Page 46 of Mischievous Lies

Ifollow Braxton outside, positioning myself so I can still watch Ivy. I see her throw her head back, laughing at something Hope says.

“This doesn’t count as the favor you owe me. I’m saving that for something special,” Braxton says, which immediately pisses me off.

“This was her idea. Don’t worry. I’ll still owe you a favor when the time comes.”

Braxton nods. “Good. Is she okay? I know Hope’s been worried about her lately. It’s hard for me to keep secrets from my woman, so holding on to the knowledge of what happened that night gets more difficult by the day.”

My jaw tics, and I look back at Ivy. I was hoping she would’ve spoken to somebody by now about what happened to her. It’s not anyone else’s business, but I know Hope, Billie, and Ivy are close, and I think there’s been a small part of her she’s been holding back since that day. Sure, she might think I’m hovering around to look after her, but it’s entirely selfish because I don’t want to spend any of my waking time with anyone else but her.

“She’ll get through it,” I say without a doubt. Ivy is one of the most resilient women I know, and she’ll open up in her own time.

“Good.” Braxton clears his throat. “Good luck with the not killing him part.”

“You’re an ass,” I say as he smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets. He then walks back into the restaurant.

I take out my phone and call Eli. He answers on the third ring.

“Update?” he demands.

“Everything’s in motion. We’re going to bait him back to Manhattan so we can try and find a lead through him.”

Eli clicks his tongue, and I can tell he’s impatient with how slowly the pieces are moving. I’m not the brains behind most operations, and even now, this might be an unrelated lead, but we’re grasping at straws. We’ve only been able to track down petty drug dealers. They’re not the root of the problem of the recent distribution of date-rape drugs.

The moment Ivy told me about what was happening, I called Eli. Either way, I’d get to help her in the process, or it could potentially lead to our guy. I haven’t told Ivy any of this because I don’t want her thinking the only reason I’m helping her is because what happened to her might be connected to my work with Eli. I also don’t want her to know I told them about the incident that happened that night. If she hasn’t spoken about it to her friends, I don’t want to betray her by telling the guys. But keeping secrets is torture for me. It makes me feel icky.

“Braxton is going to take him after we question him.” Which means he’s going to torture him, which I can’t fucking wait for.

“Why?” Eli asks in a clipped tone. “Just cut the head off. No loose ends.”

“Ivy thinks he’s not the main problem, that it goes deeper, so she doesn’t want his employers suspecting our involvement. She’s good at what she does. I trust her.”

Eli’s quiet for a moment. “Why didn’t you go to Will to have him dig deeper into this? He could track him down right now.”

We’re desperate using this as a lead, but in our line of work, we’ve learned to follow every thread, curious as to what den of vipers it’ll lead us to.

I sigh, wishing that people wouldn’t make me admit it out loud. “You know her father hates me and refuses to do any kind of work on my behalf.” It’s fucking true. Anyone can ask Will Walker for help, and he’ll provide it for a high price. From day one, he’s made it clear he will help anyone but me. “Besides, she’s good at what she does, Eli. I think she’s onto something.”

Eli sighs, and I imagine him bringing a glass of whiskey to his lips. “Or it could be a waste of our time if it’s unrelated. Just make sure you’re focused on our objective and not thinking with your dick.”

“You know I always think with my dick,” I say with a smirk, then turn to look through the restaurant windows. I pause when I see Ivy standing directly behind me, furiously glaring at me. “I’ve got to go.” I hang up on my boss. “How long have you been there?”

“Does it matter?” she bites out, and I can see the hurt in her expression. Fuck, this is bad.

“It’s not what it sounds like?” I say, but it comes out as more of a question. Because I don’t know what she overheard, all I know for sure is that she’s pissed.

She scoffs. “So now you’re just telling everyone my shit?”

My heart sinks because I haven’t told them specifically, but the only one I alluded to was Braxton, so he could look after her. Guilt consumes me nonetheless, but I know if I hesitate with Ivy, she’ll eat me alive.

“These are two completely different incidences. I can’t give you the information about what we’re working on, but they might not even have anything to do with each other.”

“So are you helping me because you want to or because you’re being told to?” she growls furiously. Shit, this is really bad. I’ve dealt with my mother’s raging fits, and they often involve weapons, but I’ve never dealt with something that cuts so deeply as Ivy’s scornful expression. It twists in my stomach, and I want to do anything to make it better. To tell her everything she needs to hear and to understand that I would never hurt her.

“You know I’d help you no matter what. I’m a simple guy. You know I want to help you.”

“Especially because you always think with your dick?”

I don’t know how to respond to that. Before I can reply, she throws her hands up in the air.

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