Sweet Dreams Boxed Set (30 page)

Ivy would determine her own fate.

So for now, he’d watch. He’d wait. And when the time was right…

Ivy, you will be mine.
This time, he would get to keep the woman he wanted.

She would be his perfect prey.

Until death. 

***

The ambulance’s siren screeched in the night as it flew away from the scene. Ivy stood on the steps of the convention center, her gaze on that fleeing vehicle. Laxton had still been alive when he was loaded into the back of the ambulance. Would he survive until he reached the nearest hospital? She didn’t know.

“What in the hell…” Bennett murmured beside her, “happened in that corridor?”

She shivered. Her arms were bare, the only covering they had was blood. Laxton’s blood.  Her dress was sleeveless and made for a ballroom, not the night.  Wind blew against her, an icy touch that made her chill bumps all the worse.

“He was there,” Ivy said. Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears. She wasn’t supposed to sound that way. She wasn’t supposed to be so afraid. Her grandfather wouldn’t have been afraid.

He
never would have let the killer get away. 

“I ran into the killer in that hallway.” Literally. “He’d…he’d already stabbed the councilman by then.”

His hands closed around her shoulders and Bennett turned her to face him. “Describe him. Every detail.”

“He still had on his mask and his tux. It was dark in there, and when he grabbed me, I dropped my phone so I couldn’t even use that light.” She’d have to go back for her phone. Later. When the area wasn’t a crime scene. 

“He…grabbed you?” There was a barely banked fury in his voice.

Ivy swallowed the lump in her throat. “He was wearing gloves,” she recalled. Probably those fancy white gloves that so many guys wore to the balls.  “I can remember what those gloves felt like when he wrapped his hands around my throat.”

“He is a fucking dead man.”

No, he wasn’t. He was a man who’d gotten away.  She struggled to recall more from that terrible scene and said,   “His hair was dark. I saw it, before my phone broke. So dark it was almost black.” Her chill was getting worse. 

I’m going to learn your secrets
.
Your desires.  I’m going to give you everything that you ever wanted.

“Ivy!”

Her head snapped up at the call and she saw her brother. Hugh was rushing toward her, pulling Shelly in his wake. Cameron was right at his side.  Cameron had lost his mask and she could read the worry on his face.

Bennett backed away.

“He should’ve had blood on him,” Ivy whispered. Her hand lifted and she rubbed her temple. “When he stabbed the councilman…he should have gotten blood on his tux.” She stared at Bennett. “Why didn’t anyone notice the blood?”

“Because it was damn chaos,” Bennett gritted out. “Ivy—”

Hugh pulled her into his arms before Bennett could finish. She could feel the tremble that shook her brother. “Ivy, I was scared as hell.” He squeezed her tighter. “I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t get to you.” His tremble turned into a hard shudder. “What would I have done without you?”  

“It’s all right,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”  Hugh always held his feelings so close to the vest, but when it came to her, she knew all bets were off.  After their father had died, Hugh had clung even tighter to her. Become even
more
protective. 

Cameron pushed Hugh back and started to give her a big hug—“Uh, Ivy.” Cameron stopped his hugging attempt. “Is that blood?” His voice dropped. “A whole
lot
of blood?” 

Bennett positioned himself between her and the others as he wrapped his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “She’s coming with me. I’ll make sure she’s checked out and then I’ll get her statement.”

Her statement. Right. Only she didn’t have a whole lot to state.

I can be good to you. Or, Ivy, my dear…I can be very, very bad…

“She’s my sister,” Hugh snapped. “I can take care of her, I can—”

“Hugh.” Ivy’s voice was soft. She knew how to handle her brother. Always had.

He blinked at her. She could see the worry and fear in his gaze. “I couldn’t get to you,” he said again.

Her head inclined toward him. “I’m okay.” She kept her voice soft. “I-I saw the killer again.”

Cameron swore.

Shelly backed up a step.

“He stabbed the councilman,” Ivy said. She glanced down at her dress. “It’s his blood, not mine.”

