Sins of a Bad Boy (The Original Bad Boys Book 1) (33 page)

CHAPTER 42

William

When winter ended and William’s feelings for Ivy still hadn’t relented, he became restless beyond reason. Attaining calmness was nearly impossible when with each passing day, his obsession for Ivy Hunter didn’t lessen in any way. He even started to miss her constant chattering.

People say ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’. That’s true.

People say ‘out of sight, out of mind’. That’s not true.

The second someone influences your mind in a life-altering way, you’ll find yourself tied to that person for all eternity. An invisible bond forms, one that can never be severed – whether you want it to be or not.

A year had passed since the first time William had met an auburn curled beauty that still kept his mind engaged often.

Even Silk preached to William that it was time to give up.

In reaction, William hired another investigator.

“You’re wasting your money, William.” Silk spoke with concern in William’s office, which used to be Charles’s office, in the newly renovated gambling club. “She thinks you were going to kill her. Trust me; she’ll never be found. She’s clever enough to hide away forever.”

“She doesn’t have an endless amount of funds. She can’t hide forever, Silk.” William rested his behind on the edge of his desk as Silk stood before him.

“And if you find her, then what? She hasn’t given you any trouble; she hasn’t blackmailed you. She kept her word and hasn’t said a thing about how you kidnapped her or how we disposed of a dead body, or else the police would’ve interrogated us by now. You and I decided together that we weren’t going to do business as mercilessly as Charles did. We agreed not to work at all hours and to keep the business as legal as possible so that we wouldn’t
have
to work all the time. I’ve told you to forget the past and move on. If someone targets us, we’ll retaliate the way Charles taught you, but don’t you like it better to live your life without looking over your shoulder all the time?” Silk gave William time to think over his words.

“I do. But I’ll never give up my search for Ivy,” he stated resolutely.

Silk’s next remark was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Yes,” William said, and the knob turned.

“Mr. Kade, there’s a visitor here to see you,” a male employee of the club announced.

William frowned since he didn’t have an appointment scheduled with anyone. “Who is it?”

“He only wanted to give his first name: Ben.”

William straightened as he ordered, “Send him in.” And he mouthed to Silk, “Ivy’s Ben.”

William had confided in Silk about everything that happened with Ivy, so Silk knew who Ben was.

Ben came into the office and stopped right between William and Silk. “William, it’s been a long time.”

It had been ten years since Ben and William last saw each other; the day they killed the caretakers at the orphanage. Ben looked dreadful with his filthy black hair and old, worn clothes.

If Ben was in the Loop, then odds were that Ivy was close-by as well. Ivy had revealed to William that she, Sean, and Ben had been conning together for years.

“What do you want, Ben?” William demanded calmly while he was anything but.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Ben slanted a probing glance in Silk’s direction.

“No. What do you want, Ben?”

“I want to talk to you alone,” Ben answered.

“Silk stays,” William countered.

“Fine then,” Ben commented smugly. “I have information that you want.”

Neither Silk nor William spoke. They merely waited for Ben to elaborate.

“I know where Ivy is,” Ben said.

Silk just arched a brow while William cocked his head. “And?”

“And?” Ben repeated, staggered. “Don’t you want to know where she is?”

Of course William did, but it was best to play it cool. “What’s this information going to cost me?”

“I want a house here in the Loop,” he demanded.

Silk smirked at Ben and almost imperceptibly shook his head at Ben’s ridiculous request.

“First, I want to know where she is,” William retorted.

“No, first, I want a deed in my name.”

“That’s never going to happen. You can leave then,” William bluffed and claimed his seat behind the desk.

Ben uneasily stepped to the door but didn’t open it. He was the worst negotiator William had ever met.

“Fine. I know where she’ll be tonight. At a country dance right outside the Loop.”

William flung a piece of paper and a pen on the desk. “Write down the address. I’ll verify tonight and get back to you.”

Ben did as asked and stated before he left, “I’ll come back here tomorrow.”

After the door shut, Silk pointed out, “He’s stupid. He gave the information and left without a penny.”

William slid the note toward himself to read the address and agreed, “Apparently, he’s not that bright. I don’t care anyway. If she’s back here, I’ll find her. And you’re coming with me tonight to this country dance.”

***

Hay bales were stacked in an open field far outside the Loop. Men and women of different ages milled around, and a white tent was set up where people were dancing.

For an hour, William and Silk sat on a hay bale inside the tent, perusing the area.

