Chapter 9
Piper
Leaning into the mirror, I carefully placed a fresh Band-Aid over the cut on my neck. I straightened and studied my make up.
I’d picked an eggplant-colored top with a high neck for work today.
It didn’t quite cover the Band-Aid, but hopefully no one would notice it.
The shirt paired nicely with my eggplant leather pencil skirt that ended mid-calf.
My grazed hands I couldn’t hide as easily.
I’d just tell everyone that I’d slipped in the snow.
The worst thing this morning was that my sleepless night was stamped all over my face. I had dark circles under my eyes, and I’d done my best to hide them, but even I wasn’t a miracle worker.
With a sigh, I headed back into my bedroom.
This suite at the Langston Windward had been my home for the last few months.
Thankfully, they’d been renovated recently and Tessa had done a good job, so I didn’t need to add them to my reno schedule.
Decorated in creams and browns, they blended modern and rustic to perfection.
The modern gray furniture contrasted perfectly with the wood floor and window frames and stone-accented fireplace.
The décor followed through into the living area and bathroom.
I slipped into my Gucci Bombshell heels with their black leather and gold heels. They were my favorites and usually brightened my mood. I’d bought them as reward for myself after I completed a grueling renovation project at the Langston Geneva last year.
Today, they didn’t quite cut through my unsettled mood.
I snatched up my phone and headed from the front door of my suite. I’d tried numerous times to call and text Chance. He hadn’t responded.
It wasn’t that much of a surprise. My brother could hold a mean grudge. After the scene at dinner last night, which he would totally blame on me, he’d probably ignore me for a while.
Still, I tried again. The call went to voicemail.
“This is Chance. Leave a message and make my day.” His voice was breezy, like life was one big party.
“Chance, it’s me. Again. Look, I had a…run-in with someone who knows you. I need to talk to you. Please, call me back.”
I stiffened my spine. I needed to get to work.
I headed down the corridor, not even noticing the vase of fresh flowers on the side table or the beautiful, framed mirror on the wall. I was worried about my brother and still feeling drained from my nightmares. Every time I had managed to drift off to sleep, I’d relive the attack and jerk awake.
Then I’d lie in my bed, staring at the dark ceiling, and think of Everett.
He hadn’t hesitated to take on my attacker. Who’d been a big guy with a knife. No, Everett had charged in, then he’d taken care of me.
And I’d been shaken, defensive, and rude.
Right, and embarrassed. I hadn’t wanted to admit it was my brother who’d been the reason that man attacked me.
I stepped into the elevator and rubbed my forehead. Okay, I’d been shaken, so I knew I shouldn’t beat myself up.
But still, I was going to have to apologize and thank him again for his help.
In the lobby, I breezed past reception, calling out good mornings to the reception staff.
I noted Coral, an older employee who’d apparently been here since the dawn of time, glaring at me.
The gray-haired woman only seemed to have one mode—grumpy.
I glared back. It was shocking we didn’t have any customer complaints about her.
Thankfully, no one noticed my grazed hands. I was wearing dark stockings today, which covered my knees. They weren’t as bad as my hands, but still a little skinned.
“Morning, Piper,” Kate said from her tiny office.
“Morning.” In the conference room, I felt my nerves settle a little. Work was exactly what I needed. My phone pinged and I yanked it out. Please be Chance.
It was a message from one of the renovation contractors. My shoulders slumped.
“Come on, Chance.” If that asshole would attack me, what would he do to Chance?
How much money did my brother owe the guy’s mysterious boss?
My stomach did a sickening turn, and I sat in my chair. I fired up my laptop, but unsurprisingly, my concentration was shot.
“Good morning.”
I jolted and turned my head. Tessa and Allie wandered in.
Allie raised a dark brow. “Someone’s a little jumpy.”
“Sorry, slept badly.” I kept my hands in my lap. These two could be extremely nosy.
“Ro’s working you too hard,” Tessa said.
