Matchmaker (Empire High #4) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,100

earned my position. And it is different, Poppy. My job is legal.”

“So is mine.”

Did she honestly believe that? I stared at her and she smiled. It didn’t look quite as evil as before, but the message was still clear. She wasn’t stupid. She knew what kind of business she was about to take over.

“I’m no accountant though,” Poppy said. “Uncle Richard had Isabella study the appropriate subjects in college to prepare. But I was never supposed to take over. You do accounting though, right?”

“Finance is different.”

“Surely you took similar classes. All business majors do. I was going to be a teacher.”

I raised my eyebrows. I really couldn’t picture her teaching children. She’d been really harsh and distant with her daughter, Gigi.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said with a laugh. “I actually love children. Stop, I’m serious,” she said with a laugh.

I must have still been making the same face. “I’m sorry. It just seemed like Gigi…”

“Annoys me to no end? Well, sometimes. Most people see me when they look at her. But she has her father’s eyes. And nose. And I can’t help but see a cheating scoundrel. I’m going to therapy for that. I don’t want to resent my daughter the way I resent my ex-husband.”

Wow. That was…a lot. And way more insightful than I ever expected from her.

“But I do love children. And I will do my best to make sure nothing happens to Scarlett.”

“Your best? The other day you said you wouldn’t hurt her.”

She shrugged. “Like I just said, I’ll do my best. But I’m not the one in charge right now. My uncle is.”

“Mr. Pruitt said he didn’t know what I was talking about when I brought up Scarlett.”

“And who do you believe more? Him or me?”

“Neither.” I’d never trust a thing either of them said.

She smiled. “So you don’t really have much of a choice to go along with this, Matthew. Speaking of which, I’m going to need something from you in return for keeping Scarlett safe.”

Of course she was going to ask for something in return. And I knew exactly what it was. She’d certainly mentioned my career enough times whenever I’d seen her.

The waiter dropped off our glasses of champagne and Poppy dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

“Perfect timing,” she said and lifted up her champagne flute.

“Poppy…”

“Just hear me out. If we start dating, I think Uncle Richard will be more likely to step down.”

Dating?!

“Honestly, it’s suffocating with him breathing down my neck. I’m ready to take over. And if he thinks we’re going steady, he’ll feel more comfortable, I know it. Like I said before, he respects you. And your business is in my weak spot. We’d be the perfect couple in his eyes.”

I laughed. “I’m not going to date you, Poppy.”

She put down her champagne flute. “But, Matthew…” She reached out and tried to put her hand on top of mine on the table, but I quickly pulled away. “You don’t have much of a choice,” she said. “Unless you don’t care about little Scarlett after all?”

I felt like I was holding my breath. Like I’d been holding it for years. And I had no idea if my lungs knew how to work anymore. Not in this shitty world where Brooklyn didn’t exist and Poppy held all the cards.

“What do you say?” she said with a smile and lifted her champagne flute again.

My phone buzzed. I looked down at a text from Kennedy: “Actually, if you do happen to want even more food, I have a craving for ice cream. I would be 100% okay if you wanted to bring some. Something chocolatey please and thank you.”

It would have made me laugh if it didn’t feel like I was being suffocated.

“Matthew?” Poppy said. “Do we have a deal?”

There was nothing I could say. Maybe being close to her would give me the dirt I needed on Mr. Pruitt. My mind swirled with maybes. But none of them mattered. They didn’t change what I had to do. I didn’t have a choice. Because I’d do anything to keep James and Penny’s daughter safe. “You swear you’ll stay away from Scarlett? That no one will touch a hair on her head?”

“I promise. She’ll be perfectly safe.”

I lifted my glass. “Is there an end date to this charade?”

“Why? Are you seeing someone?”

I thought about Kennedy. The way it felt to wake up with her head on my chest and my arms wrapped around her. I wanted that again. It was