I frowned. “You didn’t feel that it was important to tell me.”
“At the time, I didn’t. My father handled it.”
“What was the argument about? Tell me everything you can remember, Abbie; don’t leave anything out.”
As she told me the story, I fumed, and by the end of it, I was more convinced that Trina was behind today’s incident. The car held the key to the mystery. Once I tied Trina to that, I had her, and this case would finally be closed.
I gave Abbie’s hand a squeeze before letting it go. “We’re going to figure out who this guy is.” And he or she was going to pay. I would make sure of it.
And if that didn’t go as I hoped, I had plenty of other contacts from my cop days. I hadn’t burned all my bridges, and I’d call in every damn favor owed to help Abbie.
I reached for my shoes. “First, we’re heading to your place and packing as many bags as you can carry. You’ll be staying with me until we catch this guy.”
“Okay.”
I’d expected a little resistance and was pleased she didn’t balk. The thought of her under my roof, in my bed… Oh yeah. That was right where she belonged.
“I need a list of any conflicts you’ve had in the past six months with anyone, no matter how small you think it might be.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod. “Okay. It’s just hard to believe it might be Trina. She knows you’re my bodyguard.”
“She also knows about my injury. It’s possible she called GDB, and they informed her of my leave. They wouldn’t have questioned her calling, since Dr. Parker is paying the bill.”
She ran her hands through her tight curls. She joked her hair would form an Afro from using my off-brand shampoo and conditioner in one. I was a guy and didn’t care about products. If it was on sale, I bought it.
“There is no question Trina does hate me. There is trouble in paradise and Dad may be close to kicking her to the curb. But why kill me? My father and I aren’t close.”
“Doesn’t make sense to me either,” I said.
“Knowing my dad’s track record, there could be a woman in the wings waiting to take Trina’s place already.”
My jaw tightened because I couldn’t force any words out. If Dr. Parker was planning to dump his second wife, what did that have to do with Abbie? Trina should set her fangs on the other woman.
The idea of anyone hurting Abbie made me see red, but I reined in the savage curse at the thought. I’d take care of her. No one was going to hurt my woman.
My woman? She is not your woman. Not until you open your damn mouth.
I grabbed her hand. “Come on. I thought about waiting until nightfall to do this, but I want people to see I am still around.
Abbie pulled her hand away. “Superman, I have to put on clothes. If I go out like this, we’ll get stares for another reason.”
I nodded as I scanned her barely clothed body. “Yeah, you should change.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Abbie
The smell was too much for me to take. Tears welled in my eyes at the destruction of my first home. It was a proud day when I’d signed on the dotted line. I had achieved a milestone on my own. My parents didn’t have to cosign or loan me money. This was mine and mine alone.
But here I stood frozen at the door, unable to force my feet to move. Dried blood, broken memories, and eeriness took over the place I’d once called my fortress.
“I know it’s a mess, Abbie. It can be cleaned and be as good as new. No one died here,” Beck said.
His gentle push forced me further inside. I watched where I stepped, even though the blood was dry and caked into the hardwood floors. I walked past my beautiful sofa Mom and I had spent weeks shopping for. It was ruined. Tables broken and turned over, lamps in pieces, picture frames broken.
Tears fell from my eyes. “My soul died here, Beck. I’ll never be comfortable living here again.”
“You don’t have to decide that tonight. Come on,” he said, taking my hand.
He led me to the bedroom—amazingly, it remained unscathed. The bed was unmade, but otherwise, it was the same. No damage to anything. Beck went to the closet, removed suitcases, and opened them up on the bed.
“Tell me what you want me to pack, and I’ll do it,” he said.
I shouldn’t have stayed away so long. Maybe the shock wouldn’t be so great if I’d come back the day or even two days after it had happened.
“I can do it.” I went to the closet and removed clothes, leaving them on the hangers. I passed them to Beck, who carefully folded and placed them into the suitcases.
We worked quietly until I had enough clothes to carry me for a month—not that I planned on staying with him that long. He hadn’t mentioned Chicago, and I wasn’t going to bring it up. He’d had time to think about it and probably decided it wasn’t a good idea for me to tag along. I would check into a hotel or visit my mom. We were due to spend a little mother/daughter time together.
I moved to the bathroom to get personal items and my hair-care products. My stylist would have a fit when she saw the brittle condition of my hair thanks to Beck’s Costco two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. The product was not made for black women’s hair.
One last scan of the vanity made sure I didn’t leave anything important behind. I wouldn’t be returning soon. I would contact a cleaning service and then a realtor to list the place. Despite what Beck thought, I would not be able to rest peacefully here ever again.
I found him in the living room sifting through the broken pieces of my life.
“What are you doing?” I asked. My stomach churned from the sight.
“Anything that will give me a clue about the guy. The operation was too proficient. How did he get in while we were sleeping? Who else has a key to your place?”
I shrugged. “No one other than Stella, Mom, and Dad.”
“We know it wasn’t them. What about security? Do they have keys to the units?”
“No.”
Beck rose to his feet. “And Sam’s replacement wasn’t at the desk when we came in. Hold on.”