I snorted. “Hardly. Working hard is my forte, plus he’s promised me a giant bonus when the renovations are done.”
Allie perched on the edge of the conference table. “And then you’ll leave Windward behind so fast, we’ll only see your vapor trail.”
I tossed my head back. “That’s right.”
“Is that a Band-Aid on your neck?” Tessa asked.
“Oh.” I resisted the urge to touch it. Stay cool. “I scratched myself.”
Allie made a sound. “That’s why I don’t get claws like yours. I’d tear myself to ribbons with manicured nails.”
I gasped. “Excuse me, my excellent manicure cannot be called claws.”
“Whatever.” Allie waved a hand.
“Heathen.”
“Superficial city slicker,” she returned.
I rolled my eyes. “Mountain hick.”
Tessa ignored us. She was used to our teasing bickering. “We’re planning a cocktail night.”
“Sounds good.” I could do with a drink. “Your men are letting you out, then?”
Allie grinned. “Yep. Mine’s even taking care of my kid while I do.” Allie was raising her nephew, and he and Caden got on like a house on fire.
“There are some benefits to staying at home with your guy,” Tessa said, a smile on her face.
I went to lift up my hand, then reassessed and kept it in my lap. “Don’t rub your sickly bliss and frequent orgasms in my face, please. Especially not when they come from two men I consider friends and work with every day. TMI.”
Tessa laughed. “Okay, I need to check in with the team.”
Allie rose. “Same. See you later.”
“Pencil cocktails in that busy schedule of yours,” Tessa added.
“Bye.” I focused back on my laptop, feeling a little better.
But it wasn’t long before an all-too-familiar scent hit me. I spun and saw Everett enter. He closed the conference room door behind him with a sharp click.
I swallowed. He wore a green flannel shirt today and it made the green in his eyes brighter.
“You okay?” he asked.
I sighed. “I’m fine. Look, Everett—”
He reached out and brushed under my eyes. “Looks like you slept like shit.”
I grabbed his hand. “I was rude last night. I’m sorry. I was shaken up. I just wanted to say thank you, again. For everything.”
He eyed me, then turned his hand, threading his fingers through mine. My heart leaped. I tried to pull my hand away, but he held on tight. “Never heard you apologize before.”
I huffed out a breath. “Don’t make me mad again. Can you just accept my apology gracefully?”
He nodded. “All right, big city. I want to check the cut.”
“It’s fine. You know it’s shallow.”
He lifted my hands, gently checking them. My stupid heart rapped against my ribs. It had been a really long time since anyone had worried about my booboos.
His gaze met mine. “Humor me.”
I rolled my eyes to ceiling. “Fine.”
His fingers brushed my neck and he peeled the Band-Aid off my skin. I heard him grunt before he pressed it back on.
“See,” I said.
He leaned a hip against the conference room table, far too close to me for my liking. The man seemed to fill up the entire room with his presence. “Now, you’re going to tell me the truth about what that asshole said to you last night, and what he wanted.”
I froze. “Murray—”
“Oh no. You called me Everett before, let’s stick with that.” He gestured with his hand. “Now, out with it.”
I looked away. My brother was my problem, my mess to deal with. I’d been dealing with him for years and hiding most of his fuck-ups from my mom and Gram. It’s what I did.
I didn’t want to drag Everett or anyone else into that.
“Piper…”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“It has to do with your brother.”
My head jerked back to him.
“It was a guess, but you just confirmed it.”
“I’ll deal with it,” I whispered.
“And maybe get your damn throat slit next time?”
I jerked.
Everett cursed. He gripped one armrest of my chair and leaned in. “Dammit, Piper, let me help you.”
“I help myself.” The words burst out of me.
“My dad left when Chance and I were young. My mom worked two jobs to feed us, money was tight. Dad was a ghost. He never came back, never sent child support. I helped out with Chance. Got him to school, fed him, helped him learn his times tables. I went to bed every night worried if the electricity would be on in the morning, or how I’d cook dinner when the fridge was empty and Mom was at work.
