Saving Her Billionaire Vigilante

Ten: Piper Powell

Ten:

Piper Powell

We took Oliver’s motorcycle to the storage facility. It had been years since I’d been on his bike. I remembered the first time I’d ridden it. I’d been seventeen, he’d been nineteen. He’d graduated and was already off at college with Ransom. When Ransom left school, I finally started having a little bit of a life. Friends, even. There wasn’t any big, bad wolf to keep them from me.

One of them was a guy named Caleb. Caleb was tall, scrawny, with black hair and a lip ring that he wore even though the teachers usually wrote him up for violating dress code. One day, Caleb had gotten bold enough to ask me to homecoming. I remember being so excited. Mr. Tanager gave me his credit card, and took me to one of those fancy, boutique places to get a dress.

He’d come with me, wanting to make certain the dress I picked out was appropriate. And because it was my first dance. I picked a light pink, off the shoulder tulle dress that was made by some fancy, French designer that I couldn’t pronounce. He paid for me to go to the salon to get my hair and makeup done.

Ransom happened to be home for the weekend that time. I had no idea what for. On the day before, Caleb had come home with me because we were studying for a project.

Caleb had whistled when he’d seen the house. “Wow, you really live here?”

I rolled my eyes. Even after all of this time, it didn’t feel like my house. “I’m more like a guest here.”

“An unnecessary, unwanted guest,” said Ransom’s voice at the top of the stairs. “Who’s this, Powell?”

“This is Caleb,” I said, “he’s a friend from school. We’re going to Homecoming together.”

            Ransom raised an eyebrow. “As in, the Homecoming dance?”

            I nodded. Ransom had always been attractive. But as a college student, he was fully maturing. He was even taller, and more intimidating then he had been. Nineteen-year-old Ransom had been even more arrogant and cocksure somehow, and even more obsessed with controlling my life. Because he couldn’t be there all of the time, whenever he was there, he seemed to want to stop me from having whatever little bit of freedom I had left.

            “Yes,” I said, “so be nice. Why don’t you go upstairs to the game room, Caleb? I’ll grab us some snacks and meet you there so we can study.”

            “Sounds good,” he said.

            At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. I was blissfully unaware. But if I could go back, I wouldn’t have left Caleb alone with Ransom. When I came back carrying a plate full of Oreos and two glasses of milk, Caleb was at the door getting ready to leave.

            Ransom was nowhere to be found.

            “Caleb,” I said, “hey, I’ve got the snacks. Where are you going?”

            He glanced over his shoulder at me and shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry. Looks like I’m going to have to go home early. My Mom needs me for something.”

            “Oh right, well---I’ll see you on Friday, I guess? For the dance?”

            “Yeah. Of course.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and then he slipped from the mansion, leaving me alone.

            I left the cookies and the glasses of milk on a table by the staircase. I stormed up the stairs and went up to Ransom’s room. I didn’t even bother knocking. I just pushed open the door. He was sitting in his room, with a physics book that he was looking at and notes spread across his desk. I could hear the Artic Monkeys playing faintly from his iPod. “Crawlin' back to you, Ever, thought of callin' when, You've had a few? 'Cause I always do…..”

            He looked up when he saw me. “Hello, Pip,” he said, smirking as he said it. As if he had gotten some prize that I wasn’t aware of.

            “What did you do?” I demanded.

            “I didn’t do anything,” he said, “I just had a word with your young friend. I warned him that you were protected by the Tanagers, and that if he hurt you, he would face the consequences.”

            “You did something else. He wouldn’t even look me in the eyes when he left!”

            “What? You’re always frustrated with me for not acting like your brother. I was just doing something brotherly.”

            “You weren’t doing something brotherly,” I said, “you were trying to control me, like you always do. So, what did you say to Caleb?”

            He smiled at me, but it wasn’t the pleasant kind. It was the kind that a predator gave to its prey right before it ate it. “All I did was let young Caleb know that you were adopted, and that being adopted by this family came with responsibilities and expectations. And that if you were to date someone who did not reflect those, it might cause trouble for you.”

            I slapped Ransom across the face, and he let out a yelp, clutching his cheek.

            “What the f*****g hell, Pip?”

            “You basically told him that he wasn’t good enough for me. You didn’t have any right to do that! We’re not family, Ransom. You’ve made that perfectly clear. So, do me a favor and stay out of my f*****g business!”

            He stood up from where he was sitting, pulling his headphones out of his ears. I could still hear the music in the distance. Now I’ve thought it through, crawlin’ back to you….

            He towered over me, as if reminding me that his family owned me. Until I was eighteen. I was aware, then, of his muscles, quick reflexes, and the short distance to the open door of the bedroom that seemed to be miles and miles.

            “Tell me you’re not that f*****g naïve,” he said, “that you’ve realized the whole purpose of your being here.”

            I stared at him. “Your father wanted to do something nice, because our families worked together. Because they were friends----”

            He scoffed. “We were being shoved together, Pip. They’ve been shoving us together since day one. Don’t you remember what our Mother’s were doing right before they died? Making us dance to that goddamn, stupid slow song. They wanted to pull a Marie and Louis. Unite our houses. Secure the family line, to ensure the company continues to do well. Because an heir between us would mean that the children would have your family’s intelligence, and my wealth thus ensuring that the Tanager legacy of excellence continues.”

