Free Blake: A Bad Boy Romance by Laura Day

friends.
     
    She had to stop running. But there was nothing she could do. Most of Darryl’s actions weren’t illegal. It wasn’t against the law to leave strange gifts and she had never actually caught him doing it. He didn’t bring these things himself; he sent others to do his dirty work. Darryl was rich, very rich, and he used his money in the worst way possible.
     
    Her phone rang. Ivy didn’t recognize the number. But she was done running. She pulled her car into an empty parking lot and answered her phone.
     
    “Yes,” she said into the phone. She didn’t let her voice crack or shake. She forced herself to sound stronger than she felt.
     
    The sound of a high pitched child’s laugh filled the phone; it was loud and she pulled it away from her ear. In a few moments the voice changed from the laughter to the sound of a man’s heavy breathing. The breath was ragged and gasping, like he was running from something or maybe doing something else.
     
    “Yes?” Ivy asked again into the phone. She tried to make herself sound bored. She knew Darryl got off on her fear. He liked getting a reaction from her, liked to hear that tinge of fear in her voice. The heavy breathing continued and without another word or another second of waiting Ivy hung up the phone. And then she dialed Blake’s number.
     
    “Hi,” Blake said, he picked up after the first ring.
     
    “Hi,” Ivy said, trying desperately to control the hitch in her voice. She was on the edge of tears, just barely holding herself back.
     
    “Ivy, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
     
    She should have known how foolish it was to try and hide something from Blake. He knew her better than she knew herself. “I saw your fight on TV, you won,” she said. “Congratulations.”
     
    “Ivy, where are you? Do you need me to come get you?” He didn’t even take a moment to think about himself. She admitted she had watched the fight, but he didn’t want to revel in his victory; he was thinking about her.
     
    “I...Can I come over?” Ivy said. She knew exactly where the words had come from. She had imagined going home to her empty and dark apartment. She would have turned on all the lights in the house. She would have the TV on full blast to drown out any scary noises. She would be lucky to get an hour’s worth of sleep. She didn’t want to go back there. She didn’t want to be alone.
     
    “Yes, you have my address, right?”
     
    “Yeah, but I thought you might be celebrating or something.”
     
    “No. I’m at the gym, but I’m done here. I’m five minutes from home. I’ll call the building manager and if you get there before me he can let you in. But I’ll be waiting for you in the lobby if I get there first.”
     
    Ivy wanted to cry from relief. Blake was saying exactly what she needed to hear. He was there for her, offering her a safe place where she could rest for the night. She drove straight to his apartment. Her phone rang three more times on the way, but she didn’t answer the unknown number. She pulled into the parking lot of her building and as she was stepping out of her car she saw Blake leave the lobby and hurry towards her.
     
    When he was close enough she forgot all about Darryl. The left side of his face was a dark purple color and it was swollen and painful looking. There was a cut on his left cheek and his nose was bruised.
     
    “You look awful,” Ivy said. The words were out before she had time to think about them.
     
    “Thanks,” Blake said. He took her bag from her and slid his arm around her lower back and guided her into the apartment.
     
    “I just mean your face looks really painful.”
     
    “The doctor gave me some painkillers. It looks worse than it feels.” He led her into the building.
     
    She was relieved to see that there was a swipe key needed to get into the building and to make the elevator go. Together they road the elevator to the sixteenth floor in silence. As it raced up the side of the