William noticed women eyeing them hungrily, and as he gazed around, he realized that he and Silk stood out with their muscular physiques.

As the band started a new song, William stiffened when he scanned the line of dancers. At the end of the line was a woman with reddish-brown curls wearing a simple, sleeveless violet dress that ended just below her knees. He blinked, making sure his sight wasn’t deceiving him.

Then time slowed and he clearly beheld her sparkling blue eyes. Ben had told the truth. It was Ivy.

The one that got away.

“Found her,” William told Silk, who followed his gaze.

“And now?” Silk asked.

“I’m going to dance. I want her to know I’ve found her.” William rushed to the dance floor, stopping in front of a random woman.

The opposite line of dancers stepped closer, and they rotated positions as William continued to observe Ivy. He gritted his teeth when she flashed a beautiful smile to her partner. Her partner who continually touched her, even when the other dancers didn’t and simply followed the routine of the dance.

William tried to assemble a plan. He didn’t want her to get away. And how the hell could she be so unaware of him? He was taller than most of the men there.

Suddenly, she looked up and searched the crowd, her eyes passing him. Then she frowned and continued her dance.

Did she not even recognize him?

Luckily, the dance forced people to change partners every other minute. William studied Ivy until he was in front of her. She had been holding her partner’s hand and watching her own feet. William fucking detested that the other men had touched her, so he took her hand forcefully from the other man’s grip.

Her gaze flew up and her eyes widened as William pulled her into his arms.

“Hello, Ivy Hunter,” he greeted, lowering his head, bringing them face-to-face.

It had been six months since the day she ran and boarded the train.

She attempted to spin, but he held her firmly, wanting to admire her flawless skin.

“Stop fighting me,” he said in a low tone.

“I’ll never stop fighting,” she spat, refusing to meet his stare.

Her vehemence roused his own. “Tsk, tsk, so feisty. I’m not letting you go.”

“What are you going to do here? And what the hell
are
you doing here?”

“So many questions. I’ll answer them if you’d just stop protesting.”

People were starting to watch their interaction with suspicion.

Her palms were pushing against his chest, but he didn’t budge.

“Just let me go. I don’t want your answers,” she stated.

That hurt him, and he bit back, “Well, I demand answers from you, Ivy.”

“Then you’re out of luck because I’ll never provide them.”

“You will,” he said conceitedly.

At last, she stopped squirming and dared to look at him.

Ivy’s hair had grown even longer, and William couldn’t resist tangling his fingers in her soft curls like he’d done so often in the past. The scent of her honeyed perfume teased him, bringing back memories best left in some dusty, distant corner of his mind.

Their stare held a lifetime of sorrow. How different everything would’ve gone had they met under other circumstances. Ivy swallowed, and he could see moisture pooling in her eyes. The blue of her irises appeared lighter than he remembered.

“What do you want, William?” she checked around nervously, licking her plump lips.

“To dance, Ivy,” he whispered, but another man appeared next to her.

The man offered his dance partner to William and wanted to take Ivy.

“Fuck off,” William snarled. “She only dances with me.”

Downright startled, the man and woman anxiously slipped away from them.

Ivy made another effort to pull free, but William wrapped his arm around her middle.

She tensed in his embrace.

“Look at me,” William ordered.

She refused adamantly.

“Look. At. Me.”

Her stare snapped up. “What do you want? We’re not on your territory.”

“I want to talk to you,” William replied

Her brows shot up. “Talk? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’m not kidding.” His hand moved to her lower back, and he drew her closer to him, her breasts pressing against his chest.

Ivy’s breath caught in her throat. Both his arms fastened around her back, and she was forced to twine her arms around his neck to avoid causing a scene. They were sealed in an embrace. As if time hadn’t evolved, he was transported back to many months ago when he’d spent hours in his bed with her, when she’d held on to him in her sleep.

Sometimes no words are needed.

William bent his head as they swayed to the music. The corner of his lips against the corner of hers. Both were breathing harshly as he nuzzled her and molded her body against his.

After agonizing months of numbness, William awakened. The insight that he should’ve never let her go hit him straight in the chest
.
He missed her. He’d fallen in love with her. That was the truth that burned in his heart, in his blood.

Suddenly, William sensed wetness against his lips, so he pulled back slightly.

A tear rolled down Ivy’s cheek while her eyes were clamped shut.

“Ivy,” he uttered, feeling distress deep in his bones. She’d always had the power to evoke emotions of this magnitude in him.

