Lukas (Ashes & Embers 3)

My hands clench at my sides. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Go to bed.”

I storm out of the room and go to my own, closing and locking the door behind me. What the fuck was that about? I sit on the bed, feeling sick to my stomach. She’s right; I was a little turned on, and I hate myself for it. I’m not attracted to her like that. It was just a normal guy reaction to a half-naked chick touching me. I would never touch her. I love Ivy more than anything and would never cheat on her, especially with her own daughter. The thought of it makes me sick.

I should call Ivy right now and tell her Macy is here and how she’s acting, so she can come get her, but then she’ll get all upset and race over here. She’ll have to wake up Tommy and bring him with her, and it will be total chaos. I don’t want to do that to her at three-thirty in the morning.

Stretching out on my bed, I resign myself to the fact that I’m not going to be able to get much sleep, knowing my fiancée’s daughter is down the hall and just fucking manhandled me like a stripper trying to get an extra twenty bucks. Nothing good is going to come of this. I can feel it.

IVY

I DROP TOMMY OFF AT MY parents’ house early Sunday morning, because they want to take him to a matinee and dinner. On the way back home, I decide to bring Lukas our favorite lattes and bagels. More and more, I am leaning toward the idea of moving in with him. We haven’t set a date for the wedding yet, but we both want it to happen within the next year, so we’re going to have to figure out living arrangements soon.

When he answers the door, he looks surprised and disheveled, wearing old faded jeans and nothing else.

“Hey! You’re earlier than you usually are.” He lets me in and gives me a quick kiss.

“You look exhausted,” I say, concerned. “Do you feel okay?”

He runs his hands through his hair and glances toward the stairs. “Yeah, I just have a bad headache. I’m not really awake yet.”

Handing him his latte, I go to the kitchen and get him some aspirin.

“Thanks, love,” he says when I return, swallowing the two pills I hand him. “I didn’t get much sleep. We need to talk.”

Other than during the time of Vandal’s accident, I’ve never seen Lukas look so out of sorts and distraught.

“Can I do anything for you?” I ask him, feeling his head for a fever, the mom in me coming out again. I try not to baby him, but sometimes, I can’t stop myself.

Grabbing my hand, he smiles and kisses it. “No, I’m fine. I just feel bad that you stopped by and I feel like crap.”

“You’re allowed to have bad days. I just wanted to see you. My parents called last night and asked if I’d bring Tommy by for the day, so now I have the entire day free. You could go back to bed. I’ll lie next to you and read until you feel better.”

“Whatever,” Ray squawks from his corner, in what sounds like my daughter’s voice.

I laugh. “Wow, is he mimicking Macy? That’s her trademark word.”

Lukas looks uneasily at the bird. “Yeah, maybe. He may have heard it on the TV.”

We go into the living room and sit on the couch, and he looks positively green, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask him, worried.

“I’m fine, baby. It’s just a migraine.”

“I still haven’t heard from Macy after our fight last night,” I say, sipping my coffee. “She stayed at Shelly’s house and didn’t even text or call me. She knows how much that upsets me, to not hear from her.”

“She’ll be okay. It’s just growing pains. You know, trying to be an adult when she’s still a kid.”

“I know. I just hate fighting with her, and I don’t like her going to parties and drinking.”

He touches my hand. “We’ll have a talk with her when she calms down, but I have to talk you about—”

Movement from the top of the stairs catches my eye, and I have to do a double take. My daughter is standing there with nothing but a towel on, her hair and makeup a mess, and she came from the direction of Lukas’ bedroom.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

I’m too stunned to speak. I jump up, spilling my coffee, and look from him to her. He stands quickly, his eyes panicked.

“Ivy, this isn’t what it looks like. This is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Macy stands at the top of the stairs, glaring down at me. “I still have nothing to say to you,” she says to me angrily, then turns to Lukas. “Are you coming back up?”

