Page 74 of Vicious Knight

Ivy keeps her back to me and I take advantage again to take in her body while the water runs through her hair, down her back and her ass.

I grab the sponge from the tray on the wall, squirt some shower gel on it and rub it across her back.

She glances over her shoulder at me, uncomfortable as fuck. “I didn't realize you were actually going to bathe me.”

“I guess I am.”

She turns back to face the wall while I rub the sponge over her shoulders.

Silence fills the space between us and I think of what to say to her. It feels like a million things are competing for attention in my mind, but I need to focus on the most important questions.

“Does your father know you're alive?” The question sounds odd outside my head.

Her back tenses again, showing me how much the subject of her father bothers her.

“He doesn't know.” Her voice is small and barely there.

“Hearing you died must have been hard for him.”

“I'm sure it was. My father loved me. I was nine when I last saw him and it was…” Her voice trails off and her fingers linger over the smooth surface of the wall, as if she's touching something that’s not really there.

“What? What was it like?”

“Emotional. It was very emotional. My mother and I came to the States after he was sentenced. I never saw him again.”

I never feel sorrow for anything but the lowliness in her tone triggers compassion I shouldn’t feel. Her father was part of a murder plot, and he might have been responsible for my family’s deaths, too.

“My father was a good man.” She sounds like she's telling herself that more than me. “He didn't mean for what happened to those people.”

“Are you saying you believe he’s innocent, little deer?”

She glances over her shoulder again, more worry in her eyes. “He didn't do any of it.”

Now I pity her. She sounds like a lost little girl holding on to a dream, so I won’t tell her that to be in the position her father is in there would have been seriously strong evidence.

“You sound sure.” I decide to humor her.

“I believe him.”

“Sorry, little deer. Hell is paved with good men who didn’t mean to do what they did.”

She winces, as if my words physically hurt her. “Are you going to give me my ring back?”

“I'm holding on to it for the moment. I don't want to risk losing it again.”

“I won't lose it. That was an accident. I just needed to feel close to my father. It's been hard coming to Raventhorn, with the burden of the secret. I didn't even want to come here in the first place.”

I run my fingers through her hair and turn her to face me. Sad eyes stare back at me and for the first time, I feel like I'm looking at the real her. The version without the barriers and the guards keeping me out.

“Which college did you want to go to?”

“Juilliard or Berklee. I got into both.”

“You can still realize your dreams by attending Raventhorn. In fact, you might get a lot more than you hoped for.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

She stares back at me as if she’s trying to see into my mind to figure out if she can trust me.

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