Ivy's father's home could be best described as a mansion. 

The marble flooring was gleaming and pristine underneath the scuff of my shoes and I hoped he wasn't expecting to send invoices for the cleaning bill.

I had a feeling the marble probably cost more than I'd made in my entire first year of selling out stadium tours, especially since most of that money hadn't gone to me, anyway. 

"Ah, you must be Kade.  I'm Catalina, Ivy's bonus mom, but you can call me Cat.  We've set you a place over here with your guest.  I trust you...slept well?"

Ivy's stepmother had taken her time before coming down the grand staircase that led to the foyer and fed into what I assumed was the formal dining room where all the food was spread out like a veritable feast, Hollin leisurely leaning back in his chair in the middle with a newspaper across his lap and a donut in his free hand. 

He raised a lone eyebrow as I entered, but didn't say a word.  I was glad—I didn't need his speculation at the moment.  I had already asked myself multiple times what I was doing, but that didn't mean that I was about to stop. 

Besides, Ivy's family seemed nice...enough.  Nice enough.  

Ivy had seemed out of sorts when I left her in her room to get ready, so I had just assumed it was her stepmother getting onto her for bringing a guy over in the middle of the night and not letting her know, but something inside me told me it was something more than that, something that ran deeper. 

"Nice to meet you, Cat.  Thank you so much for your hospitality, it's definitely appreciated."

Her beautifully painted face tipped up into what seemed like a carefully polished smile and while everything about her screamed fake down to the long tips on her manicured fingers, I searched for any kind of warmth in her, and hoped that I found some.

A knock sounded at the door as confusion then recollection flashed across her features. 

"Oh—you chose a perfect day to come, Mr. Hendrix.  My husband loves his golf, and you'd be a perfect addition to the game!  What do you say?"

Just then, the man I assumed to be Ivy's dad answered the door without looking at who was currently in his dining room and then suddenly a large burly man dressed in a white polo one size too small came barging through the door, and a young man dressed similarly with khaki's and expensive shoes with close cropped blonde hair came sauntering in after him as if he owned the house himself. 

"Caleb, Glenn, you made it just in time for breakfast.  I hear we have some...exciting guests of Ivy's joining us."

The pair which I guessed to be father and son ambled through the doorway and their eyes zeroed in on me and my bodyguard who hadn't looked up from his newspaper but once to assess them and then went right back to chewing his glazed donut. 

I wanted to focus on the elaborate purple flowered centerpiece monstrosity in the center of the table, on the intricate vases decorating the entryways, the subtle sparkle of metallic veining in the white marble flooring...anywhere but the assholes coming to sit down with us. 

"You're that singer, aren't you?  Hendrix?"

My smile was forced, and my handshake was just a little too tight. 

These douchebags were giving me creep vibes—something about their eyes.  Calculating and cold.  Assessing.  Arrogant.  Entitled. 

All the words to describe some of the people I'd been forced to work with in the industry. 

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kade."

The son was next, and curious suspicion danced across his face when he squared up to me. 

I was at least an entire foot taller than him, and yet I could tell that he was trying to intimidate me. 

"This is Glen and Caleb Brentwood.  They're close family friends of mine," Ivy's father said in introduction.

"How do you and Ivy know each other?"

"Her agent from CSS sent me a demo of hers and we've been working on an album of mine together."

"Ivy has an agent?  James, you never told me that."

Ivy's dad didn't respond to his wife and instead sized me up like I was some kind of threat to him. 

I wasn't quite sure if he was wrong about that. 

"A famous singer in my dining room.  You know, if you made a political stance and urged your fanbase to get out and vote for—"

"It would be career suicide."

I was more than thankful for Hollin's interruption. 

"Either way you put it, if Kade tells his fans what to do and chooses a stance one side or the other, he'd lose half his fanbase either way."

"And who might you be?"

Her father addressed my bodyguard haughtily, and I wasn't sure I quite appreciated it. 

He had salt and pepper hair with timely wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes, but underneath his crisp golf attire, I could tell that he kept his physique well in check. 

"Friend, caretaker, body guard.  Whatever Kade needs me to be that day."

Her father laughed though there wasn't much humor behind it. 

"Interesting.  I hope he pays you well for that."

Hollin's eyes turned razor sharp as he eyed Mr. Bennett over the top of his newspaper.  He appeared bored, but anyone could tell that Hollin was itching for a fight with this man if you knew him long enough. 

Ivy's father was pushing, and the tone of his voice was evident with that. 

Was this the way rich people with old money settled things and tried to broach uncomfortable topics?  By trying to assert their dominance?

"Kade is a most generous employer."

"Well, then I'm sure he would like to answer questions on his own, without his...care taker butting in?"

The two men named Caleb and Glenn had fierce smiles on their lips though they tried to hide them by turning around and grabbing identical cups of coffee at the cart behind the dining room table. 

"I myself am a moderate.  I don't belong to any political party, and I think it would be wrong to tell other people what to believe, what morals to have, and who to vote for just because they might like my music.  It's not my place."

