First Star I See Tonight (Chicago Stars #8) - Susan Elizabeth Phillips Page 0,93
where she fixed them all dinner. A couple of Band-Aids had replaced the bandage around her head, and her arm was sprained, but not broken. She could have been hurt so much worse.
As they ate, Jada talked about a report she was doing on child sex trafficking. Karah wasn’t happy to learn that the curriculum at her daughter’s parochial school included the seamiest side of street life, but Jada kept going. “Do you know there are, like, girls younger than me right here in the United States that are—”
Karah reached out to brush a lock of hair from Jada’s cheek. “Let’s talk about this when we’re not eating dinner.”
“But, Mom . . .” Jada’s amber eyes flashed with outrage. “Some of these girls are, like, being raped a bunch of times every day by these old guys, but when the police show up, they arrest the girls for prostitution. Girls my age!”
Piper had done some reading about child sex trafficking and found the subject so disturbing that she’d pushed it into her mental back closet. But witnessing a fifteen-year-old’s outrage made her ashamed of her apathy.
Jada stopped eating. “They’re victims of this horrible sex abuse, and it’s so not right for them to get arrested. We’re going to write letters to Congress.”
“Good for you,” Piper said.
Karah squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I’ll write a letter, too.”
After dinner, Piper changed for work. She dreaded going back to Spiral, dreaded anything that would put her near Coop and closer to getting permanently fired. As she deserved . . .
The house was packed. Coop and Tony had pulled out all the stops to overcome the bad publicity from the cockroach invasion—specials on top-shelf drinks and lots of celebrities scheduled to show up all week: football players, actors, and a beautiful country singer.
Jonah greeted Piper with a grunt and a rough slap on the back, his simian version of an olive branch. She gave him an elbow to the gut but was glad she didn’t put any force behind it because at least one of the bouncers stayed close to Coop all evening, something Coop didn’t look pleased about.
Deidre Joss showed up again, this time alone. She and Coop disappeared. When half an hour passed and he hadn’t returned, Piper started to worry.
She checked the alley first. New security cameras had been installed as she’d recommended, and Coop’s Tesla sat there unharmed. He must be in his office. But what if Deidre were still with him? Piper couldn’t imagine anything worse than walking in on the two of them doing whatever they might be doing, and she knocked loudly on the door. When it swung open, Coop looked irritated. “You need something?”
“Security check. I wanted to make sure no one was in here who shouldn’t be.”
“Is that Piper?” Deidre said from inside the room.
Coop opened the door wider. Behind him, Piper could see Deidre standing near the couch, her hair a perfect waterfall, her dancer’s carriage upright, her stilettos arranged in third position. She even wore a softly draped ballerina-pink dress.
Deidre was exactly the kind of high-achieving woman Coop was most attracted to, and it wasn’t hard to imagine the two of them married. In between board meetings, Deidre would bear him three beautiful children, and on weekends, she’d prepare gourmet meals. Piper wondered if Coop would someday look back on his fling with her and wonder how he could have been so crazy.
“I’ve been looking for a chance to talk to you,” Deidre said. “Come in.”
Piper reluctantly did as she was told.
“According to Noah, I owe you an apology,” Deidre said. “He told me in no uncertain terms that I made life difficult for you by not letting you tell Cooper I was the one who’d hired you.”
His name is Coop, Piper thought, even as she plastered on a smile. “No harm done.”
“Other than my threatening to sue her,” Coop said.
“Oh, no! You didn’t.” Deidre looked horrified. “I am sorry, Piper. I didn’t know that.”
She was so damned nice. And smart. And successful.
Piper hated her.
Deidre directed her attention back to Coop. “I have to be up early, so I need to get home. Good talk.” She extended her arm to shake his hand, when what she really wanted to do was give him a long, deep good-bye kiss. Or maybe Piper was projecting. One thing she did know: Coop genuinely liked Deidre. And why wouldn’t he?
“See that Deidre gets to her car safely, will you, Piper?” He squeezed Deidre’s hand. “Apologies, Deidre, but I