Page 37 of Rami

Unease bunched his muscles—had something happened to Ivy? Why else would Gigi call him?

The last four days had been hell. A million times he’d picked up his phone to ask Gigi for her sister’s new phone number, and a million times he’d chickened out. He’d finally texted two days after her return only to ask how Ivy was doing.

He swiped the glass to answer then hit the speaker button. “Rami speaking.”

“Hey.” Gigi’s cool, chipper voice quickly dispelled the growing pinch in his chest. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Well,” Gigi drawled. “I’d like to inquire about bodyguard services.”

Rami’s shoulders turned in. Her answer shouldn’t have disappointed him. Hell, from a business standpoint, he should’ve been fucking tickled that he’d gained the business of high rollers like Todd and Gigi. But he wanted nothing to do with the call unless it somehow resulted in him seeing Ivy.

“Uh, sure. What are you looking for?” He clicked open the booking system and checked to see which team members were available.

“You,” Gigi said, not missing a beat. “Todd and I are going away for the weekend. We leave tomorrow. I didn’t want to go, but Ivy insisted. I can’t leave her alone for obvious reasons.”

Rami leaned back in his seat. “Does she know you called me?” he said, more quickly than he would have liked.

“No, but I know you’re the only person she’d want around. Are you available to stay here for the next few days while we’re gone?”

Rami dragged his hand over his face. Either Gigi had a fucked-up way of setting up a date or she had a fucked-up way of setting up a date.

There’d been too much awareness in Gigi’s eyes when he brought Ivy home, and he’d bet dollars to donuts she was playing matchmaker—and he wouldn’t refuse.

“Under two conditions,” he conceded.

“I’m listening,” Gigi said slowly, clearly disappointed he hadn’t jumped to send her a contract.

“I do this for free, and you make sure Ivy knows about it. If she’s comfortable with me staying with her, send me a text and I can be there in the morning.”

He had no doubt that if he looked out the window, the sky would be lit up with Gigi’s pearly-white smile all the way from Broadmoor, her ritzy neighborhood.

“Why would you do it for free when I’m willing to pay?” Gigi countered, her words thoughtful, no—insinuating.

Because the idea of any other motherfucker on his team watching over Ivy made Rami want to punch a hole in the wall.

“It’s just something I’d take on personally,” he said slowly. He ran his fingertips over the screen of his laptop and let the words fall where they may.

He heard Gigi walking through her house. “I guess we’d better settle this now,” she said. The sound of Gigi knocking on a door came through the speaker. “Ivy? Phone’s for you.” Then she spoke to Rami again. “Let me know what she says.”

Rami jerked in his seat. What the—

“Hello?” Ivy’s voice, as sweet and cool as a milkshake, floated through the phone.

Uncertainty paralyzed his brain. The last thing he’d expected was to speak to Ivy, even though he thought about her every damn minute of every damn day. “Uh. Hi. It’s me.” He cleared his throat. “Rami.”

She gave a little gasp that did all kinds of shit to his confused cock. A beat passed. “Hi, how are you?”

He tugged at the neckline of his shirt. “I’d be a whole lot better if your sister worked on her communication skills, but I’m not going to mince words. She asked me to come stay with you while she’s away for a few days. Would you be okay with that?”

“Umm...”

“It’d just be me. Off the books.”

“I mean, if you’re free... I guess the company would be nice. I don’t want to put you out, or—”

Some of the pressure on his chest dissipated. “Not at all. Sorry I didn’t reach out. I just—” He wiggled the blasted shirt collar that was still shrinking by the second. “I just didn’t want to bother you while you were recovering.”

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