I should have done that sooner instead of burying my head in the sand.
But you didn't care if they got her at the beginning. I swallow down that little thought. It might have been the case, but that all changed somewhere along the line. It might have even happened that first night I fucked her in her kitchen, I was just too deep in denial to admit the truth to myself.
Her eyes flicker open and my breath catches when her tired, violet orbs find mine.
"Piper," I breathe. "Are you okay? Is Emmie okay?"
She chuckles, but it's hollow. "I'm fine. Emmie is fine. She’s asleep upstairs. You were the one who was shot. How do you feel?"
"I'll live."
She scrambles to her knees, taking both of my hands in hers, and stares down into my eyes.
"I didn't think you were going to. Fuck, Dawson. That was the scariest fucking thing I've ever been through."
"I'm sorr—" She presses her hand to my lips to cut off my words.
"I'm not talking about what happened to me. I thought you were going to die in the car on the way here." The tears that were filling her eyes drop. "I-I thought you were going to die because you felt you had to protect me."
"I do have to protect you, Piper. You're my girl."
She shakes her head and averts her gaze. Dread begins to grow in my stomach.
She is still mine, isn't she?
"Whose car?" I ask, needing to fill the gaps.
"Ju... Link’s. He pulled up after you collapsed and brought us both back here."
A smile twitches at the corner of my mouth. Of course it was Link.
"And what about this?" I point to my patched-up shoulder.
"Your mum."
"You called my mum?" I ask, astonished.
"I didn't know who else to ask. Do you need any more painkillers? Your mum said—" Releasing her hand, I press two fingers to her lips to stop her talking.
"Let's go to bed."
"Dawson," she warns.
"I can walk up the stairs, baby girl. I refuse to let you sleep on the floor instead of in my arms." She looks from me to the door and then to her makeshift bed.
"If you're sure it's not too much. I can hardly carry you."
"I'll be fine."
I suck in a breath before dragging up as much energy as I can find to push myself to sitting.
The room spins; I'm not sure if that's the pain or whatever pain relief my mum has given me. She's known to dish out the extra-strong shit like it's sweets.
"You okay?" Piper asks, rushing to my good side and wrapping her hands around my arm.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"You're a really shit liar, you know that, right?"
I laugh at her words and immediately feel lighter as I manage to get to my feet.
It takes what feels like a year to get to my bedroom, but the second I drop down onto my bed, I'm so fucking glad I made the effort.
Piper's footsteps sound out around the room as she faffs about.
"Baby girl, please just come to bed," I demand when she returns with a box of pills and a glass of water.
"I'm just making sure you have everything you need."
"All I need is you, baby. Now get in here."
I watch as she walks around the bed to what I guess is now her side.
This wasn't how I was hoping to introduce her to it.
As she gets closer, I drop my eyes down her body, a smile twitching at my lips when I realise she's wearing one of my shirts.
"You got anything on under that?" I ask.
"Sure do." She lifts the hem, showing me a pair of my boxer briefs.
"Fuuuuck, baby girl. I think I lost too much blood for it all to be rushing south."
"Oh shush, you. There will be none of that."
She lifts the covers back and climbs in beside me. Her arm gently brushes mine as she copies my position, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling.
I can't help feeling like something huge has shifted between us tonight. I guess it's understandable; I still don't know what they put her through aside from what I walked in on. But right now, it feels like there's an ocean between us.
"Piper?"
"Yeah."
"Are we okay?"
She lets out a long breath that does nothing for the concern that's only growing within me. "We'll talk tomorrow, Dawson. Right now, you need to rest."
I want to argue, demand that we talk now, but as I lie there, my body sinking into my memory foam mattress, I begin to lose the fight with my exhaustion.
"Come here," I say, lifting my good arm to pull her over if necessary.
"Dawson, I don't—"
"Please, Piper." I hate the desperate tone in my voice, but I need to know she's here and alive before I pass out again.
The next time I wake, the pain has lessened a little and the sun is brightening the room. But when I turn to look at the other side of the bed, it's empty.
I lie there for two minutes before I push myself up. I make use of the bathroom and brush my teeth before pulling on a pair of sweats and heading out of the room.
I stand at the top of the stairs, contemplating just going back to bed, but the scent of coffee and bacon fills my nose and I start the arduous task of getting down to the kitchen.
"Dad," Emmie squeals the second she spots me. She's off the stool in a flash and by my side, helping me in.
My eyes find Piper's, and what I see there confirms that I was right to worry. She's shut down.
"We had bacon sandwiches; would you like one?" she asks as Emmie directs me to the stool she vacated.
"Yeah, I'd love one." I manage to catch her hand before she escapes around the counter and I pull her into the gap between my legs. Reaching out, I cup her cheek and look into her eyes. "How are you doing?"
"I'll be fine." I raise a brow in question. I hate that she's trying to cover up the seriousness of what she went through yesterday.
"Okay," I say, because even though I know she's lying, I don't want to have the conversation in front of Emmie.
Piper smiles at me but it's forced as she steps out of my hold and sets about making me a coffee and then some breakfast.
"How are you feeling?" Emmie asks, hopping up on the stool Piper left empty.
