My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I stared at the man in front of me. A part of me was happy to see him. It had been torture to restrain myself from answering his texts or going to see him.
I realized how much I missed him as I stared at him. His dreamy gaze settled on my face, his lips parted in a smile.
"Hey," he said.
I blinked. There was no time to admire his looks or how much I'd missed him. What the hell was he doing standing in front of my house? How did he know my address? What the hell was going on?
"What are you doing here?" I asked, the panic seeping in.
It was the worse time to be around him, especially with Tony present. I didn't have the confidence to pretend I didn't have feelings for him.
I'd planned to put some distance between us so I could think. There was no way I could think with him standing in front of me.
"I wanted to apologize for the other day. I know I freaked you out by saying I lo-."
No! Not in front of Tony.
"Damon," I interrupted quickly, my tone cold. "Why are you here?"
His smile faded and he took a step back. "Your dad invited me for dinner."
What?
"My who?" I asked in confusion.
"If this is a bad time-."
"Nonsense," Tony came into view. "It's the perfect time."
He turned to me. "Are you gonna let our guest stay out all day?"
I stepped back in shock as Tony welcomed him in. Tara's face mirrored mine as she stared at Damon.
"Good evening, Mr. Wells," Damon said.
"Call me Tony," he smiled. "Have a seat."
"What the hell is happening?" Tara whispered.
I stood there speechless, staring at them wondering the same thing.
"I don't know, but this isn't good," I said.
"You think?!"
I ignored her and took a seat opposite Tony. "What is going on?"
Tony laughed. "Why didn't you tell me you're dating such a fine man, dear?"
My heart dipped. "N-n-, uh-," I glanced at Tara for help, but got nothing.
Great.
How much did Tony know? What exactly did Damon tell him? Fuck, how did they meet in the first place?
"I'm just his bodyguard," I said feebly. Even I was not convinced.
"I'm sorry for stopping by unannounced like this," Damon said. "Your dad invited me to dinner."
He held my gaze, "I've been trying to reach you all day, but you weren't returning any of my calls or texts."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Did she now?"
Oh shit, oh shit.
"Sorry, uh, I broke my phone," I barely got the lie out.
Tony's gaze settled on me, and I tried not to show my anxiety, doing that would only heighten his suspicion.
Damon would be in danger.
I cleared my throat. "This is Tara, my sister."
Damon stared at her as Tara eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't like I could tell him the truth. Tony had created a facade, I had to go through with it.
"I'm Damon," he stood up and held out his hand.
"Y-yeah. Hi," she shook his hand. "Heard a lot about you."
"Really?" he asked.
"You look surprised," Tony pointed out.
"A bit. Ivy doesn't talk much about herself."
"Is that so?" Tony smirked and I glared at him.
He was having fun. Too much fun.
"She's always been a shy kid, don't take it personally," he smiled.
"Of course. I understand what that's like," Damon said, a sad smile on his face.
My heart fell. I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for him as a kid. Actually, I could. It was exactly what I had gone through.
The uncomfortable silence made me want to disappear forever.
"So," Tara cleared her throat loudly. "How did you and To—I mean, D-dad meet?"
"In the hospital," Damon said.
"Are you okay?!" I asked quickly, springing up from my seat to touch him, and make sure he was indeed alright.
They stared at me silently. The disbelief was obvious on Tara's face as she facepalmed, Damon looked surprised at my outburst while Tony studied me silently.
"I mean-, I just-."
"I'm okay. I went to visit Mom," he said.
I tried not to sigh in relief.
"And I went to see a friend. We had a little accident in the elevator where he saw your picture on my phone," Tony said, showing me his wallpaper.
It was a picture of me smiling, pointing at the sunset. Tony, Wes and I took a trip to the beach about two years ago where we went glamping and watched the beautiful sunset. Wes had taken that picture, and I remembered it being Wes' wallpaper for some time.
I stared at Tony. What was he planning?
Tara chuckled nervously, breaking the silence. "Ivy's always been Dad's favorite."
"Now, that isn't true," Tony piped up.
He paused and turned to Damon. "Ivy was their mom's favorite."
His gaze met mine. "While my favorite was their brother, Wes."
