Chapter 19
Toby
My phone beeped with the tone I’d assigned for Liza as I opened my office door, returning from lunch. I pulled it out, happy to hear from her.
We need to talk ASAP. I just pulled in at the hospital.
I replied immediately and told her to come on up to my office as my imagination went wild with wondering what could be so urgent that we had to talk right away.
But I was glad to see her. I’d missed her over the past few days.
She’d been preparing for her pinning ceremony and applying for jobs.
I was ready for a little quality time with her.
I hadn’t even set my phone down before Liza knocked on my door. I opened it excitedly, but my grin fell as soon as I saw who was there.
“Abby. What can I do for you?” My voice was stiff, but at least I was polite. It was a lot more than I wanted to be. “We didn’t have a meeting, did we?”
She leaned against the doorframe and positioned her arms to press her breasts out of the top of her button-down shirt. “I just wanted to stop in and say hello. And apologize.”
The only emotion I could sense was regret, which was very confusing. Had she turned over a new leaf? That would’ve been very helpful. Then all I’d have to do was deal with Dax and we’d be fine.
Then Abby continued. “I just saw Liza out with another man. They looked so cozy.” She shrugged, pushing her breasts out even more as she smiled at me.
I stilled but I didn’t believe her, so I just waited to see what other lie she had for me.
Dax’s face flashed through my mind, but I wasn’t worried.
Liza was too smart to go back to that asshat.
But then her texts came to mind. What if she was telling me that she’d changed her mind?
“Oh, don’t worry, hon.” Abby reached out to touch my arm, but I stepped back. “The young ones are flighty.” She stepped forward and advanced on me, ignoring the fact that I was backing away.
And damn my tiny office. I ended up pressed against the desk until she was damn near chest to chest to me.
“I’m here,” she said in a husky voice. “If you need comfort.”
My tattoo stung, burning on my arm to tell me Liza was near, but it was too late.
“Am I interrupting something?”
I leaned farther back, trying to escape Abby, but I couldn’t get around. Abby smiled, a devious, triumphant grin, and turned. She sashayed out the door, then once past Liza, turned back to me. “Have a nice chat.”
Liza’s face hardened even more as she turned and glared at Abby. But when Abby was out of sight down the hall and Liza walked in, her glare fixed on me. “What the hell was that?”
“I can’t keep ignoring her behavior. I’m going to have to go to HR about her. Don’t worry about it, though. I’ll figure out how to deal with her.” Abby’s words flashed through my head. “So, where are you coming from? Why the rush to meet?”
She looked confused. “I just had some lunch, why? I came straight here because I have something important to tell you.” She sat on the couch and sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d spoken to my mother?”
I sighed and sat across from her, scooting my desk chair closer.
“Sorry, I was going to. When I got to your place, you were so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin your good mood.
Then it slipped my mind after that, because it didn’t matter.
She told me I should leave you to Dax, but obviously I’m not going to do that, so I didn’t think twice about it. ”
“My mother causing problems or attempting to cause problems is important. It does matter, and you should’ve told me.”
“Is it about Dax?” I asked. Something had happened to get her all upset. “Was it him you were with at lunch?”
She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about? I ran through a drive-through on the way here because I was famished, but I was alone.”
“Abby said she’d just seen you with a man getting all cozy.” I shrugged, trying to play off my moment of paranoia so it didn’t seem so much like I was a jealous monster. I just wanted to know if she was about to come in here and break my heart or not.
“How could you?” she whispered. “After all Abby has put me through, how could you think for one second that any word out of her mouth is in any way the truth?”
She stood and glared at me as I struggled to find the right words to say. All the clues had lined up to give me an inkling of doubt.
“She wants you all to herself and she’s made that perfectly clear,” Liza said. “I’m so angry that you’d even consider the notion that I’d do something like cozy up to Dax, especially after what I went through today, the reason I was rushing over here to talk to you.”
It was my turn to jump up. “What? What did you go through?”
She turned her arm over and when I saw the massive bruise, adrenaline coursed through me and my dragon roared for retribution. It was clearly a handprint. “Did he do that?” I asked, my words coming out more growl than voice.
“Yes. Dax assaulted me today and I was coming to see you because I needed someone in my corner, to help me decide what to do about the police, but when I get here, you accused me of having a cozy lunch with the very man who caused this bruise!”
My whole body shook as I fought off the desire to fly out of the hospital—literally—and rip Dax’s head off of his body.
Liza’s demeanor changed and she stepped forward and put her hands on my cheeks. “Toby, calm down. Your eyes are shifted again.”
“I don’t care,” I growled. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was coming here to see Abby and try to make her see reason,” she whispered, her hands still on me.
It was a good thing she kept touching me, because it was only her presence that kept me from fully shifting in my office. Hell, I’d barely fit in here fully shifted. “Then what?” I asked.
“Dax and Shelby were arguing in the parking lot. They saw me and Dax tried to talk me into leaving you. When I tried to walk away, he grabbed my arm and yanked me to him, hard, then didn’t let go.”
It became harder and harder to breathe. The room was suffocating me. “I have to get out of here.”
“Toby,” Liza whispered. She pulled my head down so my forehead touched hers. “I’m okay. It’s just a bruise. We have to let the police handle it.”
Staring down at her with my altered vision, I breathed as deep as I could and tried to control the rage. She was beautiful, her big green eyes wide and pleading. “Dax has to pay,” I whispered through my clenched teeth. “You’re my mate. It’s my job to protect you.”
Pulling her closer, I buried my face in her neck and breathed in her scent. “I’m sorry I got jealous,” I whispered. “I’m an idiot. I never doubted you. I just worry that you’re too good to be true.”
As I calmed, my senses began to open up, and I realized she smelled like fear.
“I’d never hurt you,” I said once I was pretty sure my eyes had shifted back. I looked down into Liza’s eyes.
“I’m not scared of you,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m scared of what you’ll do to Dax if you see him. I don’t want you to get into any trouble. Dax is human. You’ve got to remember that.”
I nodded and pulled her into my arms again, sitting on the couch with my mate in my lap. “I’ll do it your way. But if it fails, I’m personally making sure he never bothers you again.”
She tightened her grip around my neck. “Deal.”