            My stomach churned. “You can’t be serious. You…. you think that’s why I was adopted?”

            “I know why,” said Ransom, “because you and me…. we’re the future. I’m thinking about our future. That boy…. he’s just something that will interfere with us. There’s no point in it.”

            I put my hands on my hips. “I have a heart, and a mind of my own Ransom. You don’t care about me. You never will.”

            “You don’t think I care about you?” he looked down at me, and I was once again aware of how tall he was. And that I was alone with him.

            “If you cared about me, you wouldn’t push me away.”

            He reached out, surprising me as he cupped my face in his hands. His thumbs lightly stroked my cheeks. This was the closest we had ever been. Everything else was blocked out, except him, me and the music still playing on his iPod. “Simmer down an' pucker up, I'm sorry to interrupt…”

He stared at my lips, and then before I could stop him, he kissed me. He pulled me so close to him that I was pressing against his chest. “It's just I'm constantly on the cusp of tryin' to kiss you…”

When he pulled away, my head was spinning. “Why would you do that?” I demanded.

“Because I care, Pip. I always have. I’ve tried to be a gentleman about it, because I know that you’re not ready. And I don’t want to push you. But I will push those away who try to take you away from me.”

“You’re an asshole,” I snarled, and I stormed from the room, slamming the door behind me.

I was about to runaway when I ran right into someone’s chest. “Easy, Pip,” I heard Oliver Oswin’s familiar voice say. “Where are you running off to in such a hurry?”

“Anywhere that Ransom isn’t,” I snapped.

Oliver tilted his head to the side. “What did he do now?”

I hesitated. Oliver was my best friend, but I had always hoped that someday, we’d get together. He was one of the sweetest people I knew. Even though his family had money, he didn’t have the same entitlement that Ransom had.

Maybe because Oliver wasn’t in under any delusions that the two of us were supposed to end up together because our parents wanted it.

I glanced back at the door. “I don’t want to talk about this out here.”

“Right, I get it,” he said, “come on. Let’s go. I’ll take you somewhere private that we can talk. But um….you feel comfortable riding on a motorcycle?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You have a motorcycle?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Ransom would hate me on that.”

“Yeah,” he said with a smirk. “Come on, what do you say?”

He took my hand, and we ran outside to where his motorcycle was waiting. He gave me his helmet, and the two of us headed into Crescent City. He took the two of us to a place called Lucy’s Diner that had been in the city since 1947 and served homemade ice cream. We both got milkshakes, along with a plate of fries to share.

“So,” said Oliver, “what happened?”

“I had a date for homecoming,” I said.

Oliver was taking a sip of his milkshake and he coughed. “A date?”

“What? It’s not so weird. I’m seventeen, that’s what teenagers do.”

“No, it’s not weird. It’s just that I know Ransom. How’d he take that?”

I rolled my eyes. “Caleb came over for a visit, because we were studying. Ransom had a talk with him.”

“A talk, huh?” said Oliver, seemingly already knowing where this was going.

I nodded. “I went to go get snacks for us, when I came back, Caleb was getting ready to leave. He lied, and said that he had to go home because of something with his parents. But it was clear that he was leaving because of another reason. Ransom had been there when I got home, and when I left he told him that being part of the Tanager family meant that I had responsibilities.”

“Such as?” he asked.

“He implied that our parents were trying to shove us together, for the sake of the company. Because an heir from the both of us would be beneficial to everyone, so anyone else was just someone who would get in the way of that. Because he felt we were inevitable.”

Oliver winced. “Well….”

I stared at him. “You can’t possibly agree with that.”

“I mean, you have to know that the reason that Ransom has always been distant with you is because he knows you’re young. He didn’t want to pressure you into anything you weren’t ready for, but you guys grew up together. Sort of. It’s not any surprise to me that there was talk between your parents about you two getting together. It would be best, for the company.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing!”

“Look, I’m not saying you have to do anything. But this kind of thing is common amongst our circles. Might not be the most forward way of thinking, but rich people like to keep money amongst themselves.”

“My parents weren’t rich. Well, they were middle class, but they weren’t Tanager rich.”

“But you were important to the Tanager family. You helped them build their company. It makes sense that they would want you two to be together.”

“It’s barbaric,” I said.

“It’s rich people,” he said. “But you know, if you need a date to homecoming, I can be that date. You’ve got options, Pip. Other people that would want to take care of you. Not just Ransom.”

I blinked. “Are you…are you asking me out?”

“No, not at all,” he said, “because I’m nineteen, and that would be illegal. But I am asking if you want me to go to homecoming with you, as a friend.”

“Ollie, you don’t have to do that. I’m not a pity case.”

“I want to do that, Pip. I…I want you.”

It was then that Oliver became my refuge. We waited until I was eighteen to do anything, of course, but in that year, Oliver became my sanctuary. He took me to homecoming, he came to visit me every weekend he could, and he became the person that I could vent to about Ransom without judgement.

It was no wonder that on the day my life changed forever, he was there at the storage shed with me. Because he was always there with me.

My parent’s storage shed wasn’t filled with Knick knacks nobody used anymore, or old family photographs, or old magazines or anything. Instead, there was a girl, in a cage, with wings.