“You’re telling me out of all your enforcers, he’s the only one who can do this job?”
Abraham shrugged. “He’s the only one I trust with her safety. This is for El, Callie.”
Her angry eyes darted from Abraham to me and I really wished he’d left me out of it. I wasn’t thrilled with having a babysitter, either, and if it was going to upset Callie so much, I’d rather have dropped the whole thing.
“I’ll stay out of your way,” Wyatt finally spoke up.
All of us turned to him but his eyes were trained on Callie.
“Not good enough,” she said.
He pushed off the wall and stood to his full, impressive height. “There’s someone out there that’s willing to snap a cat’s neck and nail them to your door, and it seems like their sights are set on Elizabeth. You’re going to let whatever’s between us get in the way of protecting her?”
Callie’s face turned redder the longer we stood there, and I was genuinely worried for her. It couldn’t be healthy for her face to turn that color. Finally, the most menacing sound I’d ever heard come from the middle McCoy sister rumbled out of her chest and she threw her hands in the air.
“Fine. But I don’t want to see you. You stay in this office and the hell away from me.”
With that, she spun around and stormed down the hall to her office. We were all silent and still until we heard her door slam violently.
Abraham and I both turned to Wyatt who was still looking toward where Callie had disappeared. The expression on his face was impossible to read and I wondered how he felt about all this. Or what happened between them to make her so angry.
Finally, Abraham spoke up. “I don’t know what you did to piss her off like that, but I suggest you fix it.”
Wyatt tore his gaze away from the empty hallway and turned to Abraham. “I’ll do my best.”
I really didn’t envy Wyatt in that moment. It took a lot to get Callie to that place and I doubted it would be an easy road working his way back into her good graces. Whatever he’d done was going to take some serious work to undo. I hoped he was ready.
Chapter 31
I stood in front of the large mirror in Evey’s room and admired her work. I was wearing a tight white dress that wrapped around curves I didn’t even know I had. My hair was curled and draped around my shoulders and my makeup was smoky with a bright red lip.
“I did good, didn’t I?”
I turned to find the youngest McCoy sibling with a smug smile spread across her pretty face.
It was Saturday night and Del had a show downtown. I used to complain when Evey insisted on dressing and making me up like I was her personal life-sized Barbie doll, but I didn’t anymore. Honestly, leaving the decisions up to her took the pressure off me and she enjoyed it so much, who was I to take that away from her?
“You did good, Evey. I look great.”
She scoffed. “Of course you do. Now, I have three-inch heels and six-inch heels. What’ll it be?”
Looked like I wasn’t giving her complete control after all.
“I’ll take flats.”
“Flats?!” she yelled like I’d just suggested she cut her arm off and use it as a baseball bat.
“Yes, flats.”
“You can’t wear flats with that dress!”
“Watch me.”
“Ellie, be reasonable.”
I turned away from the mirror to face my future sister-in-law. I loved her, but sometimes her love for fashion overruled her common sense.
“Evey, I’m gonna be standing in a concert venue all night and I don’t wanna do that in heels.” She looked like she was going to keep arguing, which forced me to throw in a threat. “I’ll go change into jeans and sneakers instead.”
Her eyes narrowed, and I knew she was trying to think of a way to convince me to wear her ridiculous heels. Finally, she sighed and tossed the offending footwear aside. “Fine! But I’m pickin’ ‘em out.”
I smiled and shrugged. “Sure.”
She turned for her closet, grumbling the whole way about ungrateful women who know nothing about fashion. I chuckled and turned back to the mirror. Unfortunately, the humor was short-lived.
Now that I wasn’t fighting with Evey, my mind raced back to the one thing I hadn’t been able to get off my mind all week.
Abraham was leaving in two days. And he was going to be gone for at least five. Maybe more.
I gulped and watched my made-up face fall into the same expression I’d been sporting since he’d given me the news. My eyes were sad and lifeless, my lips turned down at the corners, and there were new lines marring my forehead.
I’d continued to feel sick all week every time I’d gone to work, and my stomach curled just thinking about how bad I was going to feel with him gone for so long. But that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t want him to leave.
Abraham had become an essential part of my life. A limb I never knew I needed but now couldn’t live without. What was I going to do with myself without him for so long?
“You thinkin’ about Abey?” Evey asked from behind me.
I spun around to face her, doing my best to paste a smile on my face. “Huh?”
She pursed her lips and raised a brow at me. “You can’t fool me, Ellie. You’ve been like this all week. You think we haven’t noticed?”
I blew out a deep breath and, with it, my shoulders slumped, and the smile slipped from my face. If I wasn’t fooling anybody, why waste the energy pretending I was okay?
“Yeah, I’m thinking about him.”
She crossed the space between us and linked her arm through mine. “He won’t be gone that long.”
I nodded. “I know. I just don’t want him to be gone at all.”
Half her mouth ticked up into a smile. “You’ll have all of us. I promise to not leave your side for a single minute.”