I bit on the end of my thumbnail while Beck talked on the phone. He was efficient, and the cop in him showed me how much he loved protecting people.
It was presumptuous of me to assume he’d quit his job for me. But I couldn’t stand the thought of him guarding another woman’s body. I wasn’t looking for love when Beck landed on my father’s doorstep, yet here I was yearning in the worst way for him.
Another woman would find him just as irresistible. The thing with Beck was that he didn’t have to try hard. Liking him was natural. He could be bullheaded at times, but not in an annoying way.
Somewhere between here and there, I had fallen in love with this man. The concept seemed unfeasible. Eddie had held the keys to my heart until weeks ago. Was I using transference from Eddie to Beck? That would explain so much. Beck treated me the way a woman wanted and needed to be treated.
I sighed. He was hired to be kind to me. No… he was hired to protect you. Two different scenarios. Either way, being around Beck made me happy. Being in his arms made me feel sexy and desirable. His mouth, hands, and cock reached places only romance authors wrote about. My skin prickled with heat, then a sadness sheathed me. When this was over, Beck could be gone, and all his ministrations.
My phone rang, breaking my thoughts. “Hi, Mom,” I answered, trying my best to sound upbeat and not sexually charged at the memory of Beck’s hands on my body.
“Hey, sweetheart. Did I catch you at a bad time? You sound out of breath.”
Crap! Even hundreds of miles away, she could sense my mood. “Nope. I’m at the condo. It’s hard being here.”
“Abbie, are you alone? I’m going to call your father.”
“Mom, stop. Beck is with me. I’m getting a few clothes to stay elsewhere until I decide what to do with the condo.”
“Come home. You can get a job with a television station here, Abbie.”
“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it, Mom, but I’m not ready to move back to New York. Beck is sure we’re close to catching whoever this is.”
“Okay, baby; I’m not going to push. However, I do wonder what is going on with you and Beck. He seems to be a constant in your life. I like it.”
“He’s my bodyguard. Did I tell you how he ran interference when Eddie tried to weasel me into talking to him?”
“You did. Eddie realizes what he’s lost, and it’s too late for him.”
I had left my mother in the dark about so much. It was useless to tell her everything with her being so far away. I didn’t want her to worry about me.
“True, that ship has passed, but Eddie has more than me to worry about. He’s having a baby and getting married.”
“What! That ass. I could kill him for hurting you.”
My mother rarely used bad words—only when she was infuriated. “Gosh, Mom, calm down. I’m not upset anymore. Actually, I’m over Eddie and couldn’t care less about him getting married.”
“Really? You lived and breathed that man. Suddenly, you’re over him in a snap? Now I’m more intrigued about your bodyguard.”
“Beck has nothing to do with it. Maybe the shock of catching Eddie with another woman caused me to see we weren’t right together.”
“Is Beck right for you? I really need to meet this man.”
Beck entered the room, cutting off my response. “Um, Mom, I have to go. Beck is ready to load the car.”
“Darn. Talking about other stuff, I forgot to tell you the reason for my call. But it can wait.”
Mom’s voice was light and airy. Something had her soaring. A new man? Not likely. When we lived together, she’d never dated or gone out with a man except for work functions.
“No, tell me.”
“All right, I’ll give you the basics. Corporate is opening an office in Chicago. They want me to head it. I’ll be going there next weekend to check it out. Want to come with me?”
Wow! How did I answer that? Beck hadn’t mentioned the party, and my mother would be in Chicago around the same time. I had to talk to Beck before committing to a trip with my mother.
“Mom, I’ll have to get back to you with an answer. I have to check my schedule at work before I commit to going.”
“I understand, dear. Let me know as soon as you can. Ta-ta.”
I hung up. That was interesting. Mom was usually a happy person, but she sounded unusually happy today. It could’ve been because of the promotion and the prospect of moving to another city, but there was an undertone; it was slight, but I’d picked it up.
“Is everything okay?” Beck asked.
“Yes. That was my mother. I caught her up on my news, and she told me about what was going on in her life.”
“Oh yeah. What does she have going on in New York?”
I stepped over broken glass to sit in a chair not affected by the fight. The overstuffed chair was pristine and the only piece of furniture I’d probably keep.
“She got a huge promotion. Apparently, her firm is opening a branch in Chicago and want her to run it. She’ll be going there to check it out and asked me to come along.”
Beck’s dark eyes widened. “When?”
“Next weekend.” His body went stone-hard, jaw tight. “Beck, are you okay?”
“Yeah. That’s great for your mom; she’ll love Chicago.” He walked over to the chair. “I was hoping you’d join me in Chicago next weekend. We were supposed to talk about it, then shit got in the way.”
My heart raced. He did want me to go.
“I understand if you want to go with your mother. She comes before me,” he said.
I was bullheaded and should have said something earlier, but now I had to choose whom to go with. I loved my mother, but she would drag me to boring meet-and-greet dinners, leaving me at the table to fend for myself. I’d been in the position before and hated it. We would do some shopping too if there were time. But going with Beck meant nights out on the town, a hotel room with a view of him in the bed. The two of us tangled in the sheets.
