Another buzz and I snap out of it. Pulling out my phone, I glance at the screen. It's a text from the PI. My heart slams against my chest.

Please let him have good news. No matter what Piper and I demanded from her family, I don't trust them.

"Be right back, Monisha," I tell our newest artist. The woman's skills are sick and she's a wicked fast piercer. Very popular with our clients, too. Especially the moms who don't want to go to the mall for their kids' first ear piercings.

She pushes back her dreads and gives me a thumbs-up, then goes back to piercing the ears of a ten-year-old. The kid barely makes a sound and I smile.

When I get to my office, I run my thumb across the screen to bring up the message.

PI Magoo: We've identified MW's attacker.

I'm pretty sure no one gets the joke over what I call the PI but me. However, I'm a firm believer that you have to find laughter wherever you can. Pretty sure Piper taught me that.

Me: Who?

PI Magoo: Emmett Dunning.

I almost drop the phone. "Son of a bitch."

Emmett chooses that moment to walk in, and I take a good look at his hands. They're bruised as fuck and he has scratch marks in various stages of healing. I've been in enough fights to know that beating the shit out of someone with your actual hands will fuck them up for weeks.

"What's up?" He goes to the file cabinet and opens a drawer.

"Bro, we need to talk."

"Can it wait? I got some hotties-"

"What did he do to your sister?" I ask.

Emmett's face pales. "Who?"

"Mark Williams."

Tears actually well in Emmett's eyes. "He put his hands on her...and that's not all." His jaw works. "He...that monster raped my baby sister. She came home one night...clothes are ripped and her face...looked like she went head-to-head with Holyfield. I took her to the hospital-she didn't want to go, but I took her anyway. They helped us contact the police."

I understand his rage, felt it myself when Mark put his hands on Piper, and channeled it into my fists, but I can't imagine the pain he must be in over his little sister. "Then what happened?"

"Filed a report. Kinsey refused to name Mark, but I knew it was him. If it wasn't, she would have said so when I told her I was going to make him pay."

Emmett slams the file drawer shut. "He pissed his pants as soon as he went down. I kicked him and kicked him, and if I could have physically done to him on the inside what he did to my sister, I would have, but there weren't any poles to shove up his ass."

I rub my chin. "They have a video of you-security cam at The Oaks got it. They thought it was me, which is why they took me in for questioning in the first place. Hell, they still assume it's me, but they don't have enough proof to do anything about it."

"Fuck. I thought..." His head falls back. "I didn't mean for you to get accused of anything. The dude was alive and breathing when I left him."

"You have to tell the cops."

"I know."

"We can call Hunter, get him to take you in and tell your side."

"Do you think...maybe that asshole will finally get what's coming to him?"

I nod slowly. Piper's dad will do something to punish the guy, but I'm a hundred percent sure it will be done privately. Because reputation is king of The Oaks. "I think if someone finally stands up to Mark and it gets out, then hell yes."

"Then let's make sure it gets out." He grabs his phone. "You think a YouTube confession will do it?"

"I'll help you upload it."

Chapter 22.

SIX MONTHS LATER.

Jase.

The renovations on the house are finally complete. The project made the local news and a crew from HGTV came out to do some interviews on neighborhood revitalization projects. I let Blake and his partner handle all that. Despite how things have changed in the last eight years in regard to attitudes and even this town, I'm not about to chance someone Googling my ass and making my past the focus. So I've remained a silent partner in it all. A wealthy silent partner. I still can't believe how much money they gave me for the house, or the lease deal we made on the land. It's not as much as Piper inherited, not even close, but it makes me feel like I'm contributing. She's put her money to work, starting a women's shelter on the other side of Charlotte, and she's back at school.

It's kinda hot that my wife is a college student.

I get a text from Blake, read it quickly, and then shove my phone across the table.

"We have all but one section leased," I announce as Piper brings a huge birthday cake to the table and sets it in the middle. "Blake's pleased with how quickly they went."

