Page 52 of Relentless (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 2)

The doors part, and I walk into the reception area with my shoulders back and chin up, ready for whatever is going to come at me. The man at the desk looks a few years older than me and smiles warmly when I walk up to his desk.

“Hi, I’m Ivy Bane.” I return his smile. “I’m here to see Frank. Mr. Marsh,” I correct myself not knowing how familiar I should be around other employees.

“Hello,” he stands and extends his hand for a handshake. “I’m Taylor. Follow me.”

We make small talk on the walk over to Frank’s office. He tells me he just graduated from NYU, and I tell him I’m at Yale. He walks me to Frank’s door, bypassing Frank’s personal assistant with a quick introduction, and then leaves me standing there. I have a slight moment of panic thinking about Levi possibly being in there with him.

I raise my hand to knock right as the door swings open, and I’m looking up at my former stepfather. His smile is instantaneous and warm, his eyes crinkling at the corners with affection.

“Ivy,” he steps aside and ushers me into his office, closing the door quietly behind him. “Come here,” he opens his arms for a hug, and I step into them.

“Thanks for waiting until the door was closed for this,” I squeeze him back.

“Well, I personally don’t care what anyone thinks of my former stepdaughter having an internship with me, but I’m sure you do.” He releases me. “Why were you just standing there?”

“I was about to knock,” I deflect.

“Yeah, after staring at the grain of the door for a few minutes.” He sits down behind his desk and pulls out a stack of papers. “Were you worried about seeing Levi?”

Wow, way to cut to the chase, Frank.

“No, I’m not worried.”

“Good,” he smirks and it’s easy to see where Levi got his devilish grin from, “because you two will be sharing an office.”

Thank fuck for my game face because I lock that shit down tight as my stomach drops to my feet.

“Not a problem,” I lie.

“Listen,” he leans forward, “I’m still not sure what the entire story between you two was, but he hasn’t been the same since the day you left. He’s sadder and angry. Dark. I don’t know how he’s going to react to you being here.”

That makes two of us.

“He doesn’t know I’m interning with you?”

“No, he does. He just avoids talking about you with me.” He hands me the papers. “Paperwork for HR and payroll. You can fill it over on the table.” He points to the corner of his office where a small round table sits. “He’s out of town this week, by the way, so you can relax and get the hang of everything without worrying about him.”

“Thanks,” I say as I get up, “but I’m really not concerned. We were close friends for so long, I’m sure once the initial discomfort wears off, we’ll be back to a semi-normal state.”

* * *

“How was your first day?” Con asks as I climb into the back of the SUV sitting out front at the end of the day.

“Good, mostly paperwork, tours, and introductions.” I reply giving Saul a little smile in the mirror. “It was nice to spend time with Frank.”

“You two have gotten closer since everything went down, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, we have.” I decide that now is as good a time as any to dig into what Frank said about Levi. It’s troubled me all day. “Can I ask you something?”

His eyes rise to mine from his phone. “Yes. I might not answer it though.”

I nod and take a deep breath. “Frank said that Levi’s been different since I left.”

“Yes.”

“How bad? How long?”

“He’s fucked his way through the female population of Harvard but never lets anyone in, never gets attached. If it weren’t for Lilith, he’d probably hate women altogether.” He taps his fingers on his knee. “He’s cynical and darker, faster to snap.”

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