Page 17 of Tower

Daniel raised his eyebrows but kept his opinion to himself, for which Peter was grateful. He hadn’t figured out what the hell to do with her yet. He only knew he needed her with him at the house.

A knock on the door preceded Johnny entering, a canary-eating grin on his lips. “Your damsel is looking for you.” He jerked a thumb at the door.

“His damsel?” Daniel chuckled.

“Yeah, the girl he took last night. The blond.”

Peter’s stomach twisted. “Her name is Azalea,” he ground out. They weren’t acting any different than any other day, but they were talking about Azalea—not some girl off the street looking for a payday.

Johnny straightened out his smile. “Right. Sorry. Azalea is looking for you. I showed her to the kitchen and asked Maria to make her something to eat then said I’d get you.”

Peter waved him off. “Fine. I’ll be there in a minute. Go find something else to do.”

“One more thing,” Johnny said. “Aubree stumbled in at two in the morning, piss drunk.”

“So?” The girls were free to come and go as they wished. If she went and had a bit of fun, that was her business.

“She hadn’t checked out before she left. No one knew where she was until she came home,” Johnny finished explaining.

Peter blew out a breath. He had enough to deal with at the moment, and handing this little problem to an employee was tempting. “Fine. I’ll meet with her this afternoon. Let her sleep it off.” He closed the laptop, giving up on getting any research done. “Daniel, go away. You’re annoying the fuck out of me this morning.”

“I didn’t do anything yet.”

“Exactly. Go get some work done.” Peter walked out of the office.

? ? ?

Peter found Azalea sitting at the small breakfast table in the kitchen, a steaming cup of coffee nestled between her slender hands. She stared out the large windows into the gardens in the back. Not wanting to disturb her yet, he gave a small nod to Maria, excusing her from the kitchen.

Maria had been working for the Titon family since he could remember, and it didn’t take any more than the small gesture for her to get moving. She gave one cursory look toward Azalea before leaving, letting him know in her own way that she had concerns about the situation. She may worry, but she wouldn’t vocalize her doubts, or get involved.

Once the kitchen cleared, Peter cleared his throat softly, nudging Azalea out of whatever thoughts she’d lost herself in. She turned toward him. Her body stiffened the moment she faced him.

“Good morning,” he offered gently.

“Morning,” she replied and brought her cup to her lips. She’d combed her hair before coming down, but she still had the freshly woken look about her. A small crease from the pillowcase embellished her left cheek.

When he’d found her sitting up the night before, he’d maneuvered her under the covers and gotten her comfortable before climbing in with her.

“Did you eat something? I can have Maria make you eggs if you want, waffles, maybe?”

“I’m fine,” she said flatly, taking another sip of coffee.

Peter poured himself a cup and joined her at the table. Soft beams of sunlight streaming through the frosted windows cast an angelic glow around Azalea.

“Sleep okay?”

“No.”

“You looked pretty damn peaceful.” He kept his irritation mostly in check, but he didn’t like being ignored, and she was doing her best to make him feel cast aside.

“You checked on me?” Her large eyes moved up from her coffee to him.

“I slept right beside you.” Ah, there it was. The little flash of surprise. “How do you think you got under the covers?”

“I—” She snapped her mouth closed. “Will you be taking me home today?”

“We covered that topic pretty thoroughly last night. You aren’t going home.”

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