Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Piper had no idea how long she’d been sitting on the floor, waiting for that door to come crashing in.
The silence was deafening, her labored breaths the only sound she could hear.
No dark face hovered at the window anymore, but still she couldn’t move, couldn’t let go of the knife.
Her fingers ached from gripping it so tightly.
Voices broke through the silence suddenly, drifted up from the parking lot below. She thought she’d heard a car earlier, but she’d been too afraid to move.
Crawling toward the bench, she climbed up slowly and peered out. He was gone. And then she saw Cole’s car was parked outside her house. Cole and Deke were on her front lawn.
Her knees went weak with relief, and she almost crumpled back to the floor.
They must have scared him off when they pulled up.
Limbs still shaky with fear, she moved to the door, unlocked it, and, wrenching it open, started down the stairs.
It was still dark, but they’d turned on the outside lights, and she could see Cole clearly. Her breath got stuck in her throat. He looked devastated. There was no other way to describe it.
Oh God.
She opened her mouth to say something, to let them know she was okay, but the words wouldn’t come. Her legs shook, knees threatening to give out again with every step.
She reached the circle of light beaming from her small cottage, and Cole spun, pale gaze landing on her.
Then he was moving.
A sob broke free when he reached her and gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Drop the knife, sweetheart. No one’s going to hurt you now. I promise.”
She released it, letting it clatter to the ground, and he scooped her up in his arms, burying his face against her throat.
“Thank God,” he rasped, voice rougher and deeper than she’d ever heard it. He pulled back, lifting his hands to each side of her face, gaze searching hers. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you? There’s blood.”
“I’m fine. It’s not mine. I got away. I used Alex’s spare key again and locked myself in your apartment. But I dropped my phone. And I was…I was too afraid to open the door.” She wanted to be brave, but her lower lip started trembling uncontrollably.
He wrapped his arms around her again, lips against her hair. “You did good, baby. You did the right thing.”
Two patrol cars came flying down the street, coming to a stop beside them. Then her view was cut off because Deke pulled her from Cole’s arms and wrapped her in an unforgiving bear hug. “Fuck, Piper. You scared the shit out of me.” He held her so tight the oxygen was forced out of her lungs.
As soon as Deke released her, Cole pulled her back against him again. His big body shook, his relief palpable. “Come on, sweetheart, the police need to talk to you.”
She slipped her hand in his and squeezed. “Will you stay with me?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” The way he said it made it impossible to believe anything else.
They started across the lawn to the cottage when Cole’s head twisted toward the road. His face transformed before her eyes.
“What is it?”
“What the fuck? Isn’t that the guy you went out with?”
She followed Cole’s steely gaze to a beige Chevy Malibu parked a little way up the street. Gerald was sitting inside. She could see his shadowy form in the front seat. He was trying to covertly watch the action but was doing a crappy job, obvious as hell.
Cole growled and dropped her hand, heading straight for him. He wrenched the guy’s door open and dragged him out by his shirt, getting in his face. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The cops swarmed, dragging Cole off.
Brian came up beside her. “Talk to me, Piper. Who is that guy?”
She took a good look at him. His size, the way he moved, and shivered, thinking about the man in the ski mask watching her, chasing her. “I…I went out with him once, his name’s Gerald. He phoned a few nights ago. He called me a bitch because I wouldn’t go out with him again.”
“Right.” Brian strode across the street.
“I didn’t do anything,” Gerald said as Brian interceded, shoving him against his car.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Gerald?”
“I was just…” His mouth flapped.
“Answer me.”
“I was just driving past, and I…I saw the police cars. I wanted to make sure Piper was okay. We’re in a relationship, you see.” The guy was flushed. Face shiny with sweat.
Piper suddenly felt ill, but then Cole was back, arm wrapped protectively around her.
One of the other officers pulled something out of the car and tossed it to Brian. “That’s not what she says.” Brian grabbed Gerald’s arm and held up the offending item. “What’s this? I wouldn’t think you’d have much use for a ski mask midsummer.”
The guy gasped and winced, trying to pull his arms out of Brian’s hold. “I-I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Brian pulled his sleeve back and revealed a deep gash in his arm. Blood still oozing out of it. “How did you get this?”
