Chapter Eighteen
Tag watched Piper as she came out of the building that matched the address that Sunny gave him and turned the corner.
He was desperate to call out to her but afraid that if he spooked her, she would run again.
He carefully stepped into her path as she was searching in her bag for something.
She seemed to be in a hurry. He couldn’t let her get into her waiting car—she would disappear from his life again, and he couldn’t handle that, not after he traveled this far.
He reached out to catch her as she ran into his body, still not paying attention to where she was going or her surroundings.
“Oh—excuse me, I—” Piper looked up from rummaging through her oversized bag to find that she landed in Tag’s arms. Her eyes widened with the realization that he was standing in front of her.
“Miss Flynn, are you all right?” Piper’s oversized driver tried to pull her away from Tag, but he refused to let her go.
Piper was his, and she was the only one who could tell him that she wanted out.
God, she already did that back in Harvest Ridge, but he was here now.
He wanted another shot at—well, everything.
“Ma’am?” The brawny driver waited for Piper to respond. His hand rested on her upper arm. Tag wanted to pull her away from his grasp, but he also didn’t want to rush her. Piper needed to figure out what she wanted, and he prayed that it was him.
“You need to tell your driver that you’re okay, Honey,” Tag ordered.
He knew that her driver’s patience was wearing thin; he could feel the tension rolling off the guy.
Tag couldn’t take his eyes off Piper. The way she looked at him, as if she was both confused and happy to see him all at once, gave him hope that he didn’t want to feel.
“Yes,” she stuttered, “I’m fine. This is a friend of mine from Colorado.
” Tag flinched at the term “friend,” but he would take it.
At least she wasn’t denying knowing him altogether.
Her driver eased back, leaned against his SUV, and waited for Piper’s next order.
“Tag, what are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked.
“Sunny,” they said in unison. Piper groaned. “How could she do this to me? I needed time.”
“I gave you time, Honey. It’s been almost two weeks.
I’ve been in hell waiting for you to come back, not knowing where you were, not being able to touch you or talk to you.
It’s been agonizing. I’m done waiting, Piper.
” He didn’t miss the slight hitch in her breath or the way her eyes hooded with desire.
Tag wanted to kiss her, but he knew that she could still bolt.
He needed to get her where they could talk, preferably without her driver listening in.
“Is there someplace that we can talk, Pipe?” She seemed to weigh her options, going over the pros and cons of the situation as she always did.
His Piper. God, how he missed her. She was always so careful, so calculated.
She nodded her agreement, and Tag exhaled the breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.
Piper motioned towards the bulky driver and expensive car.
“Do you mind if we take my car? It’s already here,” she asked. Now it was Tag’s turn to consider his options. On the one hand, he knew that if he got into Piper’s car, they could go somewhere to be alone. On the other hand, her driver would be privy to their conversation while they were in the car.
As if on cue, Piper laughed and reached for his hand. “Tag, it’s not a hard decision. Do you want to ride with me to my hotel or meet me there?” He didn’t want to let Piper out of his sight, so his answer was clear.
“We can take your car,” he agreed. The driver opened the door, and Piper slid into the back seat.
Tag was starting to get the feeling that this guy was more than just a driver for Piper, and the idea was rubbing him the wrong way.
It was only two weeks—did Piper move on?
He eyed the guy as he slid in next to Piper.
He wanted to pull her onto his lap or crush his mouth to hers to send a clear message, but he knew that they weren’t quite at that point.
First, they needed to talk. Then, he would convince Piper that they belonged together.
He didn’t give a fuck about her driver or what he was to her.
Piper belonged with him in Colorado or wherever else she wanted to be.
He didn’t care as long as she let him come along for the ride.
They pulled out into the New York traffic, something Piper was getting used to.
She was a small-town girl at heart, but there was something about being able to get lost in a big city, especially one the size of New York.
No one here knew her story, and she liked that.
She didn’t have to put up with whispers and looks of pity from people who knew who she was and what happened to her family.
Here, she was just a number. She was one of the millions of New Yorkers who just existed in the city.
Except she missed home. She knew that she wanted to end up back in Colorado with Sunny and Lorna and God help her, Tag.
She also knew that moving forward meant that she would have to relive some of her painful past. Just after she met with the estate auctioneer, she called the precinct where she spent the night all those years ago.
Of course, they didn’t remember her. She explained who she was and what happened to her parents, and while the officer was sympathetic, she heard hundreds of stories like Piper’s.
