Wrecked (Axle Alley Vipers)

by Sherilee Gray

  There was a scraping sound, her only warning before the darkness suddenly went away, light filling the car as the cover was dragged off. She blinked against the bright garage lights, then a moment later Alex and Rusty filled her vision through the window. They were beside her brother. He’d called in the big guns. Great.

  Alex tried the door handle. “Open up, Pipe. Please.”

  She reached over and lifted the lock. What was the point of locking them out? They weren’t going anywhere. Deke climbed into the passenger side, while Alex reached around to unlock the door behind him, then slid across so Rusty could fit beside her.

  They all sat in silence for several minutes.

  The leather creaked behind her as Alex sat forward. “Pipe…”

  “Don’t,” Piper rasped.

  They were quiet for another few seconds, then Alex cleared her throat. “So, this car looks a lot different than when your friend brought it in. It looks good. Really good.” Her friend squeezed her shoulder. “Did you get it running?”

  Piper wordlessly twisted the key. The engine roared to life instantly, the deep rumbling growl echoing all around them.

  Rusty whistled. “You rebuilt the engine?”

  The knot in her belly twisted tighter. “Yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us you were working on it?” Alex asked quietly.

  She let out a shaky breath. Not a conversation she was in the mood to tackle, but it was a short reprieve from talking about Cole, from thinking about what she’d done. “Would you have trusted me to do it on my own?”

  “What are you talking about?” Rusty said, sitting forward as well.

  “I was trying to prove myself. Show you I’m just as good as the both of you. That despite what you think, I should be working on the restoration jobs…”

  Alex’s hand wrapped around hers. “Piper…”

  She shook her head. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I don’t want to talk about anything. I know you mean well, you always mean well, but I just want to be alone.”

  “We know you’re just as good as us.” Rusty slid closer to Alex. “Shit, we’re sorry. We’ve been taking you for granted, expecting you to pick up the slack. Just because you’re the only one of us who’s good at all that office crap doesn’t mean we should leave it up to you, that wasn’t cool.”

  She was hanging on by a thread. Hugging herself, Piper stared out the window. “Honestly, right now, I don’t…I don’t care. I just, I need some space.”

  Alex squeezed her hand. “Piper…”

  Deke turned to the backseat, speaking for the first time since they all got in the car with her. “Could you two give us a minute?”

  Piper turned to her brother as the back doors opened and her sister and best friend climbed out. “I’m not in the mood for one of your lectures, big brother.” She watched the pair of them walk out the workshop door, leaving her alone with Deke. Traitors.

  Deke squeezed her shoulder. “Talk to me, Pipe. Please.”

  “I don’t need to talk to you about every damn thing. I’m a grown woman. You realize that, right? I don’t need you to look out for me. I don’t need you to fix my problems, and I sure as hell don’t need you to get involved in my love life.”

  He frowned. “Love? Is that what it is?”

  “Yes.” It always had been.

  He sighed. “I know I can be a little…overbearing…”

  She snorted. “A little?”

  “Okay, a lot. But please, will you talk to me? Not as your idiot, overprotective older brother but as your friend? We’re still friends, right?”

  She held his gaze. “Do you promise to ease off, to let me live my life, make my own mistakes?”

  The muscle in his jaw jumped. “I’ll ease off.” His wide shoulders shifted under his jacket. He didn’t like the idea, but she knew he was finally listening to her. “Now will you talk to me?”

  Her lids dropped, and she drew in a deep breath. She knew he was just trying to help. “Not much to say really. I’m in love with Cole, have been forever. You know that.” She shrugged. “I haven’t exactly hidden it very well, have I?”

  Her brother shook his head. “You suck at subterfuge, sis.” A sad grin tugged up the corner of his mouth.

  Wonderful. She rested her head against the headrest. “I had him for a little while, and now I’ve lost him. I pushed too hard and pushed him right out the door.”

  Deke twisted to face her more fully. “Cole’s a troubled guy. Has been since his accident. But seeing you two together… Pipe, I could see the change in him when he was with you. I can see that he cares for you a great deal. He was right about one thing, though, you can’t fix him. The only one that can help Cole is Cole.” He reached out and slid her closer, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed the top of her head. “To be completely honest with you, I don’t know if he can…or if he’s willing to try.”

  She clung to her brother, buried her face against his shoulder, and let the tears flow.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Cole hunched over the bar, elbows resting on its sticky surface, and signaled for another drink.

  How could he be so damn stupid?

  He’d convinced himself he could have her, that his only obstacle was telling Deacon that he and Piper were seeing each other. That he could conquer the rest of it on his own—in his own time.

  But now Piper knew what happened—what he’d done. That Adam’s death was his fault. It was bad enough she’d seen the scars he carried on his body, now she knew the extent of the ones he carried inside. He’d been kidding himself. Eventually she would have realized he was a hopeless case, that he was completely fucked up, and she’d walk anyway. He’d eventually drive her away.

  The bartender placed a glass of vodka in front of him, and Cole downed it. “Keep ’em coming.”

