Page 79 of Penalty to the Heart

“Yeah… well… I’m worried about me, too.”

And without a further word, I pull his hand off me and walk away.

“We need to talk,” Piper says the next morning after barging into my apartment.

“What did I do now?” I grumble, wondering if the reason behind her impromptu visit has anything to do with the shitshow that went down last night at the photoshoot.

“Aside from living in what looks to be a frat house, you haven’t done anything wrong,” she says, scanning my apartment for a clean surface to sit on.

“I take it no one told you what happened last night then.”

“Actually, both my phone and my email box are full of messages regarding that little snag, but Nate explained it all to me last night and told me that the reporter was the one out of order. You’re in the clear for that one,” she explains, scrunching up her nose as she picks up one pair of my discarded shorts off the couch with her thumb and index finger before flinging them to the floor.

“Well, that’s a first,” I tease, a little relieved she didn’t show up at my doorstep to bust my balls. “Do you want something to drink?” I ask, remembering my manners.

“I’m not sure,” she replies, still eying my messy apartment with distaste. “Do you have any clean cups?”

“Nope,” I pop the ‘p’ in the end. “But I do have bottles of water in my fridge.”

“That will do.”

I quickly go to the kitchen to grab her a bottle, only to find an even more agitated Piper upon my return.

“Seriously, Caleb, how can you live like this? Don’t you have a housekeeper?”

“Not anymore. Had to let her go.”

“Why in heavens would you do a thing like that when it’s blatantly apparent you need someone to pick up after you?” she reprimands.

Because I hated the pitying looks I got every time I came home.

“Just got tired of a stranger being all up in my business, that’s all,” I explain aloofly, not wanting to get into the real reason why I fired my housekeeper.

“Well, you need someone to come here and clean this mess. This is no way to live. It’s a pigsty.”

“Fine, I’ll tidy it up,” I relent just to shut her up. “Is that why you came to see me so early on a Saturday morning? To bust my chops about my domestic duties?”

“Not exactly.” She frowns. “Have a seat, Caleb. We need to have an adult conversation.”

I would usually tease Piper for saying such a thing since she has always considered me an unruly child, but the seriousness in her tone makes me pause.

“Did something happen to Jack?” I ask, my mind always going to my brother whenever there is tension in the air.

“No, Caleb. Jack is fine.”

Jack is anything but fine.

He’s been in a coma for the better part of two months now.

But I get what she’s trying to convey.

“Okay. Then lay it on me. What’s so important that you had to come to see me on your day off? Shouldn’t you be canoodling with Nichols somewhere?” I ask, pushing the magazines and the dirty clothes off my coffee table to sit in front of her.

“Funny,” she retorts nervously, chewing on her bottom lip.

Shit.

Something is definitely up.

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