Her worst nightmare was becoming a reality – her father was back for her. Bobby leaned in and squeezed her tightly. As he pulled away, he whispered to her, “you’re not alone anymore, Piper. We’re in this together.”
“Why the number twenty-three?” Piper asked, clinging to Bobby’s arm, not ready for him to let go. “It doesn’t make sense. Delanie was his twenty fourth victim. If it really is him, why use the number twenty-three again? It has to be a copy-cat. It can’t be him.” Piper knew she sounded manic, she could hear her voice rattling with fear. She needed Bobby to look her in the eye and tell her it wasn’t her father. She needed him to tell her she was right, that it didn’t make sense and there had to be some other explanation.
Instead, he was already connecting the dots in his mind. “It could be, but if he knows you’re alive now, if he’s found you, then he’s likely sending you a message. When he killed Delanie, he thought you were dead. I’d imagine he’ll want to try to draw you out and finish what he started. I don’t have all the answers yet, but that’s what my gut is telling me.”
He hated to loosen his grip on her while she was still shaking, but time was of the essence. “Michael, we have a little trouble.” Bobby couldn’t find the right words, and he knew he didn’t have the time to explain, but luckily he didn’t need to. He and Michael had learned to trust each other over the last few weeks and along with that came the ability to read between the lines. “The attack at the school hits close to home for Piper. It might be nothing, but we can’t take that chance. I need the girls to go to your house. I know I’ve already asked so much of you, but I swear, once my shift ends at nine, you’re off the hook.”
“I’m not looking to get off the hook here,” Michael said in a low voice, glancing over Bobby’s shoulder at Piper who was clearly shaken. “I’ve got your back, man, we’ll talk more tonight. Until then I won’t let any of them out of my sight.”
Jules and Betty rejoined them on the porch, both obediently holding the items Bobby had requested. Piper had managed to compose herself and stood to wave Bobby off. Michael read this as a sign that Piper was not about to make her concerns about the attack public knowledge.
As Bobby hopped down the porch stairs, he looked back over his shoulder at Piper. He was fairly certain the brief moment of calm they had all just experienced was about to be snuffed out. Odds were that Piper’s father had found her, and everything they had hoped to start would once again have to wait. They were about to come face to face with the darkest parts of Piper’s past, but they were going to do it together.
The End
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Maid for the Billionaire
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An Excerpt from Maid for the Billionaire
Book One of the Legacy Collection
Chapter One
By dying now, his father had won again. That old bastard.
Dominic Corisi slammed the door of his black Bugatti Veyron and stepped onto the sun baked Boston sidewalk without giving the million dollar vehicle a backwards glance. The joy of owning it was dead along with his desire to answer the incessant ring of the cell phone he’d ignored since yesterday. Rather than turning it off, he’d muffled the noise by burying the device deep within a coat pocket; maintaining the connection to his life like a distant beacon.
Despite the oppressive heat, he paused at the bottom stair of his old brownstone. There was nothing spectacular about it, outside of its location near the upbeat Newbury Street. If he remembered correctly, its rooms were small and the main staircase had a creak that he never did get around to fixing. It was nothing like the sprawling mansions he now owned in various countries around the world.
But it was the closest thing he had to a home.
His phone rang with a tone he couldn’t ignore. Jake. His second in command would simply call again, killing whatever chance Dominic had of finding a moment of peace inside those brick walls. “Corisi,” he barked into the phone.
“Dominic, glad I caught you,” Jake Walton said smoothly, as if he hadn’t