  The guy poured him another and headed to the other end of the bar. The look on her face when he’d pushed her away from him. The hurt. The betrayal. He shook his head and glared at the glass in his hand, fingers tightening. He wanted to throw the damn thing against the wall, crush it in his fist. Something, anything, to release the anger, the frustration, the motherfucking powerlessness battering him.

  “You drunk enough yet? Or do I have a while to wait?”

  He kept his eyes on his glass, ignoring his friend. Talking was pointless. The shit going on in his head was enough to deal with. “Walk away, Deke.”

  “So how long have you been sneaking around with my sister?”

  Cole shrugged. “Save the big-brother bullshit. You don’t need to worry about me screwing up Piper’s life. I won’t be going back.”

  Saying the words out loud hit him like a sledgehammer to the sternum. Pain radiated from the center of his chest, made him want to throw up, made him want to punch something. The thought of never hearing her voice, of never holding her in his arms. Never making love to her—those beautiful blue eyes locked on him the whole time.

  “So you’re just letting her go?” Deacon got off his stool and in his face. “You’re giving up, walking away, like she means nothing to you?”

  Cole stared at him, trying to read the guy. “What? You saying you want me to keep seeing Piper?”

  “If you wanted Piper, you wouldn’t give a fuck what I had to say about it, or anyone else for that matter.” His friend stared him down. “I never took you for a coward. Guess I was wrong.” Deke signaled the bartender, ordered a drink, then turned back to him. “Then again, after the way you treated her today, you’d be lucky if she let you back through the front door.”

  “She’s better off without me.”

  The bartender delivered Deke’s drink, and he took a sip. “If this is your attitude, you’re probably right.”

  He growled in frustration. “It’s for her own good. I’m trying to do the right fucking thing her
e. It’s what’s best for her.”

  Deke shook his head. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. You’re pushing away the woman you love. A woman who loves you right back, enough to want to be there for you, to support you after what you’ve been through. And what do you do? Throw it back in her face.”

  A woman who loves you…

  Did she love him? He shook his head in denial and opened his mouth to do the same, but Deacon talked over him.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to wake the hell up. See the goddamn light. Stop blaming yourself for something that wasn’t your fault. Adam’s dead, but you’re right there with him. You’re a fucking empty shell. There’s barely anything left of the man I knew.” He jabbed a finger at him. “Except when you’re with Piper. When you’re with her, something changes. You need that, you need it more than you realize. And every time you deny that happiness, every time you turn your back on what she’s offering you, you’re as good as pissing on Adam’s grave.”

  Cole lunged from his stool and shoved him. Deke’s words hit home in a way he was not prepared for. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Deacon shoved him back, hard, and got in his face. “You lived. You fucking lived, man. Don’t take that for granted. You can be damn sure Adam wouldn’t have. He’d make the most of every minute, spending it with the ones he loved.” Deke gave him another shove. “No one blames you for what happened. It was an accident. And until you accept that, until you accept that sometimes shit happens that’s out of your control, your life will stay on hold.”

  Deke took a step back and slumped onto his stool. “Jesus, Cole, it’s time you got the hell over yourself.”

  Cole unclenched his fists and rubbed his hands over his face. Fuck.

  His time with Piper—the best time of his fucking life—shit, the way she made him feel, it churned inside him, blended with Deke’s words, swimming through his pounding skull until the room around him misted into nothing. Until it was just him and the maelstrom of emotions battling inside him. Until he felt raw, nothing but longing and fear and desperation.

  You’re pushing away the woman you love. A woman who loves you right back…

  Shit. The way he’d shut Piper down. What had he done?

  You lived. You fucking lived, man. Don’t take that for granted. Deke was right. Adam would have loved harder, not run from it.

  There’s barely anything left of the man I knew. Except when you’re with Piper.

  Except when he was with Piper. He couldn’t deny it. When he was with her, everything felt right, better somehow. She cast sunshine into his darkness. Made him feel something other than anger and self-loathing. Shit, he could breathe when he was with her. The tight band around his chest that felt like it was squeezing the life out of him wasn’t there when she was by his side.

  And if he was honest, since he returned to Miami, since he let go, let himself have her, he’d felt a change in himself. Slowly he’d begun to question what happened that terrible day.

  Yeah, he’d been behind the wheel, but Kate was right. Adam would have done the exact same thing. He would have made the same call. Hell, he’d told him to keep chasing the suspect, had been as desperate as Cole to catch the bastard. It could have easily been the other way around. A few short weeks ago, he’d wished it had been. Could the crash have been avoided if he hadn’t looked over at his partner for that split second? They’d been driving at high speeds, it all happened so fast. For the longest time he’d believed he could have prevented it.

  But now…

  His shrink called it survivor’s guilt. And finally, he could see it. He’d believed if he let go of the guilt—if he allowed himself to find happiness, allowed himself to move on, to forgive himself—that a good man had lost his life for nothing, that he would be forgotten. That his wife and kid, and their pain, would be forgotten.

  How could he allow himself to be happy when they’d suffered so much loss?

  But Adam wouldn’t want that. Kate knew it. She’d tried her best to push that message home when she’d come to see him.

