Page 12 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“Oh, just my world crumbling at my feet. You know, nothing too terrible.”

I laughed, but it fell on deaf ears. Charlie stared at me with the concern of a father. I wished he was mine, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. And even if he did want to listen, he was my stupid ex’s doorman. I wouldn’t drag him into my problems.

“You looked chilled to the bone. Take a nice hot bath and warm up before you catch a cold.”

“I’ll do that, Charlie.” Though, I had no intention of staying in the apartment for any longer than necessary.

My tired feet dragged through the lobby, taking me to the elevator where other residents waited. They all looked at me like a rat dragged off the street, but then, they always thought James had rescued a puppy in desperate need of a home. These definitely were not my people.

“She looks like she fell in a puddle,” Mrs. Fields muttered.

“Someone should really tell her that hairstyle was never in fashion.”

I stiffened, trying to stand taller with the ladies judging me, but the more I tried, the more it felt like sinking lower. I put a smile on my face, sucking back the tears as we approached my floor. “No worries, ladies. My brand new fiancé is a cheatingscumbag, so you won’t have to suffer with my presence any longer.”

The doors opened with Mrs. Fields’ gasp and I stepped off, feeling a tingle of glee at the gossip that was sure to ensue. But that smile fell as soon as I got to the door and tried to slide my key inside. When it didn’t fit, I was sure I had the wrong key, but none of them worked.

“Shit,” I hissed. Banging my fist against the door, I ground my teeth together. The bastard locked me out. I pulled out my phone and called down to the lobby, requesting help, but apparently, he’d already told them I wasn’t allowed in the apartment. Apparently, whoever was working the security desk had missed the memo.

“Breathe,” I whispered, pinching my nose as I tried to think of what to do next. I could call and set up a time to come back, but I was so pissed at the bastard right now that I couldn’t think clearly. “It’s okay, Piper. Just break the door down. You’ve been trained in self-defense. You can take down a grown man. A door shouldn’t be too much harder.”

I examined the door, remembering what I had seen in the movies. The guy kicking down the door always planted his boot right by the doorknob. Of course, he wasn’t wearing heels, and if I tried while wearing them, I’d probably break my ankle. Doing it barefoot didn’t seem logical either. What I needed was…

I spun and spotted the fire extinguisher in the hall and smiled. I had no idea if it would work, but if not, at least I’d leave a dent in his perfect door. Striding over, I considered briefly that doing this while drunk was not a good idea. But the need to get to my stuff was pressing down on my poor, shattered heart. I snatched the extinguisher and strode back to the door, gripping it as best I could. I briefly wondered if I could somehow make the extinguisher explode, and imagined it sending me flying through the wall with a massive blast of air.

That probably wouldn’t happen.

I swung hard, my hands rattling hard as vibrations worked through my body. That was not entirely pleasant, but I swung back and rammed it into the door again. This time, a nice dent was left in the door, but I was still far from getting inside. Just as I pulled back again, a door down the hall opened and Mr. Crawford stepped out. He was probably the only nice man in the building. At sixty years old, his greying hair made him look dashing rather than aging. Why couldn’t women look like that?

“Hey, Mr. Crawford!” I said cheerily.

“Piper,” he nodded. “Is there a problem?”

“Nope. I’m just trying to get inside.”

“With a fire extinguisher? Should I call the maintenance department?”

“Nope,” I repeated. “They won’t let me in. My cheating fiancé told the manager to lock me out. So, I’m breaking in.”

He eyed me curiously, his arms crossed over his chest. “Your fiancé.”

I chuckled sardonically. “Yep. As of last night. Which was why it was a huge surprise when I walked into the office and found him fucking another woman on the conference room table.” I pulled back and swung hard, cracking the door just a little. “Apparently, he’s been screwing her every time he goes to London.”

“Hmm,” he nodded.

I didn’t want to know what that meant. “So, I came back here to get my things.”

“And you decided to break the door down with a fire extinguisher.”

Breathing heavily, I stepped back and nodded, wiping the sweat from my brow with my wrist. “Well, it was either that or my stilettos, and I’m pretty sure I’d only break my ankle if I tried that.”

His eyes trailed down to my soaked heels that probably looked like I dug them out of a dumpster. Heels and water did not mix, but at the moment, that seemed like the least important thing in the world.

“So, are you going to call maintenance on me?”

He shrugged. “Maintenance wouldn’t do a thing. Except fix the door.”

I thought about that and added, “Security?”

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