This is home.
I sink my face into his pillow, inhaling his scent and wrapping myself in it as I burrow under the sheets. This is exactly where I belong.
Of course, it would be better if Silas himself were back here in this bed with me. I reach over and check my phone, grumping at the lack of messages or calls from him. I have no idea what time he left after getting the phone-call from Declan’s wife, but the sun is certainly a little brighter out now.
And I miss him.
The phone buzzes in my hand, startling me, and for a second my heart jumps thinking it’s him before I look at it.
It’s Lori.
Wonderful.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, centering myself and getting myself ready for this conversation before I finally answer.
“Hi, Lor-”
“You left the event?!”
Lori’s voice is tight and shrill.
I shake my head, frowning. “Lori, I left because of Blaine.”
“Ivy, for Christ’s sake, I thought we understood each other!”
“He’s fucking Ainsley, Lori. He’s been cheating on me with my damn assistant!”
Lori sighs exasperatedly into the phone. “Ivy, I don’t honestly care who Blaine sleeps with. Or you, for that matter, so long as you do what you’re supposed to do when it matters.”
“Lori-”
“No, Ivy, you listen. Image is important, and I thought you grasped that. This event was important, and you left a lot of important people in the lurch last night with your little disappearing act.”
I scowl into the phone, the anger rising up. “Do you even care that Blaine wasn’t honoring his side of the contract?”
“He was there, Ivy! As I said, I do not care whom either of you sleeps with! I don’t care if you hate each other, so long as you smile for the fucking cameras, engage the audiences, and play the damn roles you’re supposed to play! That’s it!”
I swear under my breath. “This is insane.”
“No,” Lori says sharply. She sighs. “Actually, Ivy, this is breach of contract.”
I freeze.
“Excuse me?”
“Ivy, I thought I was clear about your terms with us, and what was expected of you last night.”
“But Blaine-”
“I do not care, Ivy. I apologize if that sounds cold, but that’s the way this works. You are a product, and we sell you. That’s what this relationship is, and I thought it was fairly mutually generous until you pulled this stunt.”
I grit my teeth. “Fine, we’ll do some damage control. Look, are the vendors and brand reps still in town?”
I can’t believe I’m actuality doing this.
“I’ll come into the city right now. We can set up some brunch meetings, play it off like I was feeling ill last night and still-”
“No, Ivy,” Lori says quietly and firmly. “I told you to go to that gala last night. I told you it was important.”
“Lori, will you just listen to-”
“This is going to have big consequences, Ivy,” she says icily.
I narrow my eyes, sitting up in the bed.
“And just what does that mean?”
She sighs. “It means, Ivy, that you might want to get a lawyer.”
I freeze, my stomach sinking in my gut.
“What?”
Lori sighs again. “I’m sorry it’s come to this, but a breach of contract is a breach of contract.”
“This is ridiculous, Lori. You can’t actually be serious about this.”
“I’m going to hang up now, Ivy,” she says sharply. “We’ll be in touch.”
The line goes dead.
What the hell just happened.
Did I just get fired?
Maybe you should get a lawyer.
My head reels as I slide out of the bed and slip back into the dress from last night. A hundred thoughts stagger through my head - who I should call, what I should do, where I even begin to find a lawyer for this.
I whirl, pacing the small room as it rocks gently on the waves. The panic starts to clutch at me, my breath coming fast ands my pulse pounding in my ear as the sick feeling from the conversation starts to wash over me.
And all I want is for Silas to be here.
I need my lighthouse.
As if on cue, I hear the sound of footsteps coming down the docks towards me. My heart jumps a little, the pure need to feel his arms around me right now leaving me breathless as I duck out of his room and run for the door to the main deck.
“Silas, I-”
His face is grim, white, and drawn.
And he’s not alone.
“Well hello there, sweetness.”
Declan stands a foot behind him flanked by three men in mostly black, a cigarette in his mouth and a smug grin on his face. He winks at me.
“Damn, do I love being right about these things.” He chuckles, and I can see Silas’s face tighten.