Exposed to the CEO Behind the Mafia Mask

Ivy’s POV

I had taken yesterday to clear my head after the chaos at the compound. Today, I was ready to face whatever storm awaited me. I had rested, processed the betrayal that cut like a knife, and organized the violent emotions churning in my mind. Most importantly, I was prepared to confront Caleb and demand the truth. His silence felt like a death sentence. Not a single call or message since that scene in the main hall when that woman pressed her lips against his in front of half the family.

Doubt crept through my veins like poison, making my chest tight with insecurity. Had he already moved on? That woman who marked her territory so boldly in front of everyone, could she be the mysterious woman he had been hunting through the underground for years? If that were true, then Ruby and Xavier had been feeding me lies. Maybe Caleb had already forgotten I existed.

The thought made my heart ache in ways I refused to acknowledge. I needed the truth, no matter how much blood it might cost me.

When Jude walked through the compound doors, I intercepted him immediately. He would have the answers I desperately craved.

"Looking sharp today, Little Bird. How are you holding up after that circus yesterday?" Jude asked, his predatory eyes scanning my face for signs of weakness.

"I am surviving, Jude. Thank you for getting me back to the safe house in one piece. I apologize for losing consciousness before we even made it through the gates."

"Forget about it, Ivy. That is what family does for each other. Besides, I enjoyed making sure you were tucked in safely," he said with that dangerous smirk that always made me want to slap him.

"I appreciate it regardless. But I need you to answer something for me."

"Shoot. What do you want to know?"

"Who is that woman?" Jude froze mid-motion, the sugar packet suspended over his espresso cup. His expression shifted to something guarded and lethal. "You should really discuss this with the Don directly."

"I know that. And I will. But right now, I am asking my friend."

"Playing dirty, are we? Fine, let us sit down." Jude guided me to the reinforced table in the center of the secured meeting room. "That piece of work is Veronica. She was Caleb’s woman during his wild years who betrayed him with half the rival families until Xavier and I forced him to see what she really was. She made Caleb look like a complete fool, turned him into someone reckless and dangerous beyond reason. Caused him nothing but bloodshed."

"Is she the woman he has been searching for?"

"Hell no, Ivy. The woman he is hunting is completely different. Someone he met right after he dumped Veronica’s treacherous ass. Veronica is just a manipulative snake who feeds information to our enemies. When Caleb finally caught her selling our secrets, they broke up and she ran off to Sicily with some arms dealer she was screwing. She showed up in Fresh Ramsey recently out of nowhere."

"What happened in Fresh Ramsey?"

"Ivy, remember that you two are not bound by blood oath and you have been under Parker’s protection. I do not approve of what Caleb did, and I despise that woman. But he spent a night with her. You can breathe easy though, he used protection and she is not carrying his heir."

The words hit me like a sniper’s bullet, stealing the air from my lungs. Even though Jude was right about our status, the betrayal cut deeper than any blade.

"I am not sure that information makes me feel any better, Jude," I managed to say. "If she is here now, there has to be more to this war."

"I think you are right." Jude’s expression darkened with killer instinct. "Caleb wants nothing to do with her, but she is like a parasite that will not let go. I suspect running into us was not the coincidence she claimed it was. We are investigating it through our network."

"Does he have feelings for her?"

"He regrets that night completely. It was a stupid thing men do when their pride gets wounded in a gunfight. And no, he does not want her. But Veronica is dangerous, and she is not some innocent like Yara. We need to be extremely careful when it comes to protecting you from retaliation."

After extracting more intelligence from Jude, I started heading back to my quarters but made an impulsive decision to take a detour.

"Jude, is he in his office?" I gestured toward Caleb’s reinforced door, and Jude nodded. "Can I have a few minutes alone with him?" Jude grinned like a predator, and I walked toward the office, ready to start dismantling this minefield.

I entered without bothering to knock and found Caleb on the leather couch, surrounded by scattered surveillance reports. I approached him, but he had not yet looked up from his intelligence briefings.

"Jude, you..." Caleb began speaking, and I cut him off.

"I am not Jude." I stopped directly in front of him.

"My angel!" He lifted his head from the papers, and his face lit up with that devastating smile that always made my knees weak.

I moved closer, leaned down, and pressed my lips to his. God, how I had missed this dangerous connection! I sighed softly when I pulled back and gazed into those mesmerizing ice-blue eyes.

