Fucked Raw By My Enemies

Ivy’s pov

”Hello, welcome to Knight Corporation. Your name, please?”

It should have been, Hello, welcome to the Lion’s Den, because that was exactly how I felt, standing before one of the four receptionists on the ground floor of Knight Corporation headquarters.

That was how huge the place was; it needed four receptionists to man the ground floor.

The headquarters wasn’t just an ordinary building; it was a whole ass statement, a tall gleaming black monolith of glass and steel that pretty much swallowed the Wisteria skyline.

It was three times the size of Kingsley and Co. Inside, the lobby was so vast, my black flat baby shoes echoed as I walked in- yeah, insane, I know.

The reception desk wasn’t even a desk but a stretch of polished black obsidian platform that curved in a semi-circle, taking up almost half of the floor, and behind the desk were four women in the most gorgeous black suits who typed in eerie, silent sync. They looked less like employees and more like pretty cyborgs.

Why were they all wearing their hair in a ponytail so tight? I could see a vein jumping in their forehead.

”Miss? Your name and how may I help you?” The brunette receptionist attending called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

My palm grew sweaty, clammy with fear despite the cold air rushing from both the January winter air and the AC vents lining up the ceiling and walls of the lobby. Employees of the Knight Corp waltzed in and out of the lobby, heading towards a whole elevator aisle with at least five elevators.

I shouldn’t be here. I had spent the last week transforming myself. My chestnut hair was now jet black and cut into a mid-length bob, falling just under my jaw.

My amber eyes were hidden behind boring brown contacts. I was Ivy Harpley now, a desperate job applicant in a simple black dress and a brown checkered cardigan that I had bought at a grocery store. I couldn’t wear one of my luxury dresses to this place; that would sell me out quickly.

Here goes nothing.

”I-Ivy,” I stammered. ”Ivy-”

”Oh, yes.” Her fingers stopped typing, her head whipping up to look at me, blue eyes lighting up. ”Miss Ivy, we’ve been expecting you. However, You’re not supposed to resume here. You’re supposed to be at the Winslow Estate.”

Uh, say what?

My eyes narrowed into a squint while I tried to process what was going on. Resume? I opened my mouth, ready to blurt out that I was here for an interview, there must be some mistake, but I managed to catch myself just in time.

This was perfect. The universe was on my side and probably knew what havoc would be wreaked on the world if Jake became CEO of Kingsley and Co, and so decided to help me instead.

Either that or I was about to get into knee-deep shit, but I had to take my chances.

”I... oh,” I sighed, placing a hand over my chest. ”I apologize. The email I received just had this address. I didn’t realize...”

”That’s understandable,” she beamed, reaching for the white land phone close to her computer and punching in some numbers. ”I’ll have a car take you. Mr. Knight is expecting you.”

Mr. Knight? Weren’t there two of them? Or was it three? I would know if I had gone through the file Dad had mailed me this morning, but I didn’t.

As she arranged for a driver, my conscience was having a full-blown panic attack in my head. This was lying. What happened when whoever the real Ivy they were expecting arrived?

”The driver is waiting outside to take you now, ma’am,” The receptionist informed me, and I sucked in a deep breath.

One step at a time. I would figure that out later, but for now, I had to get in first. This was for Kingsley & Co. This was for everything I had worked for. I couldn’t let the greedy Knight brothers destroy it all.

In no time, I was ushered by a tall, surly man with a black buzz cut, black as midnight suit and dark sunglasses into a sleek black Lincoln Town Car. Twenty-five minutes later, the car pulled up to a set of huge black wrought-iron gates that should be in front of a freaking European palace instead.

Beyond them was the Winslow Estate, and it could very easily pass for the house from ’The Sound of Music’ if the Captain had been a billionaire with a penchant for stealing people’s hard-earned money.

Massive was an understatement. A huge mansion sat solid in the middle of the grounds, its windows catching the weak golden light from the sun. Around and beyond it was acres and acres of land. Just how many people lived here?

The car circled a massive fountain featuring a sculpture that looked suspiciously like Greek gods wrestling, and stopped at the grand entrance. The driver stepped down to open my door with a gloved hand. ”Welcome.”

My legs were heavy like lead as I walked up the stone steps. I caught my reflection in the polished brass of the door handle and a stranger with black hair and coffee brown eyes stared back.

I couldn’t believe I was using my middle name, the name Mom used to call me to deceive anyone.

I could almost hear Mom’s voice in my head.

What are you doing, Ivybear?

”I’m atoning, Mom,” I whispered and pushed the heavy door open. ”I’m atoning for my sins...”

The foyer was huge and plated gold. What the hell? The floor was a rich mix of different shades of brown marble squares with a cream diamond shape in the center of each square.

There was a long winding stair leading up to the balcony that surrounded the foyer before splitting off deeper into the mansion. Gleaming high ceilings with chandeliers that dropped like stars, the whole place oozed luxury and wealth.

”You shouldn’t crane your head like that, darling,” A voice called from a door on the left, and it was so familiar that my entire body went rigid.

I knew that voice. No. No, it couldn’t be. My blood ran cold. I turned my head slowly to see the stranger from the elevator.

Those hazel eyes that had watched me come apart, with a swirl of gold and green in them. That sinful mouth. My mouth suddenly felt dry.

He didn’t have the bandana on, but I would know that face; it had been haunting my dreams ever since that night, eight days ago. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, causing his grey shirt to stretch over his lean, sexy frame.

Oh my God. Oh my freaking God. My one night stand was a Knight?

My mind turned into scrambled eggs, a frantic, screaming mess.

He can’t know. He can’t possibly know. He didn’t see my face. He doesn’t know who I am. Play dumb. Play cool, Ivy.

He pushed off the doorframe, and I tried to swallow, but my mouth had the humidity of a Sahara desert, and I knew I was fucked.

My feet stumbled an involuntary step back; I had to force myself to stop, straighten my spine, and lift my chin. I was Ivy Harpley, dammit. I could handle this.

Just as I opened my mouth to say something, anything at all, another voice that was just as familiar called from the balcony facing me.

”How long do you think this one will last?”

I whipped my head up, and my entire universe tilted on its axis.

Standing by a grand staircase was the stranger from the elevator! An exact, carbon-copy replica of the man walking toward me. The same golden curls, tousled, a sexy, sleepy look on his hazel eyes.

I tore my eyes away from him to the one before me, then back to the one on the balcony, my short circuitec brain threatening to explode.

He was a twin!? What the fucking-freaking-flipping fuck?

My eyes almost gouged out of their sockets as I dragged my gaze down their faces. They looked so perfectly, sinfully alike.

”Oh hell, why is she tweaking?” One of them asked; I couldn’t tell which one because I was staring hard at the marble floor, having a full-blown existential crisis.

”Maybe she’s never seen twins before?”

If they were twins...which one of them had fucked me in the elevator?