His words were like a slap of ice water to her face. She jerked in his grip and pushed at his chest.
She knew if he hadn’t wanted to, he wouldn’t have moved, but he stepped back at her shove, giving her space. “What is this? Are you trying to get me all turned on so you’ll get me to agree that I’ll quit this job? Are you kidding me?” She slid off the countertop, rage slicing through her in burning ribbons. Rage and embarrassment.
“No! It’s not like that.”
“What is it like?”
“I don’t want you in danger,” he snapped.
Oh, that was soooo much clearer. She didn’t like him being in danger either, but his entire damn adult career, he’d had jobs that put him in danger every day. Yet she’d never once said anything to him about it—because it was his life, his choice. “This was a mistake,” she said, moving toward her things and gathering them up. Heat burned her cheeks now as embarrassment won out. She’d actually thought… Oh God. She couldn’t believe him. Or herself. She’d been so stupid.
“Ivy.”
“No! You don’t get to tell me how to live my life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m appreciative for all your help. Very. But I’m not quitting. This is a huge payday and I need this money,” she snapped, giving away more than she’d intended.
“Need it?”
“Never mind. Look, if you don’t want to be in this anymore, you don’t have to be. I know my family’s going to be safe and I’m a big girl. I can handle this. And… You know what, I’m not explaining myself to you. I’ve never once given you grief about the dangers of your jobs. Ever. And I never would.” She grabbed her things and stalked out of the room, fire licking up her spine as she headed to the guest bedroom. She couldn’t believe he’d been trying to use her body against her.
Taking restraint she didn’t know she had, she resisted the childish urge to slam the door behind her. Barely.
Chapter 17
After half an hour of yoga, then a shower, all while listening to the mundane ramblings of Luka and Delilah, Ivy knew she couldn’t hide in the guest bedroom anymore. Not that she was hiding exactly…technically. The sun had barely risen, so it was early.
Okay, who was she kidding. She was totally hiding. Some of her steam from last night had faded to be replaced by hurt. What she needed to do was just find another place to lie low until this was all over. Somewhere away from Nash.
Things had gotten all screwed up between them last night and she didn’t like it. If she left, would that be considered running away from her problems? She decided she was okay with it if it was. As she swiped on some mascara, her cell phone buzzed—and at this point she was ready to completely toss her phone. She was over all of this bullshit.
When she saw Genesis’s name, however, she answered immediately. It was way too early for her friend to be calling. The talented smuggler usually didn’t get up until ten. “Hey.” She kept her mental fingers crossed that Genesis had info she could use.
“Hey, girl. I heard you might be in Orlando?” The question was asked neutrally but literally only one person should think that was where she’d been last night—whoever had planted that listening device. And there was no way Genesis was behind it.
Something was definitely wrong here. “Yeah, that’s right. Everything okay?”
Genesis cleared her throat slightly. “Maybe, maybe not. Someone has been asking about you and a couple Russian dolls. And a music box? I wondered if maybe you know something about them?” Again with the impossibly neutral voice.
Panic spiked inside Ivy. Genesis had to be under duress right now. “Who’s asking?”
“Oh, you know, I just heard it through the grapevine. When you get back in town you think you could stop by?”
Oooh, no, this wasn’t good at all. “Sure, no problem. I can probably come by this afternoon. About one o’clock. How does that work?” Ivy would be by earlier than that, but didn’t want to tip off whoever was with Genesis right now.
“Okay, good. Use the front door, not the back door like you normally do. It’s jammed up right now.”
Okay, this was definitely weird—she never used the back door. Genesis was trying to send her a message. “Of course. How’s Bruno?”
“Oh, out of town on business.” There was a very thin tremble in Genesis’s neutral voice.
“All right. I’ll see you later this afternoon. I’ll bring those cranberry pastries you love.” Ivy knew that Genesis hated cranberries and hoped her own message was clear—that she understood Genesis was under duress.
“Sounds great. The more cranberries the better.”
As soon as they hung up, Ivy hurried out of the room and found Nash in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee—sans a shirt.
Ooooh. She stared at his bare chest for a split second, then shook herself. “I just had a weird conversation with Genesis. I think something bad might’ve happened.” She quickly recapped most of it.
Nash set his mug down as she continued. “That all sounds weird.”
“Exactly. And she said Bruno was out of town, which is bullshit. He doesn’t go out of town. He is always there looking out for her. And the message about using the front door felt like a code, but…I don’t know.”
“You think it’s a message to use the back door instead?”
“Maybe. I just know we have to get over there now, and I’m bringing those Russian dolls and the music box.”
It was subtle, but his expression shifted and she could practically see him going into “operator” mode as he stepped forward. “How much do you trust Genesis?”
“With my life. She wouldn’t stab me in the back. Seriously, I think she’s in trouble.”
“All right, I’m going to gear up and then we’ll head out.”
She liked that it was just as simple as that with Nash. Even with the weirdness from the night before and the way they’d left things between them, she liked that he was immediately jumping into action to help her friend.
Ivy hurried back to her room, grabbed her Taser and put on a lightweight bulletproof vest that had been a gift from Sebastian. She’d never needed it before but this was such a weird situation and she wanted to be as cautious as possible. Even though it was thin and lightweight, it felt odd underneath her sweater, pressing in against her breasts. Ugh.
She met Nash out in the living room less than five minutes later. He looked like he was ready to go kick some ass in his long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants. And she had no doubt that he must’ve hidden multiple weapons on him.
“I’ve got my Taser and a bulletproof vest on.” She thumped her hand against it once.
His eyes widened slightly.
“I don’t think I’ll need it. I just figure it’s better to be prepared?” She wasn’t sure why that came out as a question.
“I’ve got my own too, and yeah, you’re wearing it. For the record, I don’t like going in blind like this.”
“What else can we do? I can’t call the cops. If I did, what am I going to tell them? Not to mention, Genesis has some potentially stolen stuff in her warehouse. I don’t think she’d appreciate me bringing in law enforcement.”