Hugh started to pace. He did that when he was angry or afraid. Right then, she knew he was both. “The killer? Shit, when you told us about him in the limo, I didn’t think you’d actually find him! I didn’t think—”

“I think he found me. He knew my name, and he-he said things…” Things she didn’t want to say, not with the crowd around them. Not with the familiar figures of reporters close by.

Bennett’s hold tightened on Ivy’s shoulders. “She’s coming with me,” he said again, only his voice was harder now.  Almost daring someone to argue.

No one did.

Ivy just wanted to get out of there. She wanted to get the blood off. She wanted to forget the killer’s voice.

I can be good to you.

So much for being some hotshot PI. She was shaking, nearly breaking apart on the inside. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Cameron asked her.

Cameron. He was a good guy, a good friend. Once, he’d tried to get them to be more, but it hadn’t worked.
Because I’d still been hung up on Bennett.
Bennett had been her problem for a long time. It would have been nice if she could have wanted Cameron the way she wanted Bennett. Easier.

But life wasn’t always easy.

“I’m okay,” she promised him.  “Don’t worry about me. I’ll call you tomorrow.” 

Then she let Bennett lead her away from them.  As they walked through the crowd and Ivy heard the whispers around her, she couldn’t help but wonder…

Was the killer close?

Was he watching her even now?

Had he taken off his mask?  Blended in with everyone else?

Was he smiling as he followed her?

I can be good to you…

She hated having his voice in her head. 

Chapter Four

It was close to dawn by the time Bennett parked his car near Ivy’s house.  He sat there a moment, with his hands on the steering wheel as he tried to figure out what the hell he should say to her.

Her gown had been collected as evidence. She’d been given a t-shirt—one that was way too big—and a pair of jogging pants that a female officer happened to have in her locker at the police station.  Borrowed sneakers completed her outfit.

The damn thing was…Ivy was just as beautiful in those over-sized clothes as she’d been in that gorgeous gown.  To him, Ivy was always gorgeous. No other woman had ever quite compared to her.

It sucks knowing you made the biggest mistake of your life when you were a nineteen year old kid.
How many times had he wanted to go back and change the past?  How many times had he thought of Ivy?

“Thanks for the lift home.” She reached for her door handle, and the movement finally jostled Bennett out of his stupor. He hurried out of the car and raced around to her side. His aunt had always instilled southern-boy manners in him…and lesson one had been…

Always, always open the door for a lady.

He yanked open Ivy’s door.  “I’m coming in the house.”

She rose, quirked a brow and said, “Are you now?”

Why was he always stumbling over his words when it came to Ivy? Coming off too pompous. And way too much like a jerk. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I want to make sure the house is safe. You said he knew your name. It’s not a big leap from knowing your name to finding out where you live.”

Her gaze turned to the house. “No,” she sounded sad now and he hated that. “It’s not.” 

He shadowed her steps as she headed toward her house. The place was huge, towering above them and seeming to stretch toward the sky. “You live here by yourself?”

And, yeah, there’d been an edge to his words.

She paused on the porch and glanced at him. “It’s really been one hell of a night.”

He figured that was an understatement.

“I’m tired, I’m pretty scared, and I can still feel the guy touching me.”

His hands fisted.

“So I’m going to save us both some time,” Ivy told him as she turned to fully face him. “I’m not going to play any games.”

He hated games.

“I live here alone.  I’m not involved with anyone. I’m not sleeping with anyone—”

“Cameron—”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sleeping with Cameron.”

“But you were.” 

Silence.

Jealousy burned in his gut.

“How do you know about that?”  Ivy’s voice was far too soft. 

“Because maybe I came back to town one day, desperate to see you.  And maybe—maybe I learned I’d come home too late. You were already in bed with him.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “I slept with Cameron once. And
I
don’t have to apologize for that. We weren’t together. You were long gone. I was alone—with the wreck of my life that had been left behind.”

“Shit, Ivy, I’m sorry.” And he was. “You don’t have to tell me—”

“I didn’t want him, not the way I wanted you.”

His heart stopped.

