Tell Me No Lies (Sinners and Saints Book 2)

Trigger Warnings

”WHAT ARE YOUR plans for later tonight, baby girl?” The rough voice that carries in from the lobby of my shop is laced with suggestion, and there’s not a doubt in my mind it’s directed at the same woman who’s been wreaking havoc on my life since the day she tried to unload fifty thousand volts into my nutsack.

I should never have hired Piper to work the front desk of my shop, but the offer fell right out of my mouth. I couldn’t stop myself from finding a way to insert her directly into my life. The same way I can’t stop myself from leaving my office door open all day so I can listen to her laugh as she interacts with customers. Or how I keep finding my way to the front desk, looking for ways to aggravate her so she can be just as fucking miserable with this situation as I am.

Gritting my teeth, I do my best to tune out the conversation happening only a few yards away. Piper can handle herself better than any woman I’ve ever met, but the sound of the giggly, fake laugh she lets out is like fucking nails on a chalkboard. It’s not the real her, and I hate hearing her pretend it is. ”You”re sofunny. Let me get you your receipt.” She’s blowing him off, but she’s being remarkably nice about it.

As much as I hate the fakeness, I’m kind of proud of her for being so calm. Glad one of us is.

Forcing my fingers to relax on the pen in my hand, I go back to the invoices in front of me, pretending not to listen as the customer continues trying to shoot his shot. I’ve heard this countless times over the two weeks she’s worked for me, and every one of them has pissed me off.

Because the men on the other side of that counter can have her. I can’t. I sealed my fate when I stupidly hired her on, putting myself in a position of power over her. And I can’t abuse that. The women who work for me are here because they know I will protect them. That I’m different than the men my brothers and I saved them from. Crossing the line with Piper will make them think I’m not.

And maybe they’d be right.

”You still didn”t answer me, sweetheart.” The guy’s not giving up, making it evident he’s never gotten the bartender brushoff before. Or maybe he has, and he ignored it exactly the same way he’s ignoring the one Piper’s dishing out now. ”How about I take you out for a nice dinner tonight? Maybe afterward we can go back to my place. Enjoy a little alone time.”

The fuck?

I”m on my feet and across the room before I realize it, fists clenching at my sides. I stop just inside the door, dragging in a slow breath as I remind myself of who that prick is dealing with. Piper’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. I know. I”ve seen it.

But I’ve forbidden her from bringing weapons of any sort into my auto shop, so that might slow her down a little.

”I bet you say that to all the girls.” She does another one of those laughs, the high-pitched giggle grating on my fraying nerves. ”Here”s your receipt. Someone should be pulling your truck up out front any second.” Once again she blatantly ignores his offer and I start to relax a little, rolling my shoulders as I turn to my overflowing desk, gearing up to finish the task I started.

”You still didn”t answer my question.” The dick’s voice is a little lower now. Harsher. ”Give me your address so I know where to pick you up.”

”I”m gonna give you to the count of three to let me go.” All the light easiness is gone from Piper”s voice now. It carries a threatening edge I”ve seen her back up on more than one occasion. Watching her take a guy to the floor of The Cellar, the bar where she used to work, was both terrifying and hot as fuck.

While I”m not opposed to witnessing her take another prick down, Piper’s current arsenal is limited to ink pens and scissors. And I don”t necessarily want to clean arterial spray from the shop’s lobby when she stabs him in the neck, so I”m already moving when I hear his response.

”Or what?”

It takes me five seconds to finish closing the distance between my office and the desk. Neither Piper nor the asshat who has her wrist gripped in one meaty fist seems to notice me coming.

Good.

I grab Piper by the back of her shirt, using the hold to wrestle her away from him before plastering her against my side. The second she’s out of the way, I reach across the counter to grab the fucker who”s never heard the word no by the hair on the top of his head, and slam his face into the countertop between us. I pin him there, fingers pulling tighter as he starts to struggle. Leaning down, I pitch my voice so the rest of the customers waiting for their cars won”t hear. ”Or I cut your dick off and feed it to you with a fucking spoon.”

”Tate? What the fuck?” Piper scoffs, glaring at me as she tries to wiggle free of my hold.

I hold her tighter, keeping her in place as I narrow my eyes on the asshole who just lost the privilege of being welcome in my shop. “Do you understand me?”

”I understand.” The answer is distorted because his face is smashed against the solid surface so hard his lips are shoved to one side, but it”s good enough for me.

I release him, shoving Piper behind my back as I do, just in case she tries to take things to the next level. My newest employee is good at her job, but also high strung and overly reactive. And I don”t necessarily want to bail her out of jail for going over the desk and jumping on this man like a spider monkey.

Especially since I want to be the one to plant a fist in the center of his face if the opportunity for violence arises.

”Get the fuck out.” I jerk my chin toward the door, afraid to take my hand off Piper. ”And don”t come back.”

The man rubs the jaw that will be sporting a decent bruise pretty soon. He tries to glare at Piper, but she”s out of sight.

It still pisses me off.