"What am I supposed to do with you?" The question was more for myself than him. Inside me, a war raged between surrendering to his lethal embrace and maintaining my emotional armor.

"You know I belong to you completely. And you know you belong to me. How much longer are we going to torture ourselves like this? The choice is yours, my love. But I will never stop fighting for you," he whispered against my ear before placing a soft kiss behind my earlobe, sending shivers throughout my entire body. "I will get down on my knees and beg. I will crawl through broken glass and enemy fire if that is what it takes to make you understand how sorry I am for being such an idiot and how deeply I regret hurting you. I love you, Ivy. I destroyed everything between us, but I want you back, and I refuse to surrender."

I settled onto the coffee table, scattering his reports, and locked eyes with him. Resistance was futile. He was genuinely suffering and bleeding just as much as I was. I cupped his face in my hands and drew him closer, closing my eyes to breathe in that intoxicating scent that was uniquely his. It was magnetic, dangerous, and utterly seductive. Caleb remained perfectly still, refusing to pressure me, letting me control every moment. That restraint was more powerful than any weapon could have been.

I pressed my lips to his, savoring their warmth and softness as our mouths connected. I traced his lips with my tongue as if tasting something forbidden. He gasped, and I took advantage of his parted lips to gently explore his mouth with my tongue. I tangled my fingers in the hair at the base of his neck and intensified our kiss. He responded with matching passion but kept his hands to himself, giving me the freedom to pull away if I chose to. But the longer I kissed him, the more certain I became that I belonged in his dangerous arms. Our tongues moved together in perfect synchronization, creating an intensely sensual rhythm. Our kiss was consuming, pouring out every violent emotion we felt for each other.

My body burned with desire and craved his lethal touch, but he maintained his restraint. So while I continued kissing him, I shifted to sit sideways across his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck, silently communicating that I was his and could no longer bear our separation. Only then did he finally embrace me, one hand sliding to the back of my neck as he deepened our kiss even further.

When we finally broke apart, we were both gasping for air, but I could not stop staring into his eyes. They sparkled like two ice-blue flames. I could not survive without him anymore.

"I assume this means you have forgiven me," he said with that devastating smile that never failed to captivate me.

"This means I cannot live without you, that I am willing to forgive you, but you still have some serious groveling ahead of you. And while I have decided to face whatever war comes and return to you, you still owe me a lot of explanations."

"You are coming back to me?"

"Yes, after you properly explain everything that has been happening and end this ridiculous marriage alliance charade. I refuse to have any more women trying to steal what belongs to me. But you are not completely forgiven yet."

"The marriage alliance is finished. I will do whatever you ask," he smiled like a victorious warlord. "What I cannot do is exist without you. I cannot bear it. I love you, Ivy!"

"I should not, but I love you too, Caleb."

His encrypted phone buzzed, and he groaned in frustration. It was Scott insisting he needed to speak with him immediately and in person about a critical security breach. While he handled the call, I slipped off his lap and returned to my secured workstation.

I was considering sending Caleb a coded message about having lunch together when Scott appeared in my doorway.

"Scott? Is something wrong?" I studied him carefully. He looked anxious and battle-worn.

"Sweetheart..." he met my eyes as if he wanted to confess something critical, but then briefly closed his eyes and shook his head. "Is Xavier available? I need to speak with him immediately about a situation."

"One moment, Scott. Would you like some water? You seem shaken."

"No, I just need Xavier now."

I called Xavier’s secure line to announce the visitor, and he instructed me to send Scott in immediately. Scott rushed past me and shut the reinforced door firmly. Something was definitely wrong. I picked up my phone to message Caleb, but Gemma interrupted with classified paperwork that demanded my attention.

Shortly after Gemma returned to her station, Xavier and Scott emerged from the office, both looking extremely troubled and ready for war. They offered no explanation for their obvious distress. Whatever they had discussed was clearly a matter of life and death.

When I went to Gemma’s desk to return some documents, I spotted Caleb, Jude, Scott, and Xavier waiting by the armored elevators. Xavier was giving specific instructions to the security detail about monitoring me with lethal force authorization. What could possibly be threatening us?

"Where are they headed, Gemma?" I asked as I watched them disappear into the elevator like soldiers going to battle.

"No idea. They only mentioned they would not be returning to the compound today," Gemma replied, sounding equally concerned.

"How strange!" I left the papers with her and walked back to my quarters, my mind racing with questions that had no answers in this dangerous world we inhabited.