Lost in Paradise (Paradise Club #2)(62)

“Not as his girlfriend, though.”

“You keep telling yourself that. You aren’t seeing anyone else so …” She laughs. “How do you feel about him knowing about dickhead?”

“I don’t know. I mean he knows his name, but not what he did to me. I never want him to know the full extent of what he did,” I tell my sister.

“You should tell him at some point,” she asserts.

“Maybe, but it’s too soon.” I sigh.

“Outside of this little hiccup, everything good?”

“Yeah, all good, but I do want to talk to you about something.”

“Okay …”

“I need you to come to Liv’s wedding.”

“No,” she says stubbornly.

“For me. Please,” I beg.

“Ivy, it puts me in a really bad position.”

“Vanessa will understand. Liv was there for you when you found out about Harris,” I remind her.

After my sister accidentally organized her boyfriend’s engagement party, she decided to get out of New York, and she hightailed it to Liv’s castle.

“Fuck,” she curses. “You’re right. She was there for me when I needed to disappear. Urgh. All right, I’ll be there. But I’m only going to fly in and fly out, okay?”

“Yes, yes, that’s fine. Thank you,” I say happily while my sister keeps grumbling.

“How are things with Nate?” I ask.

“We talk all the time, but I haven’t seen him since leaving the island.”

That’s been over a month, and I can’t imagine the two of them being celibate for that long.

“You’ll see him before me. He’s supposed to be flying in for his father’s birthday,” she says.

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” After all, that’s what sisters do.

“He’s single, he can do whomever he wants,” she says with a chuckle.

“I thought—”

“Babe, it works for us, so don’t try to analyze it,” Camryn warns me.

Fine! I know my sister is nontraditional.

“I heard Pierre will be there tonight. Are you excited to see him? Give him my love when you do,” she says.

“I will. I’m nervous, and I don’t know why.”

“Probably because it’s not on your own turf. It’ll work out. They will fall in love with you, and you and Alex will live happily ever after,” she jokes. I shake my head. “I have to run. I have a late lunch meeting that I need to get ready for, but I am here for you. I love you. And don’t stress about anything, you’ve got this,” she says, giving me a pep talk that I know I need.

We say our goodbyes, and I fall back against the bed which feels like I’m on a cloud. Wow, this is nice. Then I let out a laugh, and the tension in my body begins to ease, thank goodness.





23





ALEX





“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Mom says as I catch up with her after leaving Ivy, who took the news about her ex and mine rather well. What I did see was the panic on her face over mentioning him. The sheer panic and the instant walls go up to protect herself. I can’t wait till we take that motherfucker down. Nate’s coming later tonight, and I can’t wait to come up with a plan. Apparently, he has some information. “The words sort of tumbled out of my mouth,” she says, reaching out and touching my face.

“Mom, it’s all good. Ivy was caught off-guard, but she’s fine,” I tell her.

“I didn’t ruin things between the two of you?” Mom asks nervously.

“No, you didn’t,” I assure.

“I adore Ivy, you know that. She’s a brilliant interior designer. She’s also beautiful, smart, successful, and has her own money.” Mom lists off all of Ivy’s attributes. “I also notice the way you look at her,” she says, raising a brow at me. “You’re falling for her,” she adds.

I nod because I know this is true, but I would never say anything to Ivy. She is skittish when it comes to relationships.

“How can I not?” I reply, and Mom nods and gives me a warm smile. “But her ex hurt her badly. I think to the point he’s broken her,” I confess.

“Her expression upon mentioning her ex says it all,” Mom muses. “If you want something with her, then you’re going to have to tread lightly. She’s like my old horse, Rose, the one that came from that farm and was mistreated. She was wild and scared but oh so beautiful.”

“You spent months trying to get her to trust you.”

“Yeah, I did because she was worth it. She was only lashing out because she was scared and scarred. Ivy is a bit like her. You may never know the full extent of what her ex did to her, and that might be because it’s locked away in a vault somewhere to keep her safe. She’s going to need patience, kindness, and safety from you if you want to see where things can go with her,” Mom explains.

“I think she’s worth it,” I respond, which makes her entire face light up.

“Me too,” she agrees and pulls me in for a tight hug. “You deserve a woman who will love you as much as you love her.”

“Bit early for love,” I say, warning Mom not to get her hopes up, but she waves me away.