We both laughed.
“I’m really sorry,” I confessed after our laughter died away.
“Aww, Frank, it’s okay. I understand. But don’t ever cut me off like that again. We’re family. Even if I think you’re being an idiot, I’ll still love you.”
“So you do think I’m an idiot,” I said, trying not to get all emotional over her understanding.
“What happened?” she asked.
I got up and scooted over, making more room for her on the couch. Then I pulled the Tiffany-blue throw off the back and wrapped it around my shoulders. I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know how much to say… Piper was my best friend, my family, but some of the things I shared with Charming had felt so private… sominethat I didn’t really want to share them.
She must have sensed my hesitation because she got up and went into the kitchen, and I heard her opening and shutting cabinets and filling the kettle with water. A few minutes later she came back with two mugs of steaming hot tea. It was the Ginger Twist kind she loved and I kept here for her. She handed me a mug and I wrapped my hands around it. The warmth that radiated into my hands reminded me of riding in his Porsche with the heated seats. A sob caught in the back of my throat and I took a sip of tea to push it down. The tea had honey in it. A lot of honey. Just the way I liked it. I gave Piper a watery smile.
“He drove me nuts. From the minute I first laid eyes on him, he got under my skin. And then he kidnapped you. When he walked into the DMV that day, all I could think of was calling the cops. But I couldn’t.”
Piper nodded and sipped her tea.
“Instead, I vowed that I would get in his way. Stop him from doing to anyone else what he did to you.” I took a breath and finally admitted the truth. “But that was just an excuse. An excuse to be near him.”
“You loved him even then,” Piper said and I shook my head in vehement denial.
“No. Maybe.” I sighed. “I don’t know.”
“But the more I saw him… the more I saw. You know? There are so many layers to him… so much he hides.”
“He was like a puzzle that you wanted to figure out. Pieces that you just had to align.”
“Yes,” I said, the butterflies in my stomach acting up again. She did get it. She knew exactly what I meant. “I could never make excuses for what he does, what he’s done. I hate it, but…”
“But you don’t hate him.”
“No. I don’t.”
“Maybe he is just as much a victim in all of this as everyone else,” she said quietly, shocking the crap out of me.
“How can you say that?” I asked, fortifying myself with more honey with tea.
“I don’t know why Charming became an Escort, but if he was in any kind of position like Dex was, then he probably didn’t have a choice. Sometimes people get caught up in things and then they don’t know how to get out.”
“Dex did,” I said, the words falling from my lips before I could stop them.
“Yes, he did. And it cost him his life.” Her eyelashes swept down, hiding her hurt. I started to apologize, but her quiet words shocked me, cutting off whatever I was about to say. “Sometimes I wish he hadn’t found a way out because then he’d still be here. With me.”
Her words sank into me, squeezing my heart and making it hard to breath. “Piper,” I whispered.
“I know. For him to still be here would mean I would have to be dead. But sometimes I still think…” She shook her head.
What it must be costing her sitting here talking to me about this. She’d already been through so much. I let the subject drop, not wanting her to have to relive anymore. As hurt as I was by Charming, I knew that it was nothing compared to what I would be feeling if he were dead.
“Did he try to kill you?” she asked.
I laughed. “No.” That probably would be easier than this. “He… he showed me the person he was beneath the charm. I thought it was the real him. And then he disappeared. It was all just to get me into bed.”
She gasped. “You slept with him?!”
I looked at her. “Well, I never claimed to be a nun!”
She grinned. “Well?”
