by Moxie North
Granted, this home had also come from needing a place to live after she came back from her second non-wedding. She had already moved her things into Darius’s home in Bellevue, and after Darius’ sister Meg helped her move her things back out, she hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to do much of anything. Piper had made herself numb at that point. There were practical things that needed to be handled before she could break down. And she did, as much as she was able to.
Piper poured herself a cup of coffee and then grabbed a travel mug and poured another for Anson in case he needed it. She turned to leave the kitchen and froze in place. Her scream startled not only herself but probably her neighbors as well. Anson was standing not even a foot behind her and she hadn’t heard him open a door, rattle a handle, or sneak up on her.
“What the hell! Why are you sneaking up on me?” she screeched.
“I don’t sneak.”
“The hell you don’t, what do you call this?” she said pointing to him.
“I came in through the garage door, walked in here, and stood while you poured coffee. Bears don’t sneak.”
“I… seriously?”
“What?”
“Bears don’t sneak. That’s your answer?”
Anson stared at her. “We leaving?”
Piper wasn’t sure if she was mad at him or annoyed she was so lost in thought that she missed him coming into her house. She had too many other worries to not be on guard at all times.
“Yes.”
“Good, we’re meeting Luca and Hudson at D or D at seven.”
“Anything I need to know?”
Piper started following Anson as he marched through her house and out the front door.
“Luca can be…intimidating.” Anson stood behind her as she locked the door. Anson reached past her and checked the door.
“Do you think I locked it wrong?”
“Covering all bases.”
He turned and walked ahead towards the SUV that he had already running with the click of a button. Anson held open the door and waited for her.
“The back seat? Really?”
“I’m perfectly fine explaining to you daily why you will be riding in the back seat. And if you think my speech is boring, you will hear the exact same from my coworkers with slight variations.”
Piper glared at him but held out the coffee she had poured for him. Anson took it and she climbed in. Anson closed the door in her face and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“So if I’m meeting the other guys, does that mean you won’t be picking me up tonight?”
“No, Luca has tonight and tomorrow. Van will be back tomorrow and I’ll arrange for him to meet you too.”
“What’s with the names?”
“Names?”
“You all sound like you belong on a soap opera.”
“Wait until you meet Eden and Zion.”
“Sheesh,” she muttered. Piper leaned back as the car pulled out. A few minutes down the road she realized that she hadn’t checked the parking lot before walking outside. It was something she had trained herself to do over the years. With Anson by her side, it was easy to trust him. That wasn’t an easy thing to accept. Letting her guard down could be bad. It could put her in a position where her stalker could get to her. Then again, judging by the picture, he was already too close. How many times a day did she interact with him and not know it? That thought made her want to scrub her skin off.
“What’s worrying you?”
“What makes you think I’m worried?” Piper responded, looking at Anson in the mirror.
“I can smell it. You were fine and then you got anxious.”
No secrets from the Kindred, apparently. “I was thinking that I usually check around before walking outside. I forgot to.”
“That’s my job. I swept the outside before I came in. I’d smell or hear anything that shouldn’t be there.”
Piper should have known. That’s why she hired the Kindred. They could do what humans couldn’t. “I was also thinking about how many times a day do I come across the person doing this? Does he make my coffee? Or is he someone I work with? I just can’t wrap my brain around the obsession.”
“I’m not going to say I don’t understand the appeal.”
“What, to creeper stalk me?”
“That someone met you and decided you were worth pursuing. I’m sorry it’s been this terrible. This person isn’t healthy. You made the right choice contacting us.”
“Yeah, real smart,” she mumbled again.
Chapter 8
Anson looked between Piper and Luca sitting on opposite sides of the table, staring at each other. Piper had a cup of coffee and a donut in front of her. Luca was sitting with a cup of coffee staring back at her. Hudson leaned back in the velvet chair, his eyes on Anson, a small smile playing around his mouth as he drank his coffee. Hudson was a smart guy and knew he didn’t need to get involved in this particular standoff. Donuts or Die had an old-school coffee house feel with large couches and plush chairs pushed into small seating areas. They served coffee and donuts, nothing fancy, and they definitely had nothing that even resembled espresso. Bookshelves lined with volumes gave off that smell of old paper mixing with the sugar and coffee scents to create a cozy atmosphere.
Anson had introduced everyone and they had commenced the stare-off. Anson was ready to call out Luca for being a dick, but Piper was holding her own. Taking a sip of his coffee he waited for one of them to crack. Piper was slowly eating her breakfast like it didn’t bother her to be sitting across from a man that terrified most people. Luca was a marksman with lethal skill, but he was also a jerk who rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Like Nadia. Aside from that, Luca was patient when he needed to be, but he didn’t hesitate to protect his target or his crew.
Anson had never met someone that didn’t take a step back when they met Luca. Piper was the exception. He was proud of her. She was staring down the beast and barely blinking. Piper’s strength sitting in the donut shop proved that whoever thought they could control her didn’t know her well. Her strength wasn’t wavering, it was just that she seemed emotionally tired. Her life was busy and her heartaches would have sunk most people. But there she was staring down a Kindred bear like she was watching the aquarium fish at her dentist’s office.