Unexpectedly, she asked in a tiny voice, “Do you ever think of me, William?”

He kissed her closed eyes. “Every second of every day,” he whispered and pressed his lips to hers.

“Please don’t, William.”

“Don’t what?”

“Whatever you’re planning. I can’t survive any more games. I’m so tired.”

“Ivy.”

“I said
don’t
,”she warned, anger rising in her tone, an
d
her lashes lifted to reveal the depths of her soul.

Abruptly, they were dragged apart by other dancers, and as the music sped up, the dance floor became a mess.

William barked at the woman pulling at him, “Let me go!”

And he hunted for Ivy through the throng. It felt like forever before he finally spotted her bursting out of the tent, and he pushed his way from the dance floor to go after her.

She was sprinting across the field toward the street and the apartment buildings in the distance.

William advanced on her, but someone slammed against his side and he toppled to the ground. “What the fuck!”

William’s face was pushed into the grass. He planted his hands in the dry ground and pressed himself up, flinging his assailant off him. Then he placed his palm around his throat, banging him against the ground.

The man kicked air, tearing at William’s hand. “If you kill me…my sister will never forgive you…”

William regarded him and recognition dawned: Sean.

Sean’s words had the intended effect, and William eased his grip, demanding, “Where did she go?”

Sean just grinned knowingly, and then William was knocked in the head from behind. Twice, before he lost consciousness.

CHAPTER 43

Ivy

Ivy bolted into the field to cross the street.

The more distance she put between herself and William, the more her confusion rose. What was he doing in this part of the outskirts of the Loop? Moreover, what was he doing at a country dance? Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought he’d catch her at festivities of her own poor people.

She should’ve trusted her instinct. When she first started dancing, a trickle of goosebumps flew over her flesh. It was that responsiveness she’d always had with William. She’d scanned around the area, but her vision was so flawed nowadays that she only saw blurs from afar. Ivy’s condition had worsened. It would only be a matter of weeks before she’d become completely blind. She used to see fluctuation in her vision and had difficulty focusing on near and distant objects, but Ivy’s right eye was already blind, and her peripheral vision in the left eye narrowed swiftly. She hadn’t had any medical treatment since she was kidnapped by William and had been on the run. Ivy had known for years that she’d be blind someday. But as that day came closer and closer, she became more fearful. Every morning she awoke nervously, hoping that she’d still be able to at least see something and experiencing a kind of precarious relief about what little she
could
see.

Her affliction was the main reason why she’d wanted to do a big con with Sean, because after she was blind, she wouldn’t be able to help him anymore. How was she going to take care of herself? She couldn’t let Sean do all the hard work.

Ivy pushed all her wayward thoughts aside and ran to their small apartment. Tears she hadn’t allowed herself to spill in months, streamed down.

Did William suffer the same pangs of regretful attraction when their paths crossed?

There hadn’t been a day when she hadn’t thought of him. Not one night when she hadn’t dreamed of him. The man who she confessed to love while he planned to kill her. Sometimes, she wanted to punch herself for loving William. Other times, she wished she had the nerve to return to him. But what good would that do? None.

She needed to be strong. She’d been strong while enduring so much heartache alone. Life had given Ivy obstacle after obstacle, and she’d survived each and every one of them. Although, she did feel hollow these days. There were times when she couldn’t understand all that had happened and how she’d made it through these past months.

Meeting William had been the best and worst thing to have ever happened to Ivy. He was her first love, and occasionally, she feared that the love she’d felt might’ve been an apparition. A phantom that would disturb her for all eternity. But she didn’t fear it anymore. It had become reality. He was a ghost that she lived with daily.

After boarding that train all those months ago, it had taken weeks for Ivy to send a cryptic message to Sean, and after he received it, he’d finally come for her and helped her, because Ivy was terrified about what William would do if he ever found out the entire truth.

Finally inside her tiny apartment that stank of smoke and booze, she slumped to the stained carpet. She needed to stay away from William. But after not seeing or touching him for six months, she was still awed by the ruthless beauty of his face. Maybe this was the last time she would ever literally
see
William.

She was wrecked, not knowing how to proceed. It was impossible to live with a broken heart.

Ivy fought to remember her goal. Nonetheless, her tears wouldn’t abate. William led her foolish heart to a wealth of pain after only seeing him one more time.

She had to stay in the Loop as long as she had her eyesight. Even though she worried William might discover the truth now that he’d learned she was back, she’d take the risk for the one person that meant more to her than William.