22. Ivy

22

IVY

My home wasn’t safe.

He’d gotten into my home.

I’d stopped myself from going out in public on my own just to keep myself safe, and he was able to get into my house.

Those were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I struggled and thrashed against him. Was I ever going to be safe again? Would he kill me this time?

I’d been frozen to the spot minutes ago when I realized it was him, but as soon as he made it inside and his eyes locked on me, I took off running in the opposite direction. The only place I could think of going was upstairs. I’d get into one of the rooms and lock the door. Of course, I realized he’d probably do whatever he could to break down the door, but it’d likely give me some time to think. Or, if nothing else, it’d give Marco just a bit more time to get to me.

Unfortunately, I never made it up the stairs. Just before I made it to them, he grabbed me by the hair and yanked back. I was so thrown off balance that the phone went flying from my hand. There was no chance for me to get it back, but I found comfort in knowing Marco was on his way.

I tried to get this man to go, to leave, but he refused. And I realized the only thing I could do was fight. I had to fight and struggle just long enough for Marco to get to me. That’s all.

But every second that passed as I kicked and scratched and clawed and yelled was like whole minutes of my life.

It was the same terror all over again. It was being forced to relive that night in the dark on that side street with the same awful stench of cigarettes. It was feeling like I might not survive this time.

It was taking blows to my body and struggling to protect myself. It was fighting to get away and realizing he was overpowering me.

It was fear and panic and powerlessness mixed with the determination to hold out just a little bit longer.

Despite the aches and pain, I continued to fight. But when his hand clamped around my throat and squeezed, cutting off my oxygen supply, it became harder and harder to focus on doing anything but finding a way to breathe.

Just before I was certain I was going to pass out, his hand was gone. The weight of his body on top of mine had vanished, and I rolled to the side with my hands at my throat, gasping for that precious air.

I didn’t move from where I was, but I saw Marco. I stared in his direction as he beat the crap out of the guy who’d just broken into my house and attacked me for the second time.

I heard and watched as furniture was knocked over and destroyed. I listened to the grunts and groans of pain coming from my assailant.

My home wasn’t safe.

The thought continued to ripple through my mind, even as my eyes drooped shut and I listened to the man that I loved fighting to protect me, to defend me.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the struggle eventually stopped. “Ivy.”

Marco’s voice registered, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to respond, to react. I wanted to speak, to say anything, and I just couldn’t do it.

“Ivy, princess, open your eyes,” he urged, his voice gentle.

It took a massive effort, but my eyes blinked open. Marco was too many feet away from me to be able to touch, but I could see him. That alone brought me a massive sense of comfort.

“Are you okay?”

I wasn’t okay, but I didn’t know how to tell him that. My body was trembling, my insides still shaking with such fear.

Whatever Marco saw when he looked at me must have given him enough of an answer. He seemed to be waging a battle with whether to stay where he was to prevent my attacker from getting away and standing up to come to me.

His emotions got the best of him, and he stood just as the sound of sirens filled the air. Fortunately, as Marco made his way toward me, the man didn’t move from his spot on the floor.

Marco scooped me up in his arms and settled me in his lap. He tucked my face against his neck, keeping his gaze focused on the guy who’d broken into my home to assault me.

Everything was moving in slow motion, and it didn’t get any better when the police arrived. I didn’t pay attention to much of what was happening. I stayed where I was, where I felt safe in Marco’s arms. I allowed him to speak to the officers on my behalf, and I trusted him to get me through this.

The warmth and safety of his embrace worked wonders, as did his constant murmurs against the top of my head. The tension slowly eased out of my body. And when I saw my attacker, bloodied and beaten by Marco, being led out of my house in handcuffs, I relaxed even further.

But when I heard a commotion at the front door, I feared again for the worst. “It’s my sister in there!” Liam’s voice rang through the air, and a moment later, I heard footsteps close. “Jesus. Is she okay?”

His question was directed at Marco, who didn’t hesitate to respond. “I think she’s in shock. She hasn’t spoken a word since I got here.”

