Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,83

licked across my collarbone, her mouth pausing against my neck to give a sharp little suck. “After.”

“After works for me,” I agreed. I had her naked in a blink, every inch of her soft skin bared for me to worship. I kissed, stroked, touched until she'd forgotten her miserable day and was writhing on the bed, begging me for more.

She could have more. Daisy could have everything I had to give and beyond. I'd do anything to make her happy. Anything. As Daisy came apart in my arms, I followed her, the brilliant flash of pleasure blanking out my mind.

I had no idea what was coming. No clue that while I thought I had everything under control, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Daisy

What the fuck happened here?” Royal stood in the open doorway of my apartment, his body blocking the view. I edged closer, jabbing him with an elbow until he made room for me.

Holy crap. My place was a disaster. As small as it was, I could see pretty much everything from the door, and everything was a mess.

Drawers turned upside down, the contents of my kitchen scattered over the floor, cushions from the sofa were all over the place, stuffing spilling out.

“Did someone stab my sofa?” My voice sounded high and thin in my ears. Had someone broken in? Why? “Why would someone break into my apartment?” I asked, echoing my inner thoughts. “I don't have anything worth stealing.”

“I'm calling West.” Royal pulled out his phone, his arm shooting out to stop me as I ventured further into my destroyed apartment.

“I won't touch anything,” I promised as Royal started to talk to whoever had answered at the police station.

The destruction was worse in my bedroom. The mattress had stab wounds like my sofa cushions, and my dresser drawers were in the same state as those in my kitchen. It was like someone was searching for something.

At least my recipes were safe, stored in the cloud in a file only I could access. I didn't think they'd be worth much to anyone else—certainly not enough to justify destroying my apartment—but they meant the world to me. They were the only thing I owned that I truly cared about.

I didn't have anything else of value. My TV was ancient, and my laptop was in the bakery office. I guess technically it wasn't my laptop since the bakery had purchased it. Hell, I'd have to add buying a new laptop I couldn't afford to my list of things to do, right after finding a job and a new place to live.

Royal will let you live with him, I reminded myself.

No, I couldn't depend on Royal to solve my problems. I had to handle this myself.

“West will be here soon,” Royal said. “We can't touch anything. He asked us to wait downstairs.”

Great. I couldn't remember if I'd seen the lights on down there when I came in. As we descended the stairs to the back door of the bakery kitchen, I hoped for a smidge of good luck to offset all the bad. If I had to deal with my family right now, I might just lose it for good.

No one was there. Perversely, the dark, empty kitchen annoyed me. Hadn't anyone heard that I'd quit? Who was going to prep for the day? Grams wasn't used to running the place by herself. Would Mom and Dad pitch in?

Not your problem, I told myself. Maybe it wasn't. But still, I might have been mad at Grams, but I didn't love her any less. Ugh, I had to learn to compartmentalize. I'd worry about Grams later. I had my fill of problems right now.

By the time I'd made a pot of coffee and scrounged up a muffin for Royal, West was at the back door, his hair ruffled, eyes heavy but alert. I handed him coffee and a muffin, and we followed him back up the stairs.

West stood in my doorway, scanning the mess. “Any idea who might have done this?”

I shook my head. “No clue. It doesn't make any sense. I don't have anything worth stealing. Why wouldn't they try for the register downstairs?”

“And there's nothing you can think of that might have to do with this? Nothing you know that maybe you don't want to tell me?”

West's eyes drilled into me. It hit me all of a sudden.

He knew who might have done this, and he expected me to know. I didn't. I racked my brain