“All of those things. Yes. But it wasn’t about you.” My jaw sets hard and I look at the flames now flickering in the fireplace, old demons clawing at me, and it’s pissing me off. The past doesn’t get to have that kind of control over me. I step closer to Abbie. “Look, I’m all too aware of the fact that I just responded to you based on my past, not the present. And you’re the present. My present.”
“You do know that I have plenty of reasons to judge you by my past, right? My very recent, extremely raw past.”
“No,” I say rejecting that idea, but choosing my words cautiously. “You don’t. I haven’t given you any reason to believe that I’m going to let you down the way your ex let you down.”
“And I have you?” she demands. “Because that’s what this is about, right? An ex?” She tilts her head. “Is KM an ex?”
It’s an inevitable question I don’t intend to answer. “What this is,” I say, directing us away from KM, making this about Abbie, which is safer than making it about me, “is me asking what the police will ask. How did someone like you end up with that asshole?”
“I didn’t choose to be with an asshole. He didn’t seem like an asshole at the time.”
“How did you meet him?”
“A charity event, which obviously contributed to me feeling like he was a good guy. He donated big that night. He asked me to dinner. He wined and dined me.”
“And you fell in love.” The idea grinds through me with ridiculous amounts of jealousy. I didn’t know her then.
“I think it was more infatuation,” she replies. “He seemed to have the world in his hands and it was powerful. It was interesting. And yet, he seemed so kind.”
“When did you discover the real man?”
“Six months after I married him, he changed. Or rather, he showed his true colors.”
“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 NINE
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.
Abbie tries to rush toward her. I catch her arm and turn her back to me. “Easy, baby. Everything is going to be fine. I promise you.”
“You can’t make that promise. Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”
There’s a hint of agitation with that reprimand that I don’t miss. She’s been burned. She’s been made promises her ex didn’t keep. Maybe it even ties back to her MIA father. People have let her down. I won’t.
“I don’t make promises that I can’t keep. We’re going to be fine. Separately and together. You’ll see. And you’ll also see that I’m a man of my word, Abbie.”
She breathes out. “I’m sorry. You’ve given me every reason to trust you, Gabe, but people say things to comfort others and I don’t want everyone to keep telling me that it’s going to be okay. I hate fluff comfort. Words don’t fix problems.”
“No,” I say, aware that while she might not realize it, she’s allowing me to see her fears, to understand them, and that’s a massive step between us I won’t allow her to regret. “I’m not using words to comfort you. I’m using knowledge and trust. Reese’s knowledge and my trust in his skills. I want you to remember that as we move forward.”
I turn us toward the door and this time she catches my arm. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I’m sorry that I judged you by everyone before you when we just talked about not letting our pasts dictate our present together.”
I drag her to me and kiss her. “Show me later when we’re finally alone.”
“I will,” she promises, her lips curving. “And I’ll be thinking of all the ways I can do that between now and then.”
“Now you’re just teasing me.”
“Yes,” she says. “I am.” Her voice softens. “And I like it.”
The way she says those final words, all soft and sweet, it’s clear she’s not talking about sex. She’s talking about us, about this, whatever is happening between us. “As do I,” I whisper, my fingers caressing her cheek, goosebumps lifting on her skin, a shiver following.
“Let’s get you inside and warm,” I say leading her back into the house where we join Carrie in the
kitchen.
“Any other updates?” Abbie asks, settling on a barstool while I sit down on the one next to her and across from Carrie.
“The police want to question you both,” Carrie says. “Reese is coordinating his court schedule with them but I think it’s going to be a few days out.”
“An eternity to worry about how this is going to turn out,” Abbie whispers, staring down at her cold cup of coffee. “I can’t take it.”
I grab her cup, drawing her attention to mine. “A day gives them time to find answers and decide they don’t need us.” I sip from the mug. “And that’s cold.”
Carrie stands and takes it from me. “Let me warm that up for you.” The doorbell rings.
“That must be Reid,” Carrie says, setting the cup right back down in front of me. “That door automatically locks with some new security system Reese and Cat installed. I don’t think he has the code to get in yet.”
