Page 2 of Take My Place

Great. What time do you think you’ll be here? K. x

Give me half an hour to freshen up. I’ll see you soon. x

My room is small, but it has its own en suite bathroom, so I have a quick shower, scrubbing off the grime from a day spent cleaning and fixing things. I throw on my red and white plaid shirt and jeans. Tying up my dyed blonde hair in a ponytail, I look nothing like the Ivy Archaic who’d attended King Academy. Call me twitchy, but after my father tracked me down before, I am always looking over my shoulder to make sure he hasn’t found me a second time. I’ve changed my name, found a job with accommodation and board so I don’t have to go out very often, and the only person who knows my new identity is Katy–and even she doesn’t know where I live. I have taken every precaution I could think of to stay safe.

But tonight, I am taking a chance and going to visit my foster mum. She has been so supportive since I showed up on her doorstep after running away. She is the one who helped me set up a new identity and helped me plan out my new life. I owe everything I have to her and I fully intend to pay her back as soon as I have earned enough.

My phone beeped again.

Are you on your way yet? x

“Jeez, Katy! Impatient much?” I laugh as I tap out a reply to let her know I am leaving.

I didn’t keep the Honda my dad bought me, as much as I wanted to. Not only did I need the money I got from selling it for a fraction of its worth, it’s way too distinctive a vehicle. It would have been too easy for my dad to track me down if I still had it.

Instead, I traded down for a little Vespa. It doesn’t have the oomph of a proper bike, but it has enough to get me from A to B and I can’t bring myself to give up the freedom two wheels give me. There is something about the feel of the wind in your hair, being exposed to the elements instead of cooped up in a car.

My Vespa might not be winning any races anytime soon, but didn’t attract any unwanted attention, which is just how I liked it.

As I buzz down the road towards Katy’s home, I think about how lucky I am to have a job so close to her. She has no idea I am only in the next town, but I figure that being this close means I am hiding in plain sight. It is far enough away that I wouldn’t run into her when I’m out doing errands for the care home, but close enough I could see her every six months or so.

And if I sometimes drive past her house and imagine the two of us sitting down together, gossiping over a cup of tea, I’m not doing any harm, am I?

At last, I arrive at Katy’s house. I push my Vespa round the back, looping a chain through the wheels and padlocking it tightly shut. Katy doesn’t live in the best of areas and if someone took my Vespa, I would be stuck without transport. The care home didn’t pay enough for me to buy a replacement. Much as I love the job, the pay sucks, but at least they provide me with free food and accommodation.

Once my bike is secure, I go through the back door which is unlocked, as always.

“Hello?” I call out, walking into the kitchen. “It’s me.”

“Hi, Ivy.”

I stop dead in my tracks when I see who is sitting at the kitchen table with Katy.

“Romy!”

Chapter Two

“Ivy! It’s so good to see you.”

Romy moves over to give me a hug, but I push him away, stepping back as my hands shake. What the living fuck is he doing here?

“What’s he doing here?” I ask Katy. “Did you tell him where I was?”

“Of course not!”

“Don’t blame Katy,” Romy gently says, taking a step closer to me once more. Damn he smells nice, whatever aftershave he has on floods my system.

I close my eyes for a moment, pretending that if I keep them closed long enough, he wouldn’t be here when I open them. It doesn’t work, of course. Romy is here, looking sexier than ever, and my heart hurts because I really did miss him.

“My father has an excellent private investigator on his payroll and we always knew exactly where you were. You can’t escape us. You belong to King Town, Ivy.”

A million questions fill my head, but the panic over the slight chance my father could find me scares me out of asking any of them. “Which means that if you’ve found me, so will my father. Thanks for the heads up. I’m out of here.”

I turn to leave, my head whirring with plans. Luckily, I’ve prepped for something like this, so most of my things are kept packed up, ready to run at a moment’s notice. It is going to be heartbreaking abandoning my friends at the care home, but it isn’t like they couldn’t get another caretaker.

Get back to the care home. Grab my stuff. Run.

“Ivy, wait.” Romy reaches out and softly grabs my arm, before pulling me against his chest.

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