“Cameron was my friend, and I didn’t want to screw that up. I needed my friends then. Needed them badly.  But I tried again, Bennett. Know that. I wanted to find someone else who’d make me feel the way you did—who’d make me feel even better.”

He’d deal with the jealousy. He’d
deal.
But he wouldn’t screw this up again.

“You know what really sucks?” Ivy whispered.

Not having you.
That was what sucked for him.

“I couldn’t find anyone.”

He took a step back. Oh, hell…was she saying…did he still have a chance?  “Ivy…”

“Are you going to search my house or are you going to keep torturing me?”

He wanted to touch her. He wanted to take away every bit of pain she’d ever felt.  His life had changed—dramatically—in the last year. He’d gotten his priorities in order. He’d come back to Mobile because priority one was Ivy. He’d just needed a way to approach her.

I didn’t think a murder would be the path that brought us back together.
“No torture,” he promised, his voice rough. 

She turned from him and reached for the door handle. Before she could unlock the door, he caught her hand. His body moved in, and he caged her between him and that door. 

“I never stay with a lover long,” he whispered, bending close to her ear. “Because the other women aren’t you.” That was
his
problem. One that tormented him. You weren’t supposed to find a perfect lover when you were barely a man, but he had. He’d found Ivy, and after her…

No one else had ever compared. No one could.
Without her, he’d learned too late…he was lost. 

She didn’t move, but she did say, “I thought you’d come to me, once you were back in town.”

He had, the very day that he’d returned to Mobile. He’d come to this damn house. He’d stayed across the street. He’d stared up at her lighted windows. He’d seen her silhouette.

I was like some stalker.
And he’d been afraid. Afraid to walk up to that door and knock. Afraid she’d send his ass away.

Then he’d seen her being pushed toward the back of a patrol car…

Causing trouble again?
Those had been his words, and they’d nearly stuck in his throat. He’d wanted to say…
Ivy, dear God, I missed you.

“If you really wanted me,” Ivy said. “You should have told me.”

“I’m not good for you. We both know that.”  He wanted to kiss the curve of her neck. Or maybe bite the shell of her ear. She’d always liked that, before. 

“I don’t remember asking you to stay away.”  Her voice was husky. “I never asked that. Not then, and not now.”

She was about to gut him. “It’s a dangerous path you’re taking. I walked away once. You expect me to do it again?”

Ivy turned then, her body brushing against his. “I don’t expect anything of you, Bennett. That’s the beauty of the situation these days.  I can go into a relationship with my eyes wide open. I can say no strings, and I can mean it.”

There’d always been strings between them. Strings that connected them, no matter how far away they were. 

Didn’t I come back, just for her? 

He could have gone to any other town.  He’d gotten better offers, much higher pay. But…

She was here.

“Now…why don’t you come inside?”

Every muscle in his body tensed.

“And do a thorough check of the place,” she continued quickly, “because—and don’t freak out—I don’t have an alarm set up, and I’d really feel better if we both went in together.”

No alarm?  Oh, the hell,
no.

He backed up a step and waited for her to head inside.  The door creaked as she opened it.  When they entered the cavernous house, Ivy quickly flipped the light switch, flooding the foyer with illumination.

“I’ve been fixing the place up.” Ivy waved her hand to the walls as Bennett locked the door. “Fresh paint.  New flooring. Even a new banister on the stairs. It’s a slow process, but, one day, this place is going to be amazing again.”

“Amazing,” Bennett said, but his gaze was on Ivy.

She gave him a faint smile. “Team work, right?”  Her voice sharpened. “Let’s get this search done.” 

And they did. They went through the whole house, and what Bennett saw truly pissed him off.
Too many places to hide.
Too many ways to get inside. Too many unsecured windows. “You need an alarm.
Now.
”

“Right. It’s already on my to-do list,” she said as they paused in front of her bedroom. They were on the second floor. Half of that floor had been remodeled, half was shut down, empty.  “I didn’t expect a killer to be coming after me. I didn’t expect—” She broke off as her gaze slid from his. “I should shower. I-I think I may still have blood on me.”