Chapter 134: Gideon’s arrival

GIDEON

The villa was quiet when I arrived. I had taken the late flight. There had been too much to handle in Wisteria, too many loose ends to tie, too many fires to put out.

But the moment I stepped through the doors to the villa, the tension in my shoulders eased. Maybe it was the smell of salt in the air, the sound of the waves, or that rich scent that was very familiar.

She had only been here for a day, and yet the whole villa seemed to smell like her. I took a deep drag of Ivy’s scent, stalking through the villa. It was night; she was out with my brothers then since the place was empty.

I got to the master bedroom to settle, only to see that my traitorous brothers had given it all to Ivy. It smelled so much like her.

A deep hunger stirred low in my belly and I stalked closer to the bed, running my fingers over the bed sheets.

This was ridiculous. After what I had heard, I shouldn’t still ache for her. The sound of laughter dragged me out of my thoughts, and I followed it to the front entrance and stopped in the doorway.

Roman was carrying Ivy, her body limp and boneless in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. She was wearing a short dress that had ridden up her thighs, and one of her heels was dangling from her foot.

Kai walked beside them, holding her other heel in one hand and her little purse in the other, grinning like an idiot.

They looked ridiculous. They looked...happy.

"G!" Roman spotted me first, his face splitting into a wide grin. "You made it."

"Obviously."

Kai bounded over and clapped me on the shoulder, still holding the shoe. "Missed you, big brother. How’s the fallout?"

"Messy as always, but it has been contained."

I looked at Ivy, still asleep in Roman’s arms. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly parted, and her hair was a wild mess around her face.

"She’s drunk," Roman beamed unapologetically. "We went to a club, and she just discovered mojitos."

"Three mojitos," Kai added. "She’s such a fucking lightweight, it’s adorable."

"You should get her to bed."

"On it." Roman started toward the bedrooms, then paused when Ivy stirred, her amber eyes fluttering open.

"Mhmm, is that Deon?" she mumbled, her voice slurred and thick with sleep.

"I’m here."

She gave a dreamy smile that made my chest tighten. "You came. I was worried you wouldn’t come."

"I came."

"Good." She yawned, then her eyes drifted to Kai. "You’re pretty."

Kai preened. "Thank you."

"Not you." She waved a hand vaguely. "He’s pretty."

Roman laughed. "She means you, G."

"I know what she means."

"Pretty," Ivy repeated, her eyes already closing again. "Pretty and grumpy. Like... like a grumpy cat."

She fell asleep promptly. Some twenty minutes later, I was at the jacuzzi. Steam rose from the water, curling into the night air, and the moon hung in the open night sky.

I sank into the hot water with a groan, letting it ease the tension from my muscles. Roman and Kai were already there, glasses of whiskey in their hands.

"Soooo, please tell me the police have Meyers’s ass?"

I leaned my head back, staring up at the stars. "Meyers was arrested this morning. The FBI picked him up trying to escape. With all the charges of organ trafficking, fraud, falsifying medical records, he’s looking at twenty to life imprisonment."

Kai whistled. "And good ol’ Felix?"

"He was arrested this afternoon as a suspect. They froze his accounts, raided his office, seized his assets but we all know Felix could easily crawl out of that hole. We need to hit him while he’s still in there."

Roman cracked his knuckles, a slow, satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Good."

"The storm has begun. His investors are already jumping ship and pulling out their shares."

"Because they’re just as disloyal as he is," Kai cackled. "Fucking vultures."

Roman took a long drink of his whiskey, then set the glass down with a clink. "I could just end this right now, you know. Go into the prison and kill him."

"That would be too easy,"

"Too easy? The man ruined our family. He deserves to suffer."

"He does." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the edge of the jacuzzi. "But if we kill him now, we would be covering up what he did. No one would ever know that he had our parents murdered."

"So what’s the plan?"

I raised my shoulders in a shrug, snapping my muscles into place. "We break every bone in his body. Then we crush him to pieces. Every deal he ever made, every alliance he ever forged, every penny he ever stole, we will take it all and leave him with nothing."

Roman gave a feral grin. "I like it. Oh I like that very much."

"Me too," Kai quipped. "Let’s destroy the bastard."

We sat in the jacuzzi for another hour, talking strategy, sharing memories, laughing at old jokes. It was the most relaxed I had felt in months.

Eventually, Roman and Kai climbed out, grabbing towels and heading inside. I stayed a while longer, letting the hot water soothe the last of the tension left in my body.

When I finally rose, the water sluiced off my body, and I stepped out onto the deck, naked and dripping. I grabbed a towel but didn’t bother drying off completely; the night air was warm, and I was too tired to care.

I walked through the villa, my feet gliding softly on the cool floors, heading toward my room, fighting the ridiculous urge to go to the master bedroom where Ivy would be.

And then I passed the kitchen and skidded to a halt. Ivy was standing at the counter in a nightdress, a glass of water in her hand, her hair still a mess, her dress still rumpled. She looked up when she heard me, and her eyes went wide.

Then she started coughing, sputtering, her hand flying to her chest.

Ah, dammit!