Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Reaching into the carrier, I pick up our sleeping baby and place him in her lap. She cradles him gently and then sighs deeply like she’s releasing the weight of the world from her shoulders. The sound of the rain drowns out the city traffic while I rub my hand up and down her back. A moment later I feel her even breathing against me, and I peek down to see she’s fallen asleep.
The thought of her worrying herself into this state because of Bob Wilson makes me so fucking angry at him. She’s suffered endless amounts of stress while not being able to afford something as small as a can of cat food. I bet if I dug deeper I would find out she can’t afford to feed herself either. I’m going to have to do something about that.
While Piper sleeps against me, I take out my phone and send a few texts. The first ones are to Judith telling her to draft up a contract for our kitten and to make a deposit into Piper’s bank account. It should be on file from Bob’s accounting firm when they paid her for dog walking. Once I get confirmation from Judith, I text my Uncle Dino.
Me: Piper Emily Gray.
Uncle Dino: The usual?
Me: This one is special.
Uncle Dino: Wait a second… has my boy found himself a lady?
Me: Calm down.
Uncle Dino: This calls for a celebration.
Me: You’ll scare her off. Get me what I need first.
Uncle Dino: Consider it done.
I’m about to put my phone back in my pocket when it vibrates again.
Uncle Dino: I’m happy for you, kid. It’s about damn time.
I’m grinning to myself as I hold Piper a little closer and hope that my uncle is right. I may have grown up around criminals, but I think that makes me the best judge of character. I could tell from the moment I looked at Piper that her soul was pure. Now I can only hope that there’s enough light in her to drown out my darkness.
Chapter Seven
PIPER
I let out a small sigh as I roll over, but I’m stopped by a firm grip on my hip. My eyes fly open, and the first thing I see is something burning.
“Fire!” I call out in panic as I jolt awake. That same hand saves me again when I look down and see I was close to tumbling right off the couch.
“You’re okay, Piper.” Landon’s voice is gentle and reassuring while I blink and my mind plays catch-up. “And there is a fire, but it’s safely in the fireplace.”
Right, so there’s no fire, but I’m on a man’s couch with no recollection of how I got here. The last thing I remember is being in his car.
“Where am I?” The question is silly because I know where I am, but my groggy mind is clearing slowly. It feels like I was sleeping hard, so I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, praying that I wasn’t drooling.
“Home,” Landon answers while I sit up.
This is definitely not my home, nor could it ever be. I can’t fathom the idea of having something so nice.
“Oh, you mean your home. Gotcha.” A fluffy blanket is covering my legs, and I pull it closer.
“You okay?” Landon’s brows are pulled together, the concern for me etched in the lines of his handsome face. “You were out cold. Do you always sleep that deep?”
"No, I never sleep deeply." Landon places the back of his hand to my forehead. "I'm okay," I tell him. "I think I must have been exhausted. I promise I'm not sick."
Landon doesn’t appear convinced. “Are you sure?”
"I must have felt safe, I guess, so I crashed."
A soft smile pulls at his lips. "I love that you felt comfortable enough to do that, but I think after the day you had, you must have needed it. It was a lot."
"It was," I say in agreement. "Oh, our baby! Oh my gosh, what is wrong with me?" I search around, trying to find him.
“He’s right there. I think he had a long day too.” Landon motions to the small bed we got him, and he’s sleeping in it near the fireplace. The kitten is lying on his back with his paws firmly planted in the air. His eyes are closed, and he doesn’t have a care in the world. It must be nice.
“He’s made himself right at home,” I laugh, glancing around the place that’s now his home. I can tell immediately this is a very nice condo in a swanky building. I recall Landon mentioning a doorman. I shift in my seat nervously. “This place is nice.”
We’re in what I’m guessing is the living room. It’s off an entryway that goes straight to an elevator. The living room area is a step down, dividing it from the open dining room that leads right into a kitchen. It’s big for one person, but I guess if you’ve got money, you might as well spend it.