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Piper lifts onto her back feet, resting her front paws on my shoulders. “And I’m tempted to walk back over there and do it again. That means it’s time to go.”
I grab my shit, throw on a clean shirt, and escape to my truck. I can’t decide if driving home tonight means I’m a coward or selfless. All I know is that I feel like shit, and the only cure I want is Marisol’s warm smile.
Sleep doesn’t come easy, even sleeping in my own bed. I smell Marisol all over me but refuse to shower her scent away. When I finally nod off, my sleep is peaceful. That hasn’t happened in a while.
Piper wakes me at seven the next morning. I can’t believe I’ve slept this late. She’s already gone out, thanks to the automatic doggie door I installed years ago. I force my ass out of bed, shower, and trudge to the kitchen for coffee and to feed Piper.
It’s Sunday. I don’t have to be anywhere today, but I left six bags of mulch sitting on the front lawn of the duplex. I also have a new kitchen faucet in my truck to install in Marisol’s unit.
Work you planned to do for her benefit… before you ever touched her. Hell, man. You planted flowers for her to enjoy with her morning coffee. You helped her be comfortable with Piper. And you did all this without the expectation of sex.
I’m not in this just for me. All I can think about is putting a smile on her face. But you didn’t fucking do that when you walked out last night, asshole.
God, I’m an idiot. “Piper, let’s go.”
Marisol
I stretch out like a cat, wiggling my toes now that my legs have agreed to work again. Hopefully, Austin will be quick in taking care of Piper. I wouldn’t mind going another round tonight.
Knowing food containers still litter the table, I get up, smiling at the delicious ache left after sex with Austin. I take a short floral silk robe from my closet, tie it on, and pin up my hair before leaving my room.
The rest of our take-out dinner is soon cleared away, and I turn the lights down, lighting a few candles. It would be nice to sit up and talk for a while once Austin returns.
I recline on the sofa and close my eyes. I still feel his fingers wrapped around my throat and my thigh. My hand drifts to my neck. “Calm yourself, Marisol, or talking will be the last thing on your mind when Austin returns.”
Forcing my mind away from the memory of his touch, I consider Austin’s lowly view of himself in the next few minutes of quiet. Austin thinks that because of the damage his ex caused, he’s unlovable.
For someone with such high walls around their heart, the man is a well of passion. And as far as his worthiness goes, he doesn’t know the men in the world I walked away from. On his worst day, Austin is a saint compared to the eligible bachelors in my father’s business.
If anyone is undeserving of this budding relationship, it’s me. Austin has no idea who or what I am. I have to tell him. I’ll do it tomorrow.
Fifteen minutes pass without Austin returning. I guess that means he’s not coming back. A sigh escapes me, and I get up to blow out the candles. With a last look at my door, I set the lock and slink off to bed.
Moonlight filters in through the gauzy sheers over my windows, and the smell of sex lingers in the air. I stretch out on the cool sheets, becoming still when I note Austin’s scent on my pillow. That’s when the pain strikes. You know you’re going to lose him when he finds out about your father.
“At least I had tonight,” I speak into the darkness.
I rub scratchy eyes when I wake up at eight. Leaving my messy hair up, I dress in cutoff shorts and a tank, brush my teeth, and carry a cup of coffee to the back deck. I want to catch Austin this morning. Whatever may come, I plan to tell him everything.
If I’m lucky—as if I’ve ever been lucky—learning about my sordid lineage will temper Austin’s ghosts instead of chasing him away. If fickle fate is determined to torture me, he’ll reject me as I expect. Either way, I was honest with him.
My coffee sits untouched half an hour later. I haven’t seen Austin or Piper or heard a single bark. Maybe they went for a run. Afraid I’ll chicken out if I don’t tell him soon, I get up and knock on the back door, but Austin doesn’t answer.
All the blinds on the back are closed except for the ones over the sink, which appear broken. I step over and peer inside, my throat closing at the confusing sight of his apartment. It’s… it’s empty.
I back up a step, dropping like a stone when my legs hit a deck chair. Austin’s apartment is empty. Why is it empty? He couldn’t have moved out during the night.
A barrage of useless questions overwhelms my head until the truth hits me in the face. “Oh god, I feel stupid.”
The empty apartment, the red Mercedes, the bodyguard with the trained dog. My father did this. He sent these men to guard me. And I had sex with one of them. I had sex with one of my father’s men.
I’m sure bedding me wasn’t part of Austin’s job description, and if my father finds out, he’ll kill Austin. It would serve him right. I’ll bet the broken man bit was just an act to make me lower my guard. The closer he gets, the tighter the leash.
I feel betrayed, used. I’m tempted to call and yell at my father for treating me like a child. I want to report Austin’s betrayal of both of us. I want to hurt them both as much as I hurt. But I don’t do any of those things. Humiliated and ashamed, I stumble back inside my apartment.
Marisol, you poor naïve girl. I want to run away to a place where no one can find me, but no amount of running will change who I am. No, not who I am. Who I was. I’m not just the daughter of a mafia king. I’m Doctor Marisol Borrero. I’ve worked my ass off to make something of myself, and I’m not going to let anyone take that away from me. Not even my own stupid self.
A while later, I’m looking for a house on a real estate website when I’m startled by a knock on my front door. I don’t hear paws dancing on the wood deck, so I assume it’s not my fake next door-neighbor bodyguard. I’m not expecting anyone else.
