’s a blur. I was scared, Cash. I just got out of the car and ran inside. I been in my room ever since. I just came down here to get a snack since I haven’t eaten, but the whole situation really just caught up with me, and I found myself in here crying.”
Cashmere couldn’t stand to see Ivoree crying. It was why she kept telling her to cut it out. It made her heart ache. She hugged Ivoree once again and let her sister cry for just a second before she asked, “What can I do to make this better? How can I help?”
She had an idea of how she wanted to handle it, but she wanted to see what Ivoree had to say first. If Cashmere had it her way, she would confront Twizz herself and get his side of the story. She was pretty good at reading people, so she wanted to see his face when he was confronted about this.
“I don’t want him around me anymore. I don’t want any of them around me anymore. I want to go back to normal,” Ivoree said.
Cashmere shook her head. That option wasn’t on the table. She was still in the dark on what happened with Karma, and her paranoia might have eased up some, but it wasn’t gone.
“We can get Twizz removed from your detail, but you’re going to have guards, Vee. I’m sorry.”
Ivoree shook her head. “Fine, then I want Sav on my detail.”
Cashmere thought about it. She loved spending her days with Savio, but she wouldn’t trust anyone else more with her sister than him. With a sigh, she said, “Fine.