I gave her a weak smile. “Thanks, Evey.”
She sighed. “I know it won’t make you miss him any less.”
I shook my head. She was right, it wouldn’t. Knowing I wouldn’t be alone was nice, but nothing compared to having my fiancé home where he belonged.
“You two used to spend days apart all the time,” Evey reminded me.
I nodded. “Yeah, but that was before.”
“Before what?”
I shrugged. “Before I knew I loved him. Before the whole mess with Calvin. Before we got engaged. Things were so different back then and I’d somehow convinced myself I was fine without him. I wasn’t really, but that delusion did a lot to help me get through the time we spent apart.”
I sighed and looked down at my bare feet. “Now, I know how much I need him. I know how important he is to me. I know who I am when I’m with him and who I am without him and I don’t want to be that woman again.”
Evey blew out a breath and tightened her arm around mine. “He won’t be gone for long, Ellie. And this is an important trip. He’s doin’ this for you.”
I sighed again. “I know he is. That just makes it worse.”
She reached out to rub my arm as we stood there silently. I knew she could tell how upset I was, and it was obvious there wasn’t anything that was going to make this better.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. We needed allies if we were going to be able to defend ourselves against the Charlotte pack. I needed to suck it up and put on my big girl panties.
Thankfully, I’d been able to hide how upset I was from Abraham for the most part. He could tell something was wrong, but I just played it off like it was work that was bothering me. It didn’t feel good to lie to him, but I knew it was necessary. If he realized how upset his impending trip was making me, he’d cancel it and we couldn’t afford that. There was a conflict on our horizon, and we needed all the help we could get.
I pulled my arm from Evey’s and pasted
on the brightest smile I could manage. “Let’s stop talking about it. It’s only five days. I’ll survive.”
She eyed me for a moment before shrugging. “I know you will. You’re stronger than you think.”
I hoped she was right.
There was a knock on her door right before it was thrown open and Callie and Beatrice spilled into the room. Both women were in tight dresses and high heels, looking like they belonged on the runway.
“You guys ready?” Callie asked.
Things had been tense between us since Wyatt was assigned as my bodyguard. She hardly talked to me and I’d barely seen her. I knew she was trying to keep her distance from Wyatt, but it felt like she was keeping it from me instead. I was glad we were all going out together tonight. I’d missed her.
“I just need to find Ellie some shoes and we’re ready to go,” Evey said before she scurried into her massive walk-in closet.
Callie walked up to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “You look beautiful, Ellie.”
I smiled at my friend. “So, do you, Callie.”
She sighed and pulled me closer. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant all week.”
I gave her a small smile. “It’s okay, I get it.” But then I thought more about it and decided to be honest. “Actually, I don’t really get it.”
She sighed again and averted her eyes. “It’s kind of a long story.”
I slid my arm around her waist and squeezed. “I’d love to hear it someday.”
She looked back up at me and smiled, her pale blue eyes clear. “Okay. I promise I’ll fill you in.”
I squeezed her again and her smile widened.
“Are we ready to go, ladies?”
We both turned to find Abraham standing in the doorway, looking so damn handsome he took my breath away. He had on dark blue jeans, his typical work boots, and a plaid short-sleeved shirt. Damn, I was a lucky woman.
My eyes met his, and he smiled so wide I almost couldn’t look directly at him. He crossed the room, his eyes locked on mine and I pulled away from Callie. When he was close enough to reach me, he wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me against his chest.
“You look so damn beautiful,” he said, his nose pressed against my neck.
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.”
He pulled back and shot me an unimpressed look. “Men aren’t beautiful, babe.”
I shrugged. “Well, you are.”
“I think I prefer devastatingly handsome.”
My head fell back with a loud laugh and I felt the earlier tension melt from my body. “Okay, devastatingly handsome. I can get behind that.”
He leaned closer and whispered in my ear. “And I’ll be getting behind you later.”
“Ugh, we can hear you!” Beatrice whined from across the room.
I giggled and pressed a kiss on his lips before pulling out of his arms. If I didn’t put some distance between us, I knew his sisters would be in for more bedroom talk.
Evey rushed over to me with a pair of nude flats and shoved them into my arms. “That’s the best I can do with your absurd demands.”
I rolled my eyes at Abraham. “Apparently not wanting to kill my feet in high heels all night is a ridiculous request.”
He shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. “What’s wrong with you, El? Why would you do that to her?”
I chuckled as Evey narrowed her eyes at the both of us. “I’ve already had enough of you two.”
I looked at Abraham and we both laughed. Evey sighed and turned to grab her purse. “If you two are done bein’ annoyin’, can we go?”
We were still chuckling as Evey stormed out of the room followed by the rest of the sisters. I reached down to slide the shoes on my feet and sighed in satisfaction. I was so glad I’d stood up to Evey and demanded reasonable footwear. Which wasn’t always an easy thing to do. The smallest and youngest of the McCoy quintuplets was also often the most tenacious.
