Chapter 8

8

N athan

(Mister Teacher)

Life had been good—too good. A lot had changed in my life over the last couple of months. After the job with Thurston went south and Ahmad killed everyone in the room, I didn't think Piper would finger me for the murders. She redeemed herself by being honest and telling the law her father pulled the trigger. After the way he used, abused, and whored her out to make his pockets fatter, I was glad she finally put herself first for a change.

I didn't think she'd want to take over his business while he was on the run, but that's what we'd been doing. Piper was now the head of his drug organization, and I was her right hand man. Hell, I was her bodyguard and lover too. There was no role she needed that I wasn't willing to occupy.

The day Piper and I confessed our love for each other, that was also the day her father made it clear he was going to make us both pay. Whether he considered her telling the truth to be snitching or not, I'd vowed to protect her with my life and make sure she was able to live the life she deserved. I couldn't lie and say there wasn't a part of me that wished Piper agreed to leaving the game behind so we could live a normal life.

Since sixteen, this street shit was all I knew. I went from being a homeless teenager who had to steal to survive to working for Ahmad and making more money than I could spend. There was a time I pledged my loyalty to him because he'd saved me, but when it came to him versus Piper, he and anyone else would lose every-fucking-time.

I stared at the ring I planned to propose with tonight. Though I was sure Piper would say yes, I was still nervous. Up until just a few months ago, I didn't think we'd ever be able to be together. I loved Piper so much I was content with us being best friends for the rest of our lives as long as she was with a man who could treat her well. But thanks to her father's selfish ways, we were forced to put each other first and admit to our feelings for each other.

We both had been reaping the benefits of those confessions, and my dick and heart competed daily over who was the luckiest.

After putting the ring back into its box, I slipped it into my pocket and got ready to head out. I had a few errands to run and payments to collect before coming home to get ready for our date. Now that Piper was the head boss, she was less hands on. The bulk of her days were spent having conversations, making decisions, and giving orders. I, however, was busier than I was when I was simply Ahmad's bodyguard and henchman. The role reversal could be draining at times, but I took great pride in being all that I was to Piper.

That thought had me wanting to pull up on her before I got too busy in the streets. I stopped by Elite's jewelry store and copped her a black diamond choker that would match the ten carat black diamond engagement ring I'd give her tonight. After that, I got her favorite chocolate chip cookies from Ricki's Cookies and headed to the warehouse.

A smile lifted the corners of my lips as I headed down the long corridor to get to her office. My head bobbed as a greeting toward the people that littered the hallway. After knocking, I let myself inside. She was on a call, but Piper ended it quickly at the sight of me. We didn't smile a lot in the past. Quite frankly, we didn't have a reason to. These days, we smiled daily—especially at the sight of each other.

Piper rounded her desk and made her way into my arms and on my lips. A quiet moan escaped me as I wrapped my free arm around her waist. Deepening the kiss, I kicked the door shut.

"Mm," she moaned against my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck. "This is a nice surprise."

"I know we have a date tonight, but I wanted to see you real quick and give you this."

"Cookies?" Her shoulders hiked in excitement as she took the plastic container of cookies from my hand. They weren't just cookies—they were her favorite cookies from her favorite shop. I knew she'd be satisfied with just those, and that's what made me want to spoil her more.

Chuckling, I shook my head as I pulled the necklace out of my pocket. "Yeah, but I was talking about this."

Piper gasped and covered her mouth as she eyed the necklace.

"Wow, baby. This is absolutely beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it. I want you to wear this tonight. Dress in all black. Wear heels."

"Yes, baby." Turning, she requested, "Put it on me."

I obliged her request, lowering myself to kiss her neck once the necklace was around it. Her body melted against me as she pulled my arms around her body.

"You make me so happy," she muttered. "I love you so much, Nathan."

"I lo—"

Loud banging on the door cut off my reply. "Ayo, boss. We got company."

While I rushed over to her desk and pulled up the security cameras on her computer, Piper opened her door.

"It's like six police cars and two black SUVs in the parking lot," her guard, Pierce, continued. "What you want us to do?"

Piper massaged her temples. "They can't come in here. Go see if they have a search or arrest warrant while I try and get this shit broken down downstairs. If all they have is an arrest warrant, they can't come in. I'll send whoever they want out."

"Got you."

I cursed under my breath as I watched FBI agents hop out of the SUVs. I had no time to try and figure out what the hell they were doing here. Regardless, the bottom half of the warehouse was loaded with enough pounds of weed to send us all to prison for the rest of our lives. My first priority needed to be getting Piper the hell away from here and finding out how they got here later.

"We have to go," I said, rounding her desk. "I can get you out of the side door, but we have to move quick."

She nodded, almost having to jog to keep up with my quick, long stride.

"Boss," Pierce called on the walkie talkie.

"Don't answer," I told her.

"But—"

"If you answer they will know you're in here, Pipe. Don't answer."