I squeezed my legs together at that thought. Yeah, sexy nights with a hot man, or hanging out with my mother and her colleagues. The scales tipped in Beck’s favor, but I’d fit a day in with my mother somewhere.
I stood up quickly, causing him to step back. “I’ll go with you if you want me to. I’ll make time for my mother somewhere.”
He lifted his eyebrow as if I was unsure of my choice. “Okay, but only if your mother won’t be upset. I don’t want to step on her toes when I haven’t met her yet.”
I chuckled. “I accompanied my mother on many work trips growing up. They are not fun for me.”
Beck smiled. “It’s settled. Next weekend we’ll be in Chicago. I hope this trip will be fun for you; my family can be a handful.”
“Sounds like fun, but what will your family think when they see me? Will I suddenly be a topic of conversation? Will you be pulled aside and your sanity checked?”
He put his hands on his hips. The annoyed frown on his face stated that I’d said too much. “Really, Abbie. My family doesn’t hold KKK meetings in the backyard once a month. They are civilized and have been around black people before.”
“From past experiences, it’s best to let people know upfront. I’ve dated outside my race and caught parents by surprise, which didn’t end well.”
A smirk crossed his face. “I’ll be sure to let my family know I’m bringing a local celebrity who happens to be a beautiful woman of color.”
“You should let them know how I love to make you blush. You do that a lot when I tease you.”
“So you have a little power over me. I can handle the teasing.”
I licked my lips, and his skin turned rosy. Beck was incredibly strong and sexy, and I had the power to literally bring him to his knees. That knowledge was so erotic that it made every part of me tingle in anticipation for what could be between us.
He shook his head and laughed, pulling me up from the chair. “Let’s get out of here; I’m hungry.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Beck
One week later
After we checked into the hotel, I ushered Abbie toward the elevator. At the last minute, we’d decided to fly instead of drive. In under two hours, we were in Chicago and on the way to our room.
I hadn’t called my mother, since she wasn’t expecting us until much later. The drive from Cleveland to Chicago was about six hours if no construction slowed our travel. No delays at the airport had us checking into the Sheraton Grand Chicago with hours to spare before the party tonight.
I let us into the suite that had great views of downtown and the river. I’d missed these sights. I missed the busy streets. I was finally home. I rolled the suitcases over to the closet. We were only going to be here for three days, but Abbie had enough stuff for longer.
She stood at the window, admiring the view from our twentieth-floor unit. I would have never booked a room in this hotel, but Abbie deserved the best, or what my budget would allow. She offered to pay for the room, but I declined.
“This is so beautiful,” she said. Bright sunlight from the picture window formed a glow around Abbie. It bounced off the yellow sundress, which created a silhouette of her body.
“When you’re ready, we can take a walk downtown before going to the party tonight.”
She turned to face me. “That’d be great. Just being away from Cleveland gives me a sense of relief. I’m going to enjoy this mini-vacation.”
Being followed on a plane was impossible. Had we driven, that’d be different. Either way, I wasn’t letting my guard down. When we were ready to leave, I’d make sure the coast was clear of any danger.
Davonte had not located Clinton, and Zane was watching my apartment while I was away. The only person who knew Abbie’s whereabouts was Stella. Abbie didn’t tell her father she was leaving. There was no use in upsetting Dr. Parker and putting the blame on Tr
ina until I had proof.
“That is the plan. What do you want to do first?” I asked. I knew what I wanted to do.
She didn’t hesitate when I said I would be staying with her. My detail as her bodyguard didn’t stop because we weren’t in Cleveland.
Abbie leaned against the window. “Beck, what are we doing? Seriously, what?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I’m offering to show you my city. Is there a problem with that?”
“Of course not. You’re pretending not to understand, but you know. We are playing with our hearts. When this is over, how do we part ways with no hurt?”
The lump in my throat grew large. I had to find a way to talk around it. “Hurting you is not my intention. But what do you want after this is over?”
She lowered her head to look at her feet. They were pretty feet, encased in strappy-heeled sandals, with toes the color of purple blossoms. Abbie was a fashion magnet, and I’d never seen her not put together. From head to toe, she was neat, clean, and fucking sexy.
“Eddie hurt me, but what I feel for you has nothing to do with him. When we part, I don’t know how I’ll handle not being with you or touching you.”
Say something, idiot… Tell her how you feel. “Who says it has to end, Abbie? True, I won’t be your bodyguard, but that will be a plus. We can do whatever we want without me checking with my bosses for approval.”
She slowly walked over to me. “Yes, I know. But I’m talking about your heart.” She pressed a finger to my chest. “Are you over your ex-girlfriend? You don’t talk about her. We’re in Chicago and could run into her. How would you handle that?”
My skin warmed from her touch. Abbie had a way of making my body respond when I should be in total control of my senses.
“Really, you need me to spell it out?” She reached up and pulled off the elastic band holding her hair in a ponytail, then fingered the curls. I tracked her movements, hunger in my gaze.
I rolled my shoulders and stood up straight, not taking my eyes off her. I was in control of this, I told myself. Her closeness would not collapse my will or make me go weak in the knees.
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