TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9) (6 page)

I’m
not hiding anything.
 
We haven’t
done anything wrong
.
 
Plenty
of people like to do kinky things during sex.

The cab dropped her off in front of
Cullen’s home and then she saw the door opening, as Cullen came outside and greeted
her.

He was wearing a light blue suit, and it
matched his eye color almost perfectly.
 
He looked handsome, devastating as ever.

“Ivy,” he said, sounding formal, as she
reached the doorstep.

“Is it all right if we take a walk
outside for a bit?” she asked, remembering his father’s instruction to talk out
in public where they couldn’t be easily overheard or spied on.

Cullen gave her a curious look.
 
“A walk.”
 
He shrugged.
 
“Sure, why not?”

So he shut the front door and locked it,
and then the two of them began walking down the street together.
 
“I guess you’re probably wondering why I
came here,” she said.

Cullen ran a hand through his hair.
 
“I wanted to see you too,” he said.

His comment caught her completely off
guard.
 
“You did?” she said,
surprised at his admission.

He stopped walking and took her hand in
his.
 
“I miss you already,” he told
her.
 
“I thought that I could
somehow stay away from you, Ivy.
 
I
told myself that you’d be better off without me.
 
And I’m certain that’s true.”

“Cullen—“

“Let me say it,” he told her, his pale eyes
intent on her now.
 
“I’m no good for
you, Ivy.
 
You are perfect, and
beautiful, and sweet and innocent.
 
And if I could somehow erase my presence from your life, I’d do it so
that you wouldn’t be burdened by my darkness.
 
But I can’t seem to live without
you.”
 
 

“You’re not evil,” she told him.
 
“You think you’re so dark and horrible,
but you’re not.
 
I can see who you
truly are.
 
And I still love you.”

He reached out and caressed her
cheek.
 
“I could never hope to
deserve you.”

She smiled at him and bit her lower
lip.
 
“We might be crazy,” she
said.
 
“Like—really, really
crazy.”

“I’m crazy about you,” he said, still
stroking her cheek as the wind picked up and ruffled his dark hair.

And then Cullen Sharpe gave her the
sweetest, most loving kiss she’d ever been given, and for a brief
moment—Ivy was able to forget everything bad that had happened.

They broke off from their kiss and Cullen
took her hand, and they began walking once more.
 

Ivy marveled how the city had transformed
into something so beautiful, now that Cullen Sharpe had taken her into his arms
once again.

Everywhere she looked, she saw light
dancing in the trees, and children giggling as their mother tried to wrangle
them into a nearby car.
 

An older man walked a cute dog.

A young couple laughed at a private joke
across the street.

The nearby buildings towered majestically
toward the blue sky above them.

But then a cloud moved across the sky and
blocked the sun, and the day grew colder, and Ivy remembered what had truly
brought her here.

“I have something important to tell you,”
she said.

Cullen glanced at her as they kept
walking down the sidewalk together.
 
She looked around, searching for suspicious vehicles or people.

“Somehow I have a feeling I’m not going
to like this,” he replied.

“I got a text from an unknown person last
night,” she said.
 
“They told me my
phone wasn’t secure and that one would be delivered to me.”

Cullen’s face grew pale.
 
“My father,” he whispered.

Ivy put a hand to her mouth as if she was
coughing, but then she turned her face towards him and spoke.
 
“He told me you’re being held under
constant surveillance, so he can’t contact you.
 
Everything’s being watched.
 
Your phone, email, everything.”

Cullen’s posture immediately
stiffened.
 
“Continue.”

“But most importantly, he wanted me to
tell you that he needs money.
 
He
wants you to place two point six million dollars into the Swiss account.
 
He said you’d know what that meant.”

Cullen barked a disbelieving laugh.
 
“He must’ve meant two hundred thousand.”

“No, he said the number twice and
corrected me when I said two and a half million.
 
He was clear that it’s 2.6 million.
 
He said lives are at stake.”

Cullen didn’t respond for a long
time.
 
“Did he give a timeframe for
when this needed to occur?”

“Within twenty-four hours,” she said.

He shook his head.
 
“Damn him.”

“I’m sorry,” Ivy said.
 
“I don’t know if I made a mistake…”

“No,” Cullen said.
 
“Don’t take any blame.
 
As usual, this is what happens when you
involve yourself with me.”

“I don’t care about that.
 
Please,” she said.
 
“Don’t let this get between us.”

He smiled, but his eyes looked
strained.
 
“I won’t,” he said.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he agreed, squeezing her hand
comfortingly.
 
“But we should head
back to my place.
 
I need to move
some things around, liquidate an asset or two to free up that much cash.”
 
Cullen shook his head yet again.
 
“The man won’t be satisfied until he
bankrupts me.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t do it,” Ivy
suggested.

Cullen didn’t reply at first.
 
“Maybe not,” he said, eventually.
 
“I need time to think.
 
I want to just be with you tonight,” he
told her.
 
“We’ll go back and I’ll
make us dinner and we can pretend that it’s just the two of us, and none of the
rest of it matters.”

“That sounds lovely,” Ivy agreed.

She almost felt happy, despite all of the
negative prospects hanging over their heads.

They’d just arrived back at Cullen’s
apartment when she felt Cullen stiffen again and saw his eyes narrowing as he
looked past her.

“What’s happening—“ he began.

Two police cars had pulled up and cops
were getting out of them, hands on their holsters.
 
They announced themselves, and told Ivy
to step away from Cullen.

“What’s going on?” she cried.
 
Terror overwhelmed her.

And that’s when she saw her mother
getting out of one of the cars.
 

“Is that your daughter, ma’am?” the
police officer said.

“Yes, that’s her,” Ivy’s mother told him.

“Ma’am, we need to ask you a few
questions,” one of the cops told Ivy.

“Mom,” Ivy cried.
 
“What are you doing?”

“Look at her neck,” Ivy’s mother said,
pointing.
 
“See the bruises?
 
The bruises from where that monster hurt
her?”

The officers were surrounding Ivy now,
and she tried to cover her throat but it was too late.

They’d seen the marks.

She tried to explain that nothing bad had
happened and she didn’t want to press charges.

“We’re concerned for your safety, Miss
Spellman,” one officer kept repeating.

And then they were arresting Cullen.
 

It was like a nightmare.
 
Everything bad was happening all over
again and there was nothing she could do about it.

They were arresting him again—this
time because of her.

She was crying as she watched Cullen,
resigned, handcuffed.
 
They even put
manacles on his feet.
 

It was inhuman.

He was pushed into a paddy wagon that
arrived mere moments later.

“Cullen!” she shouted.
 
“I love you!”

The doors to the wagon slammed.
 
The police were asking for her statement
as the wagon was driven off.

“My statement is, this is wrong.
 
I’m not in danger.
 
You’re abusing and harassing him!” Ivy
told them.
 
“You can’t keep
arresting him.
 
Please stop.”

“Your mother says that you admitted he
gave you those bruises?” someone said.

She didn’t answer.
 
She stared at her mother with fury.
 
“How could you?” she said, as she looked
at her mother, who stood defiantly nearby.

Her mother’s eyes were unyielding.
 
“I’ll never stop protecting you,” she
said.
 
“I’ll protect you even from
yourself.”

THE END OF TROUBLE (THE BILLIONAIRE’S
RULES, BOOK 9)

Book 10 will be coming very soon….

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