Fraud

“Are you fucking insane? I’m going to slit your throat for this. String you up by your tiny balls and use you for a piñata. By the time I’m done mutilating your body, there will be nothing left to burn. You are so dead for this, Gabriel Dane, and I’m not sure you realize just how serious I am this time.”

Ivy’s angry voice fills the room, practically shaking the walls around me.

Ta

“I still don’t see the problem,” I answer calmly.

“Probably because you’re not looking behind you. And I would duck, by the way. That looks like it might hurt.”

My eyes round, and I turn just in time to see Ivy’s arm pulled back to launch a heavy glass ashtray at my head that she must have grabbed while storming through the living room.

Dropping to the ground, I cover my head just as the glass hits the side of Ta

“This has crossed every line we ever had in our war. There are no lines anymore, Gabe. No rules. No courtesies. Nothing! When I’m done wrecking your entire world, you need to remember it was you who started this shit. Don’t get pissed off at me when I get you back for this. I’m leaving, jackass, and don’t you dare try to stop me.”

Another object crashes against the desk before her feet march off, the sound of her retreating steps like thunder through the hall and down the stairs.

I push up to my knees and brush the broken glass from my hair and clothes.

Ta

After a few seconds, he gains enough control of himself to speak, but still chuckles when asking, “Are you going to handle that, or let her destroy my house? I wasn’t joking about rubbing your nose in it. This should never have been brought to my place.”

I push to my feet and brush more glass away.

“As if I’d bring her to mine. I still flinch at the sound of chickens clucking.”

He loses his shit at that comment, his mild case of the chuckles now a full-blown cackling laugh.

Cursing under my breath, I leave the room in chase of a seriously pissed off woman who is probably hiding in wait with a weapon in hand hoping to beat my head in.

Not that I can blame her. I did cross one hell of a line with what I did, but she gave me no choice in the matter. She pissed me off when she actually accomplished making me fall for her game, and then ran off before I had the chance to get even.

The only way to deal with Ivy is to lock her in place, and cutting her off from her daddy’s resources was the best way to accomplish it.

If she’d just stayed in town instead of leaving for a permanent vacation, I wouldn’t have been pushed to this point.

The front door never slammed and rattled the entire front portion of the house, so I turn the corner into the living room to hunt her down, believing it’s safe to assume she went this way.

Luca is sitting on one of the couches, her blue eyes lifting to me with disapproval behind them.

“I ca

Smiling at her, I cross through the room on my way to the kitchen.

“This is perfectly normal, beautiful. No worries. Ivy and I enjoy our fucked-up games. This is nothing but a love tap. Did she happen to run this way, by chance?”

The kitchen door slams hard enough to swing the chandelier in the dining room, and I hurry in that direction, ready to tackle the bitch to the ground, if necessary.

Heading outside, I expect to find Ivy somewhere in the driveway, but after searching high and low, there’s no sign of her.

Fucking hell. Where could she possibly have gone?

Yes, the property is massive, but I highly doubt she’d crawl under a bush or scale the side of the house to escape me.

Then again, this is Ivy. When she’s mad, there’s no telling what she’s capable of.

Judging by the threats she made and how loudly she made them, she’s not just mad, she’s dangerously psychopathic.

Knowing that, I walk out to glance down the street, the neighborhood quiet for the most part, only a lawn crew working a few houses down and a delivery truck in the opposite direction.

I turn back to the house and lift my gaze up to the roof, just in case she’s up there with something heavy to drop on my head.

A honking horn grabs my attention a second later, my body spi

I’m not surprised to see Ivy’s fire-crotched sidekick coming to the rescue.

She climbs into the car before I can take the first step in pursuit, not that I’d tackle her in front of witnesses.

Flipping me the finger, Ivy narrows her eyes on me just before the car takes off with screeching tires.

Fuck.

I hadn’t pla

It’s fine, though. Prey is always more fun when you have to chase it down. And it’s not like Ivy can do much to fix this. I have safety measures in place, surprises that ensure she won’t be able to smooth this over.

Smiling as the car turns a corner and disappears from view, I tuck my hands in my pockets and tilt my face to the grey sky above my head.

It looks like it might rain in the next few hours.

Let’s hope it’s not the freezing type that has the nasty habit of slicing a person to the bone.