Abraham wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me out of Evey’s room and down to the first floor. The girls were already piled into the back of Abraham’s truck and he helped me into the passenger side before taking his seat behind the wheel.
“Where is this place, anyway?”
Abraham navigated the steep gravel drive before heading toward the highway.
“It’s at the same venue as last time.”
A heaviness settled between us in the truck. Last time we’d been to one of Del’s shows, I’d almost shifted in front of everyone. Peyton had been there, hanging all over Abraham and purposely riling me up. My blood boiled just thinking about it.
Abraham reached over and squeezed my thigh. “Things will be different this time,” he said softly.
Thankfully, the other women were in the back seat chatting amongst themselves, so I didn’t think they heard him. I didn’t need them knowing I was still upset about that night.
Once I’d caught Peyton all over him for the second time, I’d left the venue to get some air, but Calvin found me and offered me a ride home. I barely suppressed a shiver just thinking about how many times I’d been alone with him. How many times he could have hurt me or worse.
After Abraham figured out I’d left and gone back to the lodge, he’d sped home to confront me. He’d asked me repeatedly not to just take off, that it wasn’t safe for me, and I’d been too upset to care. When he got to the lodge, we’d had a huge fight and gone to bed separately. Thankfully, I’d come to my senses a few hours later and apologized, but that night was still fresh in my memory.
I remained quiet while Abraham drove us toward the venue and the thoughts continued to swirl around my head. What I needed to do was let the past go. There was nothing I could do to change it and I shouldn’t have let it darken my present. I had precious few hours left with Abraham and I wanted to spend them without a black cloud hanging over my head.
Just like last time, Abraham stopped his truck at the front doors and helped us all out. He gave me a kiss and promised to find me as soon as he parked.
Evey must have sensed there was something wrong because she linked her arm with mine and led me inside.
“What’s goin’ on in that pretty head of yours?” she asked as we followed Callie and Beatrice.
I sighed and shrugged. “Just letting some ghosts haunt me.”
She shook my arm until I had to look at her. “You talkin’ about the last time we were here?” I shrugged again, and her smile turned grim. “I know that was a bad night for you, but this is a new day. Don’t let what happened back then keep affectin’ you now.”
She was saying what I already knew, but somehow, hearing it from someone else helped. I gave myself a little shake and pulled my lips into a smile.
We were there to support Del. Her music career was doing better than ever, and this show was proof of that. When last time she’d been the opening act, tonight she was the headliner. I was so proud of her I could have burst. I needed to remember why we were there and let go of what happened last time.
We grabbed drinks at the bar and turned to find places to stand that were close enough to the stage that Del would be able to see us. She claimed she always had a better show when we were in the crowd, and we would all have done anything to support her.
I was just wondering when Abraham would get inside when two thick arms wrapped around me from behind and I was tugged into a hard chest. The scent of spearmint and soap engulfed my senses and I knew my man had found me.
“Hey, baby. You get me a drink too?” I held up the beer in my other hand and he kissed my cheek. “That’s why I love you.”
I turned to him with a raised brow. “Is that the only reason?”
He took a big swallow of beer, his eyes trained on me. When he tipped the bottle back down, he leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “It’s just one
of many, baby. One of hundreds. You want me to list ‘em?”
I smirked and shrugged a shoulder. “Why don’t you tell me one or two?”
He smiled against the side of my neck and breathed me in deeply. “Okay, well there’s how fucking sexy you look in this dress.”
I bit my lip and nodded. “Okay, go on.”
His arms tightened around my waist. “Then there’s the way your big brown eyes light up when I walk in a room,” he whispered against my skin.
A shiver ran down my spine and I squeezed the glass in my hand. “What else?” I asked, my voice breathy.
“Then there’s–”
“Hello, Abey.”
I froze in place, my heart thundering a mile a minute. Slowly, as one, we turned to the sound of the high-pitched voice that was way too close for comfort.
Standing just a few feet away was none other than Peyton, with a smug smile on her face.
A million thoughts swam in my mind, but the only one I voiced was, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Chapter 32
“Have you guys missed me?”
My stomach flipped deep inside me and I felt like I was going to be sick. “Not in the least.”
Peyton narrowed her eyes at me before turning back to Abraham. “Hey, Abey. How’ve you been?”
His shoulders were tensed, and his jaw was tight. “What are you doing here, Peyton?”
She shrugged. “I’m here to see Del perform.”
“She doesn’t need your support. You shouldn’t be here.”
Fire flashed in her black eyes. “It’s a free country and these aren’t McCoy lands. I can be here if I want.”
Abraham shook his head and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Fine. But stay the hell away from us.”
He turned us around but her high-pitched voice rang out again. “I didn’t know he was going to hurt her!”
We slowly spun back around to face her.
“What?” Abraham asked, his voice quiet and deadly.
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