” I was sharing stuff I’d never shared with anyone.
It just kept coming. “It got better when we moved in with my grandmother. And now, I keep his messes from my mother and Gram. They raised us, worked and sacrificed for us. They get to live easy now.”
Everett’s face was unreadable. “And you take on all the responsibility.”
I leaned in closer, our faces only an inch apart. “Yes.”
I saw his face soften, something working behind his eyes. “I’m going to help you.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Yeah, babe, you do.”
I swallowed, feeling things trying to punch out of my chest.
“Fuck, you smell good,” he murmured.
“You always smell like citrus, spice, and wood.” The words tumbled out and then my chest hitched. I clamped my lips together.
His mouth curled in the sexiest smile I’d ever seen. “You like how I smell, huh?”
“No, yes, um…” Why couldn’t I think? I was Piper Ellis, COO, I never stumbled with my words.
His fingers gripped my jaw. “Right back at you, big city. I like the way you smell, like an expensive bunch of flowers. And I’ve been wondering for a damn long time how you’d taste.”
Then, his mouth pressed against mine.
His hand cupped my jaw, and he tilted my head, his tongue sliding across my lips. My mind went blank of everything except the taste of him and the rush of heat through every part of me.
I made a sound, leaning into him. With a low growl, he deepened the kiss. I could feel his hunger, a match for my own.
He pulled back and I wanted to yank him back. Or throw myself at him.
Oh my God, this was Everett Murray.
I wanted to climb Everett Murray like a tree.
His lips quirked. “I like seeing some color in your cheeks.”
“You’re annoying,” I muttered.
He grinned. “But I think you like it.”
“The kiss was not a good idea.”
“I disagree.”
I huffed. “Of course you do.”
Then his face turned serious. “Piper, you aren’t alone in this. Tell me what happened last night.”
I ran a hand over my hair and huffed out another breath. “You’re tenacious.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, babe.”
I’d never liked any man calling me babe…until now. I wasn’t telling him that. “He was looking for my brother. He wanted me to give Chance a message. Apparently, Chance owes his boss money.”
Everett cursed.
“This is nothing new, Everett. My brother is a gambler, with no employment. He’s often in debt, and often looking for money.”
“Which is why he came to see you?”
“Yes,” I said tiredly.
“What’s going on?”
I jerked and looked up. Somehow Ro and Caden had come in without me even hearing them open the door.
Caden looked between Everett and me, then crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Why are your hands grazed?”
How could he even see them? God, the man was in the right field since he saw everything that went on in the hotel.
“Her brother’s in town,” Everett said.
Ro’s lips flattened. “He’s bad news.”
“Apparently, he owes money to someone not nice. One of his goon’s attacked Piper last night in town.”
Both Ro and Caden stiffened.
“I’m fine. Everett was there and helped me.”
“We need to find your brother,” Caden said.
I sank back in my chair. “He’s not returning my calls.”
“I’ll find him,” Caden said darkly.
“And whoever he owes money to needs to know that Piper has protection, and isn’t a part of this,” Everett added.
“Guys, I appreciate the concern, I do, but I can take care of myself.”
Everett rose. “Even when guys twice your size attack you with a knife.”
“Knife?” Ro’s tone was sharp and lethal.
Caden’s face hardened even more.
“We know you can take care of yourself,” Everett continued. “Doesn’t mean you’re going to.” He brushed a thumb over my cheek and stepped back.
Ro and Caden shared a look.
“Everett’s right,” Ro said. “We’ll help out.”
“I’ll start by finding your brother,” Caden clipped out.
“If you do, you call me. He’s my brother and I need to sort this out with him.”
Caden gave me a chin lift, Ro nodded, and Everett gave me a long look. Then they all strode out.
I sank back in my chair, not exactly sure what had just happened.