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Memories rush through my mind like snapshots. I recall our first meeting. The handsome stranger in a suit whose kiss left a permanent imprint on my lips. Next, we’re drawn together again like magnets. I remember his protective hand clutching mine, pulling me towards a car where Seb was waiting. Then, the cottage phases into my vision. A night spent in front of the fireplace when he took the time to worship and appreciate every inch of my body. How we moaned each other’s names. How he made me feel like I was the only person who mattered.
The picture shifts and distorts, morphing into something ugly…
We’re in the castle. Freddie’s glacial gaze raked over me as he chained me to a radiator. How his callous indifference stung when we returned to London. How he fucked me with such anger in the crypt, then pretended I didn’t exist. How my chest felt like it was being ripped open when I learned how he planned to hand me back to the club willingly, signing my death sentence.
Who is the real Frederick James?
I level the gun and squeeze the trigger. Bang! Nearby seagulls caw, and my shoulders jolt from the recoil. While birds’ wings flap, silence descends. A silence unlike any other, a pregnant pause where the world is waiting as if it knows the destruction one tiny piece of metal can do.
“Ivy…” Freddie croaks. His hand cups his ear to feel the blood dripping down the side of his head from where the bullet clipped him. There’ll be no stitches required. “There was only one bullet.”
“I know,” I say calmly. “Now, get up.”
His eyes widen as realisation sets in. I’m an excellent shot. If I wanted him dead, he’d be floating amongst the fridges and microwaves by now.
His forehead crinkles in confusion. “I thought this is what you wanted.”
So did I, but seeing how he was ready to end his life to make amends made me realise something else.
“We’ve all made mistakes.” Apologising usually isn’t part of my vocabulary. But he’s not the only one who has lied. “Let’s call it even.”
“But after what I did, I thought you’d…”
“Jump at the chance to kill you?” I cock my head to the side. “I can’t say your offer wasn’t tempting.”
I throw the gun into the water. We both watch the surface ripple. Small circles turn into bigger ones, just like our actions. The gun sinks straight to the river bed, taking its secrets and what happened here along with it.
“I meant what I said, Ivy.”
I swallow hard. All the anger and fury I felt towards him ebbs away.
“I know you did,” I reply.
Words are empty, but Freddie has proved himself through his actions. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make things right.
I never hesitated when I worked for the club. I killed without blinking, enjoying extinguishing lives. But I’m not the same person anymore. I’ve changed. Daisy is alive, and killing isn’t my means of survival anymore.
“Why didn’t you do it?” he asks.
I don’t answer. Maybe because I’m not ready to face the answer myself.
“Let’s get back to the car,” I say, changing the subject and brushing away any lingering thoughts. We have a mission to complete. I can untangle my feelings if we live long enough to see another day. “Seb will be wondering where we are.”
Freddie’s arm brushes against mine as we walk back. His touch sends an electric jolt of longing over my skin.
While I’m not ready to say it, Freddie isn’t the only one with feelings he’s tried to deny. Our connection has been tested, but no matter what happens, I can’t ignore the draw I feel towards the man who tried to ruin my life and now wants to help put it back together…
CHAPTER 25
BRAM
“Where are they?” Seb blasts.
We’re all getting antsy. They should have been back half an hour ago. Although I accepted Seb’s decision to allow Ivy and Freddie to travel together to lighten the frosty atmosphere, I didn’t like it. After everything, I’m not sure what Freddie’s capable of and how Ivy would react if he upset her again…
A knock on the safe house door has my legs moving; I vault over a sofa and sprint through the grand hall.
My shoulders sag in relief to see the two of them, but my nostrils flare in accusation. Where have you been?
