Chapter 82: Telling lies to save his ass

Malachi’s pov

Little Ivy?

G had to be joking.

"Ivy? You’re suspecting Ivy?" I chuckled in disbelief, and Gideon’s jaw tightened, his fingers flexing slightly. "You’re serious."

"What? No!" Roman pushed away from the table, his hazel eyes flashing.

"You’ve got it wrong, G. Why would you even think that? Why would you suspect Vivi? She would never harm us. She literally helped us figure out a way to solve the issue with the land, and you invited her to the company. She’s on our side!"

"I never said she did harm." Gideon’s voice was dangerously calm.

"But it is better to be safe than sorry. Perhaps someone got to her? And there are quite a few things that are... off about Miss Harpley."

"It can’t be her." Roman slammed his hand on the table, making the devices jump. "Just drop it. Can we move on to something else?"

"Calm down and think," G grunted.

"Miss Harpley failed to disclose her name change. She also seems to want to be in this mansion despite the many reasons that would make normal housekeepers..." He trailed off when Roman blurted.

"Normal? So Vivi isn’t normal now too?"

Well shit. We hadn’t had a fight as brothers in what, seven years? I would be damned if we ever fought about a woman again.

Roman was shaking, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He was anything but calm. Milo’s eyes were bright with interest, as if he was enjoying the drama, while Zack was practically vibrating in his boots, his eyes wide with terror, watching my twin brother with fear. This was getting out of hand.

"Hey," I threw my hands up and stretched, popping my joints.

"How about we let Milo and Zack go home? We’ve detained them long enough. We can chat over dinner, right, G?" I shot a look at my eldest brother, and he gave a curt nod.

Roman just grunted, shot one last angry look at G before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Milo, who had been watching the whole exchange with a little too much interest, rose to his feet. "Well, goodnight, then. Don’t worry, Gid. We’ll definitely catch the mole, okay?"

"Thank you, Milo," G replied while Zack gave a little bow and scurried outside after Milo. My eyes narrowed as I watched them go.

"You alright, bro?"

Gideon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Will you talk to Ro? We can cool off and meet in the shooting range in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed, eager to get out of that room. I had to get some answers.

I headed straight for the front door, pulling it open just in time to see Milo cornering Zack by the bottom of the steps.

There was a hard, menacing look on Milo’s face, a look that vanished the second he saw me. It was replaced by a smooth, easy-going smile as he clapped Zack on the shoulder, sending him scurrying off into the night.

"Kai! What’s up, man? Need something?" Milo asked, turning to me with a grin.

I watched him for a few seconds, then grinned back. "Just wondering if any mega parties are going on I’m missing out on."

Milo laughed, shaking his head. "You and your parties. Honestly, man, you’re obsessed."

"Gotta keep the reputation up," I joked, walking down the stairs, closing the distance between us. "So is there a party or not?"

"Well, the Globe Gala is coming up; all the elites will be there," He replied, pulling out his phone.

"Oh, please, it’s not elite until there’s a Knight; everyone knows this- Why did you grab our housekeeper by the neck?"

"Haha, I know, right..." He trailed off, eyes widening as he just processed what I had said.

Good, I had caught him off guard. Nothing could hide the way his face went white as a sheet of paper, his smile faltering for a split second before he let out a nervous, wheezing laugh.

"What... what are you talking about, man?"

My head cocked to the side. "Ivy had several red marks on her neck this afternoon. Finger marks and a faint bruise on her cheek. I know what a fucking rash looks like, Milo. And that wasn’t a rash."

"Come on, man." he took half a step back, his hands held up. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Let’s think about it, shall we?" I purred, my eyes locked on his.

"Everyone from the conference had gone home. I spoke to G when I got back. He told me when Chase left. The only remaining people in the house, aside from G, were Donna, Harry, and you. And you were still here, weren’t you, Milo? G said you were around until after Ro and I left with Ivy." I paused, letting the facts sink in.

"Harry was in his cottage at the time, and the finger marks around Ivy’s neck? They’re a little too big to be Donna’s. So, you can quit fucking pretending and tell me why the hell you tried to strangle my kitten."

Milo’s shoulders slumped in defeat. He let out a long, weary sigh. "Look, I’m sorry, man. I didn’t think you guys would notice. I was just trying to keep it under wraps."

"Keep what under wraps? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"She made a move on me, okay?" he threw his hands up in the air, looking rather exhausted all of a sudden.

"It’s been happening for a while. I’ve been trying to tell her, you guys are my best friends; I would never go after your woman. But she keeps saying she isn’t your woman, that it’s just... fucking."

My brows furrowed. Would Ivy say that? No. She was sassy and mouthy, but she wasn’t... that. But then, why had she lied? Why had she said it was a rash?

"I would bet she couldn’t tell you it was me," Milo continued. "She knows I’ll tell you the truth. That she’s been trying to seduce me. She must have been trying to cover her tracks."

I frowned, processing it. It was a fucking mess. We had just been inside her. Ro and I had just fucked her in the conference room, and she was coming on to our best friend? What reason could she possibly have? It didn’t make sense.

"You know I wouldn’t have done that unless I absolutely had to, Kai."

Just fucking? She told him what was between us was just fucking? I could understand how G would suspect her. If there was one thing she was lying about, it was the color of her eyes. She was wearing contacts. Now she had lied that she had a rash when she got choked instead.

What else could little Ivy be lying about?

I drew back my fist and slammed it into his gut. Milo doubled over with a painful whoosh of air leaving his mouth, clutching his stomach.

"I’m... I’m telling the truth," he sputtered.

"Yeah, it’s cool," I grumbled. "But irrespective of the scenario, strangling a woman is uncalled for. And for it to bruise? You went too far, man. Do not lay your fucking hands on her again. And if she comes on to you again? You let me know, and I’ll handle it." I patted his back and turned back to go into the mansion.

"You’re not breathing a word of this to Ro."

He was already pretty worked up. I still didn’t know what had happened when he went to drop Ivy off for him to have asked what if we made her our woman.

I pulled out my phone as I made my way to Ro’s room, bringing up the camera feed from the teddy bear I gave her.

She had her back to me, standing against her dresser, pulling her nightgown over her gorgeous body. My tongue darted over my lips hungrily. Should I call her again? Watching her play with her cunt would fucking please me.

Suddenly she whipped around, and a man stepped into view of the camera.

Who the fuck was that?