IVY’S POV
I make it to the upstairs bathroom in nine seconds because Dominic said “back hallway, now” in the same voice he uses to dismiss a student whose thesis has failed, and the efficiency of his crisis management would be impressive if I wasn’t the crisis being managed – barefoot on the hardwood with my skirt still twisted and my underwear damp and my mother’s perfume clinging to my hair from the couch cushion I was grinding my face into while her fiancé’s fingers were curled inside me approximately ninety seconds ago.
The tap is running and my hands are under the water and I’m splashing my face and rubbing soap between my fingers like I’m scrubbing for surgery, and through the bathroom door I can hear the front door open and Knox’s boots hit the entryway with the heavy deliberate s
