Page 86 of Ozzie

She shakes her head as tears fall. I rush over and pull her up and into my arms.

“The judge keeps ruling in favor of John on all the preliminary hearings. I want it to be over, but he can’t win.”

I hold her for a few minutes, trying to comfort her until she finally pulls back.

“You have to leave, don’t you?”

“I do.” I’m tempted to tell her I’ll be over the bridge in Manhattan, but I don’t. If she calls and needs me, I’ll go, and I can’t abandon an assignment. No, she has Durango, and I have to remember that.

“What’s going on?”

Speaking of the man.

Piper wipes her eyes. “John and his damn lawsuit.”

“Why haven’t your parents made him drop it yet? I thought they wanted the families to come together for some business purpose?” Durango says.

Piper’s eyes widen. “You’re right. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you got shot and have had a lot going on,” I say.

Her lips curl up. “Thank you, Durango.” She turns to me. “Stay safe, and text me when you get back.” She wrapsher arms around my waist, and I return her hug. Then she leaves us alone.

“You leaving today?” Durango asks.

“Yeah. It’s here in the city, so I won’t be too far away.” I don’t worry about telling Durango so much because he won’t contact me while on the job.

He nods but doesn’t say more. He’s a private guy, but I have to ask.

“How did it go with Willow yesterday?”

He rubs his face with his hands. “Intense. But necessary. I was hoping to talk to her again today, but I’m not going to leave Piper alone.”

“You mean for lunch?”

He nods.

“Ask Thunder or Axel to keep an eye on her. You know she’s safe in this building.”

He lets out a breath. “Logically, I know that, but it’s hard. I can’t believe I let John get the upper hand on me. I’m trained not to get caught in a situation like that. I’m lucky he only tranquilized me.”

I knew what went down had to be bothering my friend. It would bother me. “John is a piece of shit who plays dirty. And you had no reason to believe he’d be carrying drugs and needles.”

He’s silent as he processes what I said. “Ozzie, I let my guard down. And because of that, John was able to take Piper. It could have gone so much worse. I won’t fail her again.”

I slap him on the shoulder. “I have no doubt about that.But stop being so hard on yourself. The same thing would have happened to any of us in that situation.”

He doesn’t seem convinced. He’s a stubborn man who needs to get there on his own.

“You need to see Willow, though. Let the guys here help you.”

His head shoots up, and he meets my gaze. “Need? Did she say something to you last night?”

I lean against my desk. “No. When I got home, I could tell she’d been crying. She spent most of the night in Coff’s old room. She was still sleeping when I left this morning. What happened between you two?”

He sits in one of the chairs in my office. “She told me the truth. About everything, including that she exaggerated her hurt feelings to me when it came to you.”

“Did she tell you why?”

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