Chapter 22 Piper
Piper
Istill had Everett’s coat.
I’d ditched Tessa’s boots. I gave a mock shudder. They were not my style, at all. But this gorgeous wool coat. I stroked it where it lay over the back of my chair in the conference room. It was soft. I leaned against it. And it smelled like him.
What the hell are you doing, Piper?
We clearly were attracted to each other. This morning on my bed had proved that. A shot of heat coiled in my belly. Oh, I’d very much liked sucking his cock and making him come.
I moved restlessly in my chair. Maybe it was because we were opposites and struck sparks off each other. Maybe Everett was just having some fun. I knew that one day, he’d find himself some rosy-cheeked mountain girl who suited him perfectly.
Colleagues with benefits, I reminded myself.
I stroked the coat again. If I was honest with myself, I was sliding deeper than I’d ever been before.
And that was dangerous.
Tessa breezed in. “Hi. How’s the pool construction coming along?”
“Great.” My voice was tight and I cleared my throat. “The tent is up and they’ve started work.”
“Are you ready to check the renovations in the east wing?”
With a nod, I rose. We’d made a time to go and check that the final painting touch ups were completed so we could start moving furniture back into the rooms. They were booked out starting next week, so we couldn’t get off schedule.
“Let’s go. Oh, and there are your boots.” I’d set them by the wall.
She grinned. “Wearing them didn’t make you explode.”
“I survived.” Thankfully, I was back in my Gianvito Rossi heels.
We headed out. I scanned the lobby, not willing to admit that I was looking for Everett. I spotted no flannel shirts.
Tess and I entered the hall to the east wing. I was eager to see how the rooms were coming along. Getting these rooms filled with guests as fast as we could was part of my plan.
“The pool, onsen spa, and day spa are going to be fabulous.” Tessa glanced at me. “I’m glad you convinced me that all the upgrades are the right thing to do.”
Tessa loved this hotel. She’d grown up dreaming of working in it. She’d been a little militant when Ro and I had first turned up, but now we were a team.
I smiled at her. “And I’m glad you showed me the charm of the place, and I didn’t knock it down to build a new hotel.”
The other woman’s lips twitched. “It seems you’re coming around to the mountain charm of quite a few things around here.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“I mean Everett,” she added.
“I know what you mean.” I stopped, and she turned to look back at me. “We both know I’m a just a diversion for him. Something different.”
She frowned. “He’s very protective of you.”
“He’s a protective guy. We both know that he’s waiting for some perfect mountain girl, raised in a small town, who wants to pop out his babies. That’s not me. Like I said, I’m a safe diversion for a little bit. Colleagues with benefits.”
Tessa’s frown deepened. “And you’re happy with that?”
No. I wanted to punch that mountain girl in the face. I set off back down the hall. “I’m a career woman, Tessa.”
“So am I, but it doesn’t mean I can’t fall in love and have a family.”
“My brother is a mess. I’m looking after my mom and Gram—”
“You deserve a life too, Piper. One that doesn’t include a million meetings and constant jetlag.” She eyed me, then straightened. “You like him.”
Now I felt a spurt of panic. “We need to look at these rooms—”
“Piper—”
Tessa’s radio crackled.
“Tessa, are you there?”
It was grumpy Coral calling from the front desk.
Tessa pulled a face, then grabbed the radio off her belt. “I’m here, Coral.”
“I’ll meet you in there,” I said quietly. I hustled down the hallway. The next corridor had caution tape and a Renovations sign strung across it. The doors to all of the rooms hung open, and I smelled the scent of fresh paint.
I ducked under the tape and headed for the family suite at the end of the hall. In a few places, we were joining two rooms to make more family suites to accommodate families with older children, or traveling with other family members.
There were still drop cloths, ladders, and gear everywhere, but I smiled. The shade of green looked great.
The sliding door to the balcony was ajar. I guessed it was to let the paint fumes out.
We needed to get the new furniture in, but that wouldn’t take too long. Yes. This was progressing according to plan. I turned in a circle, studying the walls.
I heard a noise behind me and assumed it was Tessa.
“What do you think? It looks great, doesn’t it?”
I turned and saw a bedraggled Chance standing behind me. I gasped.
His hair looked like he’d run his hands through it a hundred times, and he had a swollen, black eye.
“Chance,” I whispered.
“Piper.”
Then I hugged him. He was alive.
I felt him jerk, and when I looked up at him, I saw his wince.
My insides chilled. “You’re hurt.”
“Took a few blows.” He shrugged one shoulder, then grabbed my arm. “You have to come with me.”
“What?”
“Now.” He dragged me toward the balcony. “I need to keep you safe. You need to come with me and we’re getting away from here.”
“No.” I pulled away from him. “I can’t leave, Chance. I have work, and for the moment, I live here.”
“The people after me are not nice, Piper.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
He made a sound. “I don’t have time for a fucking lecture of what a screwup I am.”
I dragged in a breath, trying to stay calm. “Let me help you.”
He looked away, swallowed. “You can’t.”
“I can. You’re my brother, Chance, I love you. I want to help.”
“I really messed up this time, Piper.”
Suddenly, Tessa breezed in. Chance froze, and Tessa slowed to stop.
“You must be Chance,” she said.
“Chance—” I tried again.
