Page 44 of Ivy

“I’m good, babe.” Neither of them looks at me as they answer. I chuckle and walk into the kitchen to get my drink. I rest my hands on top of the kitchen counter and close my eyes, dragging air into my lungs in big gulps. I need to get a grip on things. I know that Beast and my brothers would never let anything happen to us, but I also know Tim. I yelp when big arms wrap around my waist.

“You okay?” Beast kisses my bare shoulder, thanks to my top being a tad too big and falling off one side. It says ‘Bra off. Hair up. Cuppa in hand.’, courtesy of Addison Cole. I lean back into his body and relax my tense muscles. His scent hits my senses. He smells all woodsy, which is from his shower gel that he leaves here.

I feel safe in his arms, and he almost makes me forget about everything that’s happened with Tim. Almost. I have that sliver of fear that he will get his hands on me, and when he does, he will kill me. I’ve made sure that he never gets his hands on Carter. What Luke and my brothers don't know is that I changed my will a few weeks ago, making sure Luke gets custody of Carter if anything happens to me. I went into great detail with the solicitor about what Tim had done to me. I provided all the evidence they needed. I had to explain why I didn't go to the police when all the abuse was happening. That hurt like hell to talk about, but I’m glad I did it.

“I’m good, Beast.”

“You sure?” I nod and turn in his arms to face him.

Bloody hell, my man is handsome.

I lift my hands up to cup his perfect jawline. It should be bloody illegal for a man to have this good of a facial structure. I smile up at him and he returns the smile, his eyes going soft as they take in my happy expression. I go up on my tiptoes and lay a gentle kiss on his plump lips.

“I’m good, Luke Baker. As good as I have ever been. You make me happy—you make us happy, and for that I can’t ever thank you enough. Not many men will take on another man’s child, but you have been more of a father to Carter thanhim.” I sneer the last word.

“Move in with me.” I look into his eyes to see if he is messing with me, but they tell me he is one-hundred-percent genuine about us moving in with him.

“What?”

“Move in with me. I want both you and Carter at home with me. I want to come home from work and have you in my place. I want Carter to come home from school to my house. Our house.”

“Are we moving in with Luke, Mum?” Carter comes sprinting into the kitchen, yelling his question. I blink a few times and take in what I’m being asked. Is it too soon to move in with him? We’ve only been a couple for a few months. Bugger, I need to think on this. But do I really?

“Think about it, please?” Luke offers. I nod and turn to my baby boy.

“Time for bed, mister.”

“But Muuuum. One more game.”

“Hey, you heard your mother. Bed, now,” Luke chides.

“Fine,” he says as he sulks off.

“I’ll be there in a few to tuck you in, okay?”

“Okay. Night, Luke.”

“Night, kiddo.”

I kiss Luke on the cheek and give him my best smile. “I promise to think about it, okay.” I don’t stay and wait for his response; I leave the room and get Carter ready for bed. I know I will move in with Luke, but I need to think things through and prove to myself that we aren’t rushing into anything. I did that once before and look where it got me.

Chapter 20

Luke

It’s been two weeks since Tim showed up and scared the hell out of Ivy and threatened her and Carter. I’ve been on pins thinking that he will come and hurt them. I’ll kill the bastard and bury him where no one will ever find his body if he so much as touches a hair on their head.

Ivy and Carter are mine. Always will be.

“Luke, what do you want for dinner?” Ivy’s voice carries through from my kitchen to me in the garden. I’m chilling with a beer in hand, watching Carter play with Ramsey and Hetch, Penny and Liam’s dogs. They’ve gone away for the weekend and we got lumped with the fucking dogs. Ivy can’t say no to anyone, well, except me. She still hasn’t agreed to move in here with me. Carter loves it here. We’re close to the water and the garden is fucking massive.

It’s mostly grass but I do have a decking area where I’m currently sitting. It has framework all around and above me, with a patio sofa, chair, and a matching table. Further down the garden there is a sunken seating area with a large firepit that we use in the summer and spring.

I had to add in a washing line as Ivy likes to hang the wet clothes to ‘blow dry naturally’. I’m a man, we chuck things in the tumble dryer or throw them over the bannister. But oh well, at least she’s happy. I remember when we were growing up that my father always made sure the garden was clean and the grass trimmed down, so me and my sisters could play. The days we spent in the garden playing games were amazing. I broke my arm one year when I climbed the tree at the bottom of the garden. My dad soon cut the sucker down.

“Not bothered, babe. Whatever you want to make is fine with me.”

“So, salad, then?” she says, poking her head out of the patio doors. I spin around to look at her, mock horror on my face, making her giggle.

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