by Lexi Cross
But at lunchtime, the store exploded with customers. Pia didn’t even have time to sit and eat. By early afternoon, his dick was throbbing from watching her and not having release. He went into the bathroom again to make it through the rest of the day.
By the time the day ended, she was exhausted. He walked outside to check their surroundings before they left the store. When he knew everything was clear, he walked back inside to get Pia. They got into the car and drove off.
He’d thought maybe she would do something on the way home. Or at least he hoped. But she was so worn out, she stared out the window and her eyes grew heavy.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She sighed and looked over at him. “Sorry. It’s been a long day and I was up kinda late last night.” She winked at him. “Plus, it was a heck of a workout.” She yawned and stretched.
He smiled at her and turned into the driveway. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d sneak into her room later and have her.
“I’m going into my room for a while,” she said, standing in the entryway. “I need a long bath and I have some paperwork to do. I didn’t get a thing done today with all those customers.”
“Okay. You know where to find me.”
He watched her walk up the stairs, then followed shortly after. He sat in his room, staring at the monitors for a long while. Eventually, he took out the newspaper and started reading, glancing over the top of the paper every few minutes to make sure all was still quiet.
His phone rang an hour later. Lorenzo, one of Matteo’s guys, was calling.
“Yo,” Ryder said.
“Got news,” Lorenzo said. “We got the guy who attacked Pia. We’re dealing with him, but we got some info from him so far. Have a new assignment for you. You’re done on guard duty. Need you to go after someone connected to all this.”
“Done on guard duty?” His heart dropped. “Who will protect Pia?”
“Well, you. You’re going after the guy responsible and you’re going to kill him.”
“If I’m hunting him, that leaves her vulnerable.” Not that he wanted anyone else near her, but she had to be kept safe.
“She’s fine, trust me. Pack your bags. Meet downstairs in fifteen.”
The call ended. Ryder stared at the wall for a long minute. He had no choice. He had to go. Not like he could say, “Sorry Matteo, I like banging your daughter too much, so I’ll just stay here with her.” He’d have to leave her. To go off and find her attacker and kill him and the guys above him. Then she’d really be safe. Maybe then he could come back for her. But it could take a long time. Weeks, months. Would she still want him after that? Was there any way he could get back here to her while he was hunting?
He’d have to just wait and see. He started packing up his things, but his soul felt heavy and dark. He didn’t want to be so far from her. Didn’t want to miss out on touching her. His cock, hard from the thought of maybe having her soon, now grew limp. It would be a long time until he was inside her again.
Chapter 6
Pia stretched at her desk. She needed a little break. And she wanted to see Ryder. Maybe they could go for a ride and get some privacy. A little making love under the stars? It was almost dark and it was a warm night. It’d be nice to be out there together, alone.
She got up and went to his room. She knocked.
“Yeah?”
She entered and froze in horror when she saw him throwing his clothes into a large duffel bag. “What are you doing?”
He turned then, realized it was her, and his face fell. He turned back to his task. “We caught your attacker. I’m no longer needed here to follow you. You’re safe. You can get back to your life without having me tagging along.”
“Not needed? So just like that, you’re leaving?”
He nodded.
“But I thought…that after last night…”
He stopped and looked up, his gaze distant and cold. “You thought what? That we’d have something long term? Pia, this was never more than a fling. I don’t do relationships. What we had was great, believe me. I wouldn’t mind doing it again, but there can be nothing between us.”
Her heart tightened in her chest. Why was he saying this? Did he just want to hurt her? Or had she been dead wrong? Wrong to think they had more than just sex, that there was some connection between them? Sure, it was new, but it was the start of something. And not just a fling. It was the start of something more real than that. She didn’t just want him in bed, she wanted him in her life.
But now he was acting like she was just some piece of meat. Some cheap whore he could fuck and leave with no cares. Well, he was wrong. She wasn’t like that. She wouldn’t put up with it.
“So, it meant nothing to you, what we had?” She managed to keep her voice from wavering somehow. She was proud of that.
He zipped up the bag and came to her. He put a palm on both of her cheeks and kissed her. “Of course it wasn’t nothing. But I’ve been reassigned. That’s just the way this life goes for me. I don’t have a choice.”
He let his hands fall, then grabbed his duffel. He swung it over his shoulder and walked out of the room, not stopping to look back.
Pia stood there for a long while, staring at the empty door. She looked around at his room. Now empty as well. Not that he’d had much in here. He hadn’t hung any art or done anything aside from fill the drawers, but she knew they were all empty now without even having to see them.
And her heart felt just as hollow as this room. Whatever she’d started to feel for him became a rock in her chest. It was heavy and solid and stuck there, unmovable. She couldn’t swallow around it. She couldn’t move it. It burned and scorched her insides. She needed it to be gone.
