A Million Tiny Pieces (3 page)

When
Mia had first started school, she hadn’t known what to expect because she’d
been out of the loop for so long. Spending day and night with high society had
left her with a detachment to the norm, which she’d longed to get back. She was
glad to say that she had.

Opening
the door to the building, Mia smiled to herself. Yep, this was a new day,
another chance to keep moving forward, to live in the moment. What the future
held, she didn’t know. For now, she was going to embrace life. Embrace the
woman she was becoming.

PHOENIX
MANAGED TO shave, shower, and dress in the same twenty minutes it took him
every day, coming out of his bedroom a different man than when he’d ventured
in. Gone were the hoodie, mesh shorts, and running shoes. In their place, a
three-piece black Brioni suit, white shirt, Italian loafers, and the Bulgari
watch his father had bought him for his last birthday. Today’s tie was emerald
green because it was the first one he’d touched when he’d hit the button on the
ridiculous electric tie rack his mother had given him for Christmas one year.

“Mornin’,
” Tarik greeted,
placing a cup of coffee on the kitchen table with a copy of today’s paper as
Phoenix made his way down the narrow hall.

Fixing
the knot on his tie as he stopped in front of the glass-topped table, Phoenix
remembered the question he had wanted to ask Tarik, but he decided to hold off.
“Morning,” he replied, doing his best to ignore the heated look he could feel
coming from Tarik’s golden eyes.

In
an attempt to avoid his penetrating gaze, Phoenix paid more attention to the
newspaper than he cared to while he sipped his coffee, purposely leaving Tarik
standing there as he did every single morning.

It
didn’t matter how much Phoenix tried to ignore him, though, it never worked.
First, Phoenix was acutely aware of Tarik’s overwhelming presence in every
possible way. And secondly, even when he tried to forget that he was there,
Tarik made sure he couldn’t.

Sparing
Tarik a brief glance, Phoenix allowed his eyes to graze over all six foot three
inches of the other man in those few seconds. He noted that Tarik was still
wearing his workout clothes, the large muscles in his arms flexing as he
gripped his cell phone tightly. Tarik’s usually stylish hair was unkempt, sweat
glistening near his ears, which meant he hadn’t bothered to stop by his place
to shower yet.

“Something
wrong?” Phoenix questioned, turning to face Tarik fully, nodding his head to
Tarik’s casual wardrobe.

“Not
yet. Why?” Tarik smirked.

Phoenix
rolled his eyes and turned away. He despised the way Tarik enjoyed pushing his
buttons, trying to make him want something he refused to want ever again.
Phoenix was no longer in the market for a crazy, casual encounter. He’d had to
grow up immensely in the last few years, even more so since his father had passed
away nine months ago. Fact was, Phoenix didn’t have time to incite the press
with his nontraditional lifestyle. He’d made a vow to himself that he would
move on, do things the right way going forward.

Which
meant he had to make a firm decision regarding which direction he would swing
when it came to his sexual desires. Although if he had his way, he wouldn’t
have to pick. He’d much prefer to have both, but that seemed to be frowned upon
by society, and that was why Phoenix had opted to go the female route. No more
threesomes, no more experimenting.

Only
because it was the lesser of two evils.

“Breakfast?”
Tarik asked in that gruff, no-nonsense tone that Phoenix had grown accustomed
to over the years. “I can have something delivered in fifteen minutes.”

“Not
today,” Phoenix told him, leaning over the table once more and skimming through
the pages in front of him. Anything to keep from having to face Tarik directly.

Tarik
had been working for the Austin Arrows as their public relations spokesperson
for the last six years. However, Phoenix had known him longer than that. They’d
met nearly eight years ago when Phoenix, while still in college, had been
working with a local kids’ club to establish a hockey program. Tarik had been
employed as a security guard for a local firm while volunteering at the club on
the side, spearheading the program from the club’s side. In order to get the
program up and functioning, the two of them had ended up working closely during
that time. Over those few months, they’d also become friends.

