by Cynthia Eden
Her boyfriend? Piper met Layla’s stare.
“Dante,” Mark repeated the name softly. “I remember him. Skulky kind of guy. Would never stare you straight in the eyes for long. Came in my shop once or twice. Told me some BS about looking for inspiration.”
Layla still gripped the phone. “Piper, did your assistant show a special interest in Dante Fallon?”
“She took him out to lunch a few times when he came to the area. He didn’t know the town, and she said she wanted to help him.” Had they been romantic? “Jessica dates a lot of guys. She likes to have fun and—”
“Dated,” Layla cut through her words. “She dated them. She liked to have fun. She’s gone, Piper.”
Piper pressed a hand to her heart. Her heart seemed to burn.
“She’s gone, and Dante Fallon is missing,” Layla said.
Mark pulled his phone from Layla’s hand. “Go find him. Get him to show you his damn chest.” His gaze pinned Piper. “You should have known it wasn’t me.”
Her hand fell to her side. “I’m sorry that you’ve been pulled into this mess.”
“I thought you knew me. That I knew you.” Mark shook his head. “But you were just in there watching me and thinking I was some criminal?” He shouldered past her. “I’m done here.”
She started to hurry after him.
Layla touched her shoulder. “Let him go. Our focus needs to be on Dante Fallon.”
Piper shook off the detective and marched out after Mark. She caught up to him in the hallway. “You could be a target. You have to be on guard. Maybe we can get a police officer to—”
Mark whirled toward her. “I don’t need cops shadowing my movements. You really think the people who visit my shop want to pass a cop on their way in? Way to kill the fun vibe of the place.” He shook his head. “I’ll be on guard. I know how to take care of myself. If that asshole comes my way, I’ll deal with him.” Then he blew out a hard breath. “I’m sorry I exploded on you, okay? This shit—it’s a mess, and you’re in the middle of it.” His lips twisted. “And where is your protection? I thought that your bodyguard was supposed to be staying close at all times, but I don’t see him.”
“That’s because I’m behind you,” Eric announced.
Mark’s shoulders stiffened.
“But thanks for the concern,” Eric added, voice sounding everything but thankful.
Mark’s eyes remained on Piper. “You need me, you know where to find me.” His lips thinned. “And next time, don’t send the cops after me. Come to me yourself.” He spun on his heel and stormed away.
Layla gave a low whistle as she joined Piper in the hallway. “That man has a lot of anger bubbling up inside.”
“Do you blame him?” Piper asked.
“No, but I’m betting my anger can beat his any day.”
Eric glanced back and forth between them. “I’m guessing Mark checked out?”
“Yeah,” Layla responded. “He’s got a shiny new tat on his chest—really nice, detailed work, by the way, I might have to see him for my next piece—but no stab wound. He’s clear.”
“I’ve got someone you might want to check out,” Eric announced, tension evident in his body. “Because I was able to track down the person who really sent that email to Grady. Sure, the fellow tapped into Piper’s email address, but he didn’t do it from anywhere near here. In fact, the guy was located in Savannah, and I believe it was—”
“Dante Fallon?” Piper supplied.
Eric frowned at her.
Layla patted his shoulder. “You’re a little late to the party. Come in my office, and we’ll bring you up to speed.”
***
“I remember him.” Eric’s fingers tightened on the neck of the beer bottle in his hand. They were back at his house—finally back, after one hell of a day. The cops in Savannah and Atlanta—and all points in between—were searching for Dante Fallon. His face had been flashed to the media, and the public had learned that the guy was a person of interest in a murder investigation.
Layla was confident that he’d be found by dawn.
Eric had his own staff members looking for the guy. He had access to every credit card the fellow possessed. His team was looking for Dante’s digital footprint. If the cops didn’t find him, Wilde Securities would.
