That wasn’t a secret. He had a damn knife at her throat. Ivy tensed, knowing what she had to do. She’d need to move fast. She’d have to hit him again, take him down.
Or I’ll die…
“He’s the one who wants you,” the masked man rasped. “He’s the one who started it all…”
What?
“Your friend…Cameron…”
Once more, her gaze cut to Cameron. He was advancing, slowly and…Cameron had a knife in his hand. She could just see it—hidden behind his leg. Another one of her kitchen knives.
“He did it all…” The masked man told her. “And you never knew.”
Ivy yanked back on the handle of her knife. There was a wet slosh as the blade slid out of her attacker.
His knife sliced over her neck and—
Cameron roared. He attacked. Cameron grabbed the masked man and yanked him away from Ivy. Then he drove his knife right at the killer’s chest.
Only the masked man seemed far too ready for his attack. He dodged that blade and launched himself at Cameron. Their bodies twisted—Cameron and that masked man—and they fell back, tumbling down the stairs again and again with a sickening crunch of bones.
And then they stopped, a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Ivy stared down at them, horrified.
The masked man began to move.
So did Cameron. Cameron drove his fist at the other guy.
She looked at the bloody knife in her hand, and Ivy crept down the stairs.
Chapter Thirteen
Bennett slammed on the brakes and jumped out of his car. The car door hung open as he raced toward Ivy’s house. He grabbed for that front doorknob, but it was locked. “Ivy!” The door was hard, sturdy, reinforced…and there was going to be no breaking it in easily.
But the back door isn’t like this one. He remembered seeing it before—and thinking that Ivy needed more security back there.
He ran to the back door and saw the broken glass littering the ground. The door was open, swaying a bit in the breeze. He rushed inside. “Ivy!” He had to find her.
Then he heard the grunts, the thud of fists hitting flesh.
Bennett burst out of the kitchen. Two men were fighting at the foot of the stairs. Cameron Wilde and a man with dark hair, a man bleeding and snarling.
A white Mardi Gras mask lay just a few feet from the struggling men.
Ivy was there, inching down the stairs. Her gaze was totally locked on the two men. The knife in her hand dripped blood and she began to lift it. Up, up—
He had his gun out and he aimed it at the two men. “Freeze the fuck now!”
They froze. Cameron jerked away from the man and his desperate gaze found Bennett. “Shoot him, now! He came to kill Ivy!”
The alarm blared all around them. Bennett caught sight of a white Mardi Gras mask on the floor—part of the mask had broken away. “I said freeze,” Bennett roared. “Both of you!”
Ivy was on the steps, far too close to those damn men. His gaze flew over them—Cameron had blood dripping from his busted lip. The other man—he was just as Ivy had described the first night. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired. His blue eyes glittered and a smirk twisted his lips.
Both men appeared unarmed.
Appeared.
Both men were also between him and Ivy, and that shit just wasn’t going to fly.
“The place is going to be swarming with cops in moments.” Bennett motioned to the dark-haired man. “You’re not getting away.”
The man laughed.
“Shoot him!” Cameron yelled. “He killed Shelly, he killed—”
“My brother,” Ivy said, her voice breaking.
Oh, fuck. Bennett didn’t even know how Ivy was holding things together if Hugh was dead.
“Hugh?” Cameron shook his head. “Not Hugh. He’s…he’s my best friend.” And he sounded confused.
The dark-haired man laughed. “And that’s how your fucking house of cards goes down…down, down, down…”
Bennett knew Cameron was going to attack. He saw the man’s eyes blaze with hate and rage and—
Cameron lunged for the killer. Only the killer was moving, too. But not going toward Cameron. The man turned and grabbed for Ivy.
She slashed out with the knife, and it cut across the killer’s forearm. The man yelled and he reached for her again. She sliced out with a butcher knife once more.
Cameron drove his fist into the man’s back. “She was never for you! Leave her the hell alone!”
The dark-haired man rammed his elbow into Cameron’s face. Bones crunched and Cameron fell back, howling in pain.
Bennett was already racing forward. He jumped over Cameron, intent on his target. Before that bastard could grab for Ivy again, Bennett had his gun pressed to the back of the man’s head. “I told you to freeze before. Move again, so much as an inch, and I will pull the trigger.”
Cameron was behind him, still moaning and groaning, but from the sound of things, getting to his feet.
Ivy stood just two steps above the killer. The knife was clenched in her fist. Her eyes burned with her fear and horror.
He killed Hugh.
The man in front of Bennett…laughed.