Page 51 of Saving Ian Pope

“And what are you doing with it?” She shook him again.

“What does one do with Ian Pope pillows? I put it on my bed and rest my back against it.”

Chloe turned Ian’s face toward her and narrowed her eyes. “This is a very young Ian Pope, maybe seventeen. I think it’s illegal what you’re doing.”

I hiccupped a laugh. “I’m not doing anything dirty with my Ian Pope pillow.”

“Are you sure?” Chloe brought the pillow to her face and started kissing it. “Oh, Ian, give it to me. Harder. Faster.”

Shaking my head, I said, “Give me the fuckin’ pillow, Chloe.”

“You’re not putting it between your legs and humping it, are you? Because that would just be wrong.” She hugged the pillow to her ample chest. “He’s just a baby here.”

“Give me the fuckin’ pillow, Chloe.”

Chloe fired it at me, and I reached up to catch it. I smoothed out Ian’s young face. Hugging his pillow and wearing Ian’s T-shirt, which I still hadn’t washed, eased my pain and loneliness just a little at night.

“Ivy, why don’t you just call him? Go over to England and explain everything to him about your past and your dirtbag brother. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Uh...” I put a finger on my chin and raised my eyes to the ceiling “...I could go to prison for thirty years.”

“Do you really think the Feds are gonna be all over some seven-year-old case involving a crime family and a conman who’s deceased.” She crossed herself. “God rest your father’s soul.”

“I don’t know. That’s the point, isn’t it? I don’t want to risk it. And it’s not just me, I’m protecting. I’m trying to protect Ian, too. Matt is still pressuring me to reconnect with Ian and accuse him of sexually assaulting me in the limo.”

“Matt’s a disgusting human being. If you just tell Ian everything, he might end it, anyway, but at least he’d understand your motivation.”

“Oh my God, that would be worse. Knowing my past, he might believe our whole relationship was a setup. Do you know what that might do to him?”

“Or he might just forgive you. He’s no angel, himself. It would be hard for someone like him to judge you.”

“Which brings up another horrible scenario. What if he does forgive me and tells Matt to do his worst—and Matt does his worst. Ian’s just getting his reputation back on track. He doesn’t need to be linked with a scammer in the press, someone who might land in prison. Social media would rip him to shreds.” I hugged the pillow. “I’m not doing that to him. I’m not putting him in that position. He’s probably forgotten all about me by now. He hasn’t called once.”

“You expected him to?” She raised her dark eyebrows. “Girlie, he’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t strike me as the groveling type. You said the night you broke it off, he barely spoke to you. Didn’t plead his case. Didn’t try to understand once you’d made it clear you weren’t going with him. Didn’t even capitulate to your demands to...” Chloe pumped her hips back and forth “...you know.”

“I did not demand sex from him.” I pushed up from the sofa and stamped the tingles from my sleeping leg. “He just held me.”

“Exactly. When a man holds you instead of fucking you, he’s done. He’s not going to call you—period.” Chloe snapped her fingers. “I know what we should do.”

“What?” I carried the half-empty ice cream container to the sink and dumped the contents down the garbage disposal.

“We need to neutralize your scumbag brother. We need to get that footage from the warehouse that implicates you. Once we destroy it, Matt has nothing on you.”

“I don’t even know where he keeps it.”

“You said it’s on a flash drive, and he showed it to you at his apartment.” Chloe tapped a long fingernail on the table. “Does he still live in that crappy bachelor in West Hollywood?”

“Yep. He already had the thumb drive out when I got there, and he plugged it into his laptop to show me the footage.” I shivered and gripped my arms. “When he removed it, he shoved it into his pocket. I don’t think I’m going to be getting my hands on it.”

“The dumbass probably hasn’t made any copies. We could break into his place and steal it.”

“He’s not that dumb. He probably doesn’t have it sitting on his kitchen table. All these years, and I never knew he had it. He must’ve been waiting for the right time to spring it on me.” I crushed the ice cream carton in my hand. “And I gave it to him.”

“You got Matt out of your life, for now, but you also lost Ian. I don’t see how that’s a win for either of you.”

“It beats the consequences of fessing up.” Turning around, I leaned my back against the kitchen counter. “Did you find the shoes while you were snooping around my bedroom?”

“I did. Thank you, babe.” Chloe blew me a kiss and scurried off to get ready for her date.

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