Chapter Eight

Fiona and I caught a cab back to the hotel. Darkness had drawn in while the game had been playing, and the bay sparkled with the lights reflecting off the bustling waterside eateries and bars.

But the hotel was set aside from the hustle, and when we alighted my ears rang with the quiet after the loud stadium.

"This is such a nice hotel," Fiona said after she'd paid the driver and got out. "I always wanted to stay here growing up, but there was never a need to as I lived not far away, but now…" She rubbed her hands together and looked up at the tall building. "I'm going to enjoy every moment."

"It is very lovely."

"Shall we get a glass of wine while we wait for the guys? They won't be long."

"Sure, sounds nice." And I meant it. I liked Fiona, a lot. There was a kind genuineness to her that I didn't see so much in my line of work.

"Where do you live?" she asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"London, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I travel a lot."

"Ah, I see."

We stepped toward the hotel, past several pointed topiary bushes and a parked red Mercedes sportscar. A single lamppost shone amber onto the dark shrubs.

"So why do you travel? Work?" she asked.

"Pippa! Wait."

I froze. My heart skipped a beat and then struggled to find the next one. That was a voice I recognized only too well. Damn it, I'd recognized the car, too!

Spinning around, I saw Steven striding toward me in tight jeans and an even tighter black Armani t-shirt.

What the hell?

I swallowed, and my stomach clenched.

"Pippa," he called again, gaining on me.

"What…what are you doing here?" I managed, despite the fact my mouth had dried uncomfortably.

"We need to talk."

"But how…?" My mind was spinning. "How did you…?"

"Find you?" He held up his iPhone. "We always know where each other is, remember, the Find My app."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How could I have been so stupid? I'd totally forgotten we'd set that up. I'd never used it. Didn't have the need to.

But if I had, I wouldn't be in this bloody mess now. Trust was both a wonderful and idiotic thing.

"You know this guy?" Fiona asked as Steven came to a halt in front of me. A swirl of his strong cologne accompanied him.

"Sure she knows me, I'm her fiancé." He flashed Fiona a devastating smile, one of his best—a hundred thousand pound smile, because that's what companies paid for it. He then pushed his hand through his floppy blond hair, something he was known for doing owing to his last Annapurna Extreme Clothing campaign that featured him in the Himalayas and had hit every screen and ad board around the world.

"Oh…okay." Fiona said, her features seeming to melt a little.

His outer casing didn't fool me, not anymore. Underneath that perfect skin, perfect body, and perfect smile was a lying, cheating rat who by rights should be living in the gutter.

"Surprise visit," he went on. "We've had a little misunderstanding that needs clearing up. Never good to go to bed on an argument, right?" He shrugged and switched his smile from Fiona to me. It didn't falter, not a flicker.

"That's what I always say." She smiled up at him then squeezed my arm. "I'll leave you two to talk."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Talk? What the hell was there to talk about? I'd never wanted to see him again. Yet here he was. Argh!

"Pepperpot," he said, cupping my elbow and using the pet name I hated. "This is all a terrible confusion, and if you'd let me explain yesterday we'd be man and wife now. You would know there is nothing to worry about."

He led me away from the entrance to the hotel, past the tall topiary and the parked Mercedes. Dumbly I went with him.

"Confusion? What are you talking about, Steven?"

"Your aunt accusing me of having a fling with Cheryl. It's all a simple mix-up. Nothing more than that. A misunderstanding. Of course I wouldn't do that. I'd never cheat on you."

"What?" I pulled my elbow from his hold and stomped several feet forward, putting distance between myself and him.

"There was no need to be so dramatic and leave me standing at the altar. That hurt. It really did. Here." He banged his fist on his chest.

Hurt? Dramatic? I clasped my cheeks and stared at him. Was he really so delusional? Did he really think I was such a pushover? I'd seen the goddamn evidence.

"Cheryl means nothing to me," he said, taking a step closer again. "You've got the wrong end of the stick. We need to move past this and reset a date for our wedding. We've got that big shoot lined up with OKAY magazine, they'll want the advance back if you don't put on the dress and smile."

"No! That's not going to happen. Ever. There will be no wedding." I held out my hand. "Do not come near me."

A minicab went past, its headlight beam illuminating his face for a moment. He wore his best hard-done-by expression, and the bruise on his chin added to that—I was surprised he hadn't covered it up with makeup.

"But the—?" he whined.

"Screw the advance, it's not like either of us need the money."

"But the brand, our brand. It was all set to take off. The hush-hush wedding was just the start. The intrigue and mystery of us and—"

"What? There is no brand, we kept our relationship quiet because neither of us wanted press intrusion, we agreed. It was your agent who wanted to book the OKAY exclusive, not me, not Trevor. I wanted my private life to stay private."

"Pippa, you're not thinking logically, but don't worry." He tapped the side of his head. "I can think for both of us, I can stay cool during this crisis."

