CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

P iper stepped out of the shower and squeezed toothpaste on her brush. Whoever had saved her luggage, she’d kiss them.

Unless they were a vampire. Then, no.

Spit.

Never.

Rinse.

Not fucking ever.

Spit.

She rummaged through the bags and pulled on a pair of jeans, a tank top and an oversized sweatshirt. She felt cold even though she knew the air temperature was mild.

For the first time in ages, she wanted to call her mom. Not because she had to, or any other kind of obligation. She just wanted to hear her mom’s voice.

She had no idea of the time; all she knew was that it was still dark outside. Just. The sun was going to rise soon, and then she would find a way out. She walked to the glass doors which led out onto a balcony, and they opened.

Well, that gave her hope.

Clearly, security wasn’t much of a concern here. Likely because of those big-ass gates she knew were down the bottom of the drive. She’d climb the fence if she had to. She was getting out of here.

Would they come after her?

Probably.

But hopefully she’d make it to the authorities before that.

Or scream really loudly and hope someone heard her.

Could they even go out during the day? Sage hadn’t told her everything earlier in the night, but when she thought about it, she’d never seen Oliver outside during the day.

So perhaps she could leave during the day and then they couldn’t come after her. First, though, she had to speak to Sage again.

She closed the doors and began to make her way across the room when someone knocked.

She froze.

“I don’t want to speak to you,” she said quietly. Somehow, she knew who it was.

The door opened, and he stepped inside.

Click.

Now she was alone with the one person—vampire—she didn’t want to see.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

Piper wrapped her arms around herself and began to tremble. Oliver watched her as if she was an animal about to bolt, and maybe she was. “Please go.”

He shook his head.

She watched him closely and spotted determination and pity in his eyes. She hated all of it.

“I don’t love you,” she said, and he winced.

“Okay.”

Okay ? Was that all he had to say?

Didn’t he care at all?

Piper didn’t know why she’d spat that out. She hadn’t specifically wanted to hurt him. She just didn’t want to encourage him. If he was here because she’d said that, then he could just leave.

“You can’t keep me here.”

Oliver nodded. “You’re right.”

“So, I can leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow? What are you planning to do to me?” Fear raced through her veins, but he held his hands up.

“Nothing Piper, fuck. Nothing. Just talk.”

She stared at him.

“Brainwashing. That’s your plan,” she accused. “Like you’ve all done to Sage. I’m not her. I won’t be so easy to push around.”

He let out a cynical snort. “You underestimate your sister. But then again, you always have.”

What?

How dare he say such a thing? He had no idea about the relationship between her and Sage. They had a lifetime of history. He’d known them for a matter of weeks. Piper dropped her arms and placed them on her hips.

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with my sister!”

Oliver crossed his arms. “I know Sage. Maybe better than you. You see her as weak, but trust me, darlin’, she is far from that.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he meant. Was he right? She’d always had to fight for what she wanted in life, but for Sage things had always seemed to come easily. Sage had been adored by their father. She knew what it felt like to be loved but had never met the right man.

And Colin hadn’t been Mr. Right.

Unfortunately, she’d never know how wrong he was now that Piper had been cast as the baddie in that storyline.

She’d never told Sage that Colin had been cheating on her. As far as Sage knew, the only time he’d done it was with her. And to protect her, Piper let her think that.

Perhaps Piper had been wrong and should have told her. Perhaps then Sage would have learned you can’t trust men.

Had she blindly walked into Ari’s arms?

Was this place a cult?

Maybe it wasn’t. For all she knew, it was some human trafficking syndicate where they attracted single vulnerable women.

She glanced at Oliver. “Are you reading my mind again?”

She felt a blush of embarrassment cross her cheeks at her thoughts. Something about accusing him of sex trafficking felt very wrong.

“No, ma’am.”

Piper crossed her arms but less defensively this time. “So then, put me out of my misery. What do you want from me until tomorrow? And be honest this time.”

Oliver took a few steps toward her, and she had to force herself not to run. There was something predatory about the way he moved.

“I honestly just want to talk. To show you my life. You can ask any questions you want.” He stopped a few feet from her and she stared at him, her eyes running over his solid muscular body. He was so perfect. Every part of her wanted to melt and run into his arms, even though fear was still simmering underneath the surface.

How could she make sense of the fear when those arms had held her? Those hands had pleasured her. His mouth had tasted her—all of her. Those eyes had seen every inch of her.

His... he’d been inside her.

She’d slept in his arms, against that broad solid chest. She had trusted him and felt things she shouldn’t for a being that wasn’t human.

But she had questions. Questions Sage refused to answer. If she was going to escape, then why not go armed with as much knowledge as she could?

Piper went to move, but her hip, which was in a lot of pain after being tossed around like a bag of peas, gave way. Before she could reach out to steady herself, Oliver had her in his arms.

“What is it?” Concern laced his voice.