Piper gives a little cheer and smiles brightly at me, lighting candles. The lighter she uses is an old one of mine and I'm proud to say that I've been smoke-free for six months. "I'm sure you'll find a tenant for that one in no time at all, but in the meantime, blow out your candles and make a wish."

I pull her down into my lap. "Don't need to. I got everything I want."

She pouts a little. "But it's your birthday."

I can't resist her pouty lips. "Fine." I blow the candles out. "My wish is for you to get naked and let me eat birthday cake off your tits."

"Done." She stands up and unbuttons her dress, revealing her perfect breasts to me, as the dress slides down her body. Her very nude body. "Like my birthday suit?"

"Very much."

Running a finger through the icing, she rubs the tips of her pink nipples with it. In the center of her chest is an intricate henna tattoo she let me apply to her skin this morning. Slowly but surely, she's warming up to the idea of permanent ink. However, I won't push her. It's not my style and I want her to want it.

"Ready to eat your birthday cake?" Amusement, desire, and love flash in her pretty eyes.

Yeah, life is good, and she's everything I want.

Acknowledgments.

I'd like to thank Sue Grimshaw for taking a chance on this series. You are amazing and such a wonderful editor. Working with you has been the best experience.

Special thanks to my family for supporting me. In particular I'd like to thank my husband for inspiring the "having coherent conversations while completely asleep" scenes in this book. My favorite is the time you demanded that all the clocks in the hospital be turned back.

Last, but never least, my readers. Thank you for reading my work.

BY MARQUITA VALENTINE.

Take the Fall Series.

Take the Fall.

When We Fall After We Fall (coming soon).

Boys of the South Series.

Live for You.

Only for You True for You.

All for You Wish for You Burn for You Need You Tonight.

Holland Springs Series.

Drive Me Crazy.

Driving to You.

Twice Tempted.

Third Time's a Charm.

His Christmas Wish.

Just Desserts.

Not over You.

Be Mine.

The Lawson Brothers Series.

Love So Hot.

Love So True.

Love So Irresistible.

Love So Tempting.

Love So Perfect.

PHOTO: MATTHEW WINSLOW.

MARQUITA VALENTINE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Holland Springs and Boys of the South series.

Since first taking the plunge in July 2012 to self-publish, Marquita Valentine has sold more than a quarter of a million books around the world. Her books have appeared on the iBooks, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble top-selling eBook lists. She's been called "one of the best new voices in romance" (Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews) and her books have been accused of being "a sexy, fun, and slightly addicting contemporary read" (Book Queen).

When she's not writing about sexy heroes who adore their sassy heroines, she enjoys shopping, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. Married to her high school sweetheart, Marquita lives in a seriously small town in the South with her husband, two kids, and a dog.

Visit Marquita at the links below and subscribe to her newsletter through the contact link on her website.

marquitavalentine.com.

The Editor's Corner.

Happy Holidays from our hearth to yours! This month we're sending you some hot Loveswept romances to keep the fire burning: USA Today bestselling author Bronwen Evans's new Disgraced Lords novel is about a marriage of convenience and its delightful pleasures-and mortal danger in A Whisper of Desire. K. J. Charles turns up the heat in her new Society of Gentlemen novel, A Seditious Affair, as two lovers face off in a sensual duel that challenges their deepest beliefs. Samantha Kane's Birmingham Rebels series proves that three's never a crowd...at least not for the hard-bodied football all-stars who give teamwork a sexy twist in Calling the Play. Welcome to Forever, new from author Annie Rains, introduces a small coastal town where America's best and brightest risk everything for love. Jackie Ashenden ups the ante in the seductive Deacons of Bourbon Street series, co-written with Megan Crane, Rachael Johns, and Maisey Yates, with Hold Me Down, a story about what happens when the biker who broke Alice's heart rides into town, and she must choose between passion and duty. Another story for MC fans is Violetta Rand's irresistible novel about a sexy-as-sin biker who tempts a good girl to go bad, Persuasion.