Chapter 138: Vacation gone wrong

Ivy

I woke up smiling.

The first thing that hit me was his scent, that deep, clean smell that lived in Gideon’s skin and in his sheets. It was all over the pillow my face was buried in. I inhaled and dragged it into my lungs as if it were the last of the air in the room.

Ugh, last night was amazing. I turned onto my back and let the memory roll over me. Soreness ached sweetly between my thighs and my body still hummed with excitement, and my cheeks flushed just from remembering.

God, I was in so deep.

I reached across the bed, but he must have gone downstairs already. God, I could get used to this.

Today I was going to tell them everything.

I wrapped the top sheet around myself, barefoot and with my hair a mess, and strolled out of the bedroom to find them.

Should I practice my confession? What would I even say?

So, funny thing. My name isn’t Ivy Harpley. My name is Harper Kingsley, and I’m the daughter of the man you’ve been at war with for ten years. And yes, he sent me here as a spy, and yes, I was supposed to plant drugs in your house, but hey, on the bright side, I didn’t. Also, I think I might be falling in love with all three of you, so please don’t hate me?

Easy, right? God, I was so screwed. I laughed nervously at myself, and the sound bounced off the empty walls and made me stop.

Why was the house so quiet? Deon could be quiet, but Ro and Kai were either bickering or playing absurd games, and the silence pressed against my ears like a held breath.

Or were they still asleep?

"Ro?" I called, climbing down the stairs. "Kai? Deon?"

There was no response.

The living room was empty. The kitchen was too, though the smell of coffee still hung in the air and a stack of pancakes sat soggy and cold on the counter beside four abandoned mugs.

"Okay, that’s weird," I muttered, rushing through the house. The lounge, the study, the deck, I checked them all. I even walked down to the little dock on the water and called into the wind until my voice went hoarse.

"Guys?"

The villa was dead silent. Panic started to thread itself through my chest.

Their things were gone too, and the cars were gone from the front. I was halfway through the dining room, calling their names again, when a sound behind me made me spin.

A man stood in the doorway. He was old, maybe sixty, in a fitted charcoal jacket and white gloves, his gray hair combed back. He stood with his hands folded like one of those butlers in the movies.

"Jesus Christ, who are you?"

His head dipped in a bow. "Good day, Miss Harpley."

My stomach did a slow, uncomfortable roll. "Who are you? Where are the Knights?"

"My name is Mr. Aldridge. I am in the employ of the Knight family." He straightened. "The masters have been called away on urgent business. They have asked that I escort you back to Wisteria."

"What? Where did they go? What business? I want to see them."

"I’m afraid not, miss. They have already departed. They have asked that I see you home, and they will meet you at the estate later."

"Later?" I swallowed, my brows knitting. They couldn’t tell me this in person? Why hadn’t they woken me up? Was this one of their shady Knight deals?

My chest tightened. Something was wrong. Not to sound spoiled, but they usually dropped everything to be with me. Even when all three of them couldn’t be with me, Kai and Roman had dropped everything to be here while Gideon handled things.

Now all three of them had vanished without so much as a text and left a stranger I had never met to tell me they would be back later?

I had no idea that Gideon had read the investigator’s email at 2:00 a.m., or that the agency had called him that morning. As far as I knew, my secret was still mine.

Either the man was lying or something had happened, and I didn’t think anyone in their right senses would dare lie in the Knights’ name, so it had to be the second.

"Okay," I whispered, suddenly feeling a lump the size of the moon in my throat. "Okay. Give me twenty minutes to freshen up."

"Of course, Miss Harpley. Take your time."

I stood in the bathroom for a long minute, gripping the edge of the sink and staring at myself in the mirror.

Did something happen? Did they find out?

How could they have found out? They were with me all night. Could they?

I splashed cold water on my face, threw on my jeans and sweater, and headed for the front door. I hadn’t brought much anyway.

Mr. Aldridge was already waiting, and so was the car. Except it wasn’t one car. It was three. Two black SUVs, sleek and dark, with suited men inside, and between them a single black sedan with its engine running.

I stopped dead in the driveway.

"Um, you said you’d escort me home. What’s all this?"

Mr. Aldridge opened the sedan’s rear door and stood beside it. "A precaution, Miss Harpley. The masters wanted you safe."

"Safe from what?"

"That, I’m afraid, is not my place to say."

I got in, because what else was I going to do, run back to an empty villa?

The ride to the airstrip and the flight home passed in a blur of dread. The jet was the same one we had flown in on, with the same crew, but the atmosphere was different the second I stepped aboard. I felt like I was doing the walk of shame. I had boarded this plane with two men and was returning alone.

Were they done with me? Was this a sign they were breaking things off?

Clara, the blonde hostess, was there, and when she saw me, her face flickered with something nervous before it smoothed over. I stared out the window the entire descent, watching Wisteria’s skyline rise, my knee bouncing so hard I felt it in my teeth.

Mr Aldridge stood at my elbow, ushering me down the stairs. "A car is waiting, Miss Harpley."

"I don’t need a car. I can just grab a cab..."

"The car is waiting."

Three black cars sat in a neat row outside the private hangar. I had no choice, so I got in, biting my nails nervously. I turned on my phone and a rain of messages from my father filled the screen, and my stomach dropped.

Oh no. Oh no no.