Page 6

PIPER

Walking home with clouds looming over my head matched the depression I felt sinking in my bones.

I was not at all as happy as I was this morning when I left the apartment.

In fact, the only thing keeping me slightly on the upper side of misery was the fact that I’d spent all morning and most of the afternoon in the bar, drinking my cares away.

Or I would have if the bartender hadn’t kept forcing water down my throat and watering down the drinks.

Stupid asshole. My feet were thoroughly soaked as I stepped in puddles from newly fallen rain that must have soaked the city while I was drinking my cares away.

These stilettos had been a horrible choice this morning.

Of course, I hadn’t known I would end up leaving the office on my own instead of the town car that always brought me to work.

I should have spent the morning looking for a new apartment.

Now, I had nowhere to go tonight because I sure as hell wasn’t staying with James.

A tear dripped down my cheek as I thought of how just twelve hours ago, I had been so happy.

I thought I was getting married and had already started looking at wedding dresses. I was going to be a princess.

Instead, I would probably have to sell my entire wardrobe, along with my left lung, to be able to afford an apartment.

I didn’t relish the idea of going back to the studio apartment style of living I had started with.

James had spoiled me with luxuries I never would have been able to afford, even on my excellent salary as his personal assistant. New York was just too damn expensive.

I reached the door to our building and tried to smile at Charlie, our doorman, but failed miserably. “Hey, Charlie.”

“Ms. Piper. Something wrong?”

“Oh, just my world crumbling at my feet. You know, nothing too terrible.”

I laughed, but it fell on deaf ears. Charlie stared at me with the concern of a father. I wished he was mine, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. And even if he did want to listen, he was my stupid ex’s doorman. I wouldn’t drag him into my problems.

“You looked chilled to the bone. Take a nice hot bath and warm up before you catch a cold.”

“I’ll do that, Charlie.” Though, I had no intention of staying in the apartment for any longer than necessary.

My tired feet dragged through the lobby, taking me to the elevator where other residents waited. They all looked at me like a rat dragged off the street, but then, they always thought James had rescued a puppy in desperate need of a home. These definitely were not my people.

“She looks like she fell in a puddle,” Mrs. Fields muttered.

“Someone should really tell her that hairstyle was never in fashion.”

I stiffened, trying to stand taller with the ladies judging me, but the more I tried, the more it felt like sinking lower.

I put a smile on my face, sucking back the tears as we approached my floor.

“No worries, ladies. My brand new fiancé is a cheating scumbag, so you won’t have to suffer with my presence any longer. ”

The doors opened with Mrs. Fields’ gasp and I stepped off, feeling a tingle of glee at the gossip that was sure to ensue. But that smile fell as soon as I got to the door and tried to slide my key inside. When it didn’t fit, I was sure I had the wrong key, but none of them worked.

“Shit,” I hissed. Banging my fist against the door, I ground my teeth together.

The bastard locked me out. I pulled out my phone and called down to the lobby, requesting help, but apparently, he’d already told them I wasn’t allowed in the apartment.

Apparently, whoever was working the security desk had missed the memo.

“Breathe,” I whispered, pinching my nose as I tried to think of what to do next.

I could call and set up a time to come back, but I was so pissed at the bastard right now that I couldn’t think clearly.

“It’s okay, Piper. Just break the door down.

You’ve been trained in self-defense. You can take down a grown man. A door shouldn’t be too much harder.”

I examined the door, remembering what I had seen in the movies.

The guy kicking down the door always planted his boot right by the doorknob.

Of course, he wasn’t wearing heels, and if I tried while wearing them, I’d probably break my ankle.

Doing it barefoot didn’t seem logical either. What I needed was…

I spun and spotted the fire extinguisher in the hall and smiled.

I had no idea if it would work, but if not, at least I’d leave a dent in his perfect door.

Striding over, I considered briefly that doing this while drunk was not a good idea.

But the need to get to my stuff was pressing down on my poor, shattered heart.

I snatched the extinguisher and strode back to the door, gripping it as best I could.

I briefly wondered if I could somehow make the extinguisher explode, and imagined it sending me flying through the wall with a massive blast of air.

