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TIMOFEY
The moment the two women are out of sight, Piper sags. All the fight vanishes from her face and she looks sad and broken again, the way she did when I first found her. “They don’t have a car. I should get them back in here and—”
“I already texted the driver. He’s bringing the car around now.”
Piper winces. I’m not sure if it’s the memory of what she just said or her burn, but I nudge her back to the still-running water. “You have ten more minutes left.”
She bends over the sink again and moans when the water flows down her arm. “Ouch.”
I think she’s going to say something else, but her lips are pressed so tightly together they’re turning white. With every passing second, she’s leaning further into the sink, twisting her face away from me so I can’t see her.
Then I see her shoulders shaking.
I grab her chin and angle her face towards me. “You’re crying.”
“Don’t touch me.” She jerks her chin out of my hand.
“Then don’t hide from me.”
“I can’t!” she explodes, splashing water across the singed remains of the food on the stove. “Ican’thide from you. That’s the problem. I just insulted one of my best friends and my grandma because that was the only way I could get them away from you.”
“You didn’t need to get them away from me.”
“Yes, I fucking did.” She nods without an ounce of doubt. “I’m sure Akim will make that clear to you soon enough.”
I remember the moments before the fire. When Akim was staring at me, something unspoken in his eyes.
“What happened?” I growl.
Piper scoffs softly. “You’re already mad and you don’t know what happened. I knew I was right to get them out of here.”
“Piper.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you before Akim can. Maybe it will soften the blow. I doubt it, but maybe.” She takes a deep breath and spills. “When I was alone with Akim, I asked him if he’d be willing to testify against you in front of a judge.”
I blink at her, stunned by the stupidity of this plan. “And you thought that would work?”
“I thought there was no way anyone who worked for you could find you appealing. What’s to like?” she snaps. “But I was wrong. You and Akim are clearly friends, and now, he’s going to tell you I was still trying to get Benjamin away from you and have you arrested.”
My brows arch as realization sets in. “You started that fire on purpose.”
Her face flushes with embarrassment. “I needed a distraction.”
“Arson will do that.”
“Fire wasn’t the plan,” she retorts, unable to stop herself from bickering with me. “I was going to ruin the pancakes, maybe cause a little smoke. I’d get my grandma and Ashley out while you were distracted, and—”
“And what? What was going to come next, Piper? Where were you going to go? What were you going to do?”
Her hazel eyes flare nearly as bright as the flames that almost engulfed her. “I don’t know.”
I bring my hands together in a slow clap. “Marvelous plan. I’m in awe.”
“I didn’t have a lot of time to think.”
“Jail should have given you plenty of time.”
“It’s hard to think when you’re having a panic attack!”
