Tolerable Cruelty - Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14

That Saturday, Piper and Peter sat at their reserved table in Buford’s Steakhouse waiting for his siblings to arrive.

Steven was dressed in a pair of wrinkled jeans and a crumpled button down. Sarah strutted in wearing smart business attire—black pantyhose, black knee-length skirt, a white blouse and black blazer.

The two siblings approached the intimately lit table, Peter and Piper standing up to greet them.

The normally unflappable Sarah did a double, then triple, take at Piper. When did she get so tall? And beautiful?

Piper smirked at her sister-in-law’s reaction. Still think I’m not good enough for Peter?

“Peter, it’s so good to see you!” Sarah leaned in for a hug.

Peter groaned in pain. His battered torso was still sensitive from being ground against Piper’s firm, invulnerable breasts. His shoulder was tender, bruised black and blue under his dark shirt.

“Oh, are you playing football again?” Sarah tutted. “A bit too old for that now, aren’t we?”

“Heh, yeah. Football,” Peter winced and went along with it. Maybe if I were the football. A glance at Piper made him question once again if she could read minds as she tried not to shudder with laughter.

They broke their sibling embrace. Peter and Steven slapped hands.

“Piper.” Sarah nodded curtly at her.

“Sarah.”

Steven began to lean in toward Piper for a hug as well, but the ominous glint in her beautiful, glowing eyes caused him to rethink. Instead, he offered a handshake. Piper folded her hand into his, curling her fingers around the back of his hand, and squeezed a tiny bit, stopping herself before Steven actually cried out in pain.

They all took their seats. Steven tugged at his chair with his offhand, lip trembling, fighting back tears as he cradled the other hand that Piper had clasped so gently.

“So, how’s work?” Sarah began the inquisition.

“Good, good. Working on recyclable plastics, trying to get more out of the process. It’s, well, it’s a little bit unrewarding. We’re not making much progress.”

“No breakthroughs?” Sarah asked.

Peter and Piper glanced at each other. Piper gave him a little mischievous wink.

“Um, no. No breakthroughs,” Peter answered. Piper stifled a giggle. “How’s your work?”

A waiter arrived with some ice cold drinks and hot, steaming rolls of bread. Steven eagerly grabbed a few pieces, inhaling the scent of clean, fresh yeast, lopping off a thick pad of butter and dug in. He never had anything to contribute to the adults’ conversation.

“Well you must have heard the court case going on right now. Rounded corners, patent law, that stuff.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s our biggest contract yet. I’m one of the two people in charge of the case.”

“Oh, Meyers and Meyers is working that case? That thing is huge! I guess it’s been a while since we talked.” Peter gushed at his big sister’s accomplishments.

“Yeah. We’re really killing it. There’s no way EasyCall is going to win this case now. They’re going to fork a ton of money over to Orange, and we are getting rewarded handsomely. They’ll probably promote me after we get the ruling. It’s all but official. That’s why I couldn’t come last week with Steven.”

“Hmph,” Piper grunted.

“You have something to say?” Sarah raised an eyebrow.

“All this over rounded corners. Is it such a big deal?” Piper asked assertively.

Both Peter and Steven couldn’t believe what they were seeing! Piper, this headstrong in front of Sarah?

“I suppose you wouldn’t understand. And how are you doing these days, Piper?” she asked, folding her hands over the white tablecloth.

“Good, good. Getting along quite well myself. Just handled a particularly difficult client that my boss usually deals with,” she blurted with glee.

“Yeah, Piper’s been doing great! I’m so proud of her,” Peter supported.

“That’s wonderful, dear. Tell me, what is it you do again? Some sort of… widget manufacturing? Going to middle management now?”

A waiter arrived with oysters on the half shell, his arm blocking the ladies’ death glares at each other.

“Pardon my reach,” he announced as he placed the cold plate on the white tablecloth.

Piper grit her teeth and clenched her fist. Peter gulped and cautiously placed his hand over hers and gave it a light squeeze. It was barely enough to de-escalate his super wife.

They all reached for the oysters. Piper spited Sarah by sneaking one from under her hand at super speed and replacing it with an empty husk.

Sarah began to tip the empty shell toward her own lip. Piper snickered at her confusion.

“And Steven? How is school? I’m proud of you for re-enrolling,” Sarah recovered, still flabbergasted as she put the craggly shell down.

Piper and Peter’s eyes both widened at the question. They knew Steven had dropped out a year ago and had been drifting, asking them for money. Just like at the barbecue a week ago.

Steven was visibly shaken. He pleaded with his eyes at his big brother and somehow unspeakably intimidating sister-in-law not to spill.

“Um, yeah… it’s good, sis. Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Of course, Steven. Your education is important.” Sarah gave a passing glance at Piper. “Is your tuition covered? Do you need more money?”

Peter and Piper’s mouths were now agape.

“Umm!! Yes, Sarah! Thanks!” He was sweating bullets now. “Actually, I’ve been thinking…” he tried to mollify Peter and Piper, “I… I really want to do something good, you know, sis? Just something real. Maybe a fancy college degree like yours isn’t the way for me, you know? Maybe just something real for me to get my hands on, y’know what I’m saying? Like a trade school.”

He begged, pleaded, groveled with his eyes to Peter. He’d never looked so sincere before. A quick glance at Piper’s dangerous, scowling blue eyes, and he flinched in total abject fear.

“Wow, Steven. It’s not the path I envisioned for you, nor our mom…” A moment of silence.

“You’ve become so grown up. I’m proud of you.”

Piper’s fist clenched yet again. Her expression became darkly severe.