The guy crumpled, folded under the slightest bit of pressure. His confession flowed from his lips. Piper barely heard it, in shock that mild-mannered, boring Gerald was the Peeping Tom who had chased her, terrorized her.
Cole led her into the cottage, and one of the officers joined them. While she was making her statement, Alex, Rusty, and Reid arrived and, after giving her their own bruising hugs, hovered at the living room door with Deke.
Finally, after going through her ordeal several times, the police moved out.
Cole had stayed beside her through the whole thing, his hand wrapped around hers.
She’d felt him stiffen beside her as she’d told them how he’d chased her across the parking lot, then continued to terrorize her by staring through the window.
His fingers had tightened when she’d told them how she’d sat on the floor clutching a kitchen knife waiting for him to break in.
Now her sister and Alex were in the kitchen making drinks for everyone, and her brother and Reid, still looking pissed as hell and ready to do Gerald some serious damage, stood like a couple of vicious guard dogs by the door.
Suddenly having people that loved her, that looked out for her all the time, didn’t feel so suffocating anymore. She wouldn’t be without any one of them. Not even her overprotective big brother.
Rusty put a hot chocolate down in front of her and squeezed her hand.
“Thanks, Rust.”
Cole still sat stiff, body coiled tight, like he could explode out of his seat any moment. She turned to him. “Cole, I’m—”
“Piper needs her rest,” he said suddenly.
And to her utter surprise no one argued. After another round of bruising hugs, they filed quickly out the front door.
Cole had been quiet the whole time. Well, except for kicking her family out, and she had no idea what was going on in his head.
But before she could open her mouth to ask, he grabbed her around the waist and hauled her into his lap. Lifting his hands to her face, firm and unyielding, he stared down at her.
What she saw in his eyes stole her breath.
“I know I messed everything up. After Adam died…I thought, I thought if I allowed myself to give in to my emotions, allowed myself to let go, even just a little…fuck, I thought I’d shatter into a million pieces.”
She started to shake her head, to let him know it was okay, that he didn’t need to talk about this if it was too painful, but he didn’t stop. He kept talking.
“You forced me to let go, baby, to feel again. And I’m still here, Pipe.
I didn’t fall apart. That’s all you. You don’t even know it, but you did that for me.
Fuck, you’ve become my reason to wake up every morning.
If you tell me you don’t want this, that you don’t feel the same way I do…
” He stopped himself and shook his head.
“No, fuck that. If you tell me you don’t feel the same way, I’ll do whatever it takes to change your mind.
I know I’ve done it all wrong. I’ve hurt you.
Made you think you didn’t matter to me. But, baby, you do.
More than anyone. Fuck…I love you, Piper.
I love you so damn much. I’ve loved you since you were seventeen years old. ”
A choked sob surprised her, bursting past her lips. The hot tears that followed, streaming down her face, even more so. “You love me?” She shook her head. “I can’t…Cole, I can’t…”
Agony transformed his expression. “Piper, please. Give me a chance to make this right. I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do everything in my power—”
She pressed her fingers against his lips and shook her head again.
He swallowed, throat working as pain spiked through his gaze.
How could he believe she’d turn her back on him?
That she didn’t feel the same way? “I can’t believe you finally said it.
” She smiled a watery smile at him. “I knew you felt it. I could see it in your eyes when you looked at me, but I never thought you’d say it, own it.
I thought you’d let me slip through your fingers, keep on punishing yourself, denying yourself the happiness you deserve. ”
“I can’t be without you, Piper.” Eyes bright, he leaned in and kissed her, slow and deep.
When he pulled back, she cupped his whiskered jaw. “And I can’t be without you. I love you, Cole. Always have.”
He lifted her to her feet, took her hand, and without a word led her down the hall.
“Where are we going?”
“You love me,” he rasped in a low, rough voice.
She squeezed his hand still wrapped around hers. “Cole…”
“I thought I’d lost you.” He tugged her into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, and pressed her back into the cool wooden surface.
“There was blood. You were gone.” His gaze was hard and hot, and she realized that although he’d appeared relatively cool, calm, and collected, he’d been anything but.
“I thought I’d lost you. There was a moment there where I thought I’d never see you again. ”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed into him. “I’m okay now. It’s all over.”