Page 90 of Corrupting Ivy

Jake scoffed. “Do I look like I’d miss any details?"

“Remember that time with the Bolivians?”

“All right, All right.” He shook his head. “Whatever. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

“Did you book the Cessna?”

He scoffed again. “The jet. Good luck with the upcoming catastrophe.” Jake walked away, waving me off as he did.

I still hadn’t told her everything I had in store for her. She knew she was leaving, just not where. She knew it was with me, just not for how long.

When I rolled her body over and saw the blood, something inside of me snapped. There was no explanation for it; it just did. And now, if I imagined myself back home… without her… an absolute darkness ate at my bones until I had it rectified. It had me watching her while she slept, studying every inch of her abused frame. I’d convinced myself this was what had to happen. It was the only way to keep her safe.

Jake disappeared around the corner, and I turned back into her room, her bandages catching my eye.

I’d listened to every word she said as she recounted every loathsome detail to the FBI. He was just the way I imagined him to be. A sadistic necrophiliac. The things he said to her, the things he did, had me combusting inside with a vengeful appetite I’d never get to slake.

If only I could bring him back to life just so I could kill him slowly, in the most painful ways I’d mastered over the years.

Ivy opened her eyes and placed her hands on her abdomen. “Where were you?”

“Taking care of business and seeing Jake off.” I sat down on the hard couch I’d called my bed for the last few days, then placed my hands on my thighs.

She pulled her legs to the side of the bed.

“Do not get out of that bed again.”

“But I want to be near you.” A look of disappointment flicked across her face, followed by that of sadness.

“You have plenty of time to be near me. Right now, you need to rest. They release you today, and then we are leaving.”

She stopped, then pulled her bandaged legs under the covers. “Are you going to tell me where we are going?”

“To my home.”

“What if I don’t want to leave?”

“You have little choice in the matter.”

“Randall. We still need to discuss what happened before all of this.” She put her bandaged hands in the air in a take a look around motion.

The moment I nearly killed her.

“I have night terrors, or that’s just the way it looks on the outside.”

She shook her head. “That’s your explanation?”

“That’s the truth. What more do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know; how about a reassurance it won’t happen again?”

I ran my fingers through my hair, then back again and over my face as I exhaled. “I can’t do that.” My hands landed back on my legs with a slap. “If I could give you that reassurance, I would, tenfold. But it’s something I’ve lived with for a long while.”

“But I have… what about…” Tears caused her eyes to shine.

“Ivy, look at me.” Her watery gaze drifted my way. “You will want for nothing. You will be safe and secure and never have to worry about anything ever again. You’ll never wonder where your next meal will come from—I’ll bring it to you in bed every day if you so desire.”

“But what about—” She wiped the tear before it fell with the back of her bandaged hand.

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