Fade to Black (The Black Trilogy Book 1) (25 page)

After Piper briefly explained one of her new tattoos, and that it was to cover an “injury,” the photographer began to beg for nearly nude photos.

“No. No. They will be tasteful. I will not push you, darling, but think of it as a road map for other women from abusive relationships,” he assured her, knowing all too well what the scars were.

Piper looked at me, nervous.

“What is it you want her to do?” I asked him, while watching her face.

“We will have her out of the dress like this,” he demonstrated, “and again like this,” again showing us. “No breasts, no buttocks, I promise, but the body with the scars and tattoos. It is genius. I want a photograph of you, fully dressed, in front of her, naked. The knight and his lady,” he said in his heavy French accent. “You are a very beautiful woman, but have endured much. No? I see it in your eyes, darling. Same as my mother, God rest her.”

Piper smiled sadly and asked what I thought. I shrugged, but Piper looked uncomfortable.

“It’s just your tattoos, and it’s really is a good idea. You might actually help someone. You’re gorgeous, Piper, but it’s your call. Of course, I’m going to say go for it. So long as it’s tasteful.” I added, eyeing Maximus sternly.

He again assured us it would be “Art in its purest form.”

I looked at Piper, watching her face but spoke to Maximus.

“You’re aware of the bounty?”

Maximus made a distasteful sound with his lips.

“But of course,” he said dryly.

I kept my eyes on Piper as I spoke.

“I want you to cash in on it. I want the money from it to be placed in a fund I will later name, but label it Matthew Logue.” I looked away then, back to the photographer. “You do that, and we will do as you wish. Agreed?”

Maximus blinked, confused.

“Of course, Ryan, if this is your wish, I will do this for you.”

I nodded.

“It is our wish.”

Knowing Piper and the love she had for me, I was utterly unthreatened by a man dead and gone, even if he was so obviously still a big part of Piper. If Matthew Logue loved her half as much as I did, then he was worth remembering.

In the end, the photographer outdid himself. I was very proud of my soon-to-be wife. The marks on her showed where she had been, and where she, by all accounts shouldn’t be, but truly was.

“Soon people will know who your Piper is, Ryan. Congratulations to you both. I will send you proofs soon,” Maximus promised as we said good-bye.

After we finished up, Piper and I, with Ellie and company in tow, boarded a studio jet and headed to London. I laid Ellie down on a reclined chair. She had fallen asleep on my lap. I covered her with the suit coat I’d worn at the photo shoot. Titan, Bryce, and Rhodes were seated in the rear of the jet.

They were not speaking, but instead read a magazine, or typed on their phones. I readied myself to bring up the subject I knew Piper did not wish to discuss.

“You’re so quiet. What troubles you, my love?” Reaching for her hand, I said, “Tell me.”

Piper shrugged and glanced at our bodyguards.

“The same. I just want Jean-Paul located. I can’t rest, thinking of him getting to Ellie or you, or anyone I love.” She looked away and said, “Ellie wants to return to New York. You know that. My being her mother prevents her from having normal things, or the things she wants.”

I squeezed her hand.

“Piper, you can’t help the way things are right now.”

She looked at me, and for the first time I saw anger in her eyes.

“Can’t I?” she challenged.

I took her other hand, forcing her to keep her face toward me.

“This is temporary. You’ll see,” I tried to reassure her, although I was not sure I believed it myself.

There was something, some thought, that was taking physical form right in front of me through Piper’s dark eyes, whether fear or resentment of the situation, I didn’t know, but I would do my best to keep her from drowning it. Her face turned soft again.

“I feel him, Ryan. I know he watched my house from the woods when I believed him away working. He watched me with Matthew when we were young. I feel him watching us now. Waiting. I can’t just wait for him to harm one of us. Josh is lucky to be alive, and Ellie…”

She stopped, barely able to think of what Jean-Paul would do to her.

“Don’t you think if I could somehow trap him? Ryan, he killed Maria, and I couldn’t stop him. All I see at night is him doing that to Ellie. I won’t let that happen. I will do something before that becomes a possibility.”

I got on my knees in front of her, mad now. “You listen to me, damn it. There is nothing, NOTHING you can do. We will be safe together, and Ellie will go back to school when the investigation finally turns up something solid on him, something we can get him put away for. Piper?” I said, a little sternly, but pushed by the fear she would do something stupid and end up dead. “Do you hear me?”

She nodded, but I was unconvinced. I sat back in my seat, too tired to argue and afraid of what she might say in response. We spoke very little the rest of the flight, choosing instead to be peaceful and loving. I believed we would be okay, or I was hoping we would be. I didn’t want to think about the full extent of the dangerous situation we were in.

We were being hunted, something I was somewhat used to, although being hunted by cameras was obviously minor in comparison. Yet, I was so used to being “hunted,” that it didn’t seem strange to me. Roger and I agreed, along with Josh, that exposure might be a good thing for my family. If tabs were being kept on us so closely, that just might make someone rethink harming us.

Only later did I remember the saying,
You will only find tomorrow on the calendars of fools.

chapter thirty-four

Piper made the cover of
Prestigious Profiles
magazine. The spreads were incredible. Maximus kept his word and showed the world the graceful beauty that would be my wife. Soon after the photos, Piper was a regular in print. Sometimes she was captured with me, other times walking just behind Titan. The tabloids were crawling all over each other, trying to get shots of her.

One week, it was reported we had been secretly married for ten years, and the next week, they said that we were fighting all the time. Only one magazine made reference to Ellie, but it did not stick, thank God.

I was not ready to share my daughter with the world. We were extra careful with her. Rhodes and Bryce would accompany her wherever she went. By late April, Piper, Ellie, and I had adjusted to life in London. Even knowing it would be brief, it was nice.

