Paying Their Piper with Passion and Love [Loving in Silver 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read Free Page A

little command from her father.
    Once Piper’s little pig had finished her repertoire of tricks, she stood and brushed off her backside. As she did so a tiny red glow from beneath the canopy of trees caught her eye. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest. No! No! No! her mind screamed in protest. She swallowed hard against the tears, the anger, and the frustration which were welling up inside her.
    Her father even had cameras watching her in her own backyard? The idea of losing that precious little piece of privacy she’d thought she had was all she could take.
    Without giving away her new knowledge, Piper gathered up her pets and headed for the house. She waited until they’d washed their treats down with a drink of water, and then walked through the house without even acknowledging the bodyguard, something she had never done before.
    Until today she was nothing if not polite. Unlike her father, she recognized people for what they did, their contributions to her life and their hard work. Though she didn’t like having a bodyguard, she wasn’t going to treat him like he was less than nothing.
    Right now, however, he represented everything she hated about her life. If she spoke to him she was afraid she would take her frustration out on him.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jace was good at reading people. Piper Barrows was no different. He recognized the signs of frustration, anger, and despair. The only time he saw any pleasure in her life, any kind of happiness, was when she was playing with her quirky pets.
    Douglas Barrows wasn’t the only one whom had done background work. Jace made a point of knowing about his employers. Piper Barrows had nothing but a privileged life from the moment she was conceived. At that time her father had only been a millionaire. During the past twenty-six or so years he had multiplied that many times over. The man provided everything for his daughter, but gave her nothing. She was like a tiny jeweled bird flapping her wings against the bars of a golden cage.
    The woman possessed an education she couldn’t use. She had an imagination she couldn’t apply. And she had a passion she couldn’t express.
    He had seen the little glances she threw in his direction. He wouldn’t be male if he didn’t realize what was behind them. Miss Piper Barrows was curious about him, was probably doing a little fantasizing.
    If the woman wasn’t his job, he would be more than willing to satisfy her curiosity. As it was, she was as off-limits as a woman could be to him. It was probably for the best. What did a man like him have to offer other than a hard-driven lust?
    After going around the house, locking doors and checking windows, he went to the room he had chosen to use. It had been designed as a downstairs master suite. He left the door open so he could hear movement in the house. There were no alarms on the house and he was going to suggest changing that. He would also suggest perimeter alarms, though he was loathe to do so. He knew she had finally spotted the camera in the tree in the backyard. He could almost feel her combined outrage and heartbreak. It was yet another bar in the cage holding her.
    Jace pitied Piper. He wondered about Douglas Barrows. The man had everything. He was wealthy beyond belief. He could understand the man’s desire to keep his only child safe from the dangers of the world, but there had to be a way to do it without caging her in, without taking away the most basic freedoms.
    From what he’d been told, Piper’s last freedom had been taken away after she had been attacked by an unscrupulous stock contractor at a small county rodeo. After that Douglas Barrow had basically placed his daughter on lockdown.
    A smile tugged his mouth at one corner. Jace thought there was a bit of spitfire in the tiny woman. He could see fire in her silver-gray eyes. He’d like to have seen her before she had been attacked, when she had been taking on a cowboy with no scruples. The woman probably had some of