“No.” A violent shake of his head. His fingers tightened on my arm. “We have to go.”
“Listen to your sister,” Tessa said in a calm, steady voice. “We have people who can help.”
“Please,” I pleaded.
There was twitch of the curtains by the sliding door and a man stepped inside from the balcony. He was dressed in dark-brown pants with a dark, leather coat. He was older and grizzled.
And he was holding a gun.
Chance turned to stone, and all the blood in my veins turned to ice. I heard Tessa gasp.
“You’re a hard man to track down, Ellis,” the man rasped.
“I don’t know who you are,” my brother said woodenly.
“I work for a…local businessman. You sat at his tables last night and slipped out without paying.”
My chest squeezed. “You gambled again last night?” My voice turned high pitched.
“I was trying to make some money! Enough to give a down payment to…” He trailed off.
A down payment to the other bad guy he owed.
Jesus. “You got into a huge gambling debt, so you thought you’d gamble your way out of it?
And now you owe someone else.” I gave a harsh laugh, and the way Tessa and the guy with the gun looked at me, I knew it was verging on hysterical. “What is wrong with you?”
“I…I’m sorry, Piper.” Chance hung his head.
I shook mine and looked at the gunman. “How much does he owe?”
“Twenty K.”
I closed my eyes. “Oh, my God.”
“I needed money fast, Pipe.” I saw Chance was trading dejected for pissed off. “I’m in a fucking bind.”
“You’re a gambling addict! You don’t work, you leech off people. I’ve tried to help so many times—”
“Oh, the high and mighty, oh-so-perfect Piper. All you do is judge me.”
I tried to remember the sweet boy who’d slept in my bed when we were little, and jabbered to me about games and books on the way to school.
But I couldn’t see him in this petulant man.
I turned to the older man, who’d thankfully lowered his gun. He actually looked vaguely amused.
“He doesn’t have twenty thousand dollars.”
“Then he needs to take it up with Mr. Fowler.”
At the name, Tessa made a sound. I figured that wasn’t good.
Then suddenly, the curtain behind the bad guy twitched again.
A man charged into the room from the balcony, dressed in a suit and long, black coat. He had a dusting of snow coating his shoulders. He lifted his head.
My mind went blank and I couldn’t breathe. It was the man with the scar who’d attacked me in the alley.
He rammed into the older guy, sending him flying to the floor. Then he flicked a glance my way. His eyes were hard and icy, without a whisper of humanity in them.
Then he focused on Chance.
“It’s over, Ellis. Mr. Rocha has run out of patience.”
My brother lifted his arms, palms up. “Listen, Corvo, I’m getting the money. I just need more time—”
“You’re out of time. You take the money, you don’t pay up, so you pay the price.” He pulled out a knife and flicked it open.
I took a step back, and Corvo looked at me.
His lips stretched in a smile. “I think I’ll start with your pretty sister.”
All of a sudden, Tessa leaped forward. She was clutching a long paint roller. She swung it at the man.
Quick as a snake, he grabbed it and yanked it out of her hands. With a cry, Tessa stumbled toward him.
No. All I could see was that knife in his other hand. All I could remember was the terror at feeling it pressed to my throat. Ro and Tessa had just found each other. I couldn’t let her get hurt. I jumped toward Tessa and knocked her out of the way. Corvo was already moving.
I felt a sharp sting on my arm and I cried out. Then I was falling.
As I hit the plush carpet, I saw my brother racing out onto the balcony.
Then Corvo loomed over me, the scar on his face twisting as he smiled. “Looks like your brother left you for me to take payment.”
Fuck this. Anger exploded inside me. I was so sick of being worried and scared. I lifted my leg and kicked him with my very sharp heel. I felt it dig into his thigh. He staggered back with a curse.
His mouth twisted, tugging on his ugly scar, and he lifted the knife.
Then, a dark shape raced in from the side and slammed into him.
Frozen, I watched a dark-haired, handsome man slam brutal punches and kicks into my attacker. The knife fell to the floor and Corvo lifted his arms, trying to protect himself.
Then the dark-haired man reached under his jacket and pulled his own knife. It was a hell of a lot bigger than Corvo’s.
Corvo uttered a vile curse, then whipped around. He raced out the sliding door.
Our rescuer took two steps and yanked the curtain open. I saw Corvo drop over the balcony railing and disappear from view. There was no sign of my brother or the older man who worked for Fowler.
Then Tessa was scrambling over to me. “God, you’re bleeding, Piper.”
I looked at the cut on my arm and my head spun. Wow, that was a lot of blood. It had soaked into my white shirt and was dripping onto the carpet.
Then, the man was kneeling beside us.
I gasped. For a second, I thought it was Enzo.
“Here.” He held out a clean, white handkerchief and pressed it to the wound. “You need to apply pressure.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. He really looked like Enzo, except a little sharper, more intense, and more dangerous.
Dark eyes swept over me, his face expressionless. I saw tattoos on the backs of his hands.
“Um, you’re related to Enzo, right?” Tessa said.
A short nod. “He’s already on his way with help.”
I glanced at the sliding door and my heart twisted. “My brother left me. That guy with the knife was here, and Chance ran.”
“It’s going to be all right.” Tessa slid an arm around me.
“Keep the pressure on,” Enzo’s almost-clone said.
I pressed down and tried not to cry.