Turned
out that Tarik had a knack for dealing with people, articulating what was
needed and why, something he’d shrugged off when Phoenix had tried to talk to
him about it. So, when Phoenix’s father had been looking for a new PR person a
couple of years later, Phoenix had approached Tarik. Reluctant at first, Tarik
had finally given in.

It
wasn’t until nearly a year after Tarik had started working for Sid that Phoenix
had realized Tarik wasn’t just Sid’s PR liaison. Somewhere along the way, Tarik
had morphed into Sid’s assistant, as well as his head of security — aka his
personal bodyguard. Although they’d agreed to publicly call him the head of
public relations because it seemed less intimidating — at least according to
Phoenix’s mother.

When
Sid had died, Phoenix hadn’t questioned Tarik’s contribution to the
organization, fully intending to keep him on as public relations, although
Tarik had merely transferred his commitments to Phoenix, becoming his
assistant/public relations spokesman.

However,
something he’d told Tarik from the beginning, Phoenix wasn’t keen on having a
bodyguard, even though Tarik had insisted on assuming that position along with
the others, despite Phoenix’s grumbling. Tarik’s presence seemed to make
Phoenix’s mother happy, so he’d kept his arguments to a minimum.

Granted,
Tarik’s expertise had come in handy for Phoenix once in the last year,
coincidentally a few months before Phoenix had taken the reins of the Austin
Arrows organization. It didn’t have anything to do with running a
multi-million-dollar NHL team that had him needing personal security, however.
No, regrettably for Phoenix, he’d ended up in bed with the wrong woman — and by
wrong, he meant
married
. Unfortunately, he hadn’t learned that she was
married until after the fact. More accurately, he hadn’t learned until
after
the psycho husband had come after him. Literally.

Once
things had finally calmed down, a few weeks after the crazy bastard had shown
up at the Arrows training facility, where Phoenix had been talking with his
father, and pulled a gun on him, threatening his life, Phoenix had joked that
Tarik had nothing to do, yet Phoenix’s mother insisted that he continue to keep
an eye on Phoenix.

Regardless
of his duties, there was no doubt about it, Tarik knew Phoenix better than
anyone else because they spent roughly ten hours a day working in close
proximity to one another, sometimes longer. And when they weren’t working, they
still tended to hang out because they’d become close over the years.

Phoenix
shook off the memories of what had happened between him and Tarik so long ago,
refusing to go back there. He’d made his decision; it was high time he gave up
on that shit once and for all.

Shoving
the paper away, he glanced over at the man who was responsible for managing
damn near everything in his life. Which meant he was also responsible for
answering any questions Phoenix might have, despite how ludicrous they might
sound. As far as Phoenix was concerned, he paid Tarik enough money for him to
appreciate every damn word that came out of his mouth.

“You
know of any new tenants who’ve moved into the building recently?” Phoenix
probed, bringing his coffee cup to his lips.

“How
recently?” Tarik questioned, leaning against the wall that partially separated
the dining area from the living room, his feet crossed at the ankles, the
bunching of his muscular thighs catching Phoenix’s gaze briefly.

“Hell
if I know,” Phoenix grumbled, forcing his attention from the man’s legs and
eyeing Tarik’s wardrobe selection instead.

As
on most days after he strolled in from the gym, Tarik was wearing a black
T-shirt that hugged his massive chest, black shorts, and black cross-trainers.
Tarik’s dark brown hair was short and in a wild state of disarray, more so now
that Tarik had raked his hands through it. And the stubble on his face probably
hadn’t seen a razor in at least two days. In a word, the guy was intimidating.

However,
it wouldn’t be long before Tarik was dressed similar to Phoenix, an expensive
suit covering the hard length of his impressive body. The only difference was
that Tarik would likely have his Glock tucked beneath the jacket. Phoenix knew
that Tarik was as dangerous as he was efficient.

They
got along well.

Tarik
stabbed a button on his phone, his eyes scanning the screen. Phoenix waited
patiently, knowing he would have the answers he was looking for in less than…

“Mia
Cantrell. Divorced. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Twenty-four years of age. Moved
into seventeen-oh-four on August eighteenth. Paid cash for the condo. She’s the
only one on the deed, and she’s currently a full-time student at the University
of Texas.”

