Page 36 of B.D.E
Ivy
The house had beenquiet with Ghost gone, doing whatever it was he did. I was still trying to process everything he’d told me about being a contract killer. I knew he was into some dangerous shit, but never imagined his job was literally to kill people for a living. Still, strangely, I wasn’t afraid of him. Back at the café, Ghost had shown me another side of himself… one I kept locked in my mind that made me certain he wouldn’t hurt me. He’d texted a few times, checking in, reminding me not to use the burner phone for anything else.
I’d been feeling off all morning, fighting the urge to gag every time I stood up too fast. My appetite came and went in waves, but mostly it was gone. I knew my body was stressed, carrying everything that had been happening so, when I got a text from Ghost this morning, telling me Tori was on her way, I felt a flicker of relief.
When I hit my lowest with breakdowns and dark nights of depression, Tori was always there. Crawling into bed with me, holding me while I cried. Today wouldn’t be about crying though and couldn’t wait to tell her how much my life had changed these past few weeks. My stomach was in knots as I stood in themirror, applying some lip gloss and fluffing out my girls. Tori had seen me at my worst but the last thing I wanted to do was look like I had been going through hell when she got here.
An hour later, I spotted her smoke grey Kia K5 creeping up the long driveway. I opened the door before she could even step foot out of the car.
“TORI!”
She jumped out, looking around at the trees like something was about to jump out, but when she saw me, that all disappeared.
“Bitch! You got explaining to do.”
We ran to each other and hugged tightly. She grabbed my face, looking me over.
“What the hell, Ivy? You got me out here in the woods like this is some thriller movie, bitch,” she said looking around. “Plus, I could’ve sworn somebody was foll?—”
Another car pulled in behind her. Tori turned, already tense.
“Who the hell is that?”
Ghost stepped out, calm as ever and sexy as hell, dressed in all black and scanning the area before his eye landed on us.
“That’s… him,” I said quietly.
Tori crossed her arms. “So, you’re the mysterious ‘friend’?”
Ghost gave her a once over. “She safe. That’s all that matters.”
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off with him. Ghost was hardcore but he was …. different with me. Right now, I couldn’t even get him to make eye contact which raised a major flag for me.
“You better hope she stays that way, mister…?”
He smirked. “Duly noted.”
He turned me. “You good?”
I nodded. “Better now, I said, stepping closer to him. “Are you good?”
He stepped back, causing me to frown. “I’ll be back, later. Only use the burner to call me and lock up, too.”
He lingered for half a second like he wanted to say more. But instead, he pulled the car door open and got in. Tori and I stood there, watching him disappear down the tree-lined road.
“Is your ‘friend’ always cold like that or what? That nigga seems uptight as fuck, Ivy. You sure you okay here with him?”
“Girl, I’m fine. Trust me, he never asks like that. Something must be going on with him. He is so sweet and gentle with me, Tori,” I admitted, blushing. “But, enough about that. We most definitely have some catching up to do.”
Tori looked back one final time before turning to follow me into the house. “Mhmm. I bet we do.”
Back inside, we crashed on the couch as tori kicked her shoes around and looked around the place before focusing back on me.
“This house is nice as hell, Ivy. You can show me round later but right now, I need answers. What the details on this lil friend you have?”
“Ok… so hear me out,” I said, letting out a deep breath before starting from the beginning. “He broke into the shop one night a few weeks ago, injured and bleeding. I didn’t know what to do first because he was a fucking stranger and he had a gun, but something in my gut told me to just help him… so I did. I patched him up and after that, he stayed around and recovered, and it just went from there. Things… happened,” I said, looking down and I fidgeted with my fingers.
Tori’s eyes widened. “What the fuck, Ivy?! He broke in? Why? And the bigger question is, what the fuck happened to him the reason he was injured and bleeding?”
