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"Because that past would ruin my career. I had to leave it behind."
Keira nodded. "I get that. There are things in all our pasts that we don't want to ever look at again." She reached over and squeezed Piper's hand. "You done good, girl."
Sudden tears filled Piper's eyes. She'd spent so long hiding,and Declan had unlocked her secrets. "Don't tell anyone," she said. "You guys still love me, but it would kill my career."
The three women exchanged glances, but it was Tori who spoke. "Anyone who thinks less of you because of where you came from and what you have overcome doesn’t deserve you."
Piper started laughing. "That's basically what Declan said."
"The man's right," Keira said. "Keep him around. He's good for you."
"I can't keep him," Piper said. "He's just temporary."
Maddie was rubbing Violet's ears. "Do you really want him to be temporary? I fought against Lucas for so long, but the truth was that I wanted him. Us. I wanted to trust him."
Piper rubbed her finger where her engagement ring from Clark had sat, where Declan's ring now twinkled. "The truth is that I don't trust myself. I don't trust my instincts. I've been wrong so many times, and I had no idea until I was about to marry them."
"So, plan the wedding, then," Maddie teased. "If you bolt, you know he's wrong. If you don't, then maybe magic sparkled into your life."
Piper tensed at the thought of getting married. "I can't. I can't?—"
"Hey," Tori put her arm around Piper's shoulders. "It's okay, sweetie. No one is making you marry him." Her eyes were full of understanding, but the sympathy felt disempowering.
Piper didn't want sympathy. She wanted to be strong, capable, and badass. She wanted to feel confident, not steeped in fears and stress. She needed to find her own power, and not link it to Declan or any other man. "I just need to get some clients," she said. "Then I'll be able to focus."
Tori drummed her fingers on the table. "Look," she said. "Why would you try to get all these clients for a woman who might fire you anyway? Why don’t you get them for yourself and open your own business?"
God, she wanted to. "My name is tainted right now. I have toleverage someone else's name right now." How had she gotten to this point? She'd worked so hard for so long to be independent, and yet, after all this time, she was still dependent on someone else for her job, her dreams, and her money.
Wow.
That was depressing.
She lifted her chin. "I'm not giving up." She stood up. "I'm going to go mingle. I've never given up before, and I'm not now."
"Damn straight," Tori said, bouncing to her feet. "I'll help. There must be brides out there that we don't know about. We can find them."
"We sure can." Maddie hopped up, and Violet did the same.
"I'm in!" Keira picked up her purse. "The Loft Squad is in business. Let's go."
Piper grinned as her friends took off across the party, all of them headed in different directions. She was so lucky?—
"Hello."
She turned sharply at the sound of a man's voice, and she saw Dick standing directly behind her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Dick's eyes were cold, his jaw hard, his face cool.
Oh, shit.
Piper quickly called up on years of practice from her childhood and schooled her face into a charming smile. "Hello. Can I help you?" she asked, pretending not to recognize the abusive sociopath she'd helped Jessie and her kids escape from.
"You were planning a party with my wife on Wednesday night."
She blinked, trying to appear confused, then brightened. "Oh, right. Jessie. Is she all right? She hasn't been responding to my texts. I need to put some deposits down, but I can't go forward without her okay." Could he feel how fast her heart was racing? She felt like she was ten again, trying to stall some jerk while her brothers raced out the back door, leaving her alone to protect their home.
