TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9) Read Online Free PDF Page B

15 minutes.   You can meet me there .
    She couldn’t help but smile upon seeing
his instant acceptance of her demand for a meeting.   Maybe things weren’t as irreparable as
they’d seemed last night.   Sure,
they’d fought and things had gotten ugly.
    Cullen was under a tremendous amount of
stress.
    But despite all of their fighting and
difficulties, she couldn’t give up on him yet.
    She grabbed her purse and immediately
headed out of her apartment and down to the street to catch a taxi.   It would take her long enough to hail a
cab and get to Cullen’s apartment that he would arrive home before she did.
    When she got to the street, someone
called her name.
    Ivy was in the process of trying to hail
any one of a few taxi’s that were driving by at high speeds, when the voice
called from a distance.
    At first, Ivy thought she’d imagined it.
    But then the call came again.
    Her brow wrinkled as she registered the
very familiar female voice.   It
couldn’t be…no.  
    She wouldn’t just show up like that,
totally unannounced.
    And then Ivy turned around and saw her
mother coming down the sidewalk towards her, waving both arms and yelling her
name.
    “Shit,” Ivy muttered.   She walked quickly to meet the older
woman.
    “Ivy,” her mother said, unzipping her
heavy coat as she approached.   “Are
you going somewhere?” she huffed yet again, her cheeks blotchy.
    “Mom, you shouldn’t run like that.   Your heart…”
    “It’s not my heart I’m worried
about.   It’s my bum knee,” her
mother said, trying to laugh, but the laugh turned into a long coughing fit.
    Ivy escorted her mother to the front
stoop of her apartment and made her sit down.   “Mom, what are you doing here?”
    “I had to come check on you,” she
said.   “I got scared thinking about
you all alone, dealing with this mess.”
    “I’m fine.   Everything’s fine.   You didn’t need to show up at my
apartment.   You could’ve called me,
at least.   What if I wasn’t home?”
    “I could wait,” her mother said, patting
her large, worn purse.   “I’m reading
a great book.   It’s about twin
orphans in World War II.   Very sad.”
    Ivy scratched her head.   “Catch your breath yet?”
    Her mother nodded, then dug into her
purse and retrieved an inhaler.   Ivy’s mother had been in mediocre health the last few years, with
various nagging ailments, including angina and a knee surgery.   Oh, and then there was her asthma, which
could be induced by pollution, allergies, or exercise.
    As she took her inhaler, Ivy checked the
time on her cell.  
    “Mom, I have to go somewhere for a
bit.   Do you want me to let you
upstairs to my apartment?   I’m not
sure when I’ll be back.”
    Her mother held onto the inhaler like a
good luck charm as she studied Ivy’s face.   “Is it him?   You’re going to
see him?”
    Ivy crossed her arms.   “Yes.”
    “So he’s been released from prison.”
    “He wasn’t in prison.   He was just being held while they
decided on bail and…it doesn’t matter.   I should never have told you about all of that.”
    Her mother was still watching her, and
she made a strange face as she looked Ivy over.   “What are those marks on your neck?   Are those bruises?” she said, standing
now and trying to peer at Ivy’s throat.
    Ivy hadn’t realized that there were marks
left from her sexual encounter with Cullen.   She put her hand self-consciously to her
neck and backed away from her mother’s probing gaze.   “Stop it, Mom.   I’m fine.   My neck is fine.”
    “If he’s hurting you—“
    “He’s not hurting me.   He’s not doing anything.   Now, I need to go for a bit.   Shall I let you up to my apartment or
not?”
    Her mother clutched her inhaler and purse
and stared at Ivy with wide, accusing eyes.   “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
    “It’s not your choice, Mom.   I’m not a little girl anymore.”
    “Then prove it.   Stop acting like