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Ireached inside my purse for the souvenir, placed it inside the notebook, and wrote a message forAxelafter a moment’s hesitation.Carefully,Iput the notebook next to him and stood.Still,Irefused to look at his beautiful face becauseIknew whatI’dfind there.Heartbreak.
Thesun had risen, and the spell had been broken.Itwas time to return to our real lives.Theshitty weekend had been replaced by oneI’dnever forget.Itshould make me happy, butGod, it hurt worse than anything imaginable.
Iwalked away that day without glancing at the beautiful stranger, and a month later,IbecameMrs.JayAmbani.
PartTwo
Risefrom theAshes
ChapterTen
Present
* * *
Axel
“Mr.Trimalchio,what are you doing here?”Piyaasked sternly.Darksunglasses barely hid her alarm upon seeing me at her daughter’s boarding school.
Loosetendrils hung offPiya’shigh bun to tactfully frame olive skin that glowed in the afternoon sun.Shewore minimal makeup with lips in some shade of pink.Ilazily perusedPiya’sbody, using the momentary lapse while she was caught off guard by my presence.Awhite blouse hugged her torso with a perfect hint of cleavage.Theshirt was tucked into a brown leather pencil skirt that ended at her slim waist.Aslit showcased a sliver of a toned thigh elongated by her heels.
Fuck, she was sexier at thirty-four than she had been at twenty-one, though now she screamed of refined old money rather than a wildcard princess.Nonetheless, both versions ofPiyastirred my libido the same.
Irepressed an image of fucking her out in the open.Probablynot a good idea while we were at a high school surrounded by parents, teachers, and students.NottAcademywas built on five acres of land with an admissions office off to one side and a giantHogwarts-style building in the middle with resident halls and classrooms.Iran intoPiyain the courtyards of the building.
Ihummed contentedly, without a hint of cocky disposition. “Thisis my school.Ithought you knew.”Shedidn’t becauseIonly bought this school earlier today.
“Oh, yeah?”Piyascoffed. “Areyou like totally excited about the first day of school?”
Asly grin spread across my face.Thebrown-eyed beauty went into hiding after our impromptu meeting in her bedroom.Shechecked into a hotel last night and hadn’t ventured outside her suite.Idid the only thing any rational man would do under the circumstances;Isent an enormous bid to purchase the hotel.Theoffer was accepted on the spot.
Asa secondary precaution,IinstructedJordanto organize a party and invite all the guests from last night.Icouldn’t be blatant and outright demand that she bringPiyaalong.Instead,IencouragedJordanto bringallher friends.Theefforts to lurePiyaout of her suite were in vain, as she declined the invite.
Itwas possiblePiyawas simply busy with work tonight.Apparently, she became a recluse, locking herself away for days whenever private patrons commissioned a project.Itwas one of the many thingsIhad learned about her new life.
Successfuljingle and songwriter who worked under a pseudonym.
Recentlymoved back toLongIslandafter spending years inChicago.
Marriedfor thirteen years to the extremely wealthyJayAmbani.
Ofall the thingsLevihad uncovered,Piyabecoming a mother to an extremely gifted twelve-year-old had been the most interesting part of the update.Ithad been years sinceIlast set eyes onPiya.Ihad expected drastic changes.Nonetheless, the news of her daughter was unforeseen.
Didit complicate my plans?Yes.
Didit change my goals?No.
Ifanything,Ifound a way to work this to my advantage.Forone, there were only so many ways of guaranteeing regular sightings ofPiya.Shelived inside a fortress, and entering the premises was near impossible by car or foot.Therewere four posts outside the fenced-in gates of her residential grounds, with a guard at each station.Thesecurity guards were the only ones with the code to enter the premises.However, these weren’t regular old guards who could be bribed.Thesewere highly trained ex-operatives.Theywere paid a handsome salary and received exclusive benefits from the influential residents to retain their loyalty.Ambanibought the best for his family, and it tookLevihours to figure out a minor glitch for a window of opportunity.
Theonly accessible points were the posts outside the fenced-in gates.Levisnuck into one of them while the guard assigned to it was using the restroom and tampered with the system.Theguards manning the various entry points had the residents’ home phone numbers listed on their computers.Levichanged the number registered for theAmbanisto a burner phone.WhenIwent through the security check post, the number they called was directed toLeviinstead, who obviously welcomed my entrance with open arms.
However, this would only work temporarily.Leviinformed me that four guards also patrolled the grounds inside the tall fences.Theresidents had panic buttons hidden in plain sight around their homes, and if they pressed it, the guards would report in under three minutes.Timewasn’t on my side oncePiyadiscovered my presence.Nowthat she knewIhad access, she’d investigate further and eventually determine the number they had on file was incorrect.
Tosee her regularly,Ineeded a better backup and tracked downPiya’sdaughter.Poppywas why they moved toNewYork, thoughAmbanistill primarily resided inChicago.
ItappearedPoppy’sacademic accomplishments allowed her to skip a few grades, landing her in high school.Brilliantas she might be,Poppy’strack record rivaled a criminal in the making.Shewas gifted, bored, and rich; a toxic combination for entitled brats.Inthe last year,Poppyhad been expelled from two private schools, landing her at the gates of boarding schools.Shewas expelled from that as well, andAmbanipaid a fortune to get his spoiled daughter instated intoNott, the only school willing to take in the troublemaker.Evenso,NottAcademyrequiredPoppyto complete one summer session without any incidents before granting her acceptance.HencetheAmbanismoved toNewYork.
Althoughboarding schools meant parents lived out of state, it turned outPiyawas much too attached to her daughter.Thisschool was alsoPoppy’slast chance at a normal childhood; by extension, it wasPiya’sfinal opportunity to give her daughter a normal life.Thisschool was the key to inserting myself intoPiya’slife.
