Rough Around The Edges Read online

  Jaden reached out and took her hand. For someone who said they loved Piper, Derek didn’t sound like he cared one bit.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me find out like that?”

  “I tried calling.”

  “I don’t mean now. I mean months ago. You had to have known about my mother and Robert and speaking of Rebecca, where is she?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m worried, and I want you to cancel the concert and come home. I’ll protect you since that dipshit only wants to put you in harm’s way. You were right, calling him was a mistake.”

  Ouch.

  Jaden arched his brow.

  “I’m not calling off the show,” she said with a stern voice. “I’m sending you an email with a statement I expect you to make. If you don’t, consider yourself fired.”

  “You can’t fire me,” Derek’s tone took a dark turn.

  “Oh, yes, I can.”

  “You really should read things before you sign them.”

  The phone went dead.

  Jaden cocked his head. “What is he talking about? What did you sign?”

  “A contract for a new artist,” she said with wide eyes. “I didn’t read it before I signed it.”

  Chapter 9

  “I’ve got good news and bad news, which do you want first?”

  Jaden set his coffee in the cup holder of the rental car. The email that Trisha had Piper send had some code in it that would help Trisha zap into Derek’s computer system and email.

  “Always bad news first,” he said, staring at the headquarters for CC Music. Ten years ago, he walked out of that building and joined the Army. He thought he was starting his life, but in reality, he’d simply hit the pause button.

  “First, the guy in the picture with Derek that Toby gave us is a man named Arthur Montgomery,” Trisha said. “He owns a security company, but it’s really a front for hired hitmen.”

  “That’s fucking wonderful.” But what he suspected.

  “What’s wonderful is I’ve got the name of the hitman, and Clayton and Hogan have already located him. They plan on doing a little interrogation as soon as they secure the target. Last communication was five minutes ago, so hoping they have Weber, that’s the hitman’s name, at the safe house soon.”

  “That’s excellent news.” Jaden knew better than to let out a sigh of relief. No mission ended that easily. There were more ways to skin a cat.

  “Yeah, but I’m not done with the bad news.”

  “I didn’t think so.”

  “In Derek’s computer, I found a copy of the documents I believe he had Piper sign and basically, whether she’s dead or alive, he owns controlling interest in CC Music.”

  “Fuck me,” he mumbled. “Does Piper know?”

  “She’s not stupid. She pretty much figured that’s what Derek had done.”

  “If he couldn’t kill her, then he disgraces her father and her with the paternity test.” Jaden rolled down his window and nodded to Dustin who pulled up to take over surveillance of Derek. “Any news on the validity of that?” Jaden asked.

  “The company confirms the test and the results, but I’m not buying it,” Trisha said.

  “Why not?”

  “I think it’s weird that this is all just coming out now. It’s the kind of thing would have come out typically during a divorce or something, so I’m having an expert look over the papers for any tampering.”

  “That’s smart.” Jaden waved to Dustin before easing into traffic.

  “I want your permission to ask Piper to retake the test. And that’s the other good news. I’ve found Robert. He’s been out of the country and while I think he’s kind of a douchebag, he seemed generally concerned about the situation. He also mentioned that while he’d had an affair with Rebecca, he was pretty positive that no way could he be Piper’s father, another reason for the second set of eyes on the documentation.”

  “Why does Robert believe he’s not her father?”

  “He has fertility problems. Why he and his wife have never had kids.”

  “Interesting. I’m on my way back to the hotel to get Piper. We have to head over to the riverside stage. We need to make sure we have one of our guys take the place of the hitman. We don’t want to spook Derek more than he already is.”

  “I’m on it. I’ve also been able to gain access into the security cameras, so when you do go on stage, we’ve got you covered.”

  “Great. I’ll see you soon.”

  Piper twisted her body left and right. The jeans hugged her ass a little too tightly, but the white blouse hung loose enough that she didn’t look like she was ten pounds heavier than she had been the last time she’d been on stage.

  Knock.

  Knock.

  “Room service.”

  She jumped, sending her makeup kit to the floor. Her heart thumped in her chest as she pressed her hands against the door and closed one eye, so she could see through the peephole.

  A man with blonde hair, a tanned complexation, and blue eyes stood at the door holding a tray.

  “I didn’t order anything,” she said.

  “It’s for Mr. Sawyer.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She yanked open the door and gasped as the man shoved her back, holding a weapon in her face.

  His hand slammed across the side of her face. Her eyes blurred, and a sharp pain jabbed behind her eye as she fell to the floor.

  “What the—”

  Trisha’s words were cut short by a silent pop of a handgun. Her body flopped to the floor as she groaned. Blood pooled out of her stomach onto her purple shirt.

  Piper held her cheek as she crawled across the floor toward Trisha.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” the man said, stepping in front of Piper. He reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “You’re coming with me.”