She gulped.

Fear mixed with desire flowed through her body. “I hurt my hip,” she said, her voice shaking.

She needed him to step away.

She needed him to hold her.

Oliver’s eyes met hers. “You’re still terrified of me?”

“Yes, I’m scared. You’re a vampire.” As the words fell out, a tear followed, and angrily she brushed it away.

He stepped back and held up his hands. But not before she saw the hurt in his eyes.

She hated all of this. For both of them.

She tested her leg and then walked over to an armchair.

“Fine. Let’s talk then.”

OLIVER SAT OPPOSITE Piper on the sofa and watched her. She looked vulnerable in the oversized sweatshirt, which swamped her figure.

Her face was free of make-up, and she played nervously with the rolled-up cuffs at her wrists. He didn’t need to read her mind to know what her plans were. He was a trained assassin. He was trained to read people and situations in minute detail. Her eyes kept glancing out the window. Not because she was looking to run from him at the moment, but because she was planning to escape.

Just as anyone would in her situation.

He also realized Piper had agreed to chat because she was looking to get answers to her questions. For her story. Not to decide if she wanted to be his mate. Regardless, by the end, she’d learn there would be no Pulitzer Prize.

No matter which way their own story ended.

If she chose to be his mate, she would never write it.

If she chose to leave, she wouldn’t remember a thing.

On that...

“You saw Ari this morning?”

Piper frowned at him. “No.”

Well, fuck.

If he hadn’t completely believed the director, he did now. It had been Oliver fucking up her memory wipes, after all. Which meant he was the cause of everything she’d been through.

The kidnapping.

The attempted kidnapping.

Her excessive desire for him.

Okay fine, some of it was natural chemistry, but the confusing manner in which her mind tried to process him would have created an appealing mystery.

She may not be his mate.

He’d soon find out. Only a true fated mate bond would hold them together. Especially now she knew he was a vampire.

“Why did you lie to me?” Piper asked, grabbing his attention back.

“About?” He frowned, and she waved her hand at him.

“Being a vampire?” he asked, astonished. “When exactly should I have told you? When I fell inside your bedroom that morning? Or while I was fucking you after you said you were investigating the existence of vampires so you could expose my race to the entire human population?”

Well, he’d failed the patience test.

Piper wrapped her arms around her middle. “There’s no need to discuss the physical things we did, thank you very much.”

The hell? He wasn’t going to let her forget what they’d shared together.

“Why? They happened, darlin’. Don’t you dare ignore what we’ve shared. I’m the same person. And you fucking loved it.”

She stood. “You are not a person . You’re a vampire.”

Then she abruptly sat, and he knew it was because she was scared.

Oliver let out a low growl.

He’d done nothing but protect her since the day they’d met. He’d risked every fucking thing and now she could be the one living being on this planet who saw him stepping out into the sun.

And she was disgusted by him.

“Stop fucking doing that. I am never ever going to hurt you,” he snapped, and she flinched. “Stop it, Piper. You know I won’t hurt you.”

He sat forward and pushed his hand through his hair. As he sat staring at the carpet, she was silent.

“Is this like the breakup conversation, then?” she asked quietly. “Like you want to talk this through to relieve your guilt and convince me not to tell anyone about your race?”

He sat back and let out a long sigh.

“Breakup? Ask me how many women I’ve had sex with more than twice.”

Her lips parted.

“Ask me.”

Those same lips pressed firmly together, and she shook her head.

“Zero,” he said. “That’s how many. Zero. And I’m over eighty years old.”

“That’s gross.”

He let out a laugh. Their eyes met and a little smile formed on her lips, then disappeared. “I need to go home, Oli. I’m scared and don’t feel safe here.”

Unfortunately for her, this was the safest place on earth for her right now. She just didn’t understand yet. But it was his job to convince her.

“Those men are still looking for you. Something you did in LA triggered them. You can tell me, or not. That’s over to you. But it could help us to keep you safe.”

She chewed her lip.

“Tomorrow, if you choose to go home, you will return home with no memories of me or any of this. Whatever you tell me today will help us to help keep you safe while you carry on with your life.”

She gasped.

“You can’t do that,” she cried. “Anyway, it didn’t work all those other times.”

Oliver leaned forward on his knees. “Yeah, because I was doing it. Apparently, I wanted you to remember me. But another member of my team will do it, and this time you won’t recall a thing.”

The only technicality being that because Piper was family and would be exposed to Ari and Sage, it could trigger the odd confusion, but they would limit exposure to reduce the risk of that.

“Why?” she asked. “Why did you want me to remember me?”

“I don’t know, darlin’. I wasn’t aware I was doing it. I’m sorry. But it could be why you... why you were so attracted to me.”

She barked out a laugh.

“What?” he frowned, sitting up.

“You might be a monster, Oliver, but that’s not why I am... was attracted to you.”