"But it is your place.  You hold a position of influence of hundreds of thousand—even millions—of people."

Ah.  So he was trying to recruit me to push his cause. 

"I'm sorry Mr. Bennett, but the majority of my audience are under eighteen anyway, and the rest are in a newer generation that I don't think belong to your political party.  I wish I could be more help."

"No worries, son.  So, how did you end up attending our famous brunch?  You coming to pick up Ivy for a songwriting adventure?"

"You didn't hear them last night, James?  Seems like Ivy was up to some of her own adventure last night.  They came in close to three in the morning.  I'm surprised they didn't wake up half the neighborhood."

I cringed as Catalina made it clear that we'd spent the night together and suddenly, the son of the arrogant older man turned his gaze sharply in my direction. 

His reaction was so dramatic, I was surprised that his entire head didn't snap with the force of him turning to stare at me in astonishment. 

What had once been suspicious mild curiosity had turned into full blown hatred, and it didn't make much sense until—

"Oh my goodness, I'm—I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything.  I'm afraid Ivy and Caleb are somewhat of an item."

Oh.  So this was the boyfriend, at least according to Ivy's stepmother.

Or had it been someone else?

"Not anymore, dear.  Remember, those two broke up a long while ago.  They're just friends now."

I didn't want to analyze why I was so desperately happy that her father had set the record straight, until Caleb decided to butt into the conversation again. 

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, James.  We've been talking again.  I think we're trying to fix things."

Her father's eyes hardened and narrowed slightly, and a vein on the side of his head popped out like he was clenching his teeth.  Hard. 

"How wonderful.  I'm sure Kade is just a friend."

They all turned expectant eyes on me. 

"Nothing...inappropriate happened upstairs last night, did it?  I have sensitive ears, and I didn't hear anything besides Ivy's snoring."

Uneasy laughter flooded the people around the table, but my eyes were bugging out of my head. 

Was her stepmother seriously asking if I'd fucked Ivy last night?

"No, nothing like that.  Besides, I don't think Ivy sees me in that way anyway.  Our working relationship kind of got off to a rocky start.  Creative differences and all that."

Hollin snorted as he took a sip of the complementary coffee but I was too far away to kick him in the shin for that one. 

"Good, well, now that we've got that settled—Kade, would you like to join the boys for golf?  We've also invited one other party to join us, and they should be arriving soon.  It's one of Ivy's good friends and her father."

My mind turned blank as I realized what she was asking me.  

Where the hell was Ivy when I needed her?

"Kade's schedule is crystal clear, actually.  His manager thinks he works too much, and I happen to agree.  I'm sure he'd love to join you, as would I.  If that's alright with you?"

It was my turn for my neck to break as I turned to stare at Hollin in disbelief. 

He only gave me a smug smile and raised an eyebrow in response.  I could practically see the laughter behind his brown eyes. 

"Wonderful.  I'm sure James has some clothes that would fit you perfectly, Kade."

"Perfect."

The word tasted like ash on my tongue, but it would be rude to just get up and walk out.  This was Ivy's family, and I wanted an inside look into her world, a better glance at who she really was. 

It was probably a stupid idea, but I wanted to get under her skin like she had mine. 

I wanted to unravel her layers piece by piece until I could lay her bare and figure out just what exactly made her tick. 

Maybe then I could get my damn mind off of her and focus on my music. 

Which was also incredibly hard considering that he was inexplicably tied to my music, especially since she was helping me through my block. 

The only music I'd taken part of in creating were the songs that Ivy had already given the backbone to, while I'd only helped with words that matched the tone or theme of the song better and also flowed more easily with the rhyme scheme or tempo. 

"I can't wait to get to know you better.  So, when did you and Ivy officially start working together?"

There was a lion hiding beneath the athletic preppy boy aesthetic that Caleb was trying to give off. 

He was furious beneath his calm facade, a hurricane brewing beneath his blue eyes which had turned lethal in the short time that I'd encountered him. 

"A few weeks ago, not long.  We meet at my producer's studio and sometimes she sends me some lyrics and we work on them together whenever we can."

Caleb, in his golf outfit, tried to seem intimidating to me.  It didn't work. 

We had long since taken our seats and began doling out food onto our plates when Ivy descended the staircase and she took my breath away.  Again. 

Except the first thing I noticed about her wasn't the striking dress that clung to her body tight like a second skin, or the beautiful soft waves that fell down her body in a waterfall of red.

"Oh, there she is. Ivy, we saved you a seat. Look who made it just in time for their round of golf with your father?"

Ivy was so pale it was like a ghost was standing in front of the table instead of a living, breathing woman. 

Where had that warm, sweet flush from earlier in the morning from when we'd woken up together gone?

And then the doorbell rang again. 

"I'll just um—I'll get it."

Ivy turned and ran like a strong wind would send her skittering like a scared little rabbit. 

She opened the door and behind it was a girl around her age and a man old enough to be her father who didn't share her heritage. 

Her deep brown skin stood out against the white polo she wore that matched her father. 

"Thank god you're here.  I thought you were still on campus this weekend?"

