23: Ivy is Mine

23.

Brandon's POV.

As Ivy lost consciousness, I carried her up the stairs, adjusting her weight effortlessly in my arms. She was lighter than I expected, and her body was slack and warm against mine. Her head lolled slightly against my chest, and a faint sigh escaped her lips. Soft, almost content.

Carefully, I laid her down on the bed, taking extra care as I pulled the blanket over her. And I stood there, staring down at her.

Her face was peaceful, framed by dark waves of hair that fanned out over my arm. Her long lashes brushed against the curve of her cheek, and her lips. Christ, her lips, were parted just slightly, as if inviting something they weren’t even aware of.

She looked different like this. Very peaceful.

Just Ivy. Just a human.

And I couldn’t look away.

My pulse thrummed in my ears, an unfamiliar heat settling in my chest. I told myself it was nothing. Just an observation. But it didn't feel like nothing.

I let my fingers brush against the soft strands of her hair, pushing them away from her face. Before I even realized what I was doing, I leaned in just a little. Just enough to feel the pull of her, the quiet gravity between us.

If I moved another inch, I’d taste her.

The thought sent a shiver down my spine, a strange, intoxicating rush that made my chest tighten.

I wanted to. God help me, I wanted to.

But then I ripped myself away, inhaling sharply like I had just surfaced from deep water.

What the hell was I doing?

I wasn’t supposed to want her like this. I clenched my jaw, pushing every reckless thought out of my head. Then, without another glance, I turned and walked out, shutting the door behind me.

Grabbing my keys from my room, I walked out of the house, into my car and drove straight to Demi’s house. 

It didn't take up to twenty minutes for me to get there. With two knocks, the door swung open, and the moment his eyes landed on me, the disappointment was instant. 

It flickered across his face, sharp and unfiltered, but he tried to mask it and put on a neutral look.

“Brandon?” He leaned against the doorway, arms crossing over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

I smiled. Slow. Amused. “Expecting someone else?”

I stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, shoving the door closed behind me. He stiffened, but I didn’t stop moving. I wandered deeper into the house, running my fingers along the wall as I went. Letting the silence stretch just long enough to make him uneasy.

“You don’t seem too thrilled to see me,” I mused, glancing at him over my shoulder.

“Well you’re not exactly who I was expecting.”

I turned fully now, watching him. My smile widened. “And yet, here I am. And I want to know what you have on Ivy.”

That got him. A flicker of shock and hesitation in his eyes. He masked this one too and looked at me like he was confused.

“I don't have anything on her. What are you saying?”

I laughed, low and dark. “I asked you a question.”

Demi scoffed. “And I'm not answering it.”

I took a slow step forward, closing the space between us. “You will.”

“And what makes you think that?”

My eyes locked onto his, and I reached into his mind.

The change was immediate. His pupils dilated, his breathing hitched, and for the briefest moment, he looked like he wanted to move, wanted to fight, but his body betrayed him. His lips parting slightly as his chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths.

“Tell me.” My voice was soft, a whisper against his mind, but it carried weight. The kind that wrapped around his thoughts and squeezed.

His lips trembled. His body stiffened like he was trying to resist. But it was pointless.

“I blackmailed her into our relationship,” Demi confessed, his voice hoarse, strangled, like he was choking on the truth.

My grip tightened at my sides. I knew it. I fucking knew it.

“Go on.”

Demi’s breathing was uneven now, his chest rising and falling in sharp bursts. He didn’t want to talk. He was desperate not to. But his body wasn’t his own anymore.

“I forced her to do my tests. My assignments. Every single one. And I told her to come over yesterday for sex.”

I tilted my head, my jaw tightening. “And why would she agree to that?”

His throat bobbed. His body trembled. But the words came anyway.

“Because I know something that could destroy her completely.”

I exhaled slowly, forcing down the primal urge to rip his fucking throat out. My knuckles burned from how tightly I was clenching my fists, my nails leaving marks into my palms.

I took a step closer, watching as his body stiffened in fear. His breath came quicker, and his eyes darted around.

He looked like he was on the verge of collapsing under the weight of my control. But I wasn’t done yet.

“Send every single thing you have against her to me.” 

Immediately, Demi’s fingers trembled as he reached for his phone, unlocking it with sluggish movements. 

I watched as he scrolled through his messages, his hidden folders, his cloud storage. One by one, he forwarded the evidence, every photo, every screenshot, every humiliating piece of leverage he had over Ivy. My phone buzzed repeatedly in my pocket, but I didn’t check. 

His breathing grew heavier as he worked, sweat forming at his temples. His jaw was clenched so tight it looked painful.

“Now delete everything,” I ordered.

His thumb hovered over the screen, shaking, but then he obeyed. One by one, the files disappeared. His body resisted, his muscles locking up as though some part of him still wanted to fight. It didn’t matter. I had him.

“Backups. Hidden folders. Emails.”

Minutes passed and I waited patiently watching the panic flicker in his eyes as he erased everything. When he was done, his phone dropped from his hand, bouncing off the bed and onto the floor.

“Good. Now tell me, are you hiding anything else?”

Demi’s mouth opened before he could stop himself. “Cameras.”

I went still. My fingers curled into fists at my sides.

“Explain.”

His body jolted, his voice shaking but steady as he spoke. “I set up hidden cameras in the room to record us.”

A dark, slow rage burned through me.

“You were going to film her?” I asked, voice deceptively soft.

Demi swallowed hard. He looked like he wanted to drop to his knees, beg, do anything to make the words stop coming, but I wouldn’t allow it.

“Yes,” he rasped.

I stepped closer, forcing him to look at me. “Where are they?”

He turned his head slightly, eyes darting toward the corners of the room, toward the vents, the edges of the bookshelves. I followed his gaze, memorizing each location. I was going to destroy them myself.

But first, my eyes flicked to the nightstand, where a small, half-empty bottle sat. I recognized the pills immediately. Hard substance.

A slow smile curved my lips.

I picked up the bottle, shaking it lightly. “You like these, don’t you?”

Demi’s breath stuttered. His body tensed, like some instinctual part of him knew what was coming.

I dropped the bottle back on the table. “Take them.”

His eyes widened in horror. His mouth opened, a silent protest forming, but he was already moving. He picked the bottle, opened it and poured a handful on his palm. Then shoved them into his mouth and swallowed dry.

“Again.”

A strangled whimper escaped his lips, but he obeyed. His body convulsed as he poured more pills and forced them down, his chest heaving, and hands twitching violently.

More.

His face twisted in agony as his body betrayed him. He tried to fight it now, his hands shaking as he struggled against himself, but I was in his head, deep in his mind, and there was no escape.

Another handful.

His breathing turned erratic. His pupils blew wide, his limbs jerking unnaturally as the drugs flooded his system too fast, too much. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, his body convulsing in slow, disjointed movements.

I crouched beside him, resting my elbow on my knee as I studied his face.

“You thought you owned her,” I murmured. “Thought you could use her, control her, humiliate her.”

His mouth opened, a ragged breath wheezing past his lips.

“But Ivy isn’t yours.” I tilted my head slightly. “She’s mine.”

His body jolted, spasming violently. A choked sound escaped him, half a plea, half a sob.

I leaned closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “If anyone is going to threaten her, control her, blackmail her, it’ll be me.”

His eyes rolled back, his body giving its final, feeble twitch.

“You’ve been making my stepsister cry for days now. And I can’t just look away again.”