By the time he returned, Ivy was standing up and feeling a bit more put together. Still, she was confused and a bit nervous now.
Cullen smiled at her, as if to reassure her. But his eyes had once more closed off from her. His cold, reserved expression had returned and his formality was back along with it. “Shall I take you home now?” he said.
“I…I can catch a cab.”
“Nonsense,” Cullen said, shaking his head. “I won’t hear of it.”
“Okay,” she sighed, already accepting that things were changing again for the worse.
Cullen was nothing if not unpredictably predictable.
They left the house and started for his car. Ivy’s mind was spinning with fears, hopes, memories, wondering how to handle the car ride home.
An older woman carrying shopping bags nearly fell right in front of them, and one of her bags ripped open, sending fruit spilling to the sidewalk. “Oh, dammit,” the gruff older woman said.
Cullen knelt down instantly, grabbing fruit in his hands, trying to assist the old lady.
The older woman stared at him from her thick glasses. “Are you Cullen Sharpe?” she asked, seemingly in awe of him.
Cullen straightened, still holding some bananas in one hand. “Yes, I am,” he said, looking confused now. “Do we know each other?”
The woman reached into a bag and handed him a large envelope. “Mister Sharpe, you’ve been served,” she said, and then turned around, leaving her fruit behind and walking to a black sedan parked not far away.
The woman got inside and the car sped off.
Cullen dropped the bananas and opened the envelope, revealing a set of documents, which he slid partially out to read.
“Who was that?” Ivy asked him.
But Cullen wasn’t answering her. His eyes scanned the documents and his mouth tightened into a thin line, his lips turning almost white.
His normally calm eyes had taken on a devastated vacant stare, as if he’d been struck so hard that he’d forgotten where he was.
“Cullen,” she said again.
“It’s nothing,” he whispered, tucking the documents back into the folder and sealing it closed. “Nothing.”
But she knew he was lying. Something terrible was happening to Cullen Sharpe, something that even he couldn’t control.
THE END OF BOOK 3
Part IV
Lies (The Billionaire’s Rules, Book 4) by Kelly Favor
Cullen Sharpe had a poker face like no one Ivy had ever met in her entire life. But even he wasn’t able to hide the fact that the court documents in that envelope had deeply shaken him.
After putting the documents back in the envelope, he re-sealed it with one quick motion, and then continued walking toward his car as if nothing had happened.
But even the way he was walking seemed different now—as if he’d been physically wounded and was trying to pretend otherwise.
Cullen opened the passenger door for Ivy and gestured for her to get inside.
She stepped into the car, looking at him as she slid into the plush seat, trying to get a read on just how bad the damage was. Cullen’s eyes were icier than she’d ever seen them, as if the frozen tundra that lived inside him was experiencing a blizzard of epic proportions.
The lack of emotion on his face was almost frightening, as if he’d retreated so far away as if to be completely unreachable.
He closed her door and then walked to the driver’s side. Getting into the car, he tossed the envelope into the backseat. Then he started the engine and pulled out into the street.
The car was silent but for the hum of the engine and the sounds of the city street outside.
Ivy was struggling with what to make of it all.
I’m not a virgin anymore. Shouldn’t I feel relieved or something?
And the sex was incredible. That must count for something, right?
She shook her head, feeling the familiar build of frustration as Cullen’s demeanor and mood swings continued to elude her understanding.
Cullen, for his part, just drove, lost in his own thoughts, not appearing to care much about what Ivy felt or thought.
She pursed her lips, starting to feel the frustration turning into anger. After some more time had gone by, she sighed loudly.
Cullen glanced at her. “Something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, of course not. How could anything ever be wrong?”
“If you have something you want to say, just say it,” Cullen told her. “Unless you’d prefer to hide behind sarcasm.”
She guffawed loudly. “That’s classic, coming from you.”
“Coming from me?” he asked, his tone edgy.
“Yeah,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“Please do enlighten me, Ivy.”
“Well, you hide behind that cool, hard exterior—but you have the nerve to accuse me of hiding behind my sarcasm.”
He sighed with impatience. “What you refer to as my cool exterior is simply what I am. It’s not an act.”
“Whatever,” she said. “I can already see this is going nowhere.”
Cullen’s hands gripped the wheel more tightly. “I’m not sure what you want from me.”
“I want you to be normal,” she cried. “I want us to be normal.”