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“Why did he go to that kind of effort to convince you that he was what he wasn’t?”
She laughs bitterly. “Right. Because he couldn’t possibly have been in love with me?”
I scrub my jaw and drag her to me. “You could make any man fall in love with you, Abbie,” I say, aware that it’s exposing me. That I’m standing on a limb for this woman, waiting for it to break. “Anyone human, that is,” I add. “He wasn’t human, any more than my father is human. What did he want from you?”
“He was going to run for office. I think he thought me and my charity work looked good by his side.” Her voice cracks. “I don’t think he ever loved me.”
But I could, I think.Holy hell,I could.
“Why didn’t he run for office?”
“A financial scandal. I don’t know much about it.”
A reason for someone to kill him. “Tell the police. Tell Reese.”
“Yes. Of course. I will.” She grabs my shirt, letting the blanket fall. “You aren’t going to tell me about KM, are you?”
Those demons claw at me again, and again. And fucking again. They will always claw at me. “KM was a business associate who tried to fuck me,” I say, and it’s not a lie. Kendall and I worked together. We also fucked. And she tried to fuck me in a way few could imagine possible.
“And you won?”
“No. No, I didn’t win, which is exactly why my father likes to taunt me with it.”
She studies me a moment, intelligent eyes, sizing me up and well. “None of that is a real answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“It’s half-truths,” she accuses.
My jaw clenches. “Everything I said was true.”
“Sorry,” she says. “Bad wording. I meant it’s half the story.” Her hand goes to my face. “Don’t talk about it. I get it. Some things are difficult. Some things cut to relive.”
“You mean his abuse,” I say, and it’s not a question. “Your abuse.”
“It’s not the abuse that gets me. It’s the way I handled it. It’s the way I became his puppet. Maybe had I gotten out sooner, it wouldn’t have gotten so hard to get out. Once we owned that shelter, once my mother and all the animals were depending on it, I felt trapped. He’d threaten her and the shelter.”
“And yet he let you keep it.”
“I think in the end, he was just damn glad to keep his money. That’s why him wanting the shelter makes no sense. Maybe it was vindictive. Maybe it’s over, but that is going to look like a motive.”
“We’ll know soon,” I say. “If Jean Claude wants the property, he’ll come at you right away. There will be no mourning process. He doesn’t have a heart.”
“And I told him about my ex stealing from him. He had to have killed him.”
This is the moment when I could tell her what I did. When I could give her the relief of knowing that I may well have caused Kenneth’s death, but I believe it would be more cold comfort. She’d blame herself for my actions. Because that’s who she is. She takes things on herself. She blames herself while I feel no guilt over assholes who get what they deserve. A part of me my clients appreciate, but Abbie will not.
I pull her flush against me, my body hard, hers soft. I want her. I think I might even need her. That means that while I won’t lie to her, I have to keep secrets. I have to keep my past, my past. I have to keep what I did to protect her buried. And I will. She will never know what I did. She will never know about KM.
Chapter fifty-seven
Gabe
The sliding glass door opens and Carrie pokes her head out. “We’re about to have a houseful. Reid, Reese, and Cat are all about to arrive. And FYI, the prosecution asked for an early recess, but apparently, Reese did talk to law enforcement.”
“And?” Abbie asks, pulling away from me to face Carrie.
“Not much,” Carrie says, shivering. “You have to come inside to talk to me. I can’t take the cold. Sorry.” Carrie disappears inside.
