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His eyes darken, soften. “Understood. Not one word.” I hold up my fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you a boy scout?”
“Yes, actually. It looked good on college resumes, per my father.”
She hands me the keys. “Aren’t you a boy when you’re in the boy scouts? A young boy?”
“Yes. My father started plotting our college acceptances when we were in diapers.” I give the lock my attention and open the door, shoving it open. “I’m also certain that he planned our funerals before we were born.”
She blinks at me. “I don’t know what to say to that comment.”
“Say you’ll fuck me when we get inside.”
“I’ll fuck you in your apartment.” With that, she enters her own.
I follow her inside to find a modest loft-style apartment, with a cream-colored couch and two chairs sitting in front of a brick wall. Abbie turns and presses her hands to my chest. “Don’t judge. This isn’t your fancy apartment, but it’s not a dump either.”
“I’m not judging. Not before. Not now. You’re the one judging you and it. Stop doing that.”
“I don’t want you to think that I need your money, Gabe. I don’t. I didn’t go after his for a reason. Money isn’t what matters to me.”
“It matters to me,” I say. “I work hard for it and so did you by living in hell with him. You deserved to walk away with something.”
“I did. My freedom. I needed away from him.”
But she doesn’t have her freedom. He’s still coming at her. “You’ll have both soon, freedom and money.”
“What does that mean, Gabe?”
“It means you’ll launch your career again and make your own money.” I caress her cheek. “Pack.”
She studies me for several long beats and then backs up. “I’ll hurry.” She rushes toward a set of black steel stairs and turns to face me at the bottom, seeming to want to say something and then she dashes up the steps.
Her obvious message iswait,but I don’t wait. I stand there, staring up at the railing, waiting for her, all right. As expected, she peeks her head over and then gives me a beautiful smile that has my cock twitching.
That’s it.
I’m not waiting.
I’m across the small room, in pursuit almost immediately. Wanting to know what she didn’t say. Wanting to make sure she packs enough to stay with me a while. I walk up the winding steel steps and enter what is her bedroom with no door. I findher with her back to me, seeming to stare down at the bed. I’d take this as a seductive game, but there is something about her energy, something that says this is not what it seems.
I scan the room, taking in the full-sized bed with navy blue comforter, and Ansel Adams black and white photographs on several walls. There’s a doorway to a bathroom, I assume. Another to a closet. There isn’t much else, not even a dresser.
Abbie still hasn’t moved and I approach her, laying my hands on her arms. She twists around to face me. “Gabe,” she whispers.
I look down to find her holding a velvet ring box. I frown. “What is that? What’s wrong?”
She opens it and shows me a diamond solitaire that I know from my mother’s similar ring must be a cool half a million dollars. “What are you showing me?”
“My ring. This was my wedding ring.”
Unease slides through me. “Are you telling me you didn’t leave with nothing?”
“I’m telling you that I gave this back to him. It was on my bed. He was here and the message is clear, don’t you think?”
My blood runs cold. He’s telling her and me that’s she’s his and he’s not going to let her go. He’s dangerous. My jaw sets hard. And he doesn’t know how dangerous I can be.
Chapter forty-seven
