For a brief second, I gave serious thought to turning around and running so he wouldn’t see me. But that seemed like an extremely cowardly thing to do, and I’d been many things, but cowardly was not one of them.
Before I could decide the best way to handle my current situation, Piers led the way into a small public park area and stopped in a secluded area. I could only stand my ground as he turned and regarded me with his deep hazel eyes.
“I know you’re following me,” he said. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
Chapter 3
Piers
You learn some lessons early when you grow up on the streets. You have to, or else you won’t survive. There were the obvious ones, where to find or steal food and how to ensure you didn’t die of frostbite. But another important one was to realize when you were being followed and knowing what to do once you found you were.
It’s a skill that had served me well. From dodging police as a child to escaping unseen in any size crowd as a man, I could always spot a tail.
Whoever was behind me as I left Bachelor International knew what they were doing. In fact, it took a few blocks before I was certain they were even there, but luck had been on my side. Based on what I could tell, it was a female. That much was obvious by the sound of her heels. Of course, there were several women around me as we were all walking, and a good number of them wore heels, but while the other footsteps faded or others joined, one remained constant throughout. My tail.
I shifted my path away from my apartment and instead switched my destination to an obscure restaurant few people knew about. Its location in an area of town I doubted many high-heel-wearing women who worked in skyscrapers frequented was an additional plus.
Whoever it was shocked me by not faltering, even as the number of people walking with us decreased. Perhaps I had overestimated her. Perhaps she was not as good as I’d thought she was. Or it could be she was unaware of the potential danger that could fall upon a woman alone in this part of town.
And why was she following me anyway?
I made my way to a run-down park that stood empty at the moment. While I couldn’t in good conscience lead her any farther, I couldn’t have her following me either.
I stopped, turned, and asked in my don’t-fuck-with-me voice why she was following me.
As soon as I saw her, anything else I meant to say died on my lips.
You know her, part of my brain whispered.
There’s no way, the other part countered.
And I stood frozen, unbelieving between the two, unable to comprehend what was clearly in front of me.
She remained silent, and some part of me realized she didn’t appear nearly as surprised as I was.
“Bri?” I finally squeaked out in a voice I didn’t recognize.
“Yes, Piers,” she said. “It’s me. Brigitta.”
You always hear how in moments of grave danger, people say their life passes before their eyes. I’ll admit I always thought that was a bunch of nonsensical bullshit people made up. But as I stood there, looking at this fully grown woman I almost instantly recognized even though it’d been twenty years since the last time I’d seen her, it hit me maybe they weren’t spewing bullshit after all.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I saw my entire past, but images of my childhood flickered before me. A childhood that encompassed a time when I was much more naive and Bri was the only person in the world who mattered to me.
“Oh my God. Bri,” I said and pulled her into my arms, not realizing until I’d already done so that she hadn’t returned the sentiment, but stood stiff and unmoving in my embrace. Immediately, I dropped my arms to my side and mentally cursed myself for acting before thinking through my actions.
“I’m sorry.” I took a step back. “That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have touched you before checking to make sure you were okay with me doing so.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Of course it’s fine. It was just such a shock to see you.”
“I can’t imagine it was too much of a shock. You were following me.”
“Yes,” she admitted. “But trailing after what I thought was your backside differs from being confronted with your front side and having you speak to me.”
“You have to admit, though, it is better than having my backside speaking and being confrontational.”
My response must have surprised her, because her mouth had opened as if she was getting ready to say something, but at my words, the only thing she did was laugh.
It’d been a long time since anyone had laughed at anything I said, and I smiled despite myself. “How the hell have you been?” I asked. “And how did you come to be following my backside?”
“I’m good.” She nodded. “I’ve recently moved to the area and work over at the Boston Place Building. After lunch, I was coming back into the office, and I saw you getting off the elevator. I didn’t want to yell across the lobby, and there was no other way to get your attention. And besides, I wasn’t even sure it was you. The only thing I could think of to do was to follow you and see.”
Her explanation made sense, and I was probably reading too much into both her response and her body language, but for a second, I had the vaguest sense she was holding back. For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine what it could be or why she would try to deceive me. I chalked it up to my cynical nature and pushed it out of my mind.
She had changed little since the last time I’d seen her. More than likely, she was one of those fortunate few who never seemed to age. No doubt she’d still look like a teenager when she was eighty-three.
Years ago, Brigitta had been one of my best friends. When she was four years old, her aunt took her in after Bri’s parents died. Unfortunately, her aunt had no experience with children, nor did she want to get any. Bri learned early on she could do anything she wanted as long as her aunt wasn’t bothered in any way. As a result, Bri spent a lot of time outside, which is how I met her when she was eight.
I could still remember every detail of that day.
It had snowed while I slept. I’d known before I opened my eyes. The air tasted sharp and cold, and the sound around me was muted with the insulating effect snow had. I didn’t want to move and disrupt the small amount of warmth I’d managed to find, but I knew better than to stay where I was.
I crawled out of bed and pulled up the thin sheet high enough to pass the scrutiny of anyone who came to see. The attic air was just as cold as I’d feared, but complaining would gain me nothing. I slipped on my shoes and was down the stairs and out the door before the caretaker, Tom, could find me and insist I bring something back in exchange for the use of the attic.
I heard him yell something, and I ducked into the space between two buildings. He’d never tried to follow me before, but that didn’t mean he never would. After waiting for a few minutes, I peeked to see if I could spot him.
Nothing.
I let out my breath in a sigh of relief and took a step forward, inching myself toward the exit.
“I wouldn’t if I was you.”
At the realization I wasn’t alone, I jumped at the words spoken from a small voice coming from behind me.
Furious with myself because I’d failed to notice their presence and allowed them to surprise me, I spun around, planning to unleash my fury on whoever was there. I wasn’t sure who or what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t what I found.