Page 46 of By the Book

My crying shifts from gasping sobs into a steady stream. I’m still unable to catch my breath, but panic is giving way to sadness. The sound of Tripp driving is a constant for me to grab onto—like a comforting white noise. We remain on the phone with my tears and his engine filling the silence. Every so often, he reminds me that he’s about here.

He tells me he’s parking, and then he’s in the lobby. I can hear him charging up the stairs and it sounds as if he’s taking them two at a time.

“Ivy!” he calls—but this time, I can hear him without my phone—I can hear him in the doorway.

“My room,” I squeak in response, not sure if I was actually loud enough for him to hear me. I listen to his footsteps moving through the apartment. And then he’s here.

His shape is blurry through the tears as I look up over my shoulder, but it’s Tripp, and I’m already more settled by hispresence alone. I stand on shaky legs to reach him, and he crosses my bedroom in half the time to catch me in his arms.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you,” he repeats. I breathe in time with his words like my own personal mantra. Tripp has me. His arms keep me secure against him, one hand clutching the back of my head, the other working in a slow and steady rhythm, tracing circles across my back. “Breathe, I’ve got you.”

I fill my lungs greedily with the rich, woodsy air of him. With each inhale, I settle more. With each exhale, my crying subsides. This is all too familiar, like a horrible case of déjà vu.

“We’re going to get you somewhere safe, and then I’m going to fix this,” Tripp says, his voice strained.

“I don’t want to go somewhere safe unless you’re there too,” I tell him, resting my cheek against his chest. My words are raw, and I’m too vulnerable to have any filter at the moment. And it’s the truth, what I want is to have Tripp by my side.

He presses a kiss on the top of my head and sighs. I know I’m asking him to go against everything he believes in. Tripp wants to act. To finish this. And I wouldn’t want him any other way. But for a moment, as we stand intertwined in the dark, I let myself pretend that his silence means that he’s considering it.

Chapter 19

Tripp

Idon’t think I have ever been as furious in my life as I was the moment I set eyes on Ivy’s apartment. Listening to her crying my whole drive over was my own personal hell. A punishment I deserve for not catching this bastard sooner.

We get a bag packed and make our way through the building. Despite her request, I have every intention of heading to her family home. She’ll be safe with both parents and Wes there, and her safety is the only thing that matters. Not how much I want to stay with her. Not the fact that I want to take her to my place instead.

Beside me, Ivy is silent, her eyes cast down to the floor in defeat. It’s like a knife to the heart, seeing her like this once again. I reach over and take her hand in mine, lifting it up to my lips and kissing her softly.

“What are you going to do?” she asks me cautiously. “After you drop me off?”

I’m going to hunt down Reid and Jackson and put the screws to them. I’m going to make it clear that if it is one of them, they’ll regret making Ivy one of the targets. My cases against each are circumstantial at best, but it doesn’t mean I can’t put some fear into them.

The look in my eyes must say it all because I feel a squeeze of my hand and hear in a whisper, “Tell me you aren’t doing what I think you’re going to.”

“What would that be?” I ask casually.

“Defending my honor prematurely. I don’t want you getting in trouble for me.”

“And if I do it all above board?”

“I’ll still worry about you,” she murmurs. I drag my lips against her knuckles as she adds, “But I guess you should probably know something then.”

“What’s that?”

“I saw Reid tonight.”

I come to a grinding halt in the lobby, trying, and failing, to keep an even look on my face. “Saw how?”

“I was at the café with the girls, and he came up to our table. He asked me to get drinks this weekend and when I said no…”

“When you said no?” I grit out. “I swear if he?—”

“When I said no, he made a comment about you, and me. He called me your dirty little secret. And then he told me I would come to him next time.”

“That fucking?—”

“Tripp.” She leans over and rests her other hand on my chest. “Don’t let him get you angry. I just, I thought it was weird that I hadn’t seen him since the party and then he appears like this. And a couple hours later my home is broken into.”

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