Page 90 of Black Roses

Then it all happens in the blink of an eye.

He and the guard start to scuffle and the guy reaches for the guard’s gun. Before he gets a finger on it, I tackle him to the floor, pinning him face down with my knee in his back. That’s when I notice several small packets of white powder have fallen from his pocket in the time it took me to wrangle him to the floor.

Another guard bursts into the room, pulling his gun on me. I keep my weight on my knee, not letting the prick out from under me, but I hold up my hands in surrender.

“Not him,” the first security guard says. He nods to Cassidy’s drug-dealing boyfriend on the ground beneath me. “Him.”

I get up, leaving the dirt-bag to the two guards, one of whom has radioed for the police. I look over at Cassidy whose only concern seems to be the drugs lying on the floor. A trickle of blood trails from her nose as she stares at it.

My stomach clenches when it becomes all too clear.My kid’s mom is a junkie.

“I have to get back to my daughter,” I tell the guards. I grab a piece of paper and pen from the table in the lounge and write my name and number on it, handing it to one of them. “My name is Mason Lawrence. My two-year-old daughter took a fall and is being treated here.” I nod to the piece of paper. “That’s my private number. If you need me for anything, call me. But you’ll have to restrain me, too, if you want to keep me from my family any longer.”

The guards look at each other and nod, one of them still keeping the scrawny asshole in a choke hold. “We know who you are, Mr. Lawrence,” the guard who saw it all go down says. “You are free to go, but the police will want to get a statement.”

“Thank you,” I tell them. I turn to Cassidy on my way out. “If you ever want to see Hailey again, you’d better get clean.”

She falls to her knees, crying and begging for me to stay. The other guard holds her back as I leave the room and shut the door on her and her pathetic snivels.

My nerves are completely shot as I wade through the people vying for position to see what’s going on in the room I just left. My hands are shaking and my heart races a mile a minute. I can’t have Hailey see me like this. I make my way out the emergency room doors into the welcoming burst of fresh outdoor air. I race around the corner before anyone can follow me, and then my hands falls to my knees to catch a much needed breath. I stay here for a few minutes, breathing the cool air in and out until my body no longer trembles with anger.

On my way back in, I see an all-night coffee cart and stop to place my order. Piper must be on the brink of collapse. At least I got a few hours’ sleep after my run. Exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks the second I got out of the shower at the gym. I went to lie down for a minute in the owner’s office, but I passed out until almost midnight, when I woke up to a massive crick in my neck from the lumpy sofa.

I return to Hailey’s room to find the splint removed from her arm; replaced by a small arm brace.

“You okay?” Piper asks, making me realize how wrecked I am by what just happened.

“Will be,” I say, putting the two coffees on the bedside tray before I walk over to pick up Hailey. “How’s our little angel?”

“She’s going to be fine.” Piper smiles at our embrace. “It’s not broken. Just a contusion, I think they called it. A bone bruise. The brace is so she doesn’t hit it on something and hurt herself. She’s going to be just fine,” she reiterates. “We all are.”

With Hailey in my arms, I walk over and pull Piper into our hug. “You were great tonight. A real lifesaver. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Maybe you never need to find out,” she says, smiling down at Hailey as her hand traces my shirt over my new tattoo.

“I love you, Piper Mitchell.” I lean down to kiss her on the top of her head.

“I love you, too, Mason Lawrence.”

Relief rushes through my body; my soul. Relief over Hailey being okay. Over Piper being back where she belongs. Over the three of us standing here like a real family.

I sit down, Hailey now sleeping in my arms, and I reach over and grab a coffee cup from the tray, offering it to Piper. “I brought you a latte. It’s been a long night. Thought you could use it.”

She looks at the cup, studying it intently before turning her attention back to me.

I give her a reassuring smile. “My eyes never left it, sweetheart. Not even for a second.”

Her hand slowly rises to take the cup from me. She opens the lid and pulls it to her lips, taking a drink as her eyes remain locked on mine. Her tired eyes. Her alluring eyes.

Her trusting eyes.

And while she drinks—I breathe. I breathe what I know is the first air of our new life together.

chapter thirty-three

piper

Two things never happened in the past few weeks. I never went back to sleep at Skylar’s townhouse. And Hailey never went back to Cassidy’s.

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