  Until Piper came back into his life, he didn’t think it was possible. Before Piper, he’d been ready to crawl under a rock and disappear. For the first time since the car accident, he had hope—hope that with her by his side, he could get through this. That maybe he wasn’t this terrible person he’d convinced himself he was. That he could stop punishing himself for what happened.

  Because Deke, Piper, Kate—they were right.

  It was an accident.

  There was nothing he would have done differently, nothing that could have prevented what happened. And he had to find a way to live with that.

  But the fact that Deacon knew how messed up he’d been, that he was still working on it—shit, that he more than likely still had a long way to go? Yeah, his acceptance of his and Piper’s relationship blew him away.

  He turned to his friend. “Take me to Piper.”

  Deke stood. “About fucking time.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Piper threw her wrench in the toolbox and leaned against the workbench. She’d been at the garage since Deke left to find Cole. Keeping busy was better than reliving what happened in her living room every time she closed her eyes.

  How badly she’d screwed up.

  It also meant she’d hear Cole when…if, he came home. So far, nothing. No sign of him. No texts or calls. Not that she expected any.

  The look on his face when she’d told him what she’d done, that she’d called Kate… She shook her head and tried to push it from her mind. Jesus, she’d more than likely ruined everything. He’d been about to tell Deke and, okay, Deke had already figured it out, but the sentiment behind it was loud and clear.

  Despite her conversation with her brother, she refused to believe that was the end. Yes, she’d messed up, badly, but Cole had feelings for her. He had to. Why else would he want to bring their relationship out in the open? No, she refused to give up on him.

  The bang of a car door closing echoed across the empty parking lot outside. The garage doors were closed, but Axle Alley was quiet after hours, which meant every sound bounced off the garage’s steel walls. Had Cole come back to talk? Would he let her explain why she’d done what she had?

  Pulling the side door open, she walked outside, nerves making her queasy. Cole’s car was not in its usual spot by the outside stairs. Maybe he’d gone straight to her place? She started across the lot toward her cottage.

  She was about twenty feet away when she saw someone walking across the front lawn. She opened her mouth to call out when the dark figure walked around the side of the house instead of taking the front steps. She pulled up short, freezing. It wasn’t Cole. Whoever that was had a smooth gait, missing his pronounced limp. Shorter, too. Which also counted out her brother.

  Whoever it was, he had no business walking around her place at night.

  She hadn’t recovered from her prowler the other night, and fear turned her limbs to stone. He’d come back.

  Heart hammering in her chest, palms growing sweaty, she reached back slowly and pulled her phone from her pocket, hitting the call button. She was too afraid to move, too afraid to look away, to look at her screen. She wasn’t sure who she’d called last, but whoever it was could get help.

  It rang once and voicemail kicked in, Cole’s deep voice coming down the line.

  Please answer.

  She hit call again—and again she got voicemail.

  The sound of shattering glass rang out seconds later. Oh my God. She expected the alarm to go off, maybe scare him away, but when nothing happened, she remembered she hadn’t set it. She’d been too distracted, too upset when she walked out earlier and had completely forgot.

  A surge of adrenaline moved through her, and she stumbled back a step. Her boots scraped against the gravel, right as the creep moved back into view. Of course, he saw
her. The light from her phone gave her away easily.

  He turned fully, staring at her across the distance.

  “Ohgodohgodohgod,” she whispered.

  The guy took a step forward, and she took one back. He took another, and she started walking backward. He kept coming toward her, then broke into a jog.

  A scream tore from her throat as indescribable fear spiked through her veins, kicking her into action. Spinning around, she took off at a sprint, back toward the garage. She grabbed the door handle and yanked, but it didn’t budge. She’d locked herself out. She felt her pockets, but she didn’t have her keys. Oh shit. She risked a glance over her shoulder.

  He’d slowed but was still coming.

  She dove for the outside stairs and ran up them two at a time. Then she remembered she’d left the spare key in Cole’s kitchen the other night. Please let it be there. Fighting back a helpless sob, she kicked the plant aside and nearly collapsed with relief when she saw he’d put it back.

  The guy was at the base of the stairs, and he paused, looking up at her.

  She snatched up the key with a shaking hand. “What do you want? God, p-please don’t hurt me.” She couldn’t see his face. He was wearing a ski mask. But she knew he was enjoying her fear.

  He took the first step, and she jammed the key in the lock. Her phone, still clutched in her hand, slipped from her sweaty fingers and clattered to the ground. That’s when he stopped playing and pounded up after her.

  Piper lunged inside and slammed the door shut. The deadbolt did its thing, and she latched the security chain. The handle turned, the door jiggling, then stopped. She struggled to catch her breath. Never in her life had she been this terrified. If this guy really wanted in, it would be as easy as one well-placed kick.

  Her chest felt tight, like she’d just run a marathon. She yanked open the kitchen drawers and pulled out a knife, the biggest one she could find. Edging up to the window, she peered out.

  A ski mask–covered face came forward from the shadows and pressed against the glass. She screamed and dove to the kitchen floor.