Releasing a shaky breath, she trusted me and nodded. I put her on my back, needing us to be able to move a little quicker as the sound of doors bursting open pierced my ears. As MPD and the FBI agents made themselves known, I slipped down the hall toward the secret wall that led to the side door. It didn't lead directly outside, instead, it would take us down an underground tunnel that would put us in the basement of the laundromat we used to clean our money.

After putting the code into the keypad behind the picture on the wall, it opened quickly. We stepped inside and I closed it before we briskly walked down the tunnel. Neither of us spoke, and I was sure she was just as surprised by the turn of events as I was. As I opened the door of the laundromat, I released a calming breath. We made our way through the basement, and she plopped down in the first chair she saw. Her forearms rested on her thighs as she palmed her face.

"What the fuck is going on, Nate?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out. Right now, I just need to get you somewhere safe."

Piper didn't put up a protest because she knew I'd always keep her safe. After I let her sit long enough to calm her nerves, we went upstairs and slipped out of the laundromat. We left in the Camry I kept parked here for such a time as this. Massaging my chin, I drove in autopilot trying to figure out what I was going to do. There was no way in hell I could propose to her until we figured this shit out.

Several Hours Later

Apparently, since MPD couldn't get Ahmad, they decided to shift their focus to Piper. Because she sent Thurston's money to one of the fake bank accounts Ahmad used, they were able to charge her with felony theft and the facilitation of the murders Ahmad committed. There was no doubt in my mind they were trying to use her to bait him back to Memphis. Maybe it would have worked if her father actually loved and cared about his daughter. Because he didn't, there was no doubt in my mind he wouldn't bother coming back to face his charges if it meant having hers dropped.

We'd spent the last several hours at one of the safe houses as I tried to make plans to get Piper out of the country. Before she left, we'd need to talk about her end game. If she didn't want to spend the rest of her life on the run like her father, there were only three options, and all of them filled my heart with dread. Regardless of how I felt, I'd remain calm to keep her steady.

"I'm sorry I ruined our date night," she said, entering the kitchen.

Instead of sitting across from me at the small round table, she sat on my lap.

"You didn't ruin a thing," I assured her as she took a small sip of the whiskey I'd poured.

"Yes, I did. You always try to downplay how royally I fuck things up, but you can't this time."

"Pipe—"

"We're right back where we started and it's all my fault. If I would have just stood up to my father sooner—"

"Baby, the ifs don't even matter right now. All that's going to do is make you feel worse. Right now, we need to decide our next move." I squeezed her thigh and kissed her neck.

"You're right." She released a shaky breath with a nod. "What are our options?"

"You can go to a country that won't extradite you back here and make that your home, you can surrender yourself and try to fight the charges, or you can reach out to the detective handling your case and see if you can give them your father to have the charges against you dropped."

Piper sucked her teeth. "I can't believe they picked the charges back up anyway. They assured me they wouldn't charge me."

"Yeah, but that was when they thought they were going to get the bigger fish—your pops. You're the big fish now."

Her tongue rolled over her teeth. "What do you think I should do? You know I value your wisdom."

I did, and that meant the world to me. I took my time answering, wanting to lead her intentionally.

"If you leave the country, you'll have to be like Lot's wife—prepared to never look back. If you decide to fight the charges, there is a chance you will lose, bae. And on top of that, they might add more charges… especially after going through the warehouse. They might be willing to make a deal for your father, but we don't even know where to begin looking for him."

Her mouth twisted to the side as she weighed her options. "I don't want to leave my team to suffer behind this. True, they knew what they were risking, but I have too much integrity for that."

"Then what are you thinking? Because I'm with you either way."

"I think we should leave the country and work on finding my dad. When we have his location, I'll work on getting a deal. Him in exchange for my freedom. Once he's arrested, we can come back."

"Or… we can go somewhere new to start fresh and leave this shit behind."

Piper's mouth opened softly and head tilted as she processed my words. I took that time to pull the ring box out of my pocket.

"I was going to propose to you tonight, bae. I'm still just as dedicated to spending the rest of my life with you now as I was when I bought this ring. But I have to be honest—if we can get out of this shit… I'm not coming back. I don't care where we land as long as I land with you, but after this, I'm out."

Quiet sniffles escaped her as she took the ring and slipped it onto her finger. Her tears fell as she stared at her hand.

I kissed her neck, laughing softly when she whimpered.

"I love you more than life itself, Piper. Will you marry me? Will you choose me again?"

"I'll always choose you, bae," she whined, tossing her arms around my neck. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Yes?" I repeated, releasing a happy chuckle.

"Hell yes. God, I love you."

Her lips connected with mine—then we connected at the center. Before I could release my nut and try to get my soon-to-be wife pregnant, the sound of the front door damn near coming off the hinges interrupted our celebration. Our oneness was broken, and we made quick work of making ourselves presentable before rushing out of the back door. The sound of tires crashing through the gate increased my heart rate. Two things were certain—someone in the organization was setting Piper up and feeding out information, and I had no fucking idea if I'd be able to get my girl to safety this time.

To Be Continued