Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Seventeen

This is a triple update. Please make sure to read Chapters 15 & 16 first. Enjoy!

Ivy waited up for Harry.

After getting Willow home from the hospital, Astrid agreeing to stay with her for the night, she had someone drive her to his place. It was near the financial district, maybe a few blocks from his office building. While hers was all brick and classically styled, his was sleek and modern. There was a lot of neutrals, large windows, and the floor of the entrance was a black onyx.

The doorman let her in right away, giving her a nod and a polite, "Welcome, Miss Malone."

The keys that Harry gave her worked in the elevator and brought her up to his floor. Of course, he owned all of it.

In the quiet of his home, she finally felt the true weight of today's events. It felt as if it had gone on forever, one day felling like a week. The contract signing was going well. Everyone agreed to it, even if there was a little clash with Isabella Bianchi.

Those moments after the attack, where she was lying on the floor, protected by Harry's body, confused her. Nothing had mattered to her but the man who had just flung her out of the way of bullets, risking himself in the process. She didn't think Harry was capable of that.

But things had been slowly changing between them. Their conversations were less battles and more discussions. Trust was building carefully, ideas flowed more freely, and that barrier that looked so uncrossable when they first met was crumbling. She found herself wanting to reach out to him. And surprisingly, he allowed it. Everything she had been feeling and discovering, he had been right there experiencing the same things.

That's why her first instinct was to check on Harry. His first was to protect her and shield her.

She hadn't really been able to consider what this meant. The world had kind of blown up at that moment. Her uncle Tully was dead. Willow was hurting. Someone was brash and reckless enough to attack every important family all at once. That meant no one was safe ever. This wasn't just a few break-ins or stolen product. This wasn't audits and missing cargo.

Yet at the top of her mind this instant was him.

She felt selfish and greedy, knowing her cousin, her best friend, was hurting. Tully was a good father. He cared for Willow in a way that her father never did. She often times found herself jealous of the relationship between Willow and her dad.

She didn't miss the reaction her father gave, though. There was something off about the solemn expression he had. Like it wasn't quite genuine. His brother was just shot and bleeding out in front of him, yet he didn't even try to help.

Cillian was always the type of man to have no mercy on the dying. Even with his own family members. He barely grieved their mother when she passed.

Then there was the others. Isabella hastily trying to leave before everything went to shit. The way Saskie and Tatianna Dvorsky were arguing in hushed whispers. The strange reluctance to leave by the Hayashi's. There were too many moving parts and not enough information on her part.

She wondered what Harry was doing. How he was fairing. Ivy felt an urge to go out and try to figure out what the hell was going on herself. She felt useless, and she hated feeling fucking useless.

But she also knew leaving this place was a bad idea. It would be the perfect time to act. Right after a large scale attack. Everyone was still reeling and frazzled from the events today, and they would take advantage of that. Her best option was to stay here and wait for Harry, as much as that killed her ego.

To keep herself busy, she decided to explore his house. It was midnight, and she suspected he wouldn't be home any time soon, so she made a point to snoop through every drawer. Harry had basically already done the same, Dev having been in her house searching for cameras and listening devices. She was sure he had told Harry everything he could.