"Crisis! This is not a crisis. This is the biggest wakeup call of my life, the biggest close shave of my life. I was about to marry you, and you're not in love with me, you're in love with the media attention we'd get, you're in love with another woman, I can see all of that now. My eyes are wide fucking open."

"What? You have it all wrong. Pepperpot, none of that is true. Let's go and get a drink, a room, talk about this so we can work it out. I know we can."

"Work it out?" I snatched my phone from my purse. "Tell me, how the hell do we work this out?" I brought up the first picture of him and Cheryl and held it his way.

He had the good grace to appear shocked. "What the…? Who…took…?"

"And this one?" I went to the next. "Looks to me like you have quite a thing for her big tits, don't you think?"

"Pippa I…I don't know how…"

"How to get out of this? Don't bother trying." I showed him the last photograph. "All I can say is I'm truly grateful to the anonymous person who sent me these photographs in the nick of time."

He swallowed, closed his eyes, and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "It's not what you think, honestly it's not."

"It's exactly what I think. You were messing around behind my back while I was planning our wedding. When you were with me you were wishing I was Cheryl. When you were screwing me, you were wishing I was Cheryl. I can see it quite clearly now."

"That's not true, please believe me." He managed to take my right hand in his. He clasped it between both of his palms and stepped up close.

I stared him in the eyes. His height didn't bother me because I was practically the same. "I don't believe you, Steven. I wish I'd never met you and I sure as hell wish you hadn't come here. You should have taken the hint when I didn't walk down the aisle or return any of your calls."

"I couldn't leave it like that, you are the love of my life." His voice lowered, and he came closer. "I love you so much, I'll die without you, Pippa."

Were my ears deceiving me? Did he think I was so gullible?

"Look at me," he said. "Surely you can see my devastation, I am nothing without you at my side."

"Steven, I don't care, I—"

Suddenly, his mouth pressed down on mine, and he wound his arms around my waist, dragging me up against his long lean body.

"Hmpf." Indignation swamped me, and I pushed at his chest.

But this seemed to increase his determination, and he kissed me harder, held me tighter.

My eyes were wide open in shock. My skin crawled at being so near him. I tried to protest, but he had taken possession of my mouth. Nausea swelled. I thought of that mouth kissing Cheryl with such passion. Urgh!

And then he was gone, and the heat of his body left mine.

I staggered backward, only to hit a chest as solid as a brick wall. I gasped and wiped the back of my hand over my mouth, trying to get rid of Steven's taste.

"What the hell?" Steven had also reeled backward, arms flailing and his balance offset. I now saw he'd been literally dragged off of me.

"Who the fuck are you?" Theo shoved Steven to the right.

He lurched, only to bump into Ben who shoved him back to Theo—a human ping-pong ball.

"Hey, get off, asshole." Theo shunted him again.

Again Steven staggered, his spine stooped over like a hunchback while he gasped in surprise.

"You okay?" A solid arm curled around my waist and held me tight.

I refound my balance and twisted to see Dylan's darkly stubbled jawline. His eyes were full of concern and also a healthy dose of anger.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Boy was I glad to see him.

"Didn't look like you wanted company." Eduardo stepped between myself and Steven with his fists balled, his body reminding me of a coiled spring about to unfurl into action—much the way he had on the ice.

"I didn't." I stayed in the safety of Dylan's wide, strong arm. "At least not his company."

Steven straightened, and he shoved his hand through his hair again. He then pushed down his shoulders and tipped his chin, mimicking the pose he produced when about to step onto a catwalk or runway. "Don't you know who I am?" He glared at all four guys in turn

I swear the idiot pouted. "Oh, for fuck's sake," I muttered. "As if they would know who you are. As if they'd care."

"I'm guessing you're the douchebag who's been cheating on Pippa here," Ben said, his voice a low growl, very different to the soft one he used with me. His features were different, too; he was angry, riled up, indignant on my behalf.

What a guy. A little bubble of appreciation swelled my heart.

"The fiancé who's been playing around, right?" Theo added with equal disdain in his tone.

"You've only heard one side of the story." Steven pointed at Ben and then Theo. "And what's it to you anyway? Who are you? Who are you guys?"

"Let's just say," Eduardo said, "we're helping Pippa out of the tight spot you put her in."

Steven paused for a moment, then, "You're nothing to her. She's mine. Why are you helping her?" He stepped around Eduardo and went to reach for my hand. "She's coming home with me. I'm her fiancé. We're going back to London now."

"What? No." The thought repulsed me. No way was that going to happen. "No I'm not…to both of those."

Suddenly, Steven was yanked backward. Eduardo had hooked his arm around Steven's neck and dragged him in a way that totally unbalanced him. He was struggling to get the flat of his feet on the floor. His entire body was at an unnatural angle and balanced against Eduardo's broad chest.

"Argh." Steven grunted and clawed at Eduardo's forearm. "Get the…fuck…off…"

Eduardo ignored him.