Wanting another chat with Reid alone, I push to my feet. “I’ll get it.” I wink at Abbie. “I love to see my cold-hearted bastard of a brother greet his dog with baby voices.” I don’t give her time to question my intentions, hurrying out of the room.
Once I’m at the door, I confirm it’s Reid and let the bastard in and sure enough, he does the baby voices as he greets Nikki. It’s like a show you never thought you’d see and get to see it on repeat. “Dexter likes me,” he says, tossing Nikki’s ball and watching her disappear into the other room. “I think he needs to move in with us.”
“Forget it, man. Dexter would rip your throat out if he got the chance,” I promise. “I’ve seen what you haven’t.”
Reid lowers his voice. “So he’s hiding behind the nice guy routine? Sounds familiar.”
I grimace. “You got something to say, say it.”
“You don’t have to play nice with me. I don’t have to play nice with you. If you’re getting serious about Abbie, you have to be honest with her. Are you prepared to do that?”
“Fuck man. You have to go there today?”
“Yeah, I do. The demon door has to be opened.”
“Shit man, you think I need to go commando with her before I’ve even asked her to move in with me? What the fuck, Reid?”
“You know that’s not what I’m saying, but I talked to Carrie. She likes Abbie. She loves you. She says that Abbie is good for you if you don’t destroy her before she does her good mojo on you.”
“Carrie doesn’t know me.”
“She knows more than you think she knows. I sure as fuck do.”
“Stop making me the devil that ripped the panties off a fucking angel that I’m about to drag to hell.”
“We both know this thing with her husband—”
“Ex-fucking-husband.”
“Ex-fucking-husband,” he amends, “is going to get dirty. We both know you already got dirty. She’s going to find out.”
“There’s nothing to find out,” I say. “Not a damn thing.”
“You don’t get to be the old you with her if you want her to be a significant part of your life.”
She’s already significant, I think, but I stay on point with what matters in this conversation. “What is your point, brother asshole?”
“We are our father’s sons,” Reid says. “We can go dark. You’ve gone dark before and so have I. We both know you went dark to protect Cat from that stalker.”
“This again?”
“Yes. This again.”
“I handled what you wouldn’t and now you’re flipping it on me?”
“You protected our sister at all costs. All I’m saying is that Carrie changed me and how I handle myself but I had to be willing. If you aren’t willing to change, then you need to walk away from Abbie.”
I look up to find Abbie standing in the hallway, staring at us.
CHAPTER TEN
Gabe…
Abbie stands there and says nothing. She just stares at me and Reid with those big green eyes of hers, red curls teasing the delicate features of her lovely face. She doesn’t question me or him. She doesn’t demand answers. She doesn’t turn and run and thank fuck for that. I need this woman. In every way, in every part of me, I need this woman.
I cross the foyer, close what has become the unbearable space between me and her, stopping in front of her, my hands settling on her waist. “I’m not walking away.”
Her hand settles on my arm, tiny, warm, her touch right in ways no woman ever has been. “Good to know,” she says. “Because I’m done hiding the monsters in the closet. If you can handle mine, I can handle yours.”
She won’t have to, I think. I won’t let that happen. I won’t put that shit on her. I drag her to me. “There are many things I want to say to you right now that are better said alone.” The door opens behind me and Carrie and Reid’s dog darts past us. My sister laughs and Reese’s voice follows.
Abbie laughs, too, and when she looks at me, there is a swell of emotion between us that says more than words and it’s not just about sex. We’re connected. We’re the real deal. I take her hand in mine and we greet Cat and Reese, with conversation veering toward Cat’s Cat Does Crime syndicated column.
“Wait,” Abbie says, as we all walk into the kitchen. “You’re Cat Does Crime? Of course you are. I just—you’re so involved in Reese’s work that I didn’t connect the dots. I love your column.”