…
a minute.

Sometimes
it was a little creepy the kind of information Tarik could pull up at a
moment’s notice. Phoenix often wondered what Tarik would be capable of if he’d
been given a week. Shit, Phoenix would probably know the name of this girl’s third-grade
teacher if that were the case.

“She’s
the last tenant who moved in here?” Phoenix asked, surprised.

“No,
but she’s the one you were eyeing in the lobby earlier.”

Phoenix
flipped Tarik off as he made his way to the kitchen. Damn man always knew
everything that was going on, even when he shouldn’t.

“Twenty-four,
huh?” he asked, meeting Tarik’s inquisitive gold eyes as he gripped his coffee
cup.

“That’s
what it says.”

“Well,
at least I know she’s too young for you,” Phoenix told him, smirking.

“Fuck
off,” Tarik said in that dark, gravelly tone that made the ladies go crazy.

“I’d
say thirty-eight is probably too old for a twenty-four-year-old,” Phoenix said
casually, taking another sip of coffee as he looked at Tarik over the rim of
his cup.

Tarik
laughed. “Good thing I’m only thirty-one, asshole.”

Tossing
back what was left of his cold coffee, Phoenix grinned. Riling Tarik up first
thing in the morning was the highlight of his day. Hell, riling Tarik up at
any
time made for a damn good day.

Well,
that was before he’d been graced with seeing crystal-clear blue eyes on the
elevator. She was another highlight of Phoenix’s day.

Now
he had to figure out a way to meet her without looking like some kind of creepy
stalker.

»»»»»♥«««««

AMUSED,
TARIK WATCHED Phoenix as he made his way across the kitchen, pleased when the
other man went to fiddle with the coffee maker.

It
was a habit that Phoenix probably didn’t even realize he had, making his own
coffee whenever they were alone together. Considering in recent months, Tarik
had become, for all intents and purposes, Phoenix’s assistant — although a
rather loose interpretation of one, as far as Tarik was concerned — he
should’ve been the one making the coffee, but he didn’t bother to move from
where he leaned against the wall.

He
figured that preoccupying himself with other things was Phoenix’s way of
putting a little space between them whenever he felt they were getting too
close. Not that they were particularly close right then, but for Phoenix, the
fifteen feet that separated them was likely a little too close for comfort.

Tarik
let his gaze follow Phoenix as he moved around the kitchen, fidgeting with the
single cup coffee maker, then walking to the refrigerator to get… Hmmm.
Interesting. Phoenix came back empty-handed and stared at his coffee mug, apparently
doing his best not to look at him. Another telling sign that Phoenix was doing
whatever was necessary to avoid him.

Like
most mornings, Phoenix was pretending to be distracted, although Tarik figured
he really was wrapped up in his thoughts, something that happened more often
than not these days. Granted, it was generally business that was plaguing
Phoenix, worrying about the next meeting, the next issue, the next purchase.
The guy spent a ridiculous amount of time worrying about shit that he paid
other people to worry about. As a venture capitalist, Phoenix’s job was
investing money in start-up companies, so Tarik could see how that might be a
little stressful. Phoenix took a significant amount of risk with every move he
made.

On
top of that, Phoenix now managed the day-to-day of an NHL team whose previous
losing record had fans hovering on the brink of abandoning ship. Until this
year. This year had started off with a bang, the team currently on a winning
streak that no one had predicted. It left Phoenix little time to deal with
anything other than dealing with the press.

However,
this morning, Phoenix’s distraction seemed to be a woman, which, quite frankly,
surprised the shit out of Tarik. That was very unlike him. So far out of the
norm that Tarik had already made a mental note to dig in to who this woman was.

Tarik
wouldn’t have known except for the fact he’d gone down to the lobby to check on
the elevator and had opted to take the stairs at the same time Phoenix had come
in the building. Habit had him stopping halfway up to the second floor, keeping
his eyes on Phoenix as the other man waited for the elevator. That was when
he’d noticed Phoenix’s intense reaction to the blonde who’d stepped into the
lobby.