Sweet Little Lies

Chapter Sixty-One

This is the third chapter in a triple update. Please make sure to start at Chapter 59. Enjoy!

It wasn't particularly ideal to be having a meeting in pajamas, but there they were.

There was a twinge of annoyance. A futile hope that they could have one day for themselves. Ivy was intrigued, though. Shadow coming to their door - sneaking past their guards, no less - was a big deal. It meant she was interested.

"How'd you get past the guards?" Harry asked her after pouring them all coffee.

Shadow took a long sip of coffee, a surprising amount of creamer and sugar diluting hers. Both Ivy and Harry drank their coffee close to black; Ivy's with a little creamer, Harry's with a little sugar.

"Do you really have to ask?" She gave them a look like they should just know.

Harry huffed through his nose.

With a grin, Shadow admitted, "Your men are good, though. Whoever trained them did well."

Griffin did more than well. He was on his way right now, an alert pinged to his phone anytime someone came to their doorstep.

"Looks like you're recovering good." She nodded towards Ivy's arm.

"Not the worst I've had." Ivy shrugged one shoulder - her good shoulder.

"I've always heard you were a badass." Shadow leaned on the counter casually, "I heard you once cut Marcus Feahly's pinky off. Is that true?"

Ivy yawned, covering her mouth with her forearm, then replied, "He thought he could touch me."

"That guy was a right arse." She nodded in solidarity, "I had to take his other pinky after he hired one of my spiders."

Ivy studied the woman. She was different than last night. More open, for sure, but also less snarky. Ivy could still see the tension in her shoulders, the way she was ready to fight or flee at a moment's notice, but they had leaned a little bit of trust last night.

The front door opened, the alarm being turned off. It wasn't Griffin who entered the kitchen first, though. No, it was Cat, followed by her older sister, Cecilia.

Surprise took over Shadow's expression, "CeCe? Cat? What are you doing here?"

Griffin rounded the corner, looking disgruntled. He sent Harry a look like, "I had no choice, man".

Ivy bit back a smirk, Harry's eyes catching hers. He didn't seem all that annoyed about the company.

"I saw the video of you outside their house on Griff's phone." CeCe hugged her friend, "I haven't seen you in so long, so I made him take us with him."

Shadow glanced suspiciously up at Griffin. His face was stoic, yet stubborn, refusing to give anything away. Ivy saw his eyes linger on CeCe, though. In a way that suggested a much more familiar gaze.

They definitely did it, she thought. About time.

"You two look good." Shadow inspected Cat as they separated from their own hug, "Are you being taken care of?"

Cat rolled her eyes, leaning over the counter to pluck an apple out of their fruit bowl. "You're way behind the times, S. We've got Griffin wrapped around our fingers."

CeCe lightly smacked the back of Cat's head, "Ask before you touch."

Cat paused, looking at Ivy, and held up the apple that already had two large bites taken out of it. "Uh, can I have this apple?"

Ivy couldn't help but snort. She had a soft spot for Cat. "Go for it."

"I heard about last night." CeCe frowned, "Are you okay?"