”You don”t get to look at her.” He’s far enough away now I”m not worried I won”t have time to prepare for a hit if he tries to swing at me, so this time I do point at the door, still keeping my other hand on the fuming woman at my back. ”Go.”

He almost acts like he”s going to say something else, but ultimately figures out I”m not fucking around, and storms out onto the sidewalk, stalking to the truck my staff just finished servicing. I can hear how hard he slams the door from where I stand, along with the rev of his perfectly running engine as he peels out of the lot.

Once he”s gone, I turn to Nancy, motioning at the line of customers waiting to be helped. ”Can you handle this for a minute?”

Nancy ran the front of my business on her own for years, but as the shop got busier and busier, the task became overwhelming. With Piper here, Nancy’s job is mostly scheduling and ordering parts, and I can tell she’s been a hell of a lot less stressed out. But I need her to go back to juggling everything for a few minutes because Piper and I need to have another talk about customer service tactics.

I barely register Nancy’s agreement as I drag Piper behind me, careful not to walk too fast as I lead her into my office. Slamming the door behind us, I force in a breath. I”m still worked up over what happened—over what could have happened if I wasn”t close enough to hear. I need her to understand how little it takes for shit to go sideways. Even in a place like this.

I turn to face her, ready to lay into the woman who has been a thorn in my side from day one, but I don”t get a single word out before she comes at me.

”I had that under control.” Both arms are crossed over her chest as she steps closer, gait uneven thanks to the walking cast she’s sporting on her left foot. ”You should have let me handle it. Then he’d keep bringing his money here and wouldn”t be telling everybody he knows what an asshole the owner of this place is.”

”He can say whatever he wants about me. I don’t give a shit, and I sure as hell don”t want his fucking money.” I step closer to where she stands, anger, aggravation, and frustration bubbling under my skin. Unfortunately, they’re competing with another emotion. The one that was the real driving force behind what just happened.

Fear.

”I know you think you can handle men like that, Piper, but you don”t understand what some of them are capable of.” I do. I”ve seen it with my own eyes. I know what can happen when a man is determined to put a woman in her place.

Especially a woman like Piper.

”Don’t I?” Piper shoves a pointing finger at her casted ankle. “Because I’m pretty sure I had a front row seat to what some men are capable of and have the scars to prove it.”

I don’t like being reminded of what happened the day Lydia’s father and brother kidnapped her, her sister, and Piper from the sidewalk in front of my house. Don’t like thinking about how much worse things could have been if Christian and I hadn’t been able to get to them the second the SUV rolled down an embankment.

“But you just had to come out and give that dude a concussion in front of five hundred customers.” Her eyes narrow, glare intensifying. ”Customers who now think I can’t handle myself since you acted like I”m some sort of fucking damsel in distress.”

If I wasn”t so pissed I’d laugh, because no one would ever mistake Piper for a damsel in distress. Even sporting a hot pink cast on her still-healing leg, she”s formidable. Her tongue is sharp as a razor and, while she might be small, the woman is wickedly quick and of the opinion anything can be used as a weapon.

I thought taking away her stun gun would make her less dangerous, but I think it might”ve only made things worse. I”ve seen her inspecting any number of the tools around the shop with interest on more than one occasion, and I”m pretty sure the hammer from the toolbox in my office is missing. I hope to God she doesn”t have it on her now. Otherwise, there”s a good chance I”m gonna meet the business end of it.

And for some reason that makes my dick hard, which only pisses me off more.

”What they think is that I make sure my employees have a safe environment to work in, and now they know not to fuck with you.” My brain stumbles a little over my wording, and I”m forced to amend the statement. ”Or anyone else who works here.”

Piper rolls her eyes, scoffing. ”Such a fucking man thing to say.” Her face scrunches up as she lowers her voice, mocking my words. ”No one fucks with anything that”s mine because I’m a freaking Neanderthal.”

I know she”s trying to goad me, and it”s working, but not in the way she thinks. My attention zeroes in on one specific word that came through her perfect lips and latches onto it.

Mine.

I lean down, lining my eyes with hers as I snatch up the wrist he held. ”He shouldn”t have fucking put his hands on you.” Turning my attention to the section of soft skin reddened by his grip, I gently slide my thumb over the inside of her wrist, jaw clenching as the urge to hunt him down and punish him for what he did grows.

It”s something I”ve done before. Many times. I swore it would never happen again, but I need to hit something. I need a release or I’m going to lose it.

And no one deserves to feel my wrath more than him.

Piper yanks her hand out of my grip. ”I”m fine. That was nothing compared to the shit that happened to me when I worked at The Cellar, so you can just calm the fuck down.”

All my pent-up aggression narrows as I lift my eyes to hers. ”Who fucking touched you when you worked at The Cellar?”

I”m not stupid. I know what it”s like for bartenders. I know what they have to deal with. I”ve seen it more than a few times while performing with Simon and Christian across Memphis with our band, Sinners and Saints.

But I really don”t fucking like the thought of it happening to Piper.

She continues staring me down, chin lifting in a show of defiance that heats my already boiling blood. ”It doesn”t matter because I can take care of myself.” Leaning in, she brings us almost nose to nose. ”I”m a big girl. I don”t need you, or anyone else, jumping in to save me. I could have handled it.”

