Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (13 page)

Cooper nodded as Jakob stood shaking his head. Jakob saw right through Erik, and that
made him nervous, but he had bigger things to worry about. Alla and Cooper were moving
to Nashville. Fuck, now more than ever, Erik needed this to work. He also needed to
keep clear of Jakob because Erik couldn’t risk Elli ever finding out the truth.

Bottom line: He owed it to Alla and Cooper to at least try, but most of all, he owed
it to the kid. It wasn’t the kid’s fault he came into all this, or that Erik was fucked
in every way imaginable in the parenting department. No, the kid was an innocent little
person who was going to have a great mom, two great sets of grandparents, and a bundle
of aunts and uncles, but what kind of dad would Erik be?

He wanted to laugh, because he had thought this was all going to be so fucking easy.

What a bunch of bull hockey.

“Why’d you tell everyone that you knew about the baby for the last six months?”

Piper was looking out the car window as the question left her lips. She watched as
the bright green trees passed by quickly. Erik was driving at his normal speed, which
was bat-out-of-hell fast. It didn’t bother her, though; she was too busy replaying
the whole dinner with her family. It had gone as disastrously as expected and then
some. Her father didn’t say two words to her, while her mother gave her a look of
extreme disappointment the whole time.

At twenty-six Piper thought her life would have been more stable, in her job and in
her relationship, but things weren’t horrible. The illustrating was coming along nicely
and she was going to be the best mom she could be. The relationship would either work
or not, and she was going to do everything she could to make it last. Everyone needed
to get over it; people younger than her had babies and got married every day. Hell,
Piper’s mother was nineteen when she had Harper. Why the double standard for her daughter?

Maybe it was Erik. No one talked to him after their announcement. But then again,
no one really talked at all except for Alla and Erik; they had a wonderful conversation
while everyone else just sat and ate. Alla was completely fine with their marriage
and the pregnancy. She was asking questions and wanted to know everything. Piper played
her part well but enjoyed discussing the little things, like when she was due, and
what she was hoping to have, a boy or girl. It bothered her that her mother and sisters
didn’t ask her about the baby at all. They should have been the ones asking, but they
weren’t.

Even with all that happened tonight, all Piper really cared about was why Erik had
lied. He had no reason to lie, so why did he cover up for her? When she glanced over
at him, he was looking straight ahead, his fingers dancing on the wheel as he drove.
He had unbuttoned the first couple of buttons to his green shirt, and she could see
a little of the tattoo that stretched from his shoulder across his chest. She wished
she could see the whole thing, but soon she was distracted by him shrugging his shoulders
and clearing his throat.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I want to know.”

He glanced over at her and then back at the road as he let out a long breath.

“When this is all said and done, I want everyone to hate me. Not you. You’ve helped
me out tremendously, even after I put you through hell, and when this is over, it
isn’t going to be easy. People are going to take sides and I’m okay with everyone
hating me.”

Her eyes widened at his answer. She found herself kind of speechless. Erik was hard
to read so she never expected that answer and that was probably the sweetest thing
he could have said, in a fucked-up sort of way. Before she could say anything, even
though she had no clue what she was going to say, her phone rang. By the “Party in
the USA” ringtone, she knew it was Audrey, and that meant Audrey was back in town.

“Hello, Ms. Parker!” Piper cooed.

“Blah, I hate that name. I want to be Mrs. Oooooder so bad!” Audrey whined, causing
Piper to laugh out loud. “But hey! Don’t distract me! How dare you email me that you
are pregnant and then not answer the hundred emails I sent you back!”

“I figured we’d talk when you got home. You were supposed to be enjoying your trip!”

“Oh, I did. I was with Tate, for goodness sakes!” she said with a girly giggle. “But
I still worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Obviously! Pregnant? Sheesh! You have some questions to answer, lady! But you know
what, I know this is a selfish thought, but after I got over the bomb of your pregnancy,
I was like, ‘Well shit, all three of us will be pregnant at my wedding!’ ”

Piper laughed along with her because she had thought the same thing. Audrey and her
older sister, Fallon, were only weeks apart in their pregnancies, while Piper was
actually ahead of Audrey by three weeks. By August they would all need the waistbands
let out on their dresses.