Liam crouched beside us, his concerned eyes on me. I stared back at him, refusing to let go of Marco. “Are you okay?” The sound of his voice nearly broke me.

But as much as I wanted to give him an answer, I didn’t trust myself to speak. If I did, I was convinced I’d have a total meltdown. So, I merely offered a slight shake of my head.

Liam reached for my leg, curled his fingers around my ankle, and gave me a light squeeze. “Are you hurt?”

My body ached. And while I knew there were bruises and cuts, at a minimum, I couldn’t seem to assess the full extent of my injuries. I didn’t want to lie to Liam, but I wouldn’t be able to give him the answer I knew he wanted. So, I remained silent and cuddled myself closer to Marco.

Liam’s frustrated eyes lifted to Marco, who stroked his fingers lightly through my hair. “We need to get you checked out, Ivy. Do you think you’d be okay with the paramedics coming in here?”

Since I didn’t want to frustrate either one of them any further, I nodded against Marco’s chest.

My brother walked away, presumably to get the paramedics, and while he was gone, Marco continued to hold me and kiss the top of my head.

The paramedics came in to assess me, and Marco never left my side all throughout. Liam was in and out of the room several times.

Fortunately, all my injuries weren’t anything that required serious medical attention. The worst of it was the swelling and bruising on my cheek where I’d been hit, but the rest of it was scratches, cuts, and serious muscle fatigue from fighting so hard for so long.

Marco and Liam both had conversations with the police officers, I’d given some answers to the police by merely shaking or nodding my head, and the man who’d attacked me was being hauled off in a police cruiser.

Just as the medics finished up with me and walked away, leaving me there with Marco and Liam, there was a commotion just a few feet away from where the three of us were.

Liam stood and turned around, his gait matching that of a warrior preparing for battle. But seconds later, my parents, Wyatt, Rhea, Tate, and Ava came rushing in.

The six of them came to a grinding halt when they entered the room and saw me sitting curled up in Marco’s lap.

My eyes moved through them, and the only one who didn’t seem stunned was Ava. The rest were wearing expressions that were a mix of worry and shock. In the end, it was their worry that took center stage. My mom couldn’t hide her concern. “Oh, Ivy. Are you okay?”

“Look what happened in here!” Rhea gasped.

“He’s lucky he’s cuffed and in that squad car,” Tate muttered.

I let them talk. There wasn’t anything they were saying I wouldn’t have said if it had been my sister sitting here instead.

Wyatt didn’t hold himself back, either. “Liam, you called Jules about this, but she didn’t give us much in the way of details. What exactly happened?”

Well, that explained how they all knew to come here. Before Liam could respond to Wyatt’s question, we heard another familiar voice. “Where is she?”

Cooper.

He was going to lose his mind. I just wasn’t sure if it would be because of what happened to me or because of where I was sitting.

Marco must have been feeling precisely the same, because he wrapped his arms around me just a bit tighter.

I heard him step into the room, saw his sneakers, and allowed my gaze to travel up toward his face. He saw me, saw Marco, and looked around at everyone else standing there. Skye and Jules were standing just behind Cooper.

Wyatt, fortunately, urged Liam to answer the question he’d asked moments ago. “Now that everyone is here, Liam, can you tell us what’s going on?”

Liam shifted his body in a way that told me he was concerned about how Cooper would react and wanted to put himself between Marco and Cooper.

“I don’t know much,” Liam admitted. “I merely got the call to get over here.”

“Ivy called you?”

Liam shook his head.

Marco’s fingertips pressed in. “I did.”

“You?” Cooper said. “How did you know what was going on?”

“Because I was on the phone with Ivy, already heading to her place when it happened,” Marco revealed.

“Oh, thank goodness,” my mom chimed in, clearly oblivious to the truth Marco had just revealed.

“Has she been checked by a paramedic?” Cooper pressed. “Was she hurt?”

“Yes, they just walked out,” Liam informed him. “But she’s dealing with a bit of shock and not talking. She hasn’t said anything since Marco got here.”

A heavy silence hung in the air.

“Folks?”

The unfamiliar voice belonged to an officer. “Yes?” my dad answered. “I’m Malcolm Westwood. This is my daughter, Ivy.”

