Page 14 of Merciless King

I hold up my hands in a placating gesture. "I haven’t stopped thinking of you since we ran into each other.” Hell, I never stopped thinking of her. “I had to see you.”

Piper’s lips thin into a tight line. "You shouldn’t be here.”

The bitterness in her voice cuts me deep, but I’m not one to give up. “Piper, please. Are you okay? I just want?—”

She glances around again. “You can’t be here.”

Is she afraid of my associations? “I assure you that you’re not in danger from me.”

“You have no idea.” She passes me, heading to her door.

I’m concerned now. Something isn’t right and it isn’t about my work.

“Just go,” she says as she unlocks her door.

I refuse to leave, determined to talk and reconnect with Piper. “I can’t. I won’t. Not until you tell me what is going on.”

“It’s none of your business, Elio,” she says in exasperation.

“You… you are my business.”

She glances around me, and I turn to look to see what is spooking her. “Fine. Come in before someone sees you.”

When the door shuts behind me, she glares up at me. “Why are you here?”

I stare at her, wondering where all this animosity is coming from. “I told you. I had to see you. You look beautiful.”

She blinks at me like I’ve taken her off guard by calling her beautiful. Taking a chance, I touch her hand, pulling it up to my chest.

“I’ve never stopped thinking of you.” I feel the familiar spark of electricity, and I'm instantly transported back to all those years ago—the stolen kisses, the whispered promises of a future together. That connection between us is still there, undeniable and powerful. Surely, she feels it too.

Piper's eyes widen in surprise at my touch, and for a moment, I see a flicker of the girl I once knew.

“Elio. I’m married.”

“So.” I’m not a man who goes after married women as a matter of course. But for this woman, I won’t let anything get in the way of recovering what is mine. “Are you happy?”

She tugs her hand away, and I get a sense that it’s not because I’ve made her uncomfortable but because she feels the spark too and doesn’t want to be lured in by it.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m still?—”

“It does matter.” I lift my hand to her face. She flinches like she expects me to strike her. I gently trace the back of my fingers along her cheek. “You’re so beautiful, but you also look tired… wary. You’re not happy.”

“It doesn’t change anything.”

I feel like I’m getting somewhere, that her determination to keep me away is waning. “It does because you deserve to be happy. Do you love your husband? How can you when you’re so skittish and unhappy looking?”

Piper's eyes widen slightly at my question, and I see the hesitation flicker across her face. It's barely there, but it's enough to keep the spark of hope alive within me.

“You don’t know about me… and you have no right to know. You and I were a long time ago.”

She’s not denying my statement. She’s not telling me she loves her husband. In my mind, if she isn't completely and utterly in love with this man she's married to, then he needs to go.

“I can make you happy, Piper. You know I can.” She’s the other half of my soul. I know it because being next to her again, I feel like she’s filling the hole in my heart created when she left.

“It’s too late.”

“It’s never too late.” I cup her face in my hands and look at her, willing her to see my earnestness. “You and your child deserve love and affection… the world.” I hold her gaze, silently pleading with her to be honest, to let me in. I need to know if the connection we once shared still has the power to overcome the years that have come between us.

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