She asked about Officer Kennedy, the kind man who held her hand and talked softly to her.
She never got the chance to thank him—she was young and in shock.
He probably didn’t expect to be thanked—heck, he probably didn’t even remember her.
But she needed to tell him how much it meant to her that he took care of her until her aunt could get to New York.
She was able to get Officer Kennedy’s number and was hoping he would want to meet with her.
Tag showing up threw a wrench in that plan.
If she told him what she wanted to do, he would insist on going with her.
While she loved that he wanted to protect her, this was something that she needed to do on her own.
“Listen, Tag, this isn’t a good time.” He did a double-take, looking at her as if she were crazy. She almost wanted to laugh, but knew him well enough to know that now wasn’t the time for humor. Instead, she reached for his hand and linked their fingers.
“I have things left to do here, and I can’t have you talking me out of them or even distracting me. I need to finish what I’ve started for us to have any chance at a future.” Tag pulled her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers, lighting an ache in her soul.
“Honey, you take all the time in the world—I’m not going anywhere.” Tag watched her, waiting for her to respond.
“I need to do this alone, Tag. I can’t have you picking me up every time I fail at life.
I need to find my strength.” Piper hoped that he would understand that she was doing this for them, not just herself.
“I want a future with you, but I can’t have that until I straighten out my past. I want to meet with the officer who helped me that day—” She paused, almost not wanting to say exactly what day she was referring to.
“The day that my parents died. I’ve never talked to anyone about this.
Well, except for my therapist. Not even Sunny or Lorna has heard this story.
” Tag undid his seatbelt and slid closer to her, pulling her legs over his lap.
“You can tell me whatever you need to, Piper. Nothing you say will ever make me not want you.” Tag dipped his head down to gently kiss her lips.
God, she missed him. She especially missed the way he held her and kissed her.
She needed him like she needed her next breath, but she also needed to stand on her own.
“I was there the day my parents died. I watched the entire scene through the windows of a convenience store. It was almost like I was watching a movie or a show, like it wasn’t happening to me.
But it was—it did. I froze, too afraid to run into that store.
All I could do was watch them die,” she whispered.
“I’m so glad that you were too afraid to run into that store, Honey. You wouldn’t be here now if you did. I wouldn’t be able to touch you or tell you that I love you.” Piper sucked in a big breath, not wanting to feel so much hope. That emotion was dangerous and wonderful all at the same time.
“Tag, I just—” She was shaking her head and crying. Tag gently wiped a tear from her cheek just before it fell from her face.
“It’s okay, Honey. You don’t have to say it back.
I just needed you to know how I feel. I love you, it’s simple for me.
I know that it’s not that easy for you. I’m a patient man, Piper.
I’ve got time, I’m not going anywhere.” Piper couldn’t help her tears.
She wanted to say those words back, but they seemed to be caught in her throat.
All she seemed to be able to do was nod and cry.
She needed to get the rest out, to tell him the whole story.
She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, determined to continue.
“After they were killed, the gunman turned his gun on me, aimed it right through the glass window. The only reason he didn’t pull the trigger was that the second guy heard the sirens and convinced him to leave.
The only thing I could do was stay with our luggage.
I was a coward. I was weak.” Piper hid her face in her hands, unable to stop the tears and shame that she felt.
She knew that it was irrational to blame herself; she didn’t take her parents’ lives.
She didn’t do anything to try to prevent them from dying either.
The what-ifs that she lived with daily were keeping her from living in the present.
They were keeping her from happiness with Tag.
It was now or never. She needed to put all her ghosts to rest to be able to move on with the man that she loved.
“I’m going to try to meet with the officer who found me that day.
I want him to get me into the prison to meet with the monster that took my parents from me.
” Tag’s gasp filled the cabin of the SUV, and she knew that he was going to try to stop her.
“Tag, it’s the only way to move forward.
” She knew that she was taking a risk, but this meeting was so important to her.
Tag finally nodded his agreement, and she pulled out her cell to punch in the number she was given earlier.
She needed to put her plan into motion before she chickened out or Tag tried to stop her.
She held back tears as the phone rang once, twice, and on the third ring, a familiar man’s voice answered.
She would never forget it—it was one of the only comforts that she remembered from that day. Her words seemed to stutter out.
“Hello, my name is Piper Flynn. I don’t know that you will remember me, but I would like to meet with you.” The sharp gasp on the other end told her all she needed to know. Officer Kennedy remembered her.