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Thank God it was dark. The last thing she wanted was for him to see the tears she had to blink back.
“There’s this famous designer sponsor,” she told him, clearing her throat to hide the hoarseness of the hurt she fought to hide. “He showcases several designers a year, helps them put on a show, and he’s never had one who didn’t become successful. I received a letter from him last week that he wanted to meet with me after seeing some of my designs that I sent in. ”
He nodded, showing he was listening as they moved ever closer to the inn.
“I could have had the show and sponsorship if I’d agreed to be his little sex toy until he got tired of me. ”
As though revealing that much opened a floodgate, Piper told him about Eldon Vessante, and the fact that his pants and his opinion of himself were overstuffed.
His expression never changed; the tension in his body didn’t visibly increase. None of the signs of vengeful anger that Dawg and her cousins were known to display were present.
“Two attacks in one day then. ” He breathed out heavily, the concern in his voice easing something inside her she hadn’t known had been knotted with tension.
Piper nodded. “Fortunately, his butler or whoever he was, was there. Some guy named Broken or something. A hell of a name for a person. He kept Eldon from actually hitting me and helped me get away. ”
“Do you think this Vessante guy was behind the attack at the hotel?”
Piper shook her head. “I don’t remember what was said, but he wanted something. ” She wished she could remember, wished the harshly grated demand would come into focus within her memories. “I can’t remember what he said, Jed, or what he wanted, but it didn’t have anything to do with Eldon Vessante. ”
Broecun.
Fuck.
The security field was a close-knit one, especially for those agents of John Broecun’s caliber. Jed knew Piper had taken the sound of the name literally, but Jed knew the other man, as well as the spelling of his name. And he knew if Broecun was with this Eldon Vessante, either the man was important to some very influential government types, or he was under investigation by them.
At least he had a place to start, and a face to shove his fist into. Eldon Vessante may not have been behind Piper’s beating, but the only reason he hadn’t been was because Broecun would have stopped him.
Broecun wouldn’t stop Jed from teaching the other man how to treat a woman. And blackmailing Piper with her dream of a big-time fashion show and an exclusive sponsorship was something Jed would exact a little atonement for.
“Well, you’re home now. ” He pulled into the Mackay Inn’s lot, parked the truck, then shut it off. “Let’s see if I can sneak you into the house and get you settled before Dawg gets his first report that you’re home. ”
He sure as hell didn’t need Dawg around right now, or Timothy Cranston. He’d talk to them both in the morning instead. Dawg and his cousins were going to have to step back a pace or two, regardless of whether or not they liked it. If they wanted to know the trouble—or potential trouble—his sisters got into or were headed for, then the girls couldn’t be afraid to let him know what they were doing.
Her fear of being smothered during what she believed was an important event had almost cost Piper her life; he wouldn’t allow it to harm her more in the future.
“I’m scared for him, Jed,” she whispered as he cut the engine, then turned back to her, confused.
“Scared for whom, honey?”
“For Dawg. ” He could see the tears in her eyes, the faint tremble of her lips in the dim light of the moon.
“Dawg and his cousins take care of themselves and one another just fine, Piper,” he promised her.
She shook her head at his statement. “That’s not what I mean. ”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s going to be very alone,” she told him softly. “He’s becoming out of control, Jed. He makes me frightened of him when he starts standing over us like guard dogs. He can’t keep telling us what to do or how to live. I know Lyrica and Zoey, too. If he doesn’t stop, I swear, we’ll all end up leaving. We talk about it more and more often. He may well be headed for a stroke, but Lyrica, Zoey, and I are headed out of town if it keeps up. ”
“He worries, Piper. ” His hands clenched on the steering wheel in an instinctive protest at the thought of her leaving.
“I would have been in your bed a year ago if he hadn’t been watching us all like hawks. I’m terrified to show any interest in a man, and God forbid I should actually consider taking a lover after the grief he gave Eve. ” The words were out of her mouth before she could hold them back.
A wave of heat flushed through her at the sudden, brilliant gleam of lust that lit his gaze.
He may not have tightened with the information she’d given him about Eldon’s attack, but the moment she mentioned being in his bed, his entire body seemed to jerk in abrupt interest.
Or perhaps “interest” was far too tame a word. It was as though every thought, every emotion, every particle of his being was suddenly intently, greedily focused on her.