Piper and I attended the red carpet premiere of
Douglas
while there. The crowds were crazy, and showed their love for Piper. At our makeshift home, we read scripts together, shopped, and I rented a cinema just for us, for an entire day, while we caught up on movies. Yet the heaviness was still in Piper’s eyes no matter how happy the times.

I watched her become distant and vacant some days. I knew she was waiting for something to happen. Whenever I saw her do this, I would touch her face and say, “Everything is all right.”

This only put her at ease for a moment. Bee and Sheldon helped with Ellie. Their girls treated her like a sister. Roger flew out to stay with us, bringing Rebecca with him, and followed a couple of days later by Nathan, Dixie, Dee Dee, and Josh.

On a cloudless April day in England, church bells rang in the city. I was up early, having already planned the day. I was a nervous wreck trying to keep everything quiet. It would go one of two ways, and for my sanity’s sake, I prayed it would go my way.

Ellie and the others were at Sheldon and Bee’s house and would meet us later. I took Piper to breakfast and then down an alleyway I knew she would love.

“Look around,” I told her, nodding towards the ancient doors. “There is something here you told me you wanted to see one day.”

She gave me a sheepish grin.

“That could be a number of things.”

Piper glanced down at the brick way then the lamp sconces while walking arm in arm with me. Titan was a few yards back, giving us privacy. Most of the time, I didn’t even know he was there. We walked slowly down the ancient stone alleyway. Piper looked curiously from the doors to the windows.

“I give up,” she said, just before something caught her eye. “No way. Ryan is that…” She let go of my arm, and walked to the heavy, tarnished door knocker, touching it in amazement, as if it were pure gold. I walked to her side.

“The door knocker that inspired Dickens’ greatest novel?” I said in answer to her unfinished question.

Piper watched
A Christmas Carol
year round, any version.

“Wow,” she breathed, as bright-eyed as Ellie would get. “Wow. I thought its location was unknown?”

I chuckled.

“That’s what they say, but it’s because they don’t want this thing ruined or worshipped. Lovely, isn’t it?”

Piper nodded.

“Thank you.
A Christmas Carol
is my favorite.”

I glanced at my watch and back at Titan. He walked ahead of us to make sure our path was clear. Once he returned, and nodded to me, I took Piper by the hand.

“We have somewhere to be, but it’s a surprise.”

Piper giggled.

“Another one?”

She gave the old knocker one last look, then began to look around for a new treasure.

“It’s not Jack the Ripper stuff, is it?” She wrinkled her nose at the thought.

I shook my head.

“Not today, love,” I teased.

“Tell me then.”             

I chuckled.

“Nope. Not until we are inside,”

I led her a few yards away, to an old wooden door. Opening it, I pulled her in with me. Titan remained outside for the moment.

“What is it?” Piper whispered.

“A church, love,” I told her.

I led her to a balcony where she could see. Once she caught sight of everyone, her breath caught and she placed a hand over her mouth. I took a deep breath.

“You did say yes?”

On the floor below was Roger seated with Rebecca, Viola, and Dee Dee. Nathan stood to the side with Josh. Bee fidgeted with Ellie’s hair. Sheldon was talking quietly with the priest.

“Your dress is there,” I said, pointing to a closed door.

Piper looked a little panicky, and for a second, I doubted my plan.

“Piper, we filed the papers months ago. We have the license here as well. Today, not far from here, the world is watching royalty say their vows, so I thought, why not do it while everyone is focused on them? We can do this, and it can be ours. Not intruded upon by strangers, but say the word, and we can do it another time.”

Piper smiled at me.

“I’ll meet you at the altar,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper, and nearly ran to the room that housed a gown Maximus had handpicked for her, and which I was not allowed to see.

A designer did a huge favor for me and my bride, and in return I would give Maximus and the designer exclusive photos of the event. I had no problems with this, as I wanted pictures for Ellie and her children. I also wanted Piper to feel as pretty as the princess getting married down the street.

Twenty minutes, and a fussy Jar Jar “masterpiece,” later, I watched in my tux, Sheldon by my side, as Nathan walked an angel down the aisle. The dress was understated, and allowed Piper’s natural beauty to shine.

It hugged her curves in all of the right places, emphasizing her hourglass figure. The bottom flowed open, like flower petals. She wore no veil, but tiny white flowers at her left ear. All was the whitest white, and in her hand she carried six pale pink roses, matching the one in my lapel.

I had held my breath, and Sheldon actually punched me in the back to get my attention. I realized the priest had already asked me to repeat after him. With all of my heart, I did.

“I, Ryan Thomas Knox, take thee, Livia Piper Mitchell, to have and to hold, through sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for as long as we both shall live.”

I heard Bee sniffing and had to choke back tears myself. I had already married Piper in my heart. We both had promised these things to one another many times, in many different ways, but standing in front of a priest, reciting vows that had been said millions of different ways, and swearing these things in front of my daughter and family, meant the world to me.

I heard a soft click, click, click. For the first time, it did not bother me in the least. Maximus and his assistant were hard at work, and I was thankful these moments were being captured.

We were pronounced husband and wife. Kissing and sealing the deal, we were swept up in the emotions and laughter of our loved ones.

This day, there were no clouds, or thoughts of bad things in the world. People did not want to harm us. I briefly thought of Molly, and thought if she had only loved her father and me enough she could be here with us, celebrating, but like my own father, other things were just more important.

I would focus on my future, with the ones I was important to. This day was the first day of the rest of my life. I greeted it with clarity and gladness.

On the caravan ride to a feast fit for royalty, Piper leaned into me, whispering in my ear, “In spite of having every reason not to, I dare to have the audacity to love you with all of my heart.”

I smiled at her.

“That’s all I ask of you, love.”