Page 71 of Saving Ian Pope

The half bowl of soup I drank sloshed in my stomach. Not again. The online attacks against Ian had revved up, and the timing couldn’t be worse. “If it’s in PopWiz, it must be true. Do you hear yourself right now? It’s just garbage.”

“It might be, but if you think outing yourself to Ian right now with your past is a good idea, you’re still in La-La Land. You’ll both be prime fodder for online attacks.”

“I’m going to get to the truth today. If it turns out this is another scheme against him, do you think you could help again?”

“If it turns out he’s not a cheating rat bastard, I’ll see what I can do. I just want to make sure you’re okay, Ivy. You’re in love for the first time, and I want it to work out for you.” Chloe sputtered. “Oh, wait. I have more news.”

“Oh, God.” I patted my chest. “I don’t think I can take any more. What next? Ian Pope wanked off in front of Princess Kate?”

Chloe laughed. “This one doesn’t have anything to do with Ian, at least not directly. Wait for it.” She paused dramatically. “I got a camera into Matt’s apartment.”

“What?” I shot up straight in my seat. “What were you doing in Matt’s apartment? Did you break in?”

Chloe snorted. “I didn’t have to break in. You know Matt’s always had a thing for me.”

“Oh, God, no. You didn’t sleep with him, did you?” I covered my eyes as if to block the image from my mind.

“No, although your brother is seriously hot. You know, his eyes are greener than yours, much prettier, and what he lacks in work ethic, he makes up for in the gym. Built like a...”

“Okay, okay. What excuse did you give him for dropping by, and what are we going to do with a camera? Wait, are you watching my brother in his apartment?”

“I do check in once in a while, and you don’t wanna know what he’s up to in there. Anyway, I went to his place to give him your dad’s watch. You meant to do that, right? Told him I was cleaning house and found it.”

“Then, what? He went to the bathroom, and you installed CCTV in his apartment?”

Chloe scoffed. “It’s just one of those little stick-on cameras. He’ll never find it.”

“You’re trying to see if he takes out the flash drive that contains my guilt and what, strokes it, licks it? I appreciate the effort, but what’s the plan?”

“You’re going to call him all in a panic one day—let me know the day and time—and ask him to make sure the flash drive is safe and secure.”

“He’ll just tell me it is and hang up.”

“Give him a reason to worry. He checks on the flash drive, I catch its hiding place on camera, and then we go in for the kill.ThenI break into his place and steal it, or I make the big sacrifice and sleep with him, before I roofie him and nab the drive.”

Drumming my fingers on the table, I asked, “Wouldn’t you roofie him first andthensteal the drive? Why would you need to sleep with him?”

“Just to make sure he’s good and drowsy.”

“You wouldn’t roofie someone. That’s illegal, and it’s giving me the ick.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll just wear him out in bed.”

“Now you’re really giving me the ick.” I tugged on my earring. I must be losing it because this plan of hers sounded like it might work. “If we’re gonna do this, you’re not doing the hard part on your own. I’ll fly out there and help you get the flash drive. I can find another way to distract him, or you can break in while I take him outside.”

The adrenaline pumping through my system fueled an optimism about my predicament I hadn’t felt since I accepted Jack’s offer. We could do this. I could save myself, save Ian, and we could really be together with no secrets between us. Not that he’d ever kept any secrets from me. He’d been painfully open with me from the start. And I’d done nothing but lie.

“You like the plan?” Chloe couldn’t keep the I-told-you-so out of her voice.

“I do like it, Chloe. I think it could work. Then I could be with Ian without any fears or reservations.”

“Just cool your tits. Before I go to any effort to clear your path to happily ever after with the popstar, you need to make sure he’s not a cheating rat bastard.”

Chapter 24

IAN

I checked my phone for about the hundredth time on the ride from the studio to my place. Anxiety nibbled at the ends of my nerves. Why had Ivy been silent today? She could’ve been so wrapped up in the exhibition she hadn’t had time to respond to my texts properly. I’d expected her to bombard me with pictures of...silk, or whatever she was seeing at the museum.

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