He took a swig of the beer. “He was at the gallery the day I came to install your security system there.” He could have sent a junior tech over to do the job, but he’d wanted to go himself. After all, it was Piper. “Nervous guy with long hair that kept falling into his eyes. He wanted to take you to lunch.” Shit, the scene was so clear in his head. “I told him to fuck off because we were working.”
She sat on the couch, clad in a pair of yoga pants and a loose top. Her legs were curled under her. She looked small and delicate and heart-breakingly sexy. “Jessica took him to lunch that day. It was the first time she went out with him.” Piper had a glass of wine in her hand. As he watched, she lifted the wine to her lips. Only Piper didn’t sip the wine. She chugged it, draining that glass and then setting it down, a bit too hard, on the nearby table. “Dammit, that was the day she started talking so much about him. About how different he was.” She hauled the back of her hand over her cheek.
She’s crying. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to make her stop crying. He wished he could take away all of her pain.
“She was my friend, not just my assistant. She had a great laugh and all these dreams. These plans. She wanted to go to art school. She wanted to paint in Paris. She wanted to fall in love.” Another hard swipe over Piper’s cheek. “Jessica thought he was a good guy, you know? I thought the same thing. How can someone be like that? How can a man fool so many people? How can he fool a lover?”
Eric put down his beer. He strode toward her and eased onto the couch at her side. “Some people are very good at lying.”
“Jessica is dead. Grady is dead. And Ben is recovering in the hospital.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think this guy is just good at lying. I think he’s good at killing.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Why? Why is Dante doing this? And why get close to Jessica if he was just going to kill her?”
“Because getting close to her allowed him access to you. She probably gave him your email password. She gave him your schedule. She told him things about you that he wanted to know.”
Her eyes opened. He could see the tears glistening in her stare.
“And he just started killing?” Piper asked softly. “Just woke up one day and decided he’d kill Jessica and my ex?”
“There could have been some sort of trigger that pushed him over the edge. Something that severed his control, and after that, he was lost. Or…” But Eric stopped.
Piper leaned toward him. “No, you don’t get to stop. You don’t get to just say ‘or’ and have your voice trail off. Tell me.”
“Or this isn’t his first time.” The option that Eric favored. “You aren’t the first woman he stalked. There is a history of behavior like this for him. If he did it before, then he got away with it before. He learned from any mistakes he made. In other words, we’re dealing with a killer who has a real taste for this sort of thing.”
Her lower lip trembled. “Ben said…it was like the guy was counting when he stabbed him.”
And Grady had been stabbed eleven times. He’d need to do a search, find out what other unsolved crimes between Atlanta and Savannah might involve a victim who’d been stabbed eleven times. Maybe he’d turn up nothing.
Or maybe not.
“Do you want some more wine?” He reached for her glass. “I’ll get you some.”
“I don’t want to get drunk. That doesn’t help. If I drink too much, I’ll just be drunk and crying, and that’s a hot mess you don’t want to face right now.”
He put the glass back down and caged her with his arms on the couch. “I don’t think you’re a hot mess.”
“Then you are not looking at me right.” She glanced up at the ceiling, and
he knew she was trying to stop her tears. “I’m a mess. Jessica is dead, my best friend is in the hospital and currently hating me, and I want to run out of this house and track down Dante. I want to find him. I want to hunt the streets until he turns up, and then I want to stop him.” Her voice grew hushed. “I don’t usually want to hurt anyone. But I want to hurt him.”
He studied her. “You still remember the self-defense moves I taught you?”
Now her gaze flew to his. “As if I could forget them. You drilled them into me. Threw me on the mat so often that—”
He winced. “You were going to college. I wanted you safe. I wasn’t going to be there to watch over you every day.”
“Oh, please. You didn’t watch over me in high school. You…” Her eyes widened. “Wait, did you?”
He had to kiss her. Had to brush his lips over hers. “If I’d had my way, I would have protected you from every pain that you’ve ever felt.” But people didn’t get to live in bubbles. And the world could be a dark and cruel place.