Ivy said something low that I couldn't hear and then she was walking them to the formal table where everyone was watching her, not deciding to strike up any side conversations just yet. 

"Oh.  Um...hi."

Ivy introduced the girl and the man who was her father to me. 

"Kade, this is Mia and her dad Mills.  Mia, this is Kade."

"Uh, yeah girl, I know who he is.  Hi, nice to meet you."

Mia bounded down the three steps in the entryway to where I sat at the dining table and plastered a sincere, wide smile on her face which I found myself returning easily. 

"Nice to meet you as well."

I shook her father's hand and then everyone settled around the table. 

Ivy had just sat rigid beside me while Caleb looked at her like he wanted to eat her for breakfast instead of the fruit, pancakes, bacon, sausage and whatever the hell else their personal chef probably whipped up for the family and friends. 

I had just excused myself to go to the bathroom when Caleb spoke to Ivy.

"Ivy, can I talk to you?"

Ivy didn't look up from her plate. 

It was like she didn't even hear Caleb's question from across the table, too engrossed in her own thoughts. 

"Um, Ivy?"

"Yeah?"

Ivy turned her attention to Mia who was stood behind Ivy getting a cup of coffee from the coffee bar behind Ivy's seat. 

"I think someone was trying to talk to you."

Her eyes lifted and glanced around the room in confusion, as if she actually hadn't heard anything.

Caleb stood up halfway and motioned behind him to where there was probably a shadowy alcove or something, but I was already halfway to the powder room just off the kitchen to see or hear anything else. 

What could he have wanted to talk to her about then and there?  Didn't the asshole have any patience?

And just as I finished doing my business and washing my hands, I heard it. 

"—why, though?  I don't see—"

"...because...don't do it."

Caleb had cut Ivy off through her sentence, but it was so hard to make out what they were saying even though it was clear that it was a fight. 

There was a loud thud like Caleb had hit the wall—or maybe even Ivy herself—and I eased open the bathroom door thanking everything holy that it didn't squeak and give away the fact that I was spying. 

With the door open, it was so much easier to hear their voices filtering in from what had to be the kitchen.

"I don't care anymore Caleb.  Do it or don't do it, it honestly means nothing to me at this point."

"Your friends mean nothing to you?  Wow, have you really gotten that bad?"

"Whatever, I don't have to listen to you."

"You will if you—"

"What?  What, Caleb?  What the hell are you gonna do?  What more could you possibly take from me that you haven't already?  My dignity, my pride, my fucking virginity?  I know this might be hard to believe, but I'm over it.  I'm over your face, your stupid friends laughing behind my back, and I am so tired of seeing your goddamn face at my father's home.  But you know what?"

"What?"

His voice was spat out, like he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth to hiss the word out. 

"I.  Don't.  Care.  So, do whatever you have to do, but for me personally, I'm just going to ignore you like the insignificant little twat that you are.  Now if you'll excuse me—"

A beat of silence passed and the tension that filled my bones was enough to make me dare a peek around the corner where I was sure they were talking.

"Take your meaty hands off me, Caleb, or I will remove them myself."

I'd only heard venom like that in Ivy's words once.  

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Caleb, I said let go—"

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry, is this not the bathroom?"

Caleb let go of Ivy's arm lightning fast, and when he released it she pulled it back to cradle to her chest away from him. 

She eyed him like a predator, and the dangerous look he gave her was easy enough to interpret. 

He was telling her with his eyes that this wasn't over, but from my point of view, it sure as hell was. 

I stalked over to Ivy and threw my arm around her shoulders and stood toe-to-toe with the little rich bitch and towered over him. 

"I think you're done here."

Ivy looked up at me in surprise, but I didn't break my gaze with Caleb until he backed down and muttered something under his breath before walking away. 

I slowly removed my arm from Ivy's shoulders, but her hand yanked on me to keep it there, so I did. 

That act shouldn't have made my stomach swim as much as it did.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that.  If he really became a problem, I totally could've laid him out.  I used to take self defense classes that my school offered freshman year."

Her false bravado was failing and even I could see that her smile was starting to falter, especially when her bottom lip started to tremble. 

"Hey," I started, pulling her in tight to me to soothe her, running my hands down her arms as she clung to me tightly.  

"You're okay.  He's not going to mess with you while I'm around, and honestly, your father shouldn't have even let him through the door.  What the hell happened there?"

She stiffened in my hold, almost like she was catching herself doing something forbidden and pulled back while taking a breath to collect herself. 

Her freckles were on full display and her wide green eyes were bright surrounded by a ring of red from her tears, although I couldn't see any tracks down her face. 

"Sorry.  I should—I'm sorry."

And then she turned and walked out through the swinging doors in the kitchen back out to the dining room, and I had never been more confused in my life. 

***

Author's Note:

Hello my lovely readers!

What did you think of this chapter?

What do you think will happen next?

What did we think of possessive Kade and clingy Ivy?  :)

What do you want to happen next?

Plot twist/ideas?

What is your star sign?  I'm a scorpio!

Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen :)