Chapter 42: Download complete

Ivy’s pov

"Why on earth is it moving like a snail?"

The green progress bar on Gideon’s laptop screen was taunting me with the numbers crawling at a snail’s pace. 47%.

My heart was beating so fast I was sure it would fly out of my chest if anyone walked through the door to his study.

I didn’t lock the door because that would be even worse to explain if I got caught. If they walked in, how would I explain that I wasn’t up to anything nefarious yet locked the door? No one would believe me.

My eyes darted to the heavy oak door of his study for the hundredth time, my palm sweating where I gripped the edge of his mahogany desk.

What if Gideon had forgotten a file? What if their meeting ended early?

"Just finish downloading," I begged the laptop. "Just finish."

66%.... 67%

Every creak of the old mansion, every whisper of wind against the windowpane sounded like the thunder of Gideon’s approaching footsteps to me.

Yeah, my guilty conscience was going to be the death of me if, by some miracle, I didn’t get caught. I mean, I just rolled out of Roman’s bed barely ten minutes ago, my pussy freshly fucked, and I was stabbing them in the back.

A deep, involuntary shiver ran through me, and my cunt quivered, recalling how deep he had fucked me.

He was so...so gentle. It was the last thing I expected, and somehow that gentle, worshipful reverence had ripped more orgasms out of me than I could ever have imagined.

Sing for me, beautiful. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than you cumming.

His sweet words echoed in my head, and a sharp pang of guilt tore at my chest.

I fought it down, hard.

This was what I wanted, I reminded myself fiercely. This was the mission. Soon, it would all be over. I would have the ledger, I would give it to my father, and I would be out of this place for good.

But the memories would haunt me.

The scent of cinnamon and lavender. The feel of Malachi’s rough voice in my ear. The sight of Gideon’s cold, blue eyes watching me from across a room.

They were a thousand times better than Angel would ever be.

My mind flashed to the photograph I had seen in Roman’s dresser. Their family picture. The three Knight brothers, happy, with their parents beaming down at them.

Like a real family.

My heart gave a painful tug. I yearned for that so badly. Sitting at a dining table, everyone talking about their day, laughing. Before my mother died, I barely had that for a little while.

Then that night happened. Mom died. I had taken my father’s happiness away, and nothing had ever been the same.

"Maybe if I do this," I whispered to the empty room. "When I do this, we can finally have dinner together like old times."

The progress bar jumped to 100%. Download complete.

"Oh my god, yes!"

For a second, I could hardly believe it. It was done. I had it. I yanked the flash drive from the laptop, my fingers fumbling, and shoved it deep into my uniform pocket.

I slammed the laptop shut, pushed it back into its leather bag. I had just zipped it up and returned it to the drawer when I heard hurried footsteps in the hall. I spun around, my blood turning to ice, but the door opened before I could even think of a hiding place.

Milo walked in, closing the door quietly behind him. He hadn’t seen me yet. He was tiptoeing, a comical look of relief on his face.

"Milo?"

He jumped, letting out a yelp as he whipped around, clutching his chest.

"Christ, Ivy! You scared the life out of me." He sagged against the door, sighing in relief. "Oh, it’s just you."

"Gee, A good morning to you too, Milo," I chuckled, trying to sound casual and not like I was about to have a heart attack.

He rushed forward, grabbing my hand.

"Please tell me there’s food in this house. I’m starving. I need to find something to eat before I faint." He said it in a funny, pleading way that made laughter bubble up inside me.

"What happened?"

"Gideon had his driver haul me down here for some godforsaken conference meeting," he groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"I just managed to escape under the guise of going to look for Ro and Kai. In reality, I’m just looking for a place to hide until it’s over and maybe nap. I’ve been running on four hours of sleep."

I chuckled. "And you thought his study was the best place to hide? You poor, poor man."

"I know, right?" he moaned dramatically.

"What can I say? Running on four hours of sleep tends to make you think like a dumbass." His eyes narrowed playfully at me.

"What are you doing in here, anyway?" ℯℯ𝑙.

"Just arranging some things," I replied smoothly, gesturing to the desk.

"You’re such a hard worker. Here’s some advice. Don’t work too hard, or the Knights think you enjoy working hard, and they’ll try to kill you with work cause they’re workaholics too."

"Advice duly noted," I snorted, shaking my head in amusement. They’ve used the poor man dry.

His gaze drifted to my face, and his eyes narrowed in concern. He pointed to my cheek, right below my jaw. "Hey, what’s that? You’ve got a nasty bruise there."

My hand flew up, slapping over the spot. Oh my god, what was it with the twins and leaving hickeys?

My face burned as I recalled Roman’s mouth skimming over my jaw.

"Bug bite!" I blurted out. "It must be a bug bite." I grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door.

"Come on. Let’s get you something to eat; I’m sure Donna can whip up something quickly, and you can hide in my room."

"Thank you, thank you, you’re a lifesaver," He rushed out profusely.

"Just go right ahead; I’ll meet you and Donna in the kitchen after a quick stop in the bathroom."

"Got it."

An hour later, with Milo snoring softly in my bed, I was on my hands and knees, cleaning out the air vents in a dusty, forgotten corridor. I had the evidence. There was no reason for me to stay in this house anymore.

And Ivy Thompson could have her job back without blackmailing me.

But leaving early would be suspicious. Gideon already hounded me about my surname; I couldn’t afford to give him another reason to suspect me twice.

I left the vents after cleaning, heading back to the storage room to get new dusters, so lost in thought, I rounded the corner and crashed directly into another moving person.

A huge, solid, sexy one.

An arm like a steel band shot out, catching me and pulling me flush against a hard, muscular chest. The familiar, intoxicating scent of oud, smoked leather, and tonka bean filled my senses.

"Miss Harpley," Gideon’s deep, controlled voice jolted me.

I stiffened in his arms, my eyes flying up to meet his. His arm was firm around my waist, holding me against him. The heat between us simmered, an electric current that made my breath catch. "G-Good morning, Mr. Knight."

My eyes greedily wandered over him, comparing the man before me to the serious, dark-haired boy in that old photograph. I’d bet when they gave birth to him, he came with a serious face.

"Have you been in my study?"

My eyes widened. Oh no. Oh no no NO!