“How long you two going to do this?” he finally asked.
Piper kept her eyes on Luca. “Do you think this job is beneath you? Driving me around?”
Luca paused in his drinking. Anson had to hold back a laugh. Clearly, the man wasn’t expecting her to challenge him.
“I do whatever King tells me to do.”
“And King told you to do this?”
“No, Anson asked me to take a shift.”
“So, if he didn’t ask you wouldn’t have volunteered?”
“I don’t volunteer.”
“I see that about you.”
“Do you?”
“They’re scared of you, aren’t they?” Piper asked.
“They?”
“Everyone.”
“Generally. Why aren’t you?”
Anson watched a slow smile spread over Piper’s face. “Because you don’t hide who you are.”
Not knowing how Luca was going to take that, Anson’s eyes shot to his partner. And fuck him, because in the years he had known Luca, that son of a bitch never smiled. But right before his eyes, the normally stern face of Luca of Clan Othala twitched, and then a slow grin spread over his face. Anson blinked, barely able to believe his own eyes. The last time Luca had even smirked around him was when he’d taken a shot at a not so great guy and knocked the hat the man was wearing neatly off his head. The man had wet himself and started running. Piper Armstrong had made Luca of Clan Othala smile. It would be a day that would go down in history.
“I’ll pick you up at six,” Luca said, his smile fading.
“Fine,” Piper replied primly.
Anson took that as a cue that introductions were over
.
After dropping Piper off, which included walking her to her office with a terse reminder to order lunch in, he left with a slightly uncomfortable feeling that he wasn’t going to be the one picking her up after work.
He trusted Luca, hell, he trusted all of his coworkers. But it didn’t feel right not to keep the shift for himself. Van called in to let him know he was back and ready to start into whatever was available. When Anson returned to the KSI offices, he set himself up in an empty room and mapped out the rotating shifts that Piper would require. He wanted to schedule himself for more pick-ups in the mornings. Being the only one picking her up in the morning could set a pattern that he didn’t want to establish for someone watching her. They needed to be kept guessing about her movements.
Though there was also the fact that he liked the way she looked early in the morning. Sleepy and rumpled. Piper was still soft and warm from whatever blanket she’d crawled out from under. He didn’t miss the fact that she’d been sleeping on the couch. From the set-up he’d seen, she did that a lot. He could imagine her struggling to stay awake and avoiding the nightmares of her daytime, and probably her nighttime too.
Anson looked up to see AJ rolling in, behind him was Zion, a tall muscular man with skin the color of teak and his eyes flashing silver.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah, had to see a man about a bomb threat,” the big man replied, taking a seat.
“You get all the fun assignments,” Anson said with a smile.
“Oh yes, days of trying to sniff out explosives that weren’t there.”
“You should have grabbed one of Hudson’s dogs. They have training.”
“You think dogs can out-sniff me?” Zion scoffed.
“Yes, I think you get distracted by the pretty ladies’ perfume.”
“There were no pretty ladies and you know it.”
Zion had been down in Brazil with an international client that often got overly nervous. King had sent down a full crew to provide security. Anson looked over to AJ who was absentmindedly examining his fingernails.
“We boring you?”
AJ looked up. “No, just waiting for my turn.”
“Why are you in here?”
“I pulled up your client’s former almost husbands. Both of them were pretty stable guys. No signs of any worry that they weren’t in it for the long haul. They both had already made inquiries to adding her to their life insurance and the first guy had applied for a mortgage with her. These guys weren’t making any moves to run.”
Anson looked to Zion, “Which means?”
“Someone made them run,” Zion answered.
“You’re telling me that someone managed to make two grown men run away from Piper?”
AJ raised his eyebrow at him at his choice of words. He chose to ignore it.
“I think that whatever happened it was enough for them to push away an amazing woman,” Zion answered.
Anson didn’t like that. “What makes you think she’s an amazing woman? You haven’t even met her.”
“Luca was quite impressed this morning. Whoever she is, she managed to make him sit up and pay attention. That means something.”
Anson couldn’t stop the growl that rolled out of him.
“Shit,” AJ said with a laugh. “Fighting over the new toy.”
“She’s not a toy,” Anson growled.
“No, she’s a client. Remember?” Zion said, his keen eyes assessing Anson’s response.
“I remember. She’s also been hurt by these assholes. They ran, why?”
“That’s what we need to find out. I think we need to pull them in.”
Anson didn’t know if they were overreaching. They had to track her stalker and they only had one direction to head and that was back into Piper’s history, a place she probably didn’t want to ever go again.
Chapter 9
“Ms. Armstrong, there are some things you need to sign before you leave.”