Bile rises up to my mouth, and I choke it back before I vomit all over his living room floor. “What the hell is going on here?” I ask, my voice cracking.

He grabs my shoulders. “Ivy, I swear I didn’t touch her. She was drunk—”

“Why is she here? Did she sleep here?” I demand.

“She called me in the middle of the night from a party. She didn’t have a ride, so I went to get her and brought her here so we wouldn’t have to get you upset.”

“Why the hell is she naked and in your room?”

“I don’t know! She slept in the guest room. I don’t know what the fuck she’s doing.”

I look up at my daughter, who’s smirking at us. “Is that true, Macy?”

She shrugs. “Yeah, he picked me up, but then some stuff happened.”

Oh my God. My head is spinning. I look at Lukas, shirtless and exhausted looking, his hair a mess, and my daughter, just holding a towel against her. They definitely look like they’ve been up all night doing God knows what. I can’t believe I was this stupid, to trust someone like him.

“You’re disgusting,” I seethe at him. “How could you do something like this with my daughter?”

I head for the door, and he slams into me from behind, spinning me around.

“Look at me, Ivy. Look into my eyes, and you’ll see I’m telling you the truth. You know I would never do something like that. Are you crazy? I love you.”

I sob and shake my head. “I am looking at you. You’re a mess this morning. You look like you’ve been going at it all night, and I know what that looks like very well.”

“Ivy, no.” He holds my arms, his fingers digging into me. “I would never do something like that. Fucking ever. I’m just tired. She woke me up in the middle of the night. I had to drive a fucking hour back and forth to get her. I put her in the guest room, but she was drunk and acting crazy, coming on to me. I think she may have taken something. She wasn’t acting herself at all, and she still isn’t. I pushed her away and locked myself in my bedroom. I didn’t touch her.”

“She came on to you?” I ask incredulously. “For God’s sake, Lukas, she’s just a kid, and she looks up to you. She would never do something like that.”

His eyes are wild, tears forming in the corners of his bloodshot eyes. “Ivy, I swear to you, I’m telling the truth. You know me. You know I could never do that to you, or her, or our family. What we have is everything to me.”

I push him away. “I have to get out of here. I’m going to be sick. I can’t look at either one of you.”

I rip the diamond ring off my finger and hurl it at him. It bounces off his bare chest, and he watches it skid across the floor, stunned.

“No. Please, don’t do that.” He grabs the ring off the floor and comes back after me. “Please, put this back on. Don’t do this to us. Please,” he pleads.

I shake my head, confused and just wanting to get away from him. This is just like Paul, only this time, I actually caught him.

“You did this to us, and I have no idea why! I will never marry another cheater,” I cry, shaking my head, my heart breaking. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Lukas. I trusted you!”

Throwing the door open, I run out to my car. “Ivy!” He chases after me and catches up to me just as I slam my car door and lock it.

“Ivy, please, you have to believe me.” He bangs on my window, but I speed out of his parking lot, sobbing uncontrollably.

I

can’t get the sight of my daughter half-naked out of my mind, smirking at me like she won. Has she been after him this entire time, just pretending she was happy for me? Could she be that conniving? My cell phone starts to blow up with missed calls and texts from Lukas.

I turn it off, not wanting to hear a word from him.

Everyone was right, after all. He played me for a fool.

And my own daughter fell under his spell and betrayed me.

I can’t trust anyone.

Lukas was wrong. There is no happily ever after.

LUKAS

I RUN BACK INTO MY HOUSE, slamming the door behind me, and fly up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I find her in the guest room, dressed and sitting on the bed.

“What the fuck did you just do?” I scream in her face.

She looks up at me, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember what happened last night.” She stands up and grabs her leather bag and phone.

“The hell you fucking don’t!”

“Whatever, Lukas. Thanks for the ride.” She tries to push past me, but I grab her arm.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You’re gonna tell me what the hell you just did and why.”