“Mr. Westwood, we’re heading out tonight. We’ll need your daughter to stop in down at the station in the next day or so, though.”

“Sure. Is this guy… He’s not getting out any time soon, is he?”

“After what he did to her once and coming back here tonight, he’s not going to be roaming free right away.”

My dad gave him a nod and extended his hand. “Thank you, Officer.”

“Don’t mention it. Have a good evening, everyone.”

As the officer stepped away, the tension in the room grew thicker.

“Why were you coming over here?” Cooper asked.

There was no question who he was speaking to, even if he hadn’t been staring at Marco like he was.

Marco didn’t miss a beat. “I was coming over to pick her up. We were going to be spending the night at my place.”

I cuddled closer to Marco, wanting him to know how much I appreciated his willingness to just put it out there and face whatever was going to come our way.

“You two… you two are seeing one another?” Rhea asked, her delighted surprise evident.

“We are. We have been spending time together ever since that guy attacked her back in January, but things didn’t turn serious until about a month later.”

“Oh, this is wonderful news,” Mom declared. “This is an awful way to learn about it, but I couldn’t be happier for the two of you.”

I expected as much from her. Mom adored Marco, the same way I believed everyone else in the family should have. None of the men spoke, but I noticed how Skye stepped close to Cooper and linked her fingers with his. Evidently, she could sense he was struggling.

Ava broke the silence. “It’s a great thing they’re together, too. Because imagine how much worse this could have been tonight if Marco hadn’t been on the phone with Ivy when that guy broke into the house.”

I loved my best friend. She knew the concerns Marco and I had with Cooper learning the truth about this, so I was grateful she was pointing out something that might help get him to realize this was nothing for him to be upset about. The problem was that I wasn’t quite sure he believed that was the case.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Cooper asked. His tone indicated he was struggling to maintain his temper. “Why did you hide this?”

Marco told him the truth. Or, part of it, anyway. “We wanted time to just be happy.”

Tate cut in, clearly hurt. “And you didn’t think we’d be happy for you?”

“That’s what I said,” Liam added.

“You knew?” Cooper clipped.

“Ava and I knew, too,” Jules shared.

“I knew, because I figured it out on my own,” Liam informed Cooper. “They didn’t tell me until I asked Marco about it today, right before he left work.”

Cooper’s gaze cut to Marco. “Why didn’t you tell me? You’re my best friend, and she’s my sister, and you didn’t think you should share the news with me? Why not?”

Marco hesitated, but I felt his thumb stroking lightly along my side. It was like he needed a way to reassure me that everything was going to be fine, even if they got out of control in the next few minutes.

“Because you made it clear that you weren’t thrilled with the idea of there being anything between us,” Marco explained. “We didn’t want to keep things hidden from anyone, but we wanted time to enjoy being happy before we caused problems within the family.”

Surprisingly, my dad stepped forward. “Why would this create a problem in our family?”

In agreement with that, Wyatt asked, “Yeah, Cooper, why would you not be happy about Marco and Ivy being together, especially if they’re both happy?”

Cooper didn’t look away from us. He remained stone-faced as his eyes shifted between Marco and me.

“Are you happy?” Tate asked. He was looking at me.

It was my turn to speak up. I hadn’t managed to get any words out yet, but if ever there was a time for me to say something, this was it. “I am. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.” I turned my attention to Cooper. “I love him.”

Marco’s body went solid beneath mine, and I realized I’d not said those words directly to him yet. So, I turned fully to face him. “I love you.”

His features softened just before he pressed a kiss to my temple. “I love you, too, Princess.”

I heard the soft gasp from across the room, and I was certain it came from Skye.

When I looked in that direction, I could see the tears in her eyes and knew I’d guessed correctly. My eyes slid to the side and regarded Cooper once more. “I’m sorry if this isn’t what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. Marco makes me happy, and he looks after me. He’s kind and loving and compassionate. He’s hardworking and would do anything to help anyone. He makes me laugh, and he’s clearly just as crazy about me as I am about him. He’s a good man, Cooper, but I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”

My brother stared at me, and what I thought had been anger in his eyes from the moment Marco revealed the truth until now wasn’t. It was hurt, sadness. And the low tone of his voice when he spoke indicated as much. “I never said I wouldn’t be happy for the two of you.”