The two chat about Cat covering Reese’s case in her particular editor voice and a few minutes later, the entire crew of Maxwells is sitting in the living room. Me and Abbie on the couch. Cat and Reese on an oversized chair to our left. My brother and Carrie on the chair across from us. Their adorable dog is at their feet, while the cat remains incognito. I actually miss Dexter right now. In a perfect world, I’d be home right now with my dog and my woman, and past all of this. But life and murder doesn’t happen that easily.
“The good news,” Reese says, loosening his navy striped tie, his jacket left behind in the kitchen. “I believe they’ve homed in on a suspect and if that were either of you, you’d be downtown right now. That being said, they aren’t backing off on official interviews and they’re being cryptic. They won’t say where they sit on any theory about the murder. We’re going into the interviews blind.”
“When?” Abbie asks.
“The day after tomorrow because that’s when I could make it work,” Reese says. “And that gives us tomorrow to do some prep. We aren’t back in court until noon tomorrow. I’d like to spend the morning with you both, prepping.”
“They wouldn’t interview us for no reason,” Abbie says. “I mean, the inside word from Walker was that this is an assassination. Anyone could have ordered it.”
“They’ll look at your phone, electronic communications, and bank records. They’ll ask us for them.” He looks between us. “Either of you have an issue with that?”
“I don’t,” I say, my hand closing down on Abbie’s leg. “Abbie?”
“I’m worried about that call I made to Jean Claude,” she says. “And the email we exchanged afterward.”
“We’ll tell them about it,” Reese says. “I’ll prep you on everything tomorrow at my office.”
“I’ll be there to help,” Cat offers, her hand on her pregnant belly.
“As will we,” Reid offers of himself and Carrie. “But you need to be prepared for us to drill the hell out of you. That way when it happens with the police, you’ll be ready.”
Abbie inhales and presses her hands to her face before dropping them. “I can’t believe he’s dead and I’m having to go through this. It’s like the hell that was this man will never end. He just reaches out of the grave and wraps his hand around my throat.”
“You need to try to relax,” Reese replies. “This may well be over when the interview is over. That’s always the goal.”
“What about the funeral?” she asks. “Should I go?”
Reese’s reply is rapid fire. “Would you go if it was a heart attack?”
Her brow furrows. “N
o, I don’t think—I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. I’d probably fret over it.”
“Then fret about it,” Reese says, “and make the decision outside of the murder. Not going to a funeral doesn’t make you guilty of murder.”
“I don’t know if I’d fucking go to our father’s funeral,” Reid grumbles.
“Don’t say that,” Cat chides.
“Look at the hell he’s dragged us into, Cat,” Reid counters. “And on top of that, he has someone trying to squeeze us for money, saying she has goods on him and his dirty laundry, of which we know there is much.”
Thank you, Reid, I think, for sharing details about our father I wasn’t ready to disclose. And right after he pretty much said I was an asshole that might not ever change while Abbie listened in.
“Oh my god,” Cat says. “How did either of you not see him for what he is all those years?”
“A boy wants to idolize his father,” Carrie chimes in. “I think they both just needed him to be more than he was.”
“So did our mother,” Cat replies, “but I know you know that.”
“Of course,” Carrie says. “You know I know.”
“My question is: can he drag us all down with Abbie’s ex?” Cat says. “I mean, could he have set you all up to look like you did this by way of a company transaction? How much access does he still have?”
My gaze rockets to Reid’s. “He doesn’t. Right?”
Reid sits up a little straighter. “Suddenly I want to have Blake do a wide search and make sure there’s nothing with our names on it that we don’t know about.” He doesn’t wait for my approval, which he has. He pulls out his phone and makes the call on speaker, explaining his worries.
“I’m not where I can get on this now,” Blake says. “Give me a few hours, but I’ll let you know tonight.”
Reid disconnects the line and we all consider our worries. “I don’t think he’d set us up,” Reid says. “That would fuck his namesake.”
“It could get you out of the picture,” Cat says.
“Oh God,” Carrie murmurs. “You just kicked him out of the firm. Even a charge could ensure he needs to come back to satisfy the board.”
Her Submission Page 4