Fraud

 

Gabriel

The ride back to town was spent in silence. I insisted Ivy sit up front with me - mainly so I could grab her if she tried to jump out at a light and make a run for it - while Emily sat between the twins in the back seat.

The car felt like a stew of negativity, a sticky film coating my skin made from the tears Emily was attempting to hide, the pissed off glares of Damon and Ezra and the contempt written into Ivy’s expression because I’d forbidden her from confronting them about it the entire way home.

It was a

Thankfully, I was able to drop Emily off at her house, and the twins at theirs, which left just Ivy and me as we headed in the direction of my office.

Ta

We come up to a red light and as we pull to a slow stop, my body tenses in wait for Ivy to do something shifty. I’ve been eyeing her the entire time, the tiny amount of trust we’ve established still balanced on a razor thin precipice.

She glances at me while we wait for the light to turn green, her eyes narrowing on the side of my head for a brief second before, “How’d you do it?”

“There’s a thing called the brake pedal on the left of the gas. If you press it with your foot hard enough, the car comes to a stop.”

Her eyes narrow more.

“Not that, jackass. How’d you make it sound like you were at the office when you were really outside the cabin? You never answered me last night.”

Smiling, I lay my head back against the seat, my eyes locked on the red light that is taking its dear sweet time.

“It’s taken you this long to realize that? I’m sorry, but your question has expired, and I’m no longer required to give you an answer.”

“Questions don’t have an expiration date.”

“They do now.”

“Just answer the question, and stop evading.”

The light turns green, and I slam on the gas. Ivy grips the door handle, her stare still locked on my face.

“Doesn’t matter how fast you drive, Gabe. You can’t escape it. I’m still here waiting for an answer.”

My lips curl. “What if I open your door and shove you out?”

She rolls her eyes and turns to look out the front windshield.

A minute passes before she sinks down in her seat and lifts her feet to the dashboard.

Leaning sideways, I slap at her legs.

“Do you mind? I don’t want your dirty feet all over my dash.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh? This bothers you?”

“Yes,” I bark and smack at her legs again.

Fuck. I shouldn’t have told her that. Ivy’s lips pull into an evil smirk.

“Would it bother you if I rubbed them over all the expensive leather and chrome?”

Sliding the bottom of her foot across half her portion of the dash, she watches me closely. My eye twitches in response, my lips pulling into a thin line.

Her foot stops.

“I might be willing to pull them down if you tell me how you made me think you were at the office.”

I shoot her a look. “Is that your game?”

Ivy nods, her foot sliding higher up the dash.

“Whatever. I’m not playing.”

Gri

“That’s good to know. Because I just can’t get comfortable, and I need more room. Would be a shame if I pressed one of my dirty feet right up against the windshield -“

“Fine,” I growl as my hand clamps down on her knee. “Open the glove box.”

Quickly removing her feet from the dash, Ivy pulls the lever to open it.

I don’t keep much in there so it isn’t hard for her to find the small digital recorder. She straightens her posture and hits the button on the side, the general office sounds I’d recorded in prep for surprising her at the cabin blaring.

Swinging a left, the car dips as I drive down into the underground garage at my office.

“I’d already stolen my car back when you called. I was sitting in it while talking to you, with that playing in the background.”

I pull into my reserved spot and throw the car in park, her eyes meeting mine. Ivy has a fu

“You pla

“Of course, I did.”

Tossing the recorder back into the glove box, she shrugs. “As far as pranks go, that was weak. I expected better of you.”

“You weren’t saying that when you were hauling ass my direction in the woods.”

Another slight smirk and shrug. Her eyes scan the garage, as if noticing for the first time we’re no longer on the road.

“Where are we?”

“My office. I expect you to behave like a grownup while we’re here.”

I’m unbuckling my seatbelt when she asks, “Why are we here?”

“I have to check on a few things.”

“Like?”

A groan crawls up my throat. “Like whether Ta

Quickly, I let myself out of the car and round the front to open Ivy’s door for her. As soon as I offer a hand to help her out, her eyes lift to mine. That spark jumps the second she accepts my hand, the same one that has been there since we were children.

I wonder now if I’d misinterpreted it through the years. If the spark had become fire and I’d chosen to see the destruction instead of what it really is.

That’s the problem with fire, I guess. It’s duplicitous. And while it’s violent enough to raze the world around you, angry enough to burn everything you know to the ground, it’s also necessary to clear out what’s useless and dead so that something beautiful and new can be born among the ashes.

I saw the world burning, but I never recognized what sprang to life once the light from the flames went out and the ash cooled.

Seeing it now, my fingers curl over Ivy’s hand, and I tug her to her feet. A breath blows over her lips when I pull her against my body, close her door and then pin her to the side of the car.

Ivy laughs, her voice a rough whisper.

“You’d better be careful, Gabriel. The world doesn’t want us together. One wrong move and the building will collapse over our heads.”

I watch her lips move, my voice just as rough as hers. “Why do you think that is?”

When I look up into her eyes, all I see is truth.

“Maybe because we’re two opposing forces. We may have a ceasefire now, but will it last?”

I fucking hope so...

And at the same time, I don’t. Nobody has ever challenged me as much as Ivy.

Stepping away from her, I release her hand and walk to the private elevator that leads directly to the floor where our personal offices are.

Thankful for it, only because is means I won’t have to walk Ivy through the lobby, I tap the button and enter my code. The motor hums to life.

Ivy breaks the stiff silence. “Is my price to Ta

“No,” I answer far too quickly. It’s not a lie. Even if she should be done. I’m not willing to let this go yet.

“Why not? I told you what I know about my dad.”

Slipping my hands into my pockets, I stare at the metal doors, waiting for them to open.

“What you told us isn’t something we can use against him. So it doesn’t count.”

She grows quiet, the doors sliding open a second later. After we step inside and the car lifts, Ivy breaks the silence with another aggravating question.