Page 69 of Captivated

“The entire reason she was here is that someone was after her, boy,” her father finally speaks up. “I thought we were doing the right thing, sending her away so she could continue to live her life while we cleaned up his mess… but we were wrong.” His eyes flick back to Piper in the bed. “We were so wrong.” He moves to stand and I follow his lead.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know. I have so many questions. I know her as Piper Davis, not Pfeiffer Winters. I only know what she told me, but please believe me when I say, that I’ve fallen in love with your daughter and I want to be with her, despite what brought her here.” It’s a moment of clarity that I found, staring at her in this bed, holding her in my arms while she nearly bled to death. I want her no matter what, and I want everyone to know that, most of all her parents.

“I appreciate you saying that. It means so much to know that she found love again after what Mason has put her through…”

“Mason? Her ex? I thought he was dead?” My eyes bounce back and forth between her mother and father as they share a look as well.

“Is that what she told you?”

I swallow. “Yes.”

“Well, she is correct. Mason’s body was found off the shore of the Long Island Sound outside of New Haven just two days ago.”

“Long Island?”

“Yes, we’re from New York. The Hamptons in particular.”

“Fuck. She told me she was from Charleston.”

Her mother shakes her head, looking back down at her daughter. “That doesn’t surprise me. We used to visit there during the summer every year. It was one of her favorite places. Please know this, Cash,” she glances back up at me. “Any lie my daughter told you was for her protection, not to hurt you intentionally.”

And that’s one piece of information I needed to hear so badly. “Thank you. She was literally about to fill me in on her story before all of this happened.”

“Excuse me? Are you Mr. and Mrs. Davis?” The surgeon comes in at that moment, interrupting our conversation.

The two share a look again and then nod.

“I’d like to speak to you about your daughter, please,” she eyes me, indicating I should probably leave.

“I’m gonna grab some food. I can’t remember the last time I ate,” I flash a weak smile and then exit the room, turning back to watch the looks on their faces as the surgeon fills them in on her status. A few minutes pass and then Piper’s mother buries her face in her father’s chest, crying dramatically as he consoles her, brushing his palm along her back.

Fuck! What did she just say that would warrant a reaction like that? What happened to her that I don’t know about? Alice said she would be fine and now her mom is bawling. Hoping she’s just overly emotional about the entire situation, and it’s not something serious. I turn and walk away, locating the cafeteria, eating some of the crappiest food I’ve ever consumed, and then call Luke to see what information he’s been able to gather in the last few hours.

Chapter 27

Piper

I have no idea what day it is or how much time has passed. The last thing I remember was the man from the hospital walking up to me in the parking lot of my apartment complex with a gun in his hand, declaring that his presence was to pay the debt I owed the Montevallo family. The hot heat of the bullet piercing my skin was unlike any pain I had ever felt before, stealing my breath away and any energy I had to fight the gravity pulling my body to the ground. The gun was pointed at my chest, but as I turned a noise in the distance pulled the man’s attention, so when he pulled the trigger, he hit me in the stomach, and luckily not my heart. I vaguely remember Cash holding me before I lost consciousness, but as I lie awake in the hospital for the first time in days I assume, I am desperate to know what happened.

“She’s awake! Frank, she’s awake!” My mother’s shriek pulls my eyes to her standing in the doorway with a coffee in her hand as she scurries to my bed and throws her arms around my neck and my father follows her into the room. It takes me a few moments to take in my surroundings and clear the blurriness from my eyes.

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here? How did you know what happened?” My words come out slow as I adjust to the light and struggle to talk from the lack of moisture in my throat. My mother rushes to me and puts a cup of water to my mouth, letting me drink from a straw. Instant relief coats my throat, but the effects of the tube that is typically protocol will take days to go away completely.

Tears leak from her face as she watches me, and then she takes a minute to pull herself together before she can speak. When Elizabeth Winters releases her poised mask, she lets out her emotions, and then puts them right back inside where they belong.

“Cash called us, darling.”

“Cash?” Instantly my heart rate picks up, indicated by the beeping of the monitor beside my bed.

“Yes. He found your phone and called us from it. We immediately called Michael to power up the private jet, and flew here as fast as we could.”

“How… how long have I been out?”

“Four days,” she runs her fingers down my cheek as my stomach twists. Four days I’ve been lying here while I’m sure Cash has been in utter turmoil. I never got to explain everything to him before I got shot. And then he had to call my parents, and I instantly wonder how much they’ve told him.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, Mom, I am… but where is Cash?”

“He said he had to run an errand and then he would be here. He hasn’t left your side except to sleep, darling. And gosh, he’s so handsome. Such a catch,” she winks at me, and then I let the tears fall from my eyes. My mother and father are here—my parents that I haven’t seen in over eight months, and I can’t believe how amazing it is to touch her and hear her voice in person and see my dad in all his powerful glory again.

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