AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You mean, come after me?"
"Yeah. You have money, right?"
"I do." Dammit. Her brothers would still come after her for money. That told her a lot. But Roman was different. He always had been. "You should come visit sometime."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"I'd like that."
She could hear the smile in his voice, and something eased in her chest. "I'll text you my address."
"Great. Thanks for calling back."
She nodded. "You can call me, too."
"Will do." He paused. "Trip is here. I'm going to go."
"Right. Bye." Just as Roman was hanging up, she heard the sound of her youngest brother's voice.Trip.Her chest ached at the sound of his voice. He'd been fifteen when she'd left. What had he done? What had happened to him? Suddenly, she wanted to know.
But if Roman thought he shouldn't know that Piper had called, then Trip couldn’t be in a very good place. She tossed the phone on her pillow and curled into a ball. Her chest hurt so much. A heavy ache.
The door opened, and she closed her eyes.
Angel jumped on the bed and poked her nose in Piper's ear. "Not right now, sweetie." Piper pulled the blankets over her head. "Just give me a second."
The bed shifted again, and she thought Angel had jumped off.
Then the covers flipped up, and Declan slid in behind her.
Piper stiffened as he nestled up behind her and wrapped his arm around her stomach.
"I'm asleep," she said.
"Liar." He pressed a kiss into her hair. "I'm sorry."
Her heart tightened. Damn him for apologizing unconditionally. It made it impossible for her to stay righteously indignant. "It's not your fault," she admitted grudgingly. "It was unrealisticfor me to expect you to read my mind, at least this early in a relationship," she added. "A few months in, different story. But at this point? It was a little much."
He laughed softly. "I'm a cop. I should be better at subtext. I overreacted, and it messed with my instincts."
She looked down at his hand around her waist. "I was scared tonight," she said quietly. "I was scared for my own safety, and I was scared for yours. I didn't realize I would react that way. I was fine at the country club dealing with Dick, but it was different here. Tonight. Old trauma, I guess."
He pressed his face into her hair. "Fear makes people angry sometimes," he said. "I should have realized that. I'm an ass."
This time, it was her turn to laugh a little. "It was a little bit of an ass move to storm off downstairs after we'd made love," she admitted. "That's never going to go over well with a woman."
"Yeah, I know." He was quiet for a minute. "I wasn't the best husband. I was entirely focused on my career." He took a breath. "Diana told me she wanted a divorce the day before she died."
Piper closed her eyes. "Oh, wow."
"Yeah. I never told anyone until now, but the guilt?" He whistled softly. "Haunted me for years. Still does. Was she off her game because of the divorce? Was she distracted because of me? Did I get her killed because I wasn't the guy she deserved?"
Piper heard the guilt in his voice. It wasn't anguish, though. She could tell it was still there, but it was distant. He'd processed a lot. "That's a lot to carry."
"Yeah. I don't like that I walked out on you tonight. I don't want to be that guy anymore." He pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. "Thanks for calling me out on it. I don't always realize. Patterns can be invisible sometimes."
She sighed. "It's impossible for me to still be mad at you right now."