Steven nearly lost control of his bladder.

Peter slid his hand onto Piper’s firm thigh under the table and tried to dimple her skin. She flung his arm away with a simple twitch.

But, that little private gesture was enough. Piper consciously made a decision to not cause a scene about Steven.

Steven slumped in relief. Their server conveniently arrived during the lull with their main courses. Just a cobb salad for Sarah, and three prime ribs heaped with a generous helping of sides for everyone else.

Steven tore into his with aplomb, dipping it in a metal cup of au jus and mixing horseradish into his mashed potatoes.

“So, about him,” Peter continued the thread over the sound of clinking flatware and crunching salad. The mood shifted to somber. Everyone’s voices hushed, the ambient conversations of nearby tables suddenly noticeable.

“I hate having to do this every year,” Sarah announced flatly.

“I know you’re really busy, Sarah. You don’t have to come,” Peter offered.

“No, I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m not complaining about having to fly out here. I’m just complaining about the whole damn thing in general.”

“Well, if there’s one thing Bledsoe did, it’s bring us together at least once a year,” Peter joked darkly.

Even Steven didn’t find it terribly amusing. He harrumphed.

“He’s totally remorseless. I hate looking into those dead eyes and his ugly fucking smile. I wish… I wish he would just die,” Peter confessed for the first time.

“Peter!” Sarah chided.

“Bro’s right,” Steven piped in. “Just cuz we never say it doesn’t mean we’re not thinking it. That fuck needs to die.”

“Steven!” Sarah echoed in the same matronly tone of voice.

Piper listened intently. She hated this parole meeting just as much as the rest of them.

Peter sliced off another cut of his medium rare prime rib. Piper nudged his hand and met his gaze with her imploring, gorgeous eyes. Peter smiled and shoved the morsel toward her, and she greedily stabbed and swallowed it up. She took a glancing swipe at his mashed potatoes too.

“Wow, Piper. You’ve got quite the appetite, haven’t you? You better watch your weight,” Sarah commented not so politely.

Piper sat up straight, molding her top to the curvature of her body. “You think so?”

Steven and Peter gasped in half shock, half lust. Sarah’s eyes grew wide, tracing the curves no longer hidden by the generous folds of the redhead’s top. For once, she had no comeback. Anyone could see that Piper was utterly matchless now. Just what the hell had happened to the mousy, weak-willed girl that Peter had married?!

They finished their dinner in relative silence, with Piper polishing off half of Peter’s plate.

The server cleared their dishes and came back with a dessert menu. They all looked at each other.

“No, I think we’re good,” Sarah announced.

“Let me get your brown butter cookies,” Piper interrupted. “Two orders. Oh, a la mode.” She paused, and then added as a courtesy, “Does anyone else want anything?”

“Geez, Piper…” Peter still couldn’t believe her appetite.

Peter flinched when the two petite platters arrived and the waiter overreached, sending the ball of vanilla bean ice cream rolling across the flat confections on a course to plop right in Piper’s lap. Only her finger was already there, delicately lifting the edge of the plate, averting catastrophe.

She looked the waiter in the eye. “Careful.” The single low, cold word sent a shiver through all present, the waiter most of all. The air felt charged like a gathering storm.

“Apologies ma’am! So clumsy of me. I’ll comp your desserts.”

She nodded, red locks shifting in the low light as the man nearly fled.

Two empty plates later, with Piper generously allowing Peter and Steven to nibble at her treats, their meal was finally over. Sarah was quiet, still absorbing how animated the shockingly beautiful young woman teasing her brother was. And how menacing she could be.

Sarah reached for the bill, but Piper’s hand slipped right underneath it with incredible speed. Sarah actually jumped in shock from the sudden, invisible movement. For a moment she’d brushed the warm silken skin, the sensation lingering on her fingertips.

“We’ll get it this time. Right Peter?” Piper smiled confidently at Sarah, her eyes deep and lustrous.

“Yeah, Sarah. Let us pay for once. We know you’re a hotshot lawyer, but we’re still family, and we do plenty well. Especially these days,” Peter corroborated her statement.

Sarah was flabbergasted. Really, what happened to pushover Piper? And Peter was so openly smitten with her! When had the useless girl become so self-confident? So stunningly gorgeous? And inexplicably, so incredibly intimidating?

“Well, that was nice,” Piper said as they all stood up from their dining booth, patting her immaculately toned tummy. “See you in two days? Our place.”

“Yes, your place.” Sarah was beyond confused, now recognizing the long sleek lines of a supermodel under Piper’s clothes. She wasn’t used to not being the alpha, especially among her family. And she knew that she had been dethroned without so much as a confrontation.

“Thanks, bro. Thanks, Piper. Really. I love you guys.” He hugged Peter and looked to Piper with genuine gratitude for keeping his secret.

Piper gave him a chaste hug, not leaving any bruises by clawing her steely fingers into his fragile skin. He received and returned the hug like a gentleman.

Good boy, she thought, a quick, not entirely pleasant smile flickering across her face.

They went into their separate cars, Sarah still stunned from dinner. Steven was really growing up. And Peter and Piper… something had changed. Maybe Peter was right about choosing Piper all along.

“That went really well, I thought,” Peter commented. “You uh, really held your own with Sarah today. She’s such a bulldozer.” He glanced over, Piper’s thighs grinding together in the bucket seat while her graceful hands cupped her full breasts, squeezing and kneading. She let out a long sigh.

“Peter. Drive faster, or I am going to get out of this car and fly us home in less than a minute. And I’m so horny right now, I’m not sure you’ll even survive the flight.”