Fraud

Gabriel

All I can think about is my father as we weave through town back to my house.

The city disappears in my rear window, the manicured lawns of the expensive suburban neighborhoods bleeding away as I put distance between myself and a life I have to live because it’s expected of me.

One of the reasons I chose a home far out in isolation was because I like to shed that skin when the day is over and be in a place I was never allowed to know as a kid.

I want to be me.

Want to expel the person inside that is always screaming.

Want to unleash the broken prince that wears a mask of jokes and lies when he knows that people are watching.

Only, with Warbucks on my thoughts and Ivy sitting next to me, I can’t shed the mask this time as the miles pass quickly beneath my tires.

It’s not long before we’re pulling into my driveway, trees a wall enshrouding us so that there’s nothing else in the world but this piece of land. The house was built to my specifications so that it doesn’t destroy the small circle of woods that surround it, but instead adds to their beauty.

Inside, the house is still a wreck and I had to switch the larger guest room I’d originally given Ivy for a smaller one on the opposite side of the hall.

Throwing the car in park and killing the engine, I sit back in my seat and turn enough to lock her in view.

“Judging by your behavior at the office, you’re still not tame enough to be trusted.”

She laughs at that, and the sound tugs at the corners of my mouth until I’m gri

“I’ll never be tame,” she admits. Her eyes slide my direction, and she says something that reminds me so much of myself. “Being tame is boring.”

I agree, but I don’t tell her that.

Instead, I search her face, making note of the changes that have occurred over the ten years we were apart.

The last image I have of Ivy as a teenager is superimposed over sparkling blue eyes that have matured and a crooked smile that is more beautiful than I remembered.

She’d stared down at me that night, daring me to chase after her for what she did to my car.

Beneath my feet, my Mercedes sat at the bottom of Kyle’s pool, and above my head stood Ivy on a second-floor balcony.

Hundreds of kids stood around us, their voices lifting into the night, some laughing, others whispering about how I would destroy Ivy when I had the chance.

Despite them, all I saw was her. All I cared about was that I’d already trapped her in a game I’d play again when college was over, and we returned to the city as grown adults.

Our eyes locked together that night. But now, as I remember what I saw in her face, it wasn’t challenge brimming behind her stare, it was regret and sorrow.

Ivy had worn a mask just like mine.

Except I’d never taken the time to understand what was beneath it.

The present moment bleeds back to abolish the memory, and I reach out to run the pad of my thumb along the line of her jaw. She shivers at the contact, the silence in the car deafening.

Ivy had changed in the years between that night and when I found her again at the engagement party. And what I found, I didn’t like.

“Your father tamed you.”

Laughing softly, Ivy presses her cheek against my open palm, accepting the small contact.

“He may have muted my colors, but only because I was missing something.”

“What was that?”

Don’t say it, I silently beg.

She blinks, a slow drop of her eyelids as her cheek nestles against the palm of my hand. When her eyes open again, golden lashes sweep up to reveal eyes the color of the Caribbean Sea.

“My opponent.”

Damn it…that’s not what you’re supposed to say.

“We hated each other,” I remind her.

A small shake of her head.

“No. We challenged each other. And each time one of us stepped up to accept the challenge, our colors became brighter. Richer. We’re bold when we have something that makes us feel alive, but muted when life becomes-“

“Boring,” I answer for her.

Ivy nods as if the ceasefire between us will last. Only I understand the truth that the long game is still being played, even if I’m tired of playing it, even if nobody knows I’ve always had every intention of wi

Did you believe me?

Think I changed?

Even after you were warned?

That’s very noble of you.

It’s a shame I’ll have to break your heart.

My mouth stretches into the smile I’m known for, wearing the mask nobody looks past when I’m cracking jokes and playing the friend who everyone can trust.

What most don’t understand is that my past is a disease for which there is no cure and a poison that has no antidote.

Time has only improved the mask, making it so that even Ivy can’t see past it.

With another sweep of my thumb against her jaw, I let my gaze dance with hers.

The game continues...just like always.

“Let’s go inside. We have a lot to discuss.”

Her eyes sparkle. “Like what?”

I tap my thumb against her chin.

“Like how you’ll pay me back for what you did to my house.”

Ivy laughs, the sound filling the car as I let myself out and round the front to open her door.

She has become so accustomed to my polite ma

Pulling Ivy to her feet, I refuse to release her from my stare. The door quietly shuts before I press her body against the car and dip my head to brush my lips over her mouth.

She trembles and runs her hands up my shoulders. “What are you taking as payment?”

It’s such an openly sexual question disguised as i

Releasing it, I lick my tongue over the sting, sliding it into her mouth as my fingers fist into her hair to tug her closer. She moans as my knee pushes between her legs, my thigh shoved up until she’s on tiptoes, her pussy grinding against it.

I grip her hip, fingertips pressing bruises into the sensitive flesh. Dragging my mouth to her ear, my voice is a smooth whisper, my muscles tight with restraint.

“Is this how you plan to pay me?”

She grins against my cheek, but another moan escapes her lips when my fingers squeeze her hip tighter and force her to grind harder against my thigh.

And fuck if this woman isn’t going to destroy me eventually. Every noise she makes sets my heart beating faster, makes my cock hard with the need to thrust inside the wet heat of her body.

Flicking the soft lobe of her ear with my tongue, I trap it between my teeth, the pressure a warning. It only makes her shiver again, soft whimpers crawling up her throat.

“Those sounds are mine. Every one of them. I’ve owned you since the day we met.”

She doesn’t argue, instead she arches her back so her tits press against my chest, her body writhing.

After sweeping my tongue over my bottom lip, I kiss her one more time before stepping back, my gaze locking to hers to see pure heat behind the liquid blue.

“Let’s go inside,” I say, taking her hand to pull her along beside me.

Ivy has to take three steps for my one. She’s practically jogging because I refuse to slow down.

Once inside, Ivy attempts to turn right into the living room, but I pull her back and direct her up the stairs.