Chapter 3 IVY'S POV

"Let go of me."

"Then stop running from shadows."

The man gripping my arm dragged me a step deeper into the alley. Not rough, but not gentle either. His suit looked expensive, but his expression belonged in a police lineup.

"Who are you?"

"Someone with a message."

I twisted my wrist in his grip. "If this is from Lucien, tell him I don't respond to thugs."

"Lucien didn't send me. If he had, you wouldn't still be standing."

My heart beat faster.

"Let me go," I said again, louder this time.

He did. Just like that. I stumbled back a step, caught myself.

"You're about to marry the most dangerous man in Manhattan," he said. "And you're doing it blind. That's stupid."

"Thanks for the tip, creepy stranger."

He reached into his coat. I tensed.

"Relax," he said, pulling out a small envelope. He tossed it onto the ground between us. "When you're ready to stop playing dress-up and start asking the right questions, open that."

"What's in it?"

"Answers. Or more questions. Depends on how far you're willing to look."

I bent down slowly and picked it up. By the time I straightened, he was already walking away.

"Wait. Who are you?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "The guy who's not lying to you."

Then he turned the corner and disappeared.

_________

"You disappeared."

Lucien's voice hit me the second I stepped into the penthouse. I didn't even get the door closed before he was standing in front of me.

"Thanks for the warm welcome."

"Where were you?"

"I went for air." I replied, curtly.

"You're not a child on a school field trip. You don't get to vanish in this city and come back pretending it's nothing."

"I wasn't pretending."

"You were followed."

I paused. "What?"

He pulled out his phone, held up a blurry photo. Me. The alley. The stranger.

"You had me followed?"

"I had you protected. There's a difference."

"Not when it's done behind my back."

Lucien stepped closer. "Did he touch you?"

I lifted my chin. "Why do you care?"

"Because if he did, I'll put him in the ground."

"He gave me an envelope."

Lucien's jaw locked. "Where is it?"

"You don't get to demand that."

"Ivy."

"No."

We stared each other down. Neither of us blinked. I pulled the envelope out of my bag, dropped it on the counter.

"He said it has answers. Or more questions. Depending on how far I want to look."

Lucien snatched it before I could stop him.

"You're not opening it?"

"I don't need to."

"Then why do you look like you already know what's in it?"

He didn't answer. He walked toward the fireplace and threw it in.

"You didn't even read it."

"I've read enough threats to know what they look like."

"Why are you so afraid of me knowing things?"

"I'm not."

"You keep acting like I'll break if I see your ugly truth. But maybe I want to see it. Maybe it's better than your polished fake charm."

"You think what I've shown you is charm?"

"I think it's calculated."

"Everything I do is."

I moved closer. "Even this marriage?"

"Especially this marriage."

"Then what happens when the calculation fails?"

Lucien looked at me like that was the stupidest thing I'd ever asked.

"It won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've never failed at anything that mattered."

"You really believe that?"

"I don't have the luxury of self-doubt."

We were standing too close. Breathing the same air. He looked at me like he was either going to kiss me or destroy me.

Maybe both.

"That man in the alley said you're dangerous."

Lucien didn't flinch. "He's not wrong."

"And you're not denying it?"

"You didn't ask for a hero. You asked for help."

"Can't it be both?"

"Not in my world."

"Then maybe I don't want to marry into your world." I said.

"You already signed the papers."

"Those can be burned just like that envelope."

"You think I'd let you walk away?" He asked.

"I think if you try to control me, I'll make you regret it."

His mouth curved. "I already do."

We stared at each other until the air between us snapped like a live wire.

Then the front door buzzed.

Lucien didn't move.

"Expecting someone?" I asked.

"No."

He picked up the remote, pulled up the security feed on the flat screen.

My stomach flipped.

It was Mia.

Outside. In the lobby.

With a suitcase.

I ran for the door.

"You brought her here?" I snapped as the elevator opened and I ran into the lobby.

Mia sat on the velvet bench by the front desk, pale and shivering in her hoodie. The concierge was already hovering like she might collapse.

"I took a cab," she said quickly. "I asked for you. They said you live here now."

"You're supposed to be at the hospital."

"I discharged myself."

"You what?"

"I'm fine, Ivy. I needed to see you. Something's wrong."

I crouched in front of her. "What happened?"

"A man came to the room. Said he was from billing. Said you missed a payment. Then he asked me about you. About Lucien. About our parents."

My blood went cold.

"He wasn't from billing."

"No. I realized that too late."

Lucien stepped out of the elevator behind me. His eyes landed on Mia, then on me.

"She's coming upstairs," he said.

"She's not staying here."

"She's your sister."

"And this place is your world, not mine."

He didn't blink. "Then make it hers too."

I turned to Mia. "Come on."

We got back in the elevator. Lucien followed. No one spoke until we were back in the penthouse.

"I want to know who that man was," I said the second the door shut.

"I'm working on it."

"Work faster. This is my sister."

"Which is why she'll have twenty-four-hour security now."

"You're turning her life into a prison."

"I'm keeping her alive."

Mia looked between us. "What exactly have I walked into?"

I couldn't answer.

Lucien did. "An arrangement. One that now includes you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Does this arrangement have a name?"

"It's called survival," I said.

Lucien walked to the bar. "I'll have food sent up."

"I'm not hungry," Mia said.

"You will be soon."

I followed him to the kitchen. "You're turning this into something I didn't agree to."

"You signed up for protection. This is how I deliver it."

"You can't just take over her life."

"She was already a target. Now she's safer."

I grabbed his wrist before he could open the wine fridge.

"Tell me the truth. Was the man at the hospital connected to Marcus?"

Lucien didn't answer.

"You know something. Say it."

"I don't talk until I have proof."

"Then get it."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder." I said, raising my voice a note.

Lucien looked at me, really looked this time. "He's escalating. I didn't expect him to touch your family."

"And now that he has?"

"I'll end him."

"That's not the solution."

"It's the only one I know."

I stepped back. "Then maybe I shouldn't trust you either."

"You already don't."

We stood in silence. My hands were shaking. My pulse wouldn't settle.

And then Mia screamed.

We ran.

She stood in the middle of the living room, holding something up.

A photo.

It was old.

Crumpled.

And it wasn't of me.

It was of our mother.

In Lucien's arms.