But all she could think was, Ryder is gone. He won’t be here tonight. He won’t be there tomorrow. Who knew if she’d ever see him again. What if he was going to do some dangerous job and something happened to him? Tears rushed to her eyes.
She dashed from the room and threw herself onto her bed after locking the door. The tears flowed, breaking into heavy sobs that shook her whole body. She curled into a ball, grabbing a pillow tight to her body to cry into.
But she breathed in and the pillow smelled like Ryder. Images of their night together flooded her. How he’d held her close, made her feel so special. How he’d made her think he felt something back. Maybe not something as strong as she felt, but something all the same.
Then she recalled his recent words and how they seemed at complete odds with the previous night. There could be nothing between them? And what did he mean he didn’t do relationships? So, all along he planned to just fuck her and that was it? He never intended to even consider anything more?
Pain shot through her at these thoughts and she threw the pillow across the room. How could he be like this? How could he do this to her? This wasn’t right. No one hurt her like this and got away with it.
Wait. She sat up suddenly, the sobs halting. She didn’t have to let him get away with this. She had complete power. What an idiot he was to think he could do this to her. To be all hot and sexy and kiss her and touch her and make love to her, then just throw her aside. She wasn’t trash to be tossed out. She deserved more. And if he was unwilling to give it to her, if he was so casual with her feelings, then she would do something about it.
She stood up and went to her bathroom. She splashed water over her face and patted with a towel to dry it. Her eyes still looked red and puffy in the mirror, but maybe that would add to the effect. It could only help her now.
She left her room and stomped down the stairs. Her father was not in the den. Not in the kitchen or the living room. She did find Francesca in the entryway, sweeping the floor.
“Francesca,” she demanded. “Where is my father?”
“I’m not sure, Miss Pia. Perhaps out front?”
She tore open the front door and looked around. No one was there.
As she continued to search, she planned out what she would say. In
her mind, it went like this.
She’d find her father. He’d look at her and say, “Pia what’s wrong?”
She’d be looking at him with a terrified and pained face. She’d ask in a little voice, “Is he gone?”
“Is who gone?”
“Ryder?”
He would roll his eyes. He would think she still hated Ryder, that she was just glad to see him go. He would say, “Yes, he’s gone. I sent him on a job. We’ve caught the man who attacked you, and now he’s going to pay.”
That thought hit her for a moment. Ryder was going after the guy who attacked her. He was going to be the one to avenge her. It gave a twinge in her heart to think he was the one. He was still fighting to protect her. Even if he didn’t want her. The twinge darkened and turned to a sharp ache again.
After her father explained, she’d whisper, “Daddy, I know you think I don’t like him, and I don’t, but I have to tell you something.”
She would start crying then. She would sob until he took her into his arms and said, “My Pia, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?” And he would sound so worried.
When he was sounding very worried and concerned, when she’d drawn it out nice and long, when maybe they’d even moved to a more private location, and when she had a fistful of tissues, she’d finally look up at him and say, “I think we need to call the police.”
He’d get really concerned then and he’d ask why. She’d have to play this part carefully. She couldn’t just blurt it out. That wasn’t how this worked. She’d have to whimper a bit and try to speak without saying it. She’d take her time. She’d work up to it. She’d make sure he had to coax it out of her.
Then, in a tearful whisper, she’d say, “He…he…made me have sex with him.”
She wouldn’t say the “R” word. Not yet.
He would get angry immediately. He would say, “What?” in his rage filled tone that was so forceful, yet so soft, it made it even scarier.
She would nod and break into sobs again and lean against him and say, “He raped me, Daddy.”
And then she wouldn’t stop crying for a long, long time.
It would be perfect. She could play the perfect victim. She’d tell him how she’d seen a spider and screamed. How Ryder had run in, of course, because of the scream. How he had accused her of teasing him, of doing it on purpose to mess with him.
She’d tell her father in terrified words how she’d sworn to him she just saw a spider, that was it. Then how Ryder had come to her, had covered her mouth and pushed her to the ground. How he’d forced her legs open though she struggled so hard, then how he’d forced his way inside her.
And, if she needed to, she’d take it further. “No, Daddy, that wasn’t enough for him.” Then he’d raped her in her ass, too.
Her father would lose it. They would go to the hospital and what would they find? That she’d had forceful sex. She was still sore and everything. And the best part. They’d find his cum.
Her tears were dried now. The feeling of revenge filled her chest with such a desperate determination that she couldn’t think straight. He would pay for what he’d done. And he would pay with his life. She would make sure of it. No one did this to her. No one.