Dylan squeezed me a little tighter. Holding me in a reassuringly firm grip.

"She's not yours," Eduardo said through gritted teeth right beside Steven's ear. "She'll never be yours. Not now. Not after the way you've treated her. Got that? Huh? Got that?"

Steven screwed up his eyes and grunted as he struggled to get out of the steely grip he was locked in.

"She could have been yours, this smart, coolheaded woman, but you blew it and now it's over," Eduardo went on.

"It's not…over." Even through the shadows I could see Steven's chiseled face reddening and his cheeks puffing up.

"It is over, Steven," I barked. "It could not be more over."

"You heard the lady," Theo said, folding his arms and stepping up to Steven. "She said it's over."

"She doesn't know what she wants," Steven spat.

"You're wrong there." Ben mimicked his brother's stance. "Pippa is very much an independent woman who knows exactly what she wants."

"So you can go now," Eduardo said, his dark eyes set on mine. "And you'll never come back. You'll accept it's over. Pippa is not yours, and she belongs to herself. She makes decisions for herself." He squeezed a little more, and a strange choking sound came from Steven. He dragged harder at Eduardo's arm.

"Got it?" Theo said coolly as though a man wasn't being half strangled in front of him.

"Urgh…yeah…yeah…" Steven attempted to nod.

"And if you forget it," Ben said, "you'll have us to deal with. All four of us."

In a rush of movement, Eduardo released Steven, giving him a hard push for good measure.

Steven was catapulted toward a topiary tree which bent as it caught him and shed a flurry of tiny leaves. He battled to stay upright and then spun around, gasping for breath and with the bush still shivering behind him.

Staggering back onto the path, he straightened his t-shirt and brushed a twig from his shoulder. Once again he scraped his hand through his hair, an action I was now finding distinctly irritating.

"You all!" he said, his voice hoarse. "Do not know who you are dealing with."

"No." Theo stepped up to him, his shoulders almost twice as wide as Steven's and his biceps bulging around his Vipers t-shirt. " You have no idea who you're dealing with, buddy, because we're a team, a winning team, and once we've decided to do something, we won't fail. And if that means coming for you, so be it."

Steven glared at Theo with more guts than I thought he would.

Then Theo let out a low growling sound that was more animal than man, and he rounded his shoulders and balled his fists, stepping closer to Steven. The handsome hockey player with a winning smile had turned into something else entirely. "You got something else to say, asshole?"

"Fuck, okay." Steven held up his palms. "So she's got herself a security team. You said you didn't like all that shit, Pippa, said you didn't need it."

"I don't." I tipped my chin.

"We're her new friends," Theo snarled. "And friends look out for each other."

Steven stepped away and frowned, something he generally avoided because he was worried about brow lines forming. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a key fob. "Can't say I didn't try to save you from yourself, Pippa. Not marrying me is the worst mistake of your life." He pointed the key at the Mercedes, and it flashed to life. "But you've made your bed, go lie on it and hope it's not made of nails, huh, because it might be."

He moved away from Theo and toward the car, his leather shoes clicking on the pavement.

"Just go," I shouted after him. "And don't ever try and find me again."

He pulled open the door. "I won't need to." He gave a nasty smile that appeared almost demonic with the streetlight shining down on his face. "Because when I tell OKAY how you left me standing at the altar, how you ran away from all of our family and friends without a word, they'll paint you to be a spoilt, entitled bitch, and that will be sweet enough revenge for me." He dropped into the car and slammed the door.

"You fucking asshole." I burst forward. "I hope Cheryl chokes on your dick and you suffocate in her tits." I banged my fist on the bonnet as it roared to life. "You're lowlife scum, Steven Paya. Lowlife scum."

"Hey. Watch it!" Dylan wrapped his arms around me again and pulled me backward with considerable force.

It was just in time because Steven raced off in a spin of rubber and a blast of exhaust. He would have got at least one of my feet under his wide wheel if Dylan hadn't scooped me up.

"Bastard!" I shouted after him.

For a moment I had the urge to chase him, shout more expletives, tell him exactly what I'd do to him if he went to the press, if he sold the story spinning it so I was the baddie. But then both of Dylan's arms tightened, and I was wrapped against him, my back to his warm chest, and he pressed his cheek to mine.

"Hey," he said. "It's okay, I've got you."

My heart was thudding, my mouth dry, and emotions were blustering through me at ninety miles an hour.

Dylan seemed to sense this because he stooped a little, and I felt cocooned in his calm strength. He was holding me together. "He'll never bother you again, Pip. He'll never hurt you again. We won't let him."

Despite me barely knowing Dylan, I found that his words were like a balm, and I blew out a breath, trying to release some tension. "I'm sorry. That wasn't my finest moment."

"Consider it a defining moment," Dylan said onto my temple, his breath warm. "The end of one life and the start of another, and I bet this new life is gonna be heaps more fun."