Page 70 of Taming Achilles

“What if he takes a shot at her?” I asked, stating the only concern I had.

“It’s not likely,” she said.

“But it’s possible,” I said, looking at Cal. “How do we mitigate that?”

Cal looked sympathetic, which only made my blood hum with worry. If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.

“Then you have to be her bodyguard,” Cal finally said, appealing to my senses in the only way he knew how. “Be the man she needs you to be.”

I looked down at Pip, who stared at Cal, avoiding my gaze.

Her profile was gorgeous. Long, brown lashes, just a smudge darker than her strawberry hair. Her pretty lips, and the cupid’s bow. I wanted to grab her chin and turn her toward me. To have her look at me. I wanted her to ask me to be her man. But I knew she wouldn’t.

“Now, you two need to go back to the apartment together. And you need to make sure you’re seen by someone,” Cal said, “Have pictures taken.”

I nodded, understanding that we were laying the bait, and setting the trap.

“We should go to her apartment.”

“The cops are still there,” she said.

“No, they’ve cleared it.” Her eyes flicked to me. “Detective Delgado called me this morning. The sheets are gone, the apartment is clean.”

“Of course you called Athanya,” she quietly mumbled, with bitterness.

I wish I was a better man. I wish I had an ounce of maturity. But I didn’t.

“Jealous?” I asked with a smile, grabbing her chin and turning her face to me.

She pulled away, shoving at my chest. “Hardly.”

The little liar. She was jealous and I liked it.

I tried to conceal my smirk when Cal shot me an admonishing look.

“We spend the night in her apartment, people will really know,” I said. “If he has control over the cameras, he’ll see it. We can put on a show. I was gonna fix her security system, but with the police, I never got to it.”

Why did I want someone to see us together so badly? Now that the secret was out, I was ready to shout it to everyone. Rent a fucking plane and write it in the sky. Have a banner fly over Santa Monica Beach declaring that Pippa Fox was mine.

“Pervert,” she whispered, but a small smile crossed her lips.

“Aye,” I replied with no shame. “Back to your apartment, love.” I kissed her on the nose, because I could. Her eyes shut as I pulled away, her lips parted. “We have to talk without your goons around.”

The aforementioned goons shot me a dirty look, their eyes threatening to beat me senseless if I misstepped with her again. I wanted to beat my chest and tell them all that she was mine to protect and no one else. I had primacy. She was mine long before they laid eyes on her.

But if she wasn't completely alone in those five years we were apart, then I was grateful too.

She had people who cared. People who liked her. People who looked out for her when I was too blind to see past my own hurt feelings.

Chapter 34

Pippa

When the elevator door of the penthouse closed, he pounced on me. He pushed me against the mirrored wall, and invaded my mouth with the tact of Germans invading Poland. His fingers wove into my hair until I winced in pain. But it didn’t stop him. He moved my head around as he kissed me, tilting it this way and that to meet his invasion.

I whimpered against his mouth, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him close. When he pulled away, I was hazy, unfocused, my lips reaching for his like I was starving and the source of life was in his mouth.

“We need to talk,” he said, his low voice unemotional and stern.

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