“Yup, we’ll be big and beautiful in the pictures!”

Audrey laughed, but then she paused.

“Wait, Fallon and I will be but you’ll be barely showing at four months, not big at
all.”

“Actually,” Piper said, clearing her throat, “I’ll be thirty-five weeks.”

There was complete silence on the other end of the line. Then Piper could hear Tate
asking Audrey what was wrong, but she didn’t answer him. “I’m sorry, what?” Audrey
asked.

“I’ll be almost nine months. I’m due the twenty-first of September.”

More silence, and then suddenly Audrey screeched, “You’ve been pregnant since before
me and I’m just now hearing about it?”

Piper giggled nervously. “Audrey, I don’t know if you remember but you were in the
hospital, and then in physical therapy and then you went to Sweden! You’ve been a
little busy!”

Piper hated that it had taken her so long to tell her best friend, but like she said,
Audrey had been through a lot. After getting beaten up by her ex-boyfriend, Audrey
spent a long time in the hospital in a medically induced coma, and after that she
went through rounds and rounds of therapy. Piper didn’t feel that her drama and news
were that important; Audrey getting well mattered a whole lot more.

“I can’t believe it. Who in the world—OH MY GOD!” Audrey paused and Piper knew that
she knew. “Piper, who is the daddy?”

“My husband?” Piper asked sheepishly.

“Your what?!?!”

Erik grunted beside her, and Piper couldn’t help but shoot him a dirty look. His best
friend knew what was going on; she was going to have to lie to hers.

“Yeah, a lot has happened.”

“Oh my God, for real! You’re married? This is insane, but what’s more insane is that
I’m pretty sure, your
husband
is the same guy who blew you off after one night with him. This I’m guessing primarily
by the process of elimination, since you’ve not dated anyone else. Please tell me
I’m wrong.”

Piper didn’t say anything. She sat wondering how this was going to go. Tate and Erik
were great friends, and Audrey liked him in a way, but hated him in another since
she was a loyal friend to Piper. Now though, what would she think?

“Um, hello?”

“I can’t tell you you’re wrong,” Piper said softly. “I married Erik.”

“Oh my goodness! Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“I am speechless.”

Piper laughed. “It’s no big deal.”

“Um, yeah, it is, but craptastic. I gotta go, I just pulled up at the cupcakery and
already I see something wrong. I’ll see you tomorrow, right? At the party? With Erik?”

Piper answered, “Yeah, we’ll be there.”

“Awesome, but know, Mrs.
Titov
, you have a lot of explaining to do!”

Piper laughed nervously. She wasn’t the best liar and it scared her that Audrey might
see right through her.

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

They said bye and Piper hit end before tucking her phone back into her purse. She
leaned back against the cool leather seats of Erik’s expensive car and took in a shallow
breath. This was going to be hard. She didn’t like all this lying. She had always
thought of herself as a very up-front and honest person. Then Erik comes into her
life and she is hiding her pregnancy from everyone and now lying about being happily
married. She had no problem saying she loved him, because she did, but there was no
way she was happy.

How could she be happy when the person she loved was counting the seconds until this
marriage was over?

The car ride home was quiet, and Piper was glad when she saw their turn for Sweetbriar.
The little town that Elli had lived in most of her adult life was now Piper’s haven.
Turning off the main road and onto the back road that would take them to Piper’s home,
she leaned against the window and closed her eyes. It had been a tough day, and all
she wanted to do was go to bed. She wished that when she woke up in the morning all
this would have been just a bad dream but she knew it wouldn’t be. Tomorrow, Erik
would probably be playing his video games all day and would completely ignore her
until it was time to go to the grand opening of Audrey’s cupcakery.

