Broken by His Hand - Piper Stone Page 0,65

privacy. My mind shifted to the note attached to the black roses. My loss. Maybe that had nothing to do with my position at the hospital.

Maybe... Oh, God. Maybe the perpetrator thought he’d succeeded in killing Michael. Why did I have the distinct feeling that he was playing a game of his own? And at what price?

“I understand,” I managed, my heart racing, finally realizing that I could be in danger.

“So,” he continued, “I was thinking we’d grab a pizza and a couple of beers for dinner. If that’s all right with you?”

“I thought your favorite food was cake.”

His nostrils flared before he answered, a grin popping on his face. “A man can’t simply feast on cake and pussy alone.”

A rush of heat slipped across my jaw. “That is true.”

“You don’t like pizza?” he asked slyly.

“I would expect you’d know everything I like and dislike.”

“You think too much of my power, Sophia.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to ease some of the tension from my body. “Pizza is my favorite food, so absolutely.”

“Excellent. And jeans are a requirement.”

“Then I guess you need to purchase some. Don’t you?” Although I couldn’t imagine the man in anything but a dark suit and crisp white shirt.

While he stepped away, he kept his eyes pinned on me, his smile even more devilish. While I had no idea what store he’d called, the person on the other end of the line seemed to know him.

Very well. He knew everybody.

A pang thrust into my heart as I began to understand that this must be where he’d taken someone special, a woman who he obviously cared for. While it wasn’t my right to feel bad or question his past in any way, the realization only added to the heaviness in my heart.

I purposely walked away, staring out at the twinkling lights as evening began to fall across the city. The clouds had started to break up, allowing a sliver of the moon to create a beautiful yet eerie atmosphere. I took a deep breath before smiling. Pizza, huh? I couldn’t wait to see what kind of gourmet restaurant in New York served pizza.

“Why don’t you take whatever time you need to change. Enjoy your drink. A bath. Whatever you’d like. When you’re ready, I’ll be waiting. Besides, I have some shopping to do.”

Michael’s husky voice would forever send chills into my body, but there was something else in his tone tonight. Sadness.

Maybe I was the one breaking him.

* * *

I gazed down the length of him for the fifth time, causing the rugged man to smile. He was entirely different dressed in a pair of blue jeans and Henley shirt. He’d even forgone his polished shoes for boots, which was a tremendous shocker. While he appeared much more relaxed, I’d noticed the fact that the jeans fit him like a glove, as if his body had been used to create the pattern. While I knew it wasn’t polite to stare at his ass, there were plenty of other females on the street who were doing just that. The cobalt shirt brought out his eyes, the dimple in his chin.

His gait was also entirely different, not nearly as stiff and perfunctory. If clothes made the man, this was the man I preferred being around. There was still an aura of power and danger surrounding him, a man capable of commanding a room the second he walked in, but he appeared to be comfortable in his own skin.

With his hands in his pockets, he appeared more as a tourist than a man who could afford to purchase a good portion of the city. What I also knew is that the gun remained in his jacket, his eyes constantly scanning the sidewalk as we walked.

Michael shifted his gaze in my direction, lifting a single eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“About the city?”

He nodded as he guided me around the corner, finally pulling me against the side of one of the buildings. “Vivacious and alive?”

“Crowded and claustrophobic,” I countered. “But electric.”

“Understood. The few times my father brought us here when I was young, I was always afraid. I never knew why. I knew that neither one of my parents would allow anything to happen to me, but I never felt comfortable. It took me until I was in college to really understand the magnificence of the city. There’s so much here, every nationality represented.”

“But you don’t spend much time here?”

“Not any longer. Gregory usually comes up here a couple times a year to