“You think I don’t feel the same way about you?” She surprised him by asking. “You think I don’t want to protect you, too? You’ve got a target on you. And that’s one of the main reasons I want to find this guy. I want to stop Dante before he can hurt you. I can’t let him hurt you.”
Eric stood up. Caught her hand and pulled Piper to her feet, too. “Let’s see if you still have it.”
“It?” She looked doubtful.
“You used to be able to throw me. I want to make sure you still can. Let’s practice some of your defense moves—”
“Do you think he’ll get to me?”
Only over my dead body. “It pays to be careful.” Eric was going to make sure she was as safe as possible.
“You dragged me to all of those Krav Maga classes,” she murmured. “Did I ever say thank you?”
He’d studied all sorts of martial arts while growing up, and when it came time to make sure that Piper could protect herself, he’d brought her to the gym for Krav Maga. Krav Maga was constantly developing, and it had seemed to be the perfect defense for her. Designed to be learned quickly, she was able to pick up some fast and vicious techniques. “I want to see what you’ve still got. Let’s start with the straight punch.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
Eric shrugged. “If you hurt me, then I’m just not moving fast enough.” He smiled at her. “Don’t hold back on me. Show me everything you’ve got.”
Her gaze searched his. “You think he’s going to get to me.”
“I think I want to make sure that if I’m not at your side, you kick the guy’s ass.” He rolled back his shoulders. He was in sweats and a t-shirt. There was plenty of room in the study, and there was no time like the present. “Show me.”
She shrugged and drove a powerful front punch at him.
Damn nice.
“Where’s the best place to hit with that punch?” Eric demanded as he dodged.
“Eyes, nose, or throat.”
Wherever the attacker was most vulnerable. They circled each other. He liked that her body stayed poised to fight, that she rocked on the balls of her feet. As they sparred, she came at him with a quick knee kick, then one going for his groin.
He smiled at her. He’d rather see her fighting instead of crying any day. “You’ve kept up your practice.”
One shoulder rolled. “I might have even learned a few new tricks.”
He feigned walking away, acting as if they were done, only to spin back and grab her arm. She responded perfectly. Piper didn’t try to jerk back or fight his hold by pulling against him. Instead, she used his own force to strengthen herself as she propelled toward him and delivered a fast, hard kick.
Damn but she was amazing and sexy.
But she frowned at him. “Did I hurt you?”
“Never apologize when an asshole grabs you.”
He went at her again, and this time, because she was hesitating, he was able to take her down. He used care—because this was fucking Piper. Being on the floor was an incredibly vulnerable position and he closed in, moving quickly to see how she would react.
She used his distance against him. Perfect. She watched him with wide eyes and then she kicked out at him, catching him and taking his ass down, too. Piper leapt to her feet, and he smiled. Rule one, baby. Always get up as fast as you can. Get up and run away.
He jumped back to his feet. “What are the five targets you always aim for?”
“Eyes, nose, throat, groin, or a knee.”
Eric nodded approvingly.
She turned away.
Then he rushed toward her. In Krav Maga, they hadn’t worked on flipping an attacker, but he’d taught her some extra techniques back in the day.
He grabbed her from behind. Immediately, she moved to throw off his balance. Her butt shoved back at him as he stumbled and she grabbed his arm, using his own momentum to send him hurtling to the floor.
He stayed there, a smile curving his lips.
Then she climbed on top of him. “I won.” Piper sat over his hips, the soft fabric of her yoga pants brushing against his groin. Her knees sank into the carpet on either side of his body.
No, baby, I won. Because you are fucking perfect.
Piper leaned forward and rested her hands on his chest. “I should have thanked you back then, but I just thought you were being a controlling asshole.”
Eric winced. “I am a controlling asshole.”
“You’re more than that.” She brushed her lips over his. “Sometimes, I think you’re a white knight.”
Not even close. He was sure Ben didn’t think of him that way.
But she kissed him again. A soft, tender kiss.