She flung open the door to the garage. Her breath caught in her throat. Ryder was there. He stood beside her father, talking, his duffel over his shoulder.
They both looked at her.
“Pia? Are you okay?” her father asked. The concern was in his voice already.
She glanced at Ryder and he met her gaze. For just an instant, his expression turned to pain. He looked worried, too. For just a moment, he looked like he wanted her again, like he wanted to bring her into his arms and hold her. He looked like he had last night.
All the hateful vengeful desire ran out of her. Her heart softened and the tears returned. The ache was there. The ache that wanted him so badly. The ache that took over every inch of her body, inside and out.
She looked at her father again. She’d need to think fast. “Daddy!” She stomped her foot. “How could you leave me unprotected? After you said it was so dangerous?” She made her breath catch. She forced her expression to look terrified. She raised her voice. “Now I have to go to work alone and be scared all day? How will I get anything done? You convinced me that I needed to have Ryder around, and now you’re just going to leave me all alone where someone might hurt me?”
He held up a hand to her. “No, sweetheart, it’s okay now. We caught the guy who came after you and we know who he’s working for. That’s why Ryder is going. He’s going to take care of them, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay!” She raised her voice to a shriek. “I won’t be able to sleep without him here to protect me.” She pointed to Ryder, but then, for an extra safe measure added, “Or someone to be my bodyguard. I need someone with me all the time, keeping me safe. What if someone else comes after me?”
“Okay, calm down,” Matteo said. “We’ll talk about it in a minute, okay? I’m sure I can get someone—”
“Why can’t Ryder just stay? I don’t want some new guy following me around. I’m used to him now.” She tried to wave Ryder off like he was unimportant. But he had to know why she was doing this, right? He had to know how she still wanted him around. Not just to have sex with, but to hold her and comfort her and talk to her and love her.
“I need him to go after the people who attacked you so you’ll feel safe again. Give me a few minutes to talk to Ryder, and I’ll be right in and we’ll talk about it.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms and was about to huff and turn away, but she allowed herself one more look at Ryder.
In that moment, she wanted so badly to run to him. He looked at her with all the longing he had for her. She memorized that expression. Memorized it and held it in the front of her mind as she ran back to her room.
She returned to her bed, then jumped down to get the pillow that had smelled like him. Instead of tossing it aside, she held it close, took long inhales of his scent and continued to cry softly through the night, hoping that he’d call soon or find some other way—carefully of course—to contact her.
She had to see him soon. They could just sneak it. If she wouldn’t have a bodyguard anymore—her father never had come to find her to talk about it—then she wouldn’t have a tail making it harder. She could drive anywhere to meet him. Get a hotel room, do it in her car. Her windows were tinted dark enough.
It didn’t matter where they were. She needed to have him with her. And she would find a way to make it happen.
Chapter 7
Eight weeks later and Ryder could still picture that look on her face. When she’d stormed into the garage where he was talking with her father. At first, he thought she looked scared, then she tried so hard to get him to stay with her. Made his heart ache the way she tried to convince her father.
For a moment, he thought they had him, too. After she’d stomped off, Matteo had turned to him for his opinion. Of all things.
“I don’t know. Am I being naive? Should I have someone watch her?” Matteo asked.
“I’ll be glad to stay if you’re worried.”
“No, no, I need my best guy to hunt these assholes down. But I can get someone to protect her. Sergio, perhaps.”
Ryder knew Sergio, though. Knew how attractive he was and how much of a ladies’ man. Sergio was also much more Pia’s style. He cared more about clothing and that junk than Ryder did. If Sergio was with Pia all day, she might start to like him. And she’d like him better than she liked Ryder. He couldn’t take the chance.
Then, he’d done maybe the most selfish and asshole thing he possibly could have done. He put himself before her safety.
“I think Sergio would be better suited coming with me,” Ryder said. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. We’ll be watching all the guys connected to her attacker, so who would come after her? She never had a bodyguard before. The more guys you give me, the quicker we can get this done.”
Matt
eo nodded. “Take whoever you want, then. Take Sergio. And anyone else that would be helpful.”
“Thank you, sir. I will. We’ll get these guys, fast.”
Of course, now that it had been eight weeks, he was starting to rethink everything. What if she was in danger? What if her attacker—guy by the name of Dino—was working with guys Ryder didn’t know about? They might send someone else after her.
He’d decided somewhere in week one, when their first lead went cold, that he would have to check on her himself. He went almost every day, missing only the days that he had other duties that couldn’t be put off. He went to her clothing shop and watched. He would circle through early in the day and look for suspicious cars or people. Anyone sitting in their car, watching. He wanted to go inside, but couldn’t. It was easier if he wasn’t around Pia.