That probably wouldn’t happen.

I swung hard, my hands rattling hard as vibrations worked through my body.

That was not entirely pleasant, but I swung back and rammed it into the door again.

This time, a nice dent was left in the door, but I was still far from getting inside.

Just as I pulled back again, a door down the hall opened and Mr. Crawford stepped out.

He was probably the only nice man in the building.

At sixty years old, his greying hair made him look dashing rather than aging. Why couldn’t women look like that?

“Hey, Mr. Crawford!” I said cheerily.

“Piper,” he nodded. “Is there a problem?”

“Nope. I’m just trying to get inside.”

“With a fire extinguisher? Should I call the maintenance department?”

“Nope,” I repeated. “They won’t let me in. My cheating fiancé told the manager to lock me out. So, I’m breaking in.”

He eyed me curiously, his arms crossed over his chest. “Your fiancé.”

I chuckled sardonically. “Yep. As of last night. Which was why it was a huge surprise when I walked into the office and found him fucking another woman on the conference room table.” I pulled back and swung hard, cracking the door just a little.

“Apparently, he’s been screwing her every time he goes to London. ”

“Hmm,” he nodded.

I didn’t want to know what that meant. “So, I came back here to get my things.”

“And you decided to break the door down with a fire extinguisher.”

Breathing heavily, I stepped back and nodded, wiping the sweat from my brow with my wrist. “Well, it was either that or my stilettos, and I’m pretty sure I’d only break my ankle if I tried that.”

His eyes trailed down to my soaked heels that probably looked like I dug them out of a dumpster. Heels and water did not mix, but at the moment, that seemed like the least important thing in the world.

“So, are you going to call maintenance on me?”

He shrugged. “Maintenance wouldn’t do a thing. Except fix the door.”

I thought about that and added, “Security?”

“As far as I can tell, you’re only retrieving your things from a man who never deserved you.”

“You seem awfully sure of that.”

“I’ve lived here longer than you.”

At the disgust in his eyes, I knew that I had been a fool all along. James had been a massive player, and somehow, I never saw it. No wonder everyone in the office thought I was a skank. They all assumed I was just another one of his women. And that just pissed me off.

I swung back and thrust the damn extinguisher into the door a final time. The crack was satisfying enough, but not nearly as much as the broken door that now allowed me access to my things. I tossed the extinguisher aside and smiled at Mr. Crawford.

“Well, I wish you the absolute best of luck, and I hope you have lots of orgies that keep him awake at night.”

He chuckled, shaking his head at me. “Not my style, but I’ll try to give him hell.”

I saluted him. Why? I didn’t know, but I shoved the broken door open and marched inside, ready to get my things and move on with my life.

Except, as I made my way through his fancy apartment that I used to admire, with its sleek lines and expensive furnishings, all I felt was cold. How had I not noticed before?

I assumed all he needed was a woman’s touch.

God, how I soaked in all his lines about how he’d never known someone he could talk to so easily.

His sob stories about not truly knowing what it was to love because of his upbringing had torn at my heartstrings.

I basked in the knowledge that I had been the one to change his life.

Yes, I was the one woman who could mend his poor, mangled heart.

I studied the space that I once called home and sighed.

Just yesterday, I had laid on that couch with him.

I’d made him dinner after a long day, giggling as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, making me feel like a princess.

And then he’d taken me on the kitchen table, shoving my dinner from the surface so he could spread me out and feast on me.

“I’m so stupid,” I muttered.

I’d actually thought it was romantic how he couldn’t wait to have me.

Now, all I saw was the food on the ground that he so carelessly tossed away.

All my hard work to make his dinner so he wouldn’t be hungry, and he acted like it was nothing.

It was amazing how quickly perspective could change when you’d been screwed over by the man who was supposed to love you.

“No point in dwelling on it now,” I said to myself. “I just need to get my things and move on.”

I strode to the master suite to gather my things, but the moment I shoved the door open, I knew something was wrong. It felt too…clean. I walked over to the closet and flung the doors open, gasping when I found my half empty. Not a single blouse or shoe remained. I had been wiped from his life.