"I'll be fine, Em. Gran did a good job at patching me up."
"I didn't realise she was such a bad-arse."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you should have heard her threatening Piper. Even I was scared."
"My mother threatened you?" I ask, ripping my eyes from Emmie to Piper.
"It's okay, Dawson. She has every right to be pi—annoyed."
Emmie rolls her eyes. "You can swear, I'm not exactly an innocent child," she mutters.
"Don't I know it."
"She just doesn't want to see you hurt again. I've already caused you enough," Piper says, ignoring our little father-daughter banter.
"It's not her place to get involved. I'll speak to her."
"Please don't. She has every right, she's your mother and she loves you. I'm just glad she was gentler with her warning than your brother was."
"Did he hurt you?"
She shakes her head and looks at Emmie.
"Em, any chance you could give us a few minutes?"
"Sure thing, old man. I've got homework to do anyway."
"Good girl." She rolls her eyes at me once again before kissing my cheek and disappearing upstairs.
Silence falls upon the kitchen as Piper cooks. The sizzling of the bacon is the only thing that can be heard. I watch her work. She's still wearing my clothes that she slept in last night, and I can't help my eyes from dropping to her bare legs.
She looks unbelievable, making herself at home in my kitchen, dressed like that.
My mouth waters, but this time it's not for the coffee and bacon.
"Here you go," she says, placing a plate in front of me.
Suddenly ravenous, I reach out and lift the first sandwich to my mouth.
I groan around my first mouthful,
feeling Piper's stare burning into the side of my face.
"Did he hurt you?" I ask again.
She lifts her wrists and inspects the welts. "It was only Jinx who physically hurt me. Cruz was more about words."
"What did he say to you?"
She opens her mouth to respond when the home phone starts ringing. I ignore it, my need to talk to Piper more pressing than anything anyone can tell me over the phone right now.
"Ignore it," I say when she looks like she's about to move.
"Are you going to get that?" Emmie calls from the top of the stairs.
"No. You’re not either."
She mutters something before the voicemail kicks in.
"This is a message for Mr. Ramsey. It's Roger from Partridge Wright solicitors. I'm sorry I missed your call this week. Congratulations on your engagement. If you'd like to return my call when it's convenient for you, we can discuss how to move forward with the money you're now entitled to." He says more, but the blood rushing past my ears makes it hard to discern the words.
Emmie's feet thunder down the stairs until she's standing in the doorway. My eyes don't move from Piper's devastated ones, but I feel Emmie’s burning into me.
"It's true," Piper whispers. "What Cruz told me. It's true. You’re using me." Her voice trembles and something inside my chest cracks open.
"No, Piper. It's not just that. Please, let me explain." She's already off the stool and backing toward the door to make an escape.
"You were playing me," she sobs, although she doesn't cry. There are no tears in her eyes, just anger.
"No, Piper."
"Stop." She holds her hand up to cut me off. "Just stop lying to me, Dawson. We all heard that. Cruz knows, your father knows. Was it only me who didn't know this was all one big joke?"
"No, I didn't know."
"Go upstairs, Emmie," I demand, but all she does is put her hands on her hips and stand her ground.
"And to think, I stood beside Gran last night because I was worried about Piper hurting you again. But all along, she's not been the one playing games. It's been you. How could you? She loves you, you idiot."
In the time it takes Emmie to rip me a new one, Piper has fled from the kitchen.
"Piper, wait," I call, getting down from the stool and following her. She's already out the front of the house with no shoes on and wearing only my t-shirt and boxers. "Just come back inside. Let me explain."
"No, Dawson. There is nothing you can say to me to make this right. I trusted you. I trusted you with my life, and this is how you treat me. I get that you wanted to hurt me, that you wanted revenge, but I believed we’d moved past that." Another sob rips from her lips, and this time two tears fall with it. "I trusted you," she screams, starting to lose her control.
"Please, just come back inside. Please, Piper. I can explain."
I'm on the verge of trying to drop to my knees to beg her when a car pulls up behind her.
The window drops and the driver says, "Car for Piper Hill."
"Yes, yes that's me,” Piper says in a rush, running for the back door of the car.
"Piper, no, please. Just hear me out."
She doesn't look at me as she gets into the back of the car and slams the door.
"NOOO," I cry, racing forward, ignoring the pain that shoots down my body. But I'm too slow; the driver slams his foot on the accelerator and they speed off down the street.
I don't move until the car has turned the corner and is no longer in view.
"FUUUUUCK," I roar into our silent street.
"Come back inside, Dad," Emmie says from the house.
Turning to her, I find her standing in the doorway with her phone in hand.
"You called that car." It's not a question. I already know the answer.
"I can't believe you played her. Who even are you right now?"
"Emmie, I—"
"No, I'm not interested." With that said, she turns on her heels and races up the stairs before the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut makes me flinch even from out here.
28
Piper
The second the car pulls up at the address I told him to divert to, I fly from the back without a second thought. I should be nicer to him. He put up with me crying all the way here like it was totally normal. He also accepted my new destination with little fuss. Not that I have any clue where he was taking me originally; just the knowledge that it was away from Dawson was enough.