Erik pulled into the driveway behind her tattered truck and shut off the car as she
got out. She couldn’t get out of the car fast enough; Erik was an overwhelming presence.
Shaking her head, she made her way up the sidewalk to Elli’s cute little house. She
loved the bright yellow shutters against the dark brick and the porch was spectacular.
It was so big, and held the custom-made beach chairs her neighbor had made for her
as a housewarming gift.

This was now her home, and she couldn’t wait to bring the baby home.

Resting her hand on her tummy, Piper opened the front door and almost lost her balance
when Stanley came barreling out into the yard. The dog turned out to be the best thing
about Erik moving in with her. Stanley was a great dog and she loved having a pet,
even if it would only be for a short time. She laid her purse on the counter in the
kitchen and got herself a drink of water as Erik entered the house.

Piper watched as he took off his shirt and threw it down on the back of the couch.
His body was covered with tattoos, something that Piper loved on men. His back was
covered with a large red heart with black wings that covered his shoulder blades,
making their way around to his chest. He also had a bunch of intricate images of skulls
and tribal art that ran along his arms. The ink on his arms stopped right where his
shirt sleeves would end, and along one arm he had an interesting tattoo that she was
sure meant more than she realized:
Nothing lasts forever
.

Those words should have been warning signs when Piper first saw them, in bed with
him that night, but they weren’t. She was too busy running her mouth along the two
large black stars that sat on his pelvic bones. His thighs were inked to look as if
the flesh was being torn away, giving the impression that he was a cyborg beneath
his skin. They were all pretty badass, in Piper’s opinion.

When Erik dropped into his chair and began gaming, Piper headed to her bedroom. If
she didn’t, she knew she’d stay in the kitchen watching his every move. Closing the
door she began changing for bed, grabbing her favorite shirt an old tattered black
tee that read, “Buffalo High Bull Dogs.” Sliding it over her head, she wondered if
that was the reason that Erik loved bulldogs, since her old favorite shirt was originally
his. Although the shirt was getting a little tight around her midsection, it wasn’t
uncomfortable. Whatever; she would wear his shirt until she couldn’t, which she hoped
was never. This shirt and their baby were the only things she had left to keep from
that night.

Oh, and her broken heart.

Lying on her back, she lifted the shirt back over her belly and ran her fingers softly
over her extended flesh. It blew her mind how much she had started showing within
the last couple of days. It was as if the baby were saying, “Hey! I’m here!” She wondered
what she was having: Was it a girl with gorgeous dark eyes and dark hair? Or a little
boy with dark hair and light eyes like hers? Would Erik’s features win in the genetic
pool, or would hers? In a way, Piper really didn’t care; she just wanted the baby
to be healthy. When she felt the slight kick along her ribs, her eyes pooled with
tears.

She wanted to be the best mother in the world, but would she fail at that, too? When
the next kick came, she knew she was about to have a long, unbearable night of tears.
She hated when she did this to herself, but lately her self-esteem had taken a turn
for the worse. She was always second-guessing herself about being a good mother. Financially
she wasn’t struggling by
any means, but she didn’t have that extra cushion. And being a single parent would
ultimately be a challenge since she knew deep down that Erik would take off faster
than he had come in, and then she would be raising a child all by herself with minimal
help from him, if any at all.

Rolling over, she wrapped her arms around her belly, pulling her knees up as far as
she could get them, as the tears began to fall. Closing her wet eyes, she wondered
when the pain would stop. Would it be when he finally was gone for good?

Or would she always have this ache in her chest for Erik Titov?

* * *

Erik watched as Piper closed the door behind her, then heard the click of the lock,
and it was only then that he let out the breath he was holding. She made his skin
prickle with awareness and it bothered him that he was so affected by her. It was
torture wrapping his arms around her at Jakob and Harper’s house as they played their
roles, trying to convince their families of their undying love for each other. The
strangest thing was, he swore every time he looked into her eyes that he wanted her,
and that was driving him mad. Piper had that “kiss me” kind of smile and he had to
fight everything inside himself not to. He’d have to be careful while playing this
charade, to limit himself to kissing only her cheeks and forehead, despite the fact
that his body yearned to make a detour to devour her mouth.