Piper looked up to see Libby standing in her doorway with some files under her arm. After Anson had dropped her off, she was able to focus on her work. There was only a brief moment when her breath caught. Libby brought in a stack of mail and she was almost afraid to accept it. Thankfully there was nothing but correspondence and the usual recycling bin fodder. Nothing that would make her stay awake at night. Nothing to cause her to sweat or shake while trying to maintain a show of being fine. Anson told her not to open anything suspicious. Piper had to wonder if it was worse knowing or not. What kind of sadistic shit could she think up if she allowed her imagination to run wild?
“Thanks, Libby.”
Libby seemed to hesitate.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but people are wondering about… him.”
Piper wished she could pretend she didn’t know who her assistant was talking about. She’d known that Anson’s display the previous day would create a buzz that would trickle through the office and couldn’t be ignored. Her own manager had walked by her office window and paused overly long to look in at her. She didn’t have any idea what that look was supposed to mean. It still wasn’t normal. Nothing was normal anymore.
She didn’t blame them. Anson drew people’s attention. At least if you were of the persuasion to find tall, sexy Kindred attractive. Humans couldn’t ignore the animal side of themselves either. Maybe nature had made it that way on purpose. The pull towards the Kindred that humans experienced kept the Kindred species alive. A human mate made more Kindred babies.
Piper shouldn’t be thinking about Anson and babies. There was some woman out there meant for him. He was probably going to be one of those dashing older men with salt and pepper hair that magically one day had a beautiful woman on his arm that was half his age. It wasn’t something that was uncommon. Besides, Piper actually liked him too much for that. He was a good guy. True, he was a little harsh when he spoke to her sometimes, but oddly she didn’t mind it. He was bossy because he was taking care of things. Things she would normally have had to handle on her own. He gave her a break, even if it was a brief one.
“His name is Anson. He’ll be driving me to and from work along with some of his colleagues. Any mail that doesn’t have a return address or looks… out of place? I want you to leave it. The men that are helping will check any mail I’m not sure about.”
“Piper, is there something going on? Are you in trouble?”
Libby was an amazing assistant that kept her running at full throttle. She couldn’t afford to lose her, but she couldn’t afford to lie to her either. Maybe a bit of both.
“I’ve had some trouble in the past. It seems that it’s gotten a little more… intrusive lately. I’ve hired a security company to help ensure there aren’t any further issues.”
“Is it one of your exes?” Libby whispered.
Piper grimaced. “No, they wouldn’t be this sneaky. I’m not sure who it is. Needless to say, they don’t like me, or if you believe Anson, they like me a little too much.”
“I saw an episode of Crimes in the City the other night that was just like that. A stalker that killed this woman’s cat.”
Libby seemed really into discussing this and Piper made a face. “Good thing I don’t have a cat then.”
“It was really gross. Is that why you got upset last week?”
“Yes... but nothing like a dead cat. Let’s just leave it at that. I don’t want the office to know. They’ll just make it bigger than it is.”
“It sounds pretty serious.”
Piper sighed. “It is. I just don’t want people looking at me or feeling sorry for me. I have it handled.”
“With that good-looking man watching your body, I’d say so.”
“You know how the Kindred are. Especially ex-military or police. They’re all business.”
Libby smiled wickedly, “I’ll be his business if he asks.”
“I’ll let him know.” Piper didn’t think that was a conversation she’d be having with Anson anytime soon. Besides, wh
en he dropped her off, he gave her no idea when she’d be seeing him next. He just reminded her that she’d be receiving texts from one of the numbers he’d loaded into her phone. If a name and number didn’t come up, she wasn’t supposed to leave her office and to call KSI immediately.
Piper finished up her work and a minute to six she got a text. The caller ID said Luca – KSI with the message: “downstairs.”
Packing up, she said goodbye to Libby and was grateful that today she didn’t have to deal with the added embarrassment of a personal escort. If Anson had caused a stir, Luca would have people fainting.
Making her way to the elevator, she felt a presence come up behind her. Before she could look, she heard a voice that grated on her nerves.
“Barely six o’clock and you’re bolting. Got a hot date with the Steroid Stud?”
Piper wasn’t even going to look at Colleen. She knew that would bother her so she kept her eyes forward.
“I get my work done during working hours. I even took lunch at my desk today. I’m sorry you weren’t able to complete your tasks. It must be tough working all those extra hours while you’re on salary. Must cut into your social life.”
Sure, she was being snippy, but Colleen had started it.
“You know, rumor around the office is that he was a paid escort. One of the ones from the Kindred site. I hear they’re pretty high-end... How much did he cost?”
The elevator door opened and Piper stepped in, turning on her heel to face Colleen. “Oh, I’m keeping him on a retainer.”
The elevator closed with Colleen glaring daggers at her. Piper held her smile until the doors fully closed. She shouldn’t goad the other woman; it wouldn’t help their already strained relationship. Colleen had been fake in her friendship when they held the same position. Always asking her to lunch, suggesting they go to the movies together. Piper had been dating and then engaged so it was easy to make up excuses not to go. The glee that Colleen had barely disguised as news of both of her failed weddings came out made Piper not really care about being civil to her anymore.