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Piper was so wrong: he and I are nothing at all alike.
“How much?” he asks, licking his lower lip.
“Fifty grand.”
It’s paltry. Nothing. Pitiful crumbs compared to what Piper is worth. But her father’s heart monitor ticks along faster and faster, registering every beat of his excitement.
Still, he tries to play it cool, as if the truth isn’t blaring in the background. “That’s not much to cut my daughter out of my life.”
“The correct answer would have been that there isn’t enough money in the world to cut your daughter out of your life,” I growl. “Which is why it’s as high as I’m going to go. Take it or leave it.”
His flabby jaw works back and forth.
Part of me wants him to refuse. I’d kill him, of course. Anything to keep him out of Piper’s life. But at least he’d die with a shred of my respect.
In the end, he does exactly what I knew he would.
“Deal.” He holds out his hand to shake. I just let it hang there. Eventually, he withdraws it. After a few seconds, he shifts in his squeaky bed. “How do I know you’re good for it?”
“Check your bank account tomorrow morning. It will be in there.”
He frowns. “You can’t get into my account.”
“I can do anything I fucking want. Which is why you should know that if you break our deal, you’ll be dead before the day is done. If you reach out to Piper or contact her in any way—if you ask her for a single penny—then I will give myself the privilege of wringing your last breath from your miserable, rotten lungs. Do you understand?”
He’s shaking as I leave. I take it as a yes.
* * *
I ride the same elevator down to the lobby, and I feel Piper’s absence like a dark cloud hanging low over my head.
She and Akim are probably halfway back to the house by now. And if Akim makes even one crack to me about how Piper wrapped her arms around him on the ride, I’ll shatter his right arm. Let’s see him try to cook without the use of his strong hand.
The next few hours stretch out in front of me, empty and anxious.
I’m half-tempted to threaten one of the nurses into letting me sleep in the NICU with Benjamin after all. That would be better than my solitary penthouse.
Then the elevator doors open.
And there she is.
Piper is standing in front of a wall of windows, her back towards me. It’s so dark outside that I can see her reflection in the glass. Her arms are folded over her chest, her brow lowered in concentration.
Is Akim running late? Did he not show up?
Suddenly, I want to kill him for a new reason. How dare he leave her waiting?
I walk towards her. When she spies me in the glass, her body tenses. She spins around with a frown on her face. It matches the one I left her with a few minutes ago.
Apparently, our fight is picking up where we left off.
“I told Akim to go back home. I’m coming with you,” she blurts before I can say anything. She shuffles nervously and then stands tall and confident. Her green eyes meet mine. “I want to—I want to be here for Benjamin, too. I’m coming to the penthouse with you.”
“Okay.”
Piper was ready for a fight. She didn’t expect my easy acceptance.
Her brows knit together and then smooth out. She crosses her arms and uncrosses them.
