Page 124 of Corrupting Ivy

He squeezed me and placed his cheek on top of my head. “Always, sweet girl.”

“Take Talon to thehospital in the next town over, then head home,” I said to Diego while scrubbing the blood from my hands, face, and torso with the hose behind the machinery.

“Yes, sir.” He nodded as he and Sam helped her father to the waiting SUV.

“Wait,” Ivy said, running from my truck to Talon.

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as they exchanged words I couldn’t hear. Then he wiped the tears from her eyes.

He didn’t deserve to touch her.

To bring her comfort.

He’d failed her.

But then I’d also failed her.

I promised her she’d be safe and never have to worry about anything ever again. I made a promise I should’ve been able to keep.

Before turning back towards the truck, she glanced at me, and I offered a reassuring smile I wasn’t sure she’d return, but she did… even though it was almost imperceptible, I noticed. We were back at square one, but this time a bloody, agonizing truck full of baggage accompanied us, and it needed unpacking before she’d ever be able to move forward.

My men put Talon in the SUV and took off for the hospital, and I handed the hose to Diaz so they could spray the ooze that now made up four men.

Ball mills… who would’ve thought?

I grabbed my shirt from my pile of gear and threw it over my head, then picked everything up and walked towards my truck where Ivy sat.

She sat in the front passenger, her hands picking at her cuticles in her lap, her head hung, staring at her fingers while chewing on the corner of her mouth.

I tossed my equipment onto the floor, but not before unloading my rifle and pistol and wrapping them in a blanket on the back seat.

“How can you just forgive him like that?”

“Forgive who?”

“Your father. He abandoned you and allowed your mother to hawk you off to the highest bidder.”

She interlaced her fingers through mine. “It wasn’t like that between him and me. He wasn’t in my life. He didn’t make those decisions. But when the time came, he defended me. I love my dad.”

“I would never forgive Ma.”

I opened her door and tucked my hands between hers, and squeezed.

“I think that’s comparing apples to oranges. Besides, you’ll live a happier life if you did. She’ll no longer have whatever this hold she has over you.”

Food for thought.

I caressed that scar that connected us together. “If I ask you for forgiveness, would you stop looking at me like I’m the devil?”

“Asking for forgiveness doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten; it just means I’d no longer allow it to affect my life.” She sighed. “Besides, there’s nothing for me to forgive.”

I brought her hand up to my lips, kissed her knuckles, then placed her hand back into her lap and shut the door. She’d look at me the same way she did before, eventually. She lets me touch her, so that’s something.

“We’re going to catch a ride with Diaz and Sam,” Jake said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder.

“We, as in, you and Alek?” I asked as I opened the driver’s door to my pickup.

“Yeah. We figured you two have a lot to sort out.”

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