“Gonna want a whole lot more than that,” he warned her. Piper had to feel the growing arousal shoving against her. Having her that close was the worst kind of temptation. Or maybe the best. She pretty much just had to freaking breathe for him to get turned on so…
“How much more?” Piper whispered as her head rose, and she stared into his eyes.
“Everything.” An absolute truth.
She smiled at him. She didn’t get that he was dead serious. This wasn’t some game for him. No casual fuck. This was Piper, and he wanted everything.
Would he be able to settle for just pieces of her? The parts that she’d give him? No promise of forever because she was afraid of being hurt?
Her finger rose and lightly traced over his lips. “You look so serious.” Her hand trailed over to caress his jaw, sliding against the stubble there.
He needed her to understand… “I’ve hurt you in the past, but I will never hurt you again. You can trust me.”
“I do trust you.” She sat straight up again, pushing the crotch of her yoga pants down against him with a little wiggle. As he watched, she lifted off her shirt and tossed it to the side. She wore a sexy, white bra, one that did this cute little crisscross thing in the front. But she unhooked it fast, and he didn’t get to admire the lacy bra for long.
He was too busy admiring her gorgeous breasts. Her nipples were tight, and they thrust toward him. He started to drool. A bit.
“The clothes need to go,” Piper murmured, and then she was pushing up his shirt. Her fingers—cool and soft—were roving over his abs. His chest.
And his cock just got harder.
She smiled at him.
Her words echoed through his head again. I do trust you. “How…long?”
“I need the first one to be fast,” she murmured. “Because I really want you—”
Because she…Dear God, she was going to break him. He rolled them, a quick turn of their bodies, but made sure to cushion her. Piper slid beneath him. He braced his arms on either side of her head, and his legs pushed between hers. “How long have you trusted me?”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t know. It’s just…there. I’d trust you with my life.”
Good, baby. Because you are my life. A thought that was an absolute truth.
He kissed her. Kissed her hard. A fierce and wild kiss. Eric thrust his tongue into her mouth and savored her. And as he kissed her, his hand slid down her body. He caught the soft fabric of her yoga pants and shoved them down. She helped him, arching her hips and kicking out of the pants and her panties. Soon, she was naked beneath him. Wonderfully, perfectly naked.
And when a man saw a woman bared that way for him…
He had to taste. He had to lick. He had to freaking worship.
He started with her breasts. Licked and sucked her nipples. Made her moan and shiver. He loved it when her nails scraped over his shoulders. Loved it when she called out his name. Down, down he went, pushing apart her thighs even more, lightly blowing over her exposed sex before he put his mouth on her. Her hips rocked hard against him, and she probably would have lunged off the carpet if he hadn’t clamped his hands down around her hips. He held her tightly, making sure he got all of the time he needed—and that she came. He felt her orgasm building as her body tensed. Her breath panted out, and with every lick and stroke, she pushed against his mouth. Wanting more.
So he gave her more. He gave and gave until she screamed his name.
He prepared to drive into her, he prepared to—
She had him on his back in a blink. Piper pinned his arms to the lush carpeting. “Not so fast.”
She was incredible.
She bent her head. Pressed her mouth to his throat. Licked. Kissed. Sucked the skin.
A growl broke from him. Piper just laughed. Then she sat up and started hauling off his shirt. He was more than happy to help. They nearly ripped the thing before they got it off. Her fingers slid over his chest. Her sexy little tongue stroked his nipple, and his hands clenched at his sides. He didn’t know how long his control was going to last. Not with her mouth on him. Not with her mouth slowly kissing a path down his stomach and—
Oh, fuck. She tugged at the top of his jogging pants. He wasn’t wearing underwear, and when she tugged the pants down, his eager cock sprang toward her. Her touch was like silk against him as she stroked him from root to tip, again and again. He figured she wanted to drive him absolutely out of his frigging mind. Good. Because she was succeeding.