  “You’re hurting me, and she needs to go to the hospital,” Piper pleaded as she curled her fingers around the man’s wrists, desperately trying to release some of the pressure on her scalp. She stumbled, trying to get her footing while he pulled her across the room. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Not for you to concern yourself with.” The man pressed the cold metal into her back. “If you try anything, I will kill you.”

  “No, you won’t. You need me alive.” She chomped down on the inside of her mouth. It probably wasn’t a good idea to taunt a man holding you at gunpoint.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, little lady. The man who hired me said I could kill you, if you didn’t cooperate. Only he wants a chance to talk to you first.”

  “Any chance that man is Derek Goldwell?”

  “You might be smarter than you look.” He shoved her into the elevator. “So, don’t be stupid when we walk into the lobby.”

  She touched the side of her face. Her cheek throbbed, and a purple bruise had already formed. People would see that and probably wonder what had happened.

  Housekeeping! They hadn’t come to clean the room yet.

  Oh, wait. Jaden had put the do not disturb sign on the door.

  Maybe it fell?

  God, she hoped someone would get to Trisha before she died. Piper swiped her eyes. Jaden would be back soon. He’d save Trisha.

  And then he’d find her.

  He had to.

  “Let’s go,” the man said as the elevator doors dinged open.

  She glanced around the lobby. Five people stood in the reception line, all with their heads in their phones, ignoring their surroundings. One woman strolled by, but she was obviously talking on the phone and couldn’t be bothered to even look in her direction.

  “Toward the parking garage.” The man held her tight around her waist.

  She resisted the urge to lean against him for support, even though her legs felt like Jell-O.

  Her heels clinked on the pavement. The man led her to a dark sedan. Nausea settled in her stomach, making her dizzy, as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw
Jaden step from his vehicle.

  He paused mid-step, catching her gaze. His face hardened, and his nose flared. He reached behind his back and drew his weapon.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man said.

  She blinked her eyes closed, moving her head to the side as he pressed his gun to her temple.

  “Let her go. It’s me Derek has the beef with.” Jaden held his hands in the air.

  “Not going to happen.” He opened the car door. “Drop your gun and kick it over here, then you can join us. I’m sure Derek would love to chat with you too.”

  “Fine.”

  “Don’t do it,” Piper pleaded, but Jaden handed his gun over to the man.

  “You drive.”

  The man climbed into the back seat of the car, still holding his gun a little too close to Piper’s bruised face.

  “Where are we going?” Jaden asked.

  “Your old stomping grounds,” the man said. “It’s really too bad. I loved your music. I even saw you in concert once.”

  “Who are you?” Jaden eased the car out of the parking lot, glancing in the review mirror.

  Piper did her best to keep tears from forming. She needed to be strong.

  “Just drive and don’t do anything to draw attention to us. I’ll kill her. I don’t care.”

  “Can you at least put the gun down?” Jaden asked.

  The sun beat down through the windows, heating her face. This was not how he wanted this to go down.

  “Nope.”

  She winced when the man put the cold metal against her face again.

  “Leave her alone,” Jaden said behind a clenched jaw.

  “Keep talking and I’ll start sucking on her perky little tits.”

  She caught Jaden’s rage-filled gaze in the review mirror. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel tight.

  The rest of the ride had been quiet, except for her pounding heart.

  “Park over there.” The man pointed to the side street.

  Jaden jerked the car to a stop. “What now?”

  “You get out and go inside. But try anything, and I shoot.”

  She slipped from the back seat on wobbly legs.

  Jaden caught her in his strong arms. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, pressing his lips gently on her cheek. He helped her toward the lobby doors. “One of my men is across the street,” he whispered.

  She glanced over her shoulder. The man trailed behind them by ten feet. “Trisha was shot,” she said as softly as she could.

  “We have a system in place. If she doesn’t check in, someone will be at the door. Don’t worry.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “Aren’t you two sweet?” Derek’s voice rang out from the front of the building.

  “What will be sweet is watching you get locked up,” Piper muttered as she passed the man she once thought was a friend. A little vomit erupted from her stomach to the back of her throat. She swallowed.

  “That’s not going to happen.” Derek waved his hand in the air. “Let’s go back to my office.”

  “You mean my father’s office.”

  Jaden kept his hand on the small of her back, rubbing gently, but the rage seeping from her muscles couldn’t be calmed.

  “Your father’s dead.” Derek pushed open the big double wooden doors.

  “And you killed him.” Piper wanted to reach out and strangle him with her bare hands. She gasped, staring at her mother who sat behind her father’s desk. “What are you doing here?”

  “Finally claiming what is mine,” her mother said, pressing her hands against the desk. “You foolish girl. Had you just married Derek, we wouldn’t have had to resort to murder, but it was the only way.”

  “There are other ways to get what you want,” Jaden said. “You didn’t have to kill Cal.”

  “And you tried to kill me. Why?” It wasn’t really a question she wanted an answer to, but she needed to know.

  Derek laughed. “The bullet was never meant to hit you, just scare you enough so that I could get you to sign over your portion. Put together with this asshole over here; all I have to do is kill him, and I’m in control.”