Am . She said am .

“Can we stop with the monster talk, please?”

Piper shrugged.

“You think I’m hot?”

“You are hot, Oli. Stop it. That’s irrelevant now. You monster. Me human.” She did the pointing thing.

He sighed.

One step forward. One step back.

Perhaps talking wasn’t the best thing to be doing. He had to just show her he was normal and not going to hurt her.

“Hungry?” he asked, and she shrugged. Which was a stubborn yes.

“Not for blood or little puppy dogs.”

He stood and gave her a berating look.

She shrugged.

He glanced outside and saw the shutters were going to close soon. It would frighten her. First, he ordered them some food by telepathing the chef in the kitchen.

“Breakfast will be here in twenty minutes.” When she raised an eyebrow, he explained. “We have telepathic abilities.”

Her mouth widened once more. Today there would be a lot of that.

“Before I forget and you scream again, the shutters in the castle are about to close. One thing your vampire movies got right is daylight. We cannot go outside.”

Piper launched to her feet. “I’ll be locked in?”

She was anyway.

“Yes,” he said, though technically the doors were able to be unlocked. He wasn’t going to tell her that. “I know you don’t trust me, but please remember you did once.”

Her eyes shot from the windows to him. “Before I knew who you really were. And you owe me a phone.”

His hand went to his back pocket, and he pulled out a brand-new iPhone. He closed the gap between them and handed it to her, smiling at the surprise on her face. “All yours.”

“What’s the catch?”

“It will start working when I give the go ahead tomorrow.”

She glanced up at him. “Thank you.”

Seeing the warmth in her gaze once more spread happiness through him. He knew there was a long way to go in just twenty-three and a half hours, but he wasn’t giving up.

“Can I see Sage?”

“Not right now.” He answered truthfully. It was likely she was back, but Sage had been out breaking into a lab with Alex, who had returned from LA.

Oliver stared at the female who was his potential mate. She’d likely cost him his job. If he told her, she wouldn’t care. He was about to cost her the story of her life.

And he wasn’t sorry.

It was unlikely she would’ve lived to tell the story in any case.

Telling the story would impact millions of lives. The truth was, he didn’t know Piper well enough to know how that would sit with her, ethically. Journalists were dogmatic in their need to tell the truth, and the world was a better place for it.

Most of the time.

Not in this instance.

Vampires were no threat to humans.

Humans, ironically, were a major threat to humans.

“Will you sit with me?” He indicated the sofa.

“Oli, I don’t know what you want from me.” She shook her head. “We can talk, but what we shared in LA, that’s... it was a lie.”

He turned away from her and walked a few paces.

The fuck it was.

“You said you were attracted to me.”

“Yes.”

“You said you loved me.”

Silence.

He turned. “I said you told me you loved me.”

She swallowed.

“You never said it back,” Piper said quietly.

Oliver sped back to her and stopped just shy of touching her. He saw the confusion in her eyes. For a long moment, they gazed at one another, and he was too scared to speak.

She blinked and glanced away.

“You didn’t mean to say that, did you?” he asked.

She shook her head and his hand lifted to touch her, then dropped. She followed the movement with her eyes, then lifted her gaze back to his.

“Let me touch you, please.”

When she didn’t say no, he carefully lifted his hand and laid it on her arm. She breathed more heavily, but he waited. When she didn’t move away, he ran his hand up her arm to her shoulder and pushed away locks of her hair.

Time was one of the few things he couldn’t manipulate. It could take her weeks to be okay with him being a vampire. Months even.

“Oli,” she said, pressing her eyes closed.

“When I thought you were dead, I knew.” Oliver spoke softly, his hand moving to cup her face. “The minute you looked at me when I fell to my knees, I knew I would do anything for you. Give anything to keep you safe and in my arms.”

Her glossy eyes opened.

“But I was wrong.”

She blinked and frowned. “You don’t have to love me, Oli. It’s fine.”

“I was wrong because to keep you in my arms would mean taking away your free will,” he said. “Many vampires, when they meet their mate, will take their life without question, and ask for forgiveness afterwards. It is always given.”

He let that sink in.

“I know you, Piper Roberts. You would never forgive me.”

She stepped away and gasped. “Turning me into a vampire?”

He nodded.

“Wait a minute. You think I’m your mate?”

He nodded again.

“No, no, no, no, no. This is even worse than the Mafia,” she mumbled.

Oliver frowned. “The Mafia?”

“Oh, God. So much worse.” She stood, shaking her head. “Promise you won’t turn me,” she demanded.

“I promise,” he replied firmly.

He meant it. He knew on every level of his being that Piper would never, ever, forgive him for taking her humanity. It would need to be her choice or nothing.

It was who she was, and he wasn’t going to force her into a life where she looked at him every day with the disgust she had shown over the past few hours.

Tick tock, tick tock.

The clock was ticking.