"See, sweetie," he said, "that is the wrong answer." He let the pause stretch. "Because now, you have made an enemy of . And I am not a man you should trifle with. You can ask your future husband."
Ivy’s throat constricted. A shiver crawled up her spine. Her father had raised her with fire in her veins. "Get out of my house, Mr. Kane," she said. "And I am going to pretend this didn’t happen."
Tom rose to his feet slowly.
"Mary Morales," he said softly. "That’s your mother’s na, isn’t it? Trapped in her own mind in the nursing ho."
The air left Ivy’s lungs in a sharp gasp. Her blood ran cold, her nails biting into her palms. How the hell did he know that? The fact that he said her mother’s na ant he’d dug into her life, into the single most vulnerable part of her world.
Ivy’s vision blurred with sudden rage and fear. Her house no longer felt safe. He had invaded her space.
"Threats don’t scare , Mr. Kane. Get the fuck out of my house! Now!"
Tom tilted his head slowly, eyes narrowing. "Spunky," he murmured. "It will be... quite fulfilling to watch that fire burn out when I kick you off the board." With one final smirk, he walked out, leaving Ivy trembling but standing tall in the wreckage of adrenaline.
*****
"Ivy... would you please check in with Trinity Estate, see if they’ve been able to acquire the property we talked about?" Winn’s voice filtered out from his office entrance the next morning.
"Right away, sir." Ivy answered, her professional mask firmly in place. She lifted the receiver, dialing with steady fingers.
She heard Lydia, perched at the desk adjacent to hers let out an exaggerated hiss of irritation.
"Problem?" Ivy asked dryly, turning her head just enough to et Lydia’s gaze. "Or is your new job description manufacturing saliva? Because from here, it seems like you’ve mastered the art."
The jab landed, and Lydia chuckled, clapping her hands once. "You would know all about exchange of salivas."
Ivy’s brows arched. "What is that supposed to an?" She wanted Lydia to say it plainly, to commit to the venom.
"Oh, drop the act." Lydia leaned forward. "What’s this pretense you’ve got going on, Ivy? Sitting here, pretending to be the good little secretary while everyone knows you’re sucking his cock after hours." She smirked. "Yes," Lydia added, her eyes glittering with malicious delight.
"The news has been going around. Guess you’re not just fetching him coffee, huh?"
"Maybe you would do your job more effectively if you kept your nose out of gossip, Lydia. We all know you are the gossip monger in House of Kane," Ivy snapped.
Lydia smirked, clearly unimpressed, and leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Yeah, yeah. I wonder how long you’re going to keep sucking his cock to keep your job," she spat the words, certain that she’d scored a point.
Ivy felt heat rise to her cheeks from anger. The migraine that had been slowly creeping in all morning now throbbed violently behind her eyes. "I don’t know, maybe I should go ahead and ask Mr. Kane right now," she said. "Tell him Lydia wants to know how long he plans on feeding his cock."
The effect was imdiate. Lydia’s smirk faltered, her face draining of color until she was a ghost of her forr smugness. Ivy straightened.
She was already short on temper, and the run-in with the older Mr. Kane last night had left her simring beneath the surface. She hadn’t said a word to Winn about it, unsure whether he would even believe the encounter had occurred.
After work, the executive floor was quiet. Winn erged from his office, his jacket slung casually over one shoulder, the strap of his bag digging slightly into his palm.
"You ready to go?" he asked.
Ivy hesitated, glancing around the empty floor. "Yeah... but maybe you should head out first. I’ll join you by the curb." She didn’t want the lingering gossip to spread any further.
"Uh...why?" Winn arched a brow.
"Look, I need this job," she said firmly, her grip tightening around her bag strap, "and I really don’t want to have people believing that I am sleeping with the boss." She’d worked hard to earn her place back at House of Kane, and the thought of her reputation being tarnished because of assumptions—well, she refused.
Winn’s smirk deepened, a mischievous glint lighting his eyes. He stepped closer, his presence imdiately filling the space around her. "But you are sleeping with the boss," he said.
"What is that supposed to an? That you gave the job because I threw myself at you?"
"Ivy," he said. He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "I was kidding. You know you’re good at your job. I hired you because you’re capable, smart... and I trust you. That’s it."
"Well, tell that to everyone who works here!" Ivy snapped, frustration bubbling over.
Winn dropped his bag and jacket to the floor, stepping closer and taking her hands in his. The warmth of his palms against hers was grounding. "Hey... hey, babe," he said softly, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. "How can I fix this? How can I make this easier for you?"
Tears stung Ivy’s eyes, blurring the office lights into halos. "I... I can’t do this, Winn. I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I... I can’t marry you," she said.
Winn let her hands slip from his, the warmth she had clung to suddenly gone. She turned her back to him. "Ivy... look at ," he said softly, the vulnerability beneath his usually commanding tone catching her off guard.
"No," she whispered, blinking rapidly as more tears threatened to spill.
"Co on, look at ," he coaxed, stepping closer.
Ivy wiped at her cheeks, swallowing hard against the lump forming in her throat. She forced herself to et his gaze, despite the tremor in her hands. His eyes were dark, intense.
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