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Rage is boiling up inside of me. My hands are shaking with the sheer desire to crush Noelle’s throat and drag Piper out of here.
The fact that she would walk out of my office—a safe place where she was guarded and secure—and walk into this pit with this… thishyena…
Why does she trust her more than me?
Piper’s green eyes narrow to slits. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“Then don’t make the worst decisions imaginable at every fucking opportunity. I’ll treat you like a rational, capable human when you act like one.”
She gasps. “I don’t need to run my decisions past you, Timofey. Despite what you apparently think, I’m not your prisoner. You don’t get a say in what I do or who I see.”
“So I should just let you get yourself killed?”
“Yes! If I choose that.” She shrugs. “My freedom isn’t dependent on anything.”
I stare at her, a million arguments rising up inside of me. Then I look past her and see Noelle staring at me. Her wide eyes are ringed in dark circles. Her hair is a tangled mess around her gaunt face.
She looks like shit.
But appearances don’t fool me so easily. There’s understanding in her eyes. She’s taking all of this in—the discontent brewing between Piper and me, the schism thatshecreated.
I grab Piper’s arm and haul her towards me.
“Hey!” She yanks on her arm, but she can’t break my hold. “Timofey, no. Let me go!”
I grit my teeth. “I’d rather have this conversation in the hallway.”
She glances over her shoulder at Noelle and then back to me. Only then does she nod reluctantly and follow me into the hall.
The hallway is narrow and grim. The light fixture is a mere inch above my head, and it doesn’t have a cover or a bulb in it. I can barely see the outline of Piper’s angled chin in the gloom.
“I know you don’t have faith that Benjamin is alive, but—”
“It’s not that I don’t have faith. It’s that I don’t live in a fantasy world.”
“It’s not a fantasy! Noelle is—” Piper glances over her shoulder like Noelle might overhear her and then leans closer, voice low. I can smell the vanilla of her shampoo. “Noelle is confused right now. She’s been through a lot. But I think, if I talk with her, she will start to remember some things. She might be able to help.”
I rake my hands through my hair. “You’re expecting the woman who threw you under the fucking bus to save herself to suddenly become chivalrous? She kidnapped a baby, Piper. My…myson. Benjamin. She did that.”
“I know. I know what she did. But that doesn’t mean—”
“Why the hell would you put your faith in her?”
“It’s not like I’m going to put my life in her hands. But if she is the only way we are going to see Benjamin again, then I’m willing to try.”
I grab Piper’s shoulders and haul her off her feet. I hold her in front of me, looking directly into her eyes. “He’s dead.”
“Stop it.” She wriggles, trying to get free. “Put me down. You can’t just grab me and make me see things your way.”
“Don’t I know it!” I set her on her feet and force a deep breath in and out through my nose. “If that’s all it took for you to see things my way, my life would be a whole hell of a lot less complicated. But you refuse to accept reality. In this life, people die. It happens. Good people. Innocent people. Babies…”
My voice cracks, and I clear my throat as quickly as possible to make it go away.
Piper tips her head to the side. Her eyes crinkle in sympathy. “Timofey, I know things are—”
“No.” I shake my head. “Things are fucked because you are traipsing around the city with a traitorous kidnapper instead of letting me protect you. Now, instead of getting revenge on the people who did this, I’m here with you. Don’t talk to me like I’m the problem.”
Her jaw sets. “I’m not just going to sit in the high tower you’ve made for me and twiddle my thumbs while I could be doing something useful.”