I drag in a shaky breath. My heart still feels like it's been ripped in two as I reach out for the buzzer.
"Yeah?" A sleepy, groggy voice crackles down the line.
"Lisa, it's me. C-can I come up?" My voice cracks, and I hate that he's got the power to do this to me.
"Yeah, yeah," she says in a rush before a buzzing fills my ears.
Pushing through her building's main door, I make my way up to her floor. When I get to her flat, I find the door open and let myself inside.
A fresh wave of tears hits me the second I look at my friend.
"What the fuck did he do?" she asks, coming over and wrapping her arms around me.
"It... it... he..." I stutter against her shoulder.
"Shhh, it's okay," she soothes, holding me a little tighter.
I'm so grateful for her in those few moments. I've been back in London for years now. I've had numerous jobs, but for some reason I never quite clicked with anyone, not just guys. Work colleagues were just acquaintances. But the day I walked up to her reception desk for my job interview, I felt something different between us. Thankfully, we've been close ever since, because right now I have no one else.
Maybe it was my fear of getting close to anyone and getting caught that stopped me from making friends. I don't know. All I do know is that I need her right now like I never have before.
"I'm sorry," I say, pulling back from her embrace when I realise that I've got tears and snot all over her shoulder.
It's not until I look at her that I realise how she looks. Her hair is a mess, her makeup smeared all over her face, and, like me, she's wearing a man's shirt—only hers is a smart button down to my black t-shirt.
"Am I interrupting something? I-I can go," I offer, hoping like fuck that she doesn't take me up on it. I don't think I could handle being alone right now.
"What? No, don't be silly. You're more important. Do you want a coffee? Then you can tell me what that motherfucker has done."
I nod, unable to form words the second I think of the desperation in his voice as I walked away. Of course he was desperate; he needs me for his payout.
A sob erupts and I fall down onto Lisa's sofa and drop my head into my hands. I drag in lungfuls of air as the scent of coffee surrounds me.
After a few minutes, Lisa places a mug on the coffee table for me before curling herself onto the other end of the sofa and cupping hers in her hands.
"You're hungover, aren't you?" I ask, looking her over once more. Her complexion is pale, and her eyes are bloodshot.
She reaches a hand out and holds her thumb and forefinger a little apart. "Just a teeny bit."
I shake my head at her, glad for the distraction.
"So, go on. What has you knocking on my door this early on a Saturday morning?"
"Lis, it's nearly midday."
"Huh, it must have been a good night." She shrugs, taking a sip of her steaming coffee.
"It's all fake," I whisper, but seeing as she doesn't ask me to repeat it, I assume it was loud enough to hear and understand.
"Nah, Piper. No way. I've seen the way he looks at you.”
I shake my head. “Some shit went down with his family last night," I admit, seeing as she already knows how we got to this point. "His brother swiped me on my way to the shop. He—"
"Wait, he swiped you? As in, he kidnapped you?"
"Yeah. He threatened me and told me that everything with Dawson was a lie, that he was playing me to get back at me. That the only reason he proposed was because he was due some
inheritance once he was engaged.”
"No, that's bullshit. It's got to be."
"It's not," I confirm, forcing the two words out through the emotion clogging my throat. "I might have believed it was if it weren't for the solicitor leaving a very incriminating voicemail this morning."
"Fuck."
"Uh huh." I sip my coffee, barely feeling the burn as it touches my lips and scalds my tongue. I'm too numb. The only thing I can feel is my heart shattering in two as I relive what happened in the past twelve hours.
She’s silent for a few seconds as she thinks. "Go back a bit. What happened after you were kidnapped?"
"Do you need to look so excited by this?" I mutter, seeing the twinkle in her eye.
"I'm sorry, I've just never lived through anything like this before. I thought it only happened on the TV."
"Fucking wish it did," I mutter. "He gagged me, bound me and I was hauled to the basement of their clubhouse." I hold out my wrists to show her the damage.
"Holy fucking shit, Piper."
"They chatted some shit. Threatened me. It would have gone a lot further if he hadn't turned up and rescued me."
"He rescued you?" She swoons. "Like, full-guns-blazing rescued you?"
"Kind of," I admit. "He was shot."
"Fuck." Her eyes go so wide they almost pop out of her head.
"He's fine. It was a clean shot, in and out of his shoulder. He'll survive."
Lisa lowers her mug to the table and gently rubs at her temples as she tries to process what I've just told her.
"He took a fucking bullet for you?"
"He played me, Lisa. He only wanted me alive to claim what he thinks he's owed." Admitting that hurts like a bitch, but it's the truth. "He wanted revenge on what I did to him all those years ago. So did his father and brother. They should have just killed me and put me out of my misery."
"No," she snaps. "No, don't you ever say that."
"This is such a mess, Lis. I knew when he came back into my life that I shouldn't trust him. Hell, I'm pretty sure he even told me himself not to. Yet I went and bloody fell for him again."
"Did you really ever un-fall?"
"Not helpful," I growl, annoyed that she's right. I've always loved him, and I'm pretty sure I always will.
Play You: A Second Chance/Single Dad Romance (Rebel Ink Book 4) Page 22