trade agreements we’ve just spent the last six months forging will be in jeopardy. Argyle’s image is just starting to recover. If the rest of the world finds out that Beckett has done this…”
Theo’s voice trails off, and I let out a sigh.
“I won’t talk.”
“Thank you.”
I lean back in my chair, feeling my pocket for my phone. I want to call Ivy to make sure she’s okay. She must be dealing with a shit storm of epic proportions with the bacterial outbreak at her bakery. The timing is awful.
Theo clears his throat. “Luca, I…” He keeps his gaze on the floor between us and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
When my brother lifts his eyes up to mine, I know that he means it.
He continues: “I’m sorry about Cara. I never meant for it to happen. It wasn’t malicious. We just… We just fell in love.”
A couple of months ago, those words would have sent me in a tailspin of prescription drug abuse and depression. It would have sent me searching for a high that I’d never come back down from.
Now?
Now, I get it. You can’t help who you fall in love with, even if it’s the most inconvenient, unexpected person in the world. I stand up and extend my hand toward my brother.
Instead of taking it, he wraps me in a hug and holds me tight.
When I leave my brother, I take my phone out and call Ivy right away.
“Hey, Your Highness,” she answers. I flinch at the formal title.
“Hi, babe. I heard about the E. coli thing. What happened?”
Ivy lets out a sigh. “I don’t know what’s going on. I follow all the health and safety guidelines. You’ve seen the bakery. It’s clean.”
“Did you ever think…” I pause, glancing over my shoulder to make sure I’m alone. I drop my voice. “Do you think maybe someone did it maliciously?”
“What?”
“I don’t know the details, but there’s been some shit going on here. Beckett…” I pause, not wanting to go into details. “I just think that maybe someone could be trying to hurt you to get to me.”
Ivy’s quiet for a while, and the silence tortures me.
“I’ll be on a plane in the morning and be at your side by the afternoon, Ivy,” I promise.
I think she sobs, but the noise is so quiet that I can’t be sure. “Luca, I think it might be best if you stay away for a little bit.”
My chest feels hollow. “What?”
“Well, if someone is trying to get back at you, isn’t it best if we figure it out? If you come back here, it’ll only cause more trouble.”
“But Ivy…” I choke on her name. Does she not want to see me?
The distance between us grows, and I can almost see the walls she’s building around herself. She’s lost her sister, her bakery, her life as she knew it. Does she want to get rid of me, too?
She takes a shuddering breath. “Don’t you think it’s best if we let the dust settle?”
“I think it’s best if we’re together, Ivy. If we let this tear us apart…” I stop, listening to Ivy breathing.
“Isn’t it us being together that started this whole mess in the first place?” Ivy sniffles, and the pain in her voice shatters through my chest.
“Us being together is a good thing, Ivy.”
“It doesn’t feel like a good thing right now.”
She doesn’t mean it. She’s just talking through her pain and letting it speak for her. She’s not saying what I think she’s saying.
“Poison…”
“That’s an accurate nickname, don’t you think? I’m just poison. Everywhere I go, things die around me. Margot, the business, my customers…”
“No.” My voice is stronger. “Ivy, come on. Where are you right now?”
There’s a pause, and then Ivy takes a deep breath. “I’m at home. I mean, at the twins’ house.”
The way she says it makes me frown. It sounds like a lie. I chew the inside of my cheek and take a deep breath. “Don’t worry, Ivy, it’ll all work out.”
“Will it, though? You keep saying that, but it just keeps getting worse.”
I frown, leaning against the wall in the hallway. Where is this coming from?
“Did anything else happen?”
Ivy pauses long enough for me to know she’s choosing her words very carefully.
Finally, she answers. “No.”
“I’m coming back.”
“Don’t.” Her voice is strangled, and she lets a sob slip through her lips. “Please, Luca, just let me deal with this on my own. Having you here just brings more media, and it’ll make Margot hate me even more.”