My body went rigid. Marco’s, too.

Cooper didn’t stop. “I’ll admit, I didn’t have the best reaction in the hotel room, but I apologized for it.”

“You still had that reaction, assuming something was going on between us when there wasn’t,” Marco pointed out. “And yeah, you apologized, but have you ever considered what it did to me to know that my best friend thought I wasn’t good enough for his sister?”

“Marco, I’m sorry, but I never had that thought. Not once.”

Skye’s fingers were still linked with Cooper’s, but she brought her free hand up and stroked along his bicep. There was clearly a lot of hurt in this room, and I was merely grateful my brother had someone like Skye to see him through what he was experiencing.

Marco remained silent, evidently dumbfounded by Cooper’s response, so I said, “If that’s the truth, why were you so mad that day in the hotel?”

“Because he lied to me. Because I asked him if he had someone in that room with him when I saw your jacket on the floor, and he lied. I understood after the fact why he lied about it, but in that moment, I assumed he kept the truth from me because he was hiding something that was going on between the two of you. And I didn’t like that. I didn’t like the idea of my sister being in a relationship with someone who would want her to hide it, who wouldn’t be proud to be with her, and who would encourage her to deceive her family.”

He wasn’t against us being together. The relief that swept through me was tremendous.

“So, so it doesn’t bother you that we’re together?” I asked him.

“It bothers me that you thought you couldn’t tell me.”

The silence stretched between us. Marco and I had hidden the news of our relationship for no reason. Granted, we’d both seen Cooper that day, and we truly believed there was something else going on inside his head when it came to news like that. Maybe we should have asked about it, but there was little we could do about it now.

I shifted my attention to Marco, and he jerked his head in the opposite direction. He was thinking the same thing I was.

So, carefully, he helped me to my feet. And a moment later, I crossed the room and came to a stop in front of Cooper. “I’m sorry.”

My brother barely gave me the chance to get those two words out before he engulfed me in his arms. “I’m sorry, too. I hate that you thought I wouldn’t support you, that you believed you had to keep this from me. I love you, Ivy, and I only want the best for you.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Thanks, Coop. That means the world to me.”

He loosened his hold on me, pulled back, and allowed his eyes to roam over my face. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not. But I will be. I have all of you around me, so I’m not alone, and I know I’m going to eventually be okay.”

Cooper gave me a nod of approval before he looked behind me at Marco. “Thank you, again, for being here for her.”

“I fully accept your thanks, but you should know it’s not necessary. She’s mine now, and her safety, happiness, and well-being are my responsibility.”

“You did a hell of a job, son,” my dad said, stepping forward and clapping a hand on Marco’s shoulder. “I saw that asshole in the back of the police cruiser. You did a number on him.”

“If I hadn’t been so concerned about her, I’m not sure I would have stopped when I did. But Ivy needed me, and helping her was more important.”

My dad gave Marco a nod of approval before allowing his eyes to dart between the two of us. “For what it’s worth, you both have my blessing.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around him.

Over the next few minutes, Marco and I received words of encouragement about our relationship and relief about what happened tonight from the rest of my family.

In the midst of it all, Cooper and Liam managed to get my window all boarded up as a temporary fix.

And finally, I took a moment to talk directly to Marco. “I don’t want to stay here.”

“We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.”

Shaking my head, I clarified, “I know that. But I mean, I don’t want to stay here ever again. I can’t. I want to leave here and never come back.”

Marco shot me a look of concern, holding my gaze for several beats. Then he dipped his chin, pressed a kiss to my forehead, and promised, “We’ll figure it out. Whatever you need, I’ll make it happen for you.”

I leaned my weight into him, and Marco happily took it. A few minutes later, we gathered up the things I’d need for the next couple of nights, said goodbye to my family, and took off toward Marco’s place.

He held my hand the entire way there.