Plus One

He didn’t answer immediately. He swiped through the text on his phone, then looked up at her, eyes sharp. “The Press. They’re swarming the venue. Too many cameras. Too many questions. Piper will be going instead.”

Paige blinked, jaw tightening. “Piper?” she repeated, incredulous. “You—she can’t—”

“I said change of plan,” Thomas cut in, tone brittle with authority. “You stay. She goes. Don’t add to my troubles.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed, outrage flickering, but he wasn't looking at her. She opened her mouth again, but Thomas cut her off. “It's not a request.”

The words landed like a hammer. Paige’s shoulders stiffened, jaw tight, and with a glare that could have split marble, she stormed back upstairs muttering,

“This is unbelievable… just unbelievable!”

Thomas’s sharp voice instructed to a housekeeper close by. "Go tell Piper I'm asking for her."

Piper received the message and her panic returned, flour-dusted hands pausing mid-stir.

She got up. Readied herself for whatever was coming.

"I'll be right back boys. Toby, hold on for me. Okay"

"Okay."

She got to the living room. “Yes, Thomas?”

“Go get dressed. Put on one of the dresses I ordered for you. We’re going out. Now.”

Piper blinked, flour smudged across her cheek. “Going out? To where?”

Thomas didn’t look up from the phone he’d returned to, tone cutting. “Don’t ask questions. Do as you’re told. And don’t keep me waiting.”

Her mouth opened again, hesitated, then closed.

She glanced at the children, Toby was now happily attempting to crack eggs over the counter with more enthusiasm than skill. He grinned at her. Leo waved a tiny fist in the air, blurping incoherently.

“The cook will take over with the boys,” Thomas added, voice calm, a brittle edge beneath the surface. “Go get dressed. Now."

In her room, the maid helped Piper dress. As she zipped the dress, the sound sliced softly through the silence. The fabric settled against Piper’s body perfectly. The maid adjusted the straps, smoothed the seams with careful fingers, stepping back to assess her work with professional distance.

“It suits you, ma’am.” She said.

Piper smiled. "Thank you Maria."

The maid finished her makeup, styled her hair, and stepped back, leaving Piper staring at a stunning version of herself she couldn't recognise.

She stood up. Smoothing the silk over her shoulders, took a deep breath and let her heart slow.

When she descended the stairs, the effect was undeniable. The soft lighting caught the sheen of the dress, the way it moved with her, her hair loose and gently curled, cheeks flushed with natural color.

Thomas’s head snapped slightly as she entered, though his face remained carefully composed.

Unwanted images surfaced anyway. Nights of enforced proximity — the same room, the same air — her silk-clad body angled deliberately to her own end of the king-sized mattress. The discipline with which she kept her distance had somehow made her presence louder.

Toby had just strolled into the living room and spotted her immediately. “Piper! You look taller and… beautiful!” He said, eyes wide open.

Piper laughed with a soft blush, her heart warmed despite the flurry of tension around her.

“Thank you, darling,” she said, reaching slightly to touch his soft cheek.

He shifted, one hand slowly lowering the phone he’d been pressing. His jaw tightened, lips thinning as he tamped down the reaction that threatened to show.

“You’re late,” he said, sharper this time. “Let's go.”

His pulse quickened faintly, betraying him in a way no one else could see. He hated it, hated that she could make it spike so easily.

She blinked at the tone, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, but she obeyed, stepping carefully forward.

Thomas straightened, reminding himself this was nothing, she was just a contract. An opportunist that was after his money. And yet… his eyes lingered a fraction too long.

Outside, Thomas had chosen his car for the night—his newest model midnight blue Aston Martin DBS Superleggera gleaming in the driveway. He preferred to drive himself, a rare pleasure in a life often mediated by assistants and chauffeurs. Piper slid into the passenger seat, quietly.

The ride was silent except for the engine’s low hum and the faint shuffle of Piper’s dress. Thomas kept his gaze straight ahead, hands tight on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, jaw pressing lightly against the firm line of his lips.

Piper’s eyes flicked occasionally to him, hesitant, uncertain, wondering if she should speak. She didn’t. He didn’t ask. Silence filled the car, tense and charged.

———

Paige dialed a number, and waited as it rang.

She hadn’t come this far to be hidden. She hadn’t dressed up, smiled through whispers, endured being the woman on the side of a man she had known first, just to be tucked away like an inconvenience.

The number answered.

“They just left. Don't lose them.” Paige’s voice was calm now.

She stood at the tall window of the guest room, phone pressed to her ear, gaze fixed on the driveway far below where Thomas’ favourite car disappeared into the night.

“Alright,” the man on the other end replied. His voice was low, serious. “I’ll be inside the venue in ten.”

“Good.” Paige crossed the room and stopped in front of the mirror, adjusted a loose strand of hair, and smiled at her own reflection. “I want eyes on her. Every move. Every second she’s not glued to him.”

“And if she doesn’t slip?” he asked.

Paige’s smile flustered. “She will. Or you’ll help her.”

A brief pause.

“She just needs to look guilty,” Paige continued. “Not loud. Something… intimate. Something that makes a man’s imagination do the work.”

“I’ll text you once it's done.”

"Alright."

She ended the call without another word.

She would teach Piper how not to mess around private properties.