I wish it was true. I wish women could be safe on their own. That they never had to worry about being overpowered or incapacitated by someone bigger and stronger than they are.

But they do. And the fact that Piper doesn”t acknowledge that has my skin crawling.

”Yeah?” I step closer, and for some reason she backs up. ”And what would you do if he didn’t want to take no for an answer and decided to wait for you after work, thinking he’d give it another shot? What if no one else was out there and he grabbed you and shoved you into his car and took you somewhere I couldn”t find you?” I continue to advance on her and she continues to back away. ”I know you want to think you could”ve stopped him, but that man outweighs you by a hundred fucking pounds, Piper.” Her ass hits the edge of my desk, stopping her retreat, and my body bumps into hers. ”But you don”t have to worry about that now, do you?” I lift up the arm he held again, staring down at that pink ring around her wrist. ”Because he knows I’ll fucking end him if he tries to touch you again.” I lightly stroke her reddened skin, continuing to stare down at it. ”Did he hurt you?”

Piper”s eyes are fused to my face as she watches me. ”A little.”

The admission is barely a whisper. And for some stupid reason, it makes me lift her wrist to my mouth so I can brush my lips against the irritated flesh.

She sucks in a sharp breath that pulls my attention to her face. A face that is very, very close to mine.

We stare at each other as the seconds tick past, her wrist in my hand, our bodies pressed together.

I need to step back. Stop touching her. Apologize for kissing her boo-boos, or whatever the fuck that was, and shove her out of my office, locking the door behind her. Piper is many things—all of them desirable—but she’s also my employee, and that changes everything.

Or it should.

I manage to drop her wrist, but instead of walking away, I grip her hips, pulling her tighter to me. ”You need to go back to work.”

She grabs at my shoulders, fingers fisting in my worn T-shirt. ”Fuck you.” She yanks me closer, eyes flashing. “You don”t get to tell me what to do.”

My lips are practically on hers now, and I know it”s wrong, but I can”t fucking stop. ”No one does, do they? You just go around doing whatever the fuck you want.”

”Yup.” She leans in, pinching my lower lip between her teeth, stretching it out before releasing it. ”And I always will.”

The declaration pisses me off, but it also makes me hard as fuck. I grind against her, still chasing the need for release even if the means have changed. ”You’re a fucking pain in my ass.”

Piper”s hands slide down the front of my chest, fingers pausing to flick the barbells through my nipples. ”And you piss me the fuck off.”

I groan at the sensation. ”Good.”

She scowls at me, lips twisting on a hint of a snarl. ”You”re an ass.”

I smirk, because I love getting her riled up. Love seeing her as she truly is. ”You fucking love it.”

This is how it always goes between us. Push and pull. Back and forth. I come at her and she comes at me.

But it”s never gotten to this level. I”ve never had my hands on her like this. Never felt her body against mine. I knew what would happen if I did, and now it’s clear I was right. Because in the next second, Piper’s hand drops to grip the length of my cock, squeezing hard. ”Seems like I’m not the only one who fucking loves it.”

I release one hip to grip her jaw, forcing her eyes to stay on mine. ”You are a fucking menace. I never should have hired you.”

It”s something I”ve regretted on more than one occasion, but never for the right reasons. Every single one of them was so I wouldn”t feel bad dragging her into my bed and pinning her body under mine to fuck away this tension between us.

”And you”re a fucking caveman. I never should have accepted the job.” She drags her hand up and down my length, grip so tight it almost hurts. ”I hate you. I should fucking quit.”

My fingers sink into the flesh of her hip. ”I should fire you.”

Her eyes narrow as she continues stroking me. ”Do it. I dare you.”

Leaning in closer, I pinch her earlobe between my teeth, loving the way her body shivers in response. ”Maybe I will. Maybe I”ll fire you so fucking hard you”ll remember it forever.”

Her breath hitches and her free hand hooks into the waistband of my jeans. ”Do it then. Fire me right here. Right now.”

When her fingers go for the fly of my pants, I lose all sense of reason. I shove her hands away, taking over, flipping the button and sliding down the zipper before dragging them down my hips. Piper fights her own shorts open then pushes them down, taking panties and all. She gets her good leg free and I heft to her up onto the desk, shorts dangling from her cast. She grabs onto me, pulling me close, and then I”m sinking into her, both of us groaning as I bottom out in the hot well of her cunt.

I thrust hard, and she starts to tip back, losing her balance and knocking into the papers and miscellaneous parts lined across the surface.

”This isn’t gonna work.” I growl the words out as I pull my body from hers. But before I can get anywhere, she”s fisting the front of my shirt, yanking me back, eyes flashing.

”If you stop fucking me, I will kill you.”

Any hope I had for regaining my senses is gone at her threat. I slide her off the desk, gripping both hips to flip her so she”s facing it. Then I push against her back, bending her over the front as I line my body back up with hers. Clamping one hand over her mouth, I shove my way back in, blanketing her back, lips against her ear as I fuck her hard and fast. ”Not stopping. Just making sure no one but me hears when you come.”