  “I don’t die that easily.” Jaden folded his arms across his chest.

  “I suppose you don’t, which is why we’re going to give you two choices,” her mother said. “You can either sign over your share of the company to Derek or when you step outside the office, a crazy fan will kill you.”

  “I don’t like either of those options,” Jaden said. “And how are you going to explain why Piper would give up her father’s company?”

  “Because Cal isn’t her father, and she was so distraught and shame-filled, she gave it all to the one man who always took care of CC Music.” Her mother smiled proudly.

  “No one is going to buy that. Besides, I have proof that Cal is Piper’s biological father.” Jaden held up his phone.

  “What?” Piper turned and glared. “When did you get proof?”

  “Right before I pulled into the hotel. That test had been doctored. The company confirmed that Cal is Piper’s dad,” Jaden said.

  “We’ll just kill you both,” her mother said. “Send them outside and tell our hitman to take them both out.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Derek asked.

  Her mother nodded.

  “Come on. Let’s go.” Jaden took her hand.

  “Are you crazy?”

  “Nope. Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.”

  “You walk out that door, and you both die,” her mother hissed. “Stay, and we’ll work something out.”

  “I don’t think so, Mom. And don’t expect me to visit you in prison.” She squeezed Jaden’s hand, having no idea what to expect when he opened the door. For all she knew, some crazy fan would come running after them, guns blazing. She sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

  Jaden pulled open the door.

  She gasped as five men shoved past her, pushing her right into Jaden’s arms.

  “I told you it would be okay,” he said, lifting her into his arms and carrying her out of the office and into the sunlight.

  “That was a dangerous game you played.”

  He set her feet on the ground and pulled something from his ear. “I’ve been in contact with my people the entire time.”

  She slapped his shoulder. “You should have told me. What if I didn’t go with you?”

  He smiled. “I knew you would, just like you know I’ll pack my bags and move back here to be with you. I might be a little rough around the edges, but I can be tamed.”

  “I can’t believe you’re quoting music lyrics that I wrote at a time like this.”

  Voices caught her attention, and she looked over her shoulder to see her mother and Derek being escorted out of the office in handcuffs.

  “I’ve got one more question I need answered.” She marched herself over to Derek, stopping two paces in front of him with her hands planted on her hips. “You’ve been with my dad since before I was born. You were friends. What changed?”

  “You’re just like him. Neither one of you could ever let Jaden go, and I got tired of getting the raw end of the deal. Had you been able to love me, Cal would have eventually accepted it, and Jaden would have been cut out, not me.”

  “That’s what you killed my father over?” She balled her fists. “You’re a piece of shit.”

  “Takes one to know one,” her mother said.

  Piper cocked her hand, ready to strike, but Jaden grabbed her wrist. “Let go.” She squirmed.

  “They aren’t worth it.” Jaden wrapped his arms around her. “Get them out of here.”

  She blinked. Tears burned as they rolled down her cheeks. Glancing to the sky, she let the images of her father bombard her brain. Years of them singing and laughing. He’d been the best father any little girl could have asked for, and she wanted to honor him. “We have a performance to get to.”

&n
bsp; “You still want to do that? Today?”

  “My dad would want us to. It would make him happy. And right now, it would make me feel closer to him.”

  “If that’s what you want, let’s go rock that stage.”

  Piper raised up on tiptoe. “I want a lot of things, and most of them have to do with you.”

  Epilogue

  Four months later…

  Piper wiped down the kitchen counter in her new home outside of Nashville. Selling her father’s house had been difficult, but she didn’t want to live there with Jaden. So many things in her life had changed in the last few months; new living quarters seemed like a natural progression. She glanced out into the vast backyard. The weather in March could be fickle, but today, the sun shone bright in the clear blue sky. She still needed a sweater and warm socks, but perhaps when Jaden got home, they could sit outside with warm cider and fresh doughnuts while they discussed the best placement for the swing set.

  Not that they would be needing it for another year, but still, it would give Jaden something to do between gigs with the Brotherhood Protectors.

  She glanced at her watch. Jaden’s plane landed about thirty minutes ago, so he should be home any second. He’d been gone for four days, which hadn’t been too bad, only this assignment had been a little more dangerous than the last, and he hadn’t been able to call or text very often. She didn’t mind, but she did worry. Something she knew she’d have to get used to because she knew Jaden would never be truly fulfilled doing anything else.

  The hum of the garage door filled her ears, and she smiled, rolling her wedding ring. They’d only been married for two weeks. Some people thought she was nuts to run off to Vegas and have a cheesy wedding at an Elvis chapel.

  But since her father couldn’t be there to walk her down the aisle, and Elvis had been an inspiration to his music, it had been the perfect day. Besides, she never wanted the big wedding with the white, fluffy dress.

  “Hey, babe,” Jaden said, dropping his rucksack on the bench by the garage door. “Is that your homemade bread and lasagna I smell?”