My heart dropped in my stomach and my legs twitched. That was officially the worse dinner I had ever seen. Alan's did not come close to it, not by a long shot.
"I didn't know Ivy had an elder brother," Damon said.
"Younger. He was three years younger than Ivy," Tony corrected.
Tara met my gaze frantically, her eyes shifting.
I wanted nothing more than to get out of there. It was suffocating.
"Oh," he looked around. "Is he here too? I'd love to say hi."
Tony's face hardened, and my fingers twitched slightly. He was unpredictable, I had to be prepared to save Damon.
"He's dead," he said.
"Oh," Damon's face fell as he glanced at me. "I'm sorry."
Tony leaned forward, staring at him coldly. "He was killed, murdered in cold blood."
"Okay!" I yelled loudly and stood up.
Tony was going to say the wrong thing and slip up. I had to stop him before he ruined the whole mission.
"Dad," I turned to Tony. "I'm afraid I haven't gone shopping and I'm fresh out of groceries."
I gritted my teeth when he smiled at me. "Dinner's postponed."
"Nonsense," he turned to Damon. "She does this every time we come over for dinner."
He met my gaze and smiled. I had a feeling he was toying with me, and he enjoyed it.
"She's a bad cook."
"Okay. Look I-," the doorbell rang, and I sighed.
Just how many of that did I have to endure? All I wanted to do on that Saturday evening was exercise, draw a bath while sipping a glass of wine and listen to classical jazz music. Was that too hard to ask?
"I ordered us some food," Tony said.
I could tell he was prepared for every single scenario. Tara dashed to the door to escape the awkwardness, and I sat down, defeated.
"So, Damon, what do your parents do?"
Oh no.
"Dad, that's personal," I said.
Tony touched his chin. "Forgive me if I want to know more about my daughter's boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend!" I yelled.
They paused as they stared at me. Tara placed the food on the table quickly and sat beside me. I couldn't take it anymore; I couldn't breathe because of how suffocating it was.
"Um, yes sir," Damon looked hurt. "I think you misunderstood. We aren't dating."
"Oh really?" Tony's eyebrows shot up. "You could have fooled me."
"I like her," his gaze held mine.
"She captured my heart from the very moment I laid my eyes on her which is weird because I'd sworn off dating."
He met Tony's confused look.
"My mom has cancer, so my days are pretty much filled with taking care of her. She's the only family I have left," he explained.
"What about your dad?" he asked.
Damon's face tightened. "He's not in the picture. It's just my mom and I."
I have to end it. I would not let Damon be a pawn to Tony's mind games.
I stood up.
"I love Ivy."
His words made me freeze mid stance.
"She's all I can think about, she's everywhere I look, she's everywhere I am. I can't stop thinking about her."
I met his gaze slowly, his eyes showed his sincerity, and my heart paused.
"These past few days have been horrible without her my side. I don't think I can live without her," his eyes never left mine as he said those words.
Tony glanced at him. "Do you mean that?"
"With all my heart."
"Can you die for her?" Tony asked. Even though he said it in a playful manner, I knew he meant it.
"Yes," Damon said, without missing a heartbeat.
"Do you think she'd do the same?" Tony's eyes met mine.
Damon paused.
"That's it," I grabbed Damon's hand. "Dinner's over. Thank you for coming."
I rushed him to the door as fast as I could.
"Damon," Tony called, and we paused.
"Yes, sir?"
"You have my permission."
Permission to do what? What the hell was he talking about?
Damon's lips parted into a smile. "Thank you, sir."
I opened the door and pushed him out.
"Wait," he called.
"I'll see you bright and early on Monday," with that, I shut the door in his face.
I walked back to the sitting room and glanced at Tara. Her lips quivered gently as she stared at Tony.
"Tony."
"As expected of my best girl," he stood and hugged me.
The first and only time Tony hugged me was when I stood over Dimitri's dead body with bloody hands.
"What's going on?" Tara asked.
Beats me.
The last thing I expected Tony to do was hug me. He pulled away from the hug and stared at me.
"You made him fall heads over heels," he said.
"That makes the next step easier," he leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"Convince him to take over the West and then kill him."