53. Chapter 53
Chapter fifty-three
Abbie
D id I want my ex dead?
That question hangs in the air between myself and Reese while the entire room waits for my answer.
“No,” I say finally, too many seconds later. “I didn’t want him dead. I have never wished anyone dead. Not even him.”
Reese doesn’t immediately reply. He’s intimidating, his eyes probing and intense. My nerves bristle and I grip Gabe’s hand where it rests on my knee under the table.
“It took you a long time to answer that question,” Reese says, leaning in closer.
“You didn’t ask if I killed Kenneth or even if I hired someone to kill him,” I say. “You asked if I ever wanted him dead. If you’d have asked me those questions, my reply would have been fast. No, I didn’t kill him. No, I didn’t hire someone to kill him. But as to the question, did I ever want him dead? I hated him enough to need to consider my reply. I wanted to be honest.”
Reese arches a brow. “Were you?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you hate him?” Reese asks.
Why?
One word manages to be such a complicated, emotional, and personal question. A question that cuts and digs and bites. A question that exposes a part of me that I don’t even want to know as me. A part of me that was weak, so very weak. I never want to be that weak again.
I look down, aware of the audience, uncomfortable with them. Uncomfortable with this answer reflecting my life.
“Leave us alone,” Reese orders the room.
“No,” I say quickly, meeting his stare. “You’re going to tell Cat and I’m going to tell Gabe and one or all of you will tell Reid. They might as well stay.”
“As your legal counsel,” Reese replies, “should I become your legal counsel, I can assure you privacy, even with them.”
“But what does that achieve?” I challenge. “These people are all protecting me. They deserve to know who I am.” I don’t give him time to argue. “Kenneth threatened me often.” I glance at Gabe. “You know that, at least to some degree. You saw—”
“Yes,” Gabe confirms. “I saw.”
“Expand on the word threatened for me,” Reese urges. “How did he threaten you?”
“Words mostly,” I say and because I can’t choke the rest of the sentence out while looking at Gabe, I look at Reese and add, “but he could be physically abusive as well.”
Gabe pulls me around to him again. “That bastard hit you?”
I swallow hard. “Yes, Gabe. He hit me. He hit me and I know staying with him despite that was foolish but it was all about my mother. I had to protect my mother. I know that seems weak but—”
“Weak?” Gabe demands. “You think I think you’re weak? You are not weak. You weren’t weak by staying and you don’t need to defend yourself in this room or to me. He was the asshole. He was the abuser.”
Emotion wells in my chest and clogs my throat. “I should have found a way out.”
“You did,” Gabe says. “You got out.”
“Gabe’s right on all points,” Reese states. “You don’t need to defend yourself with us.” He waits for me to look at him and then adds, “Unfortunately, abuse does provide the police with a motive for you to kill Kenneth.”
“I didn’t kill him,” I bite out vehemently. “I didn’t do this. I didn’t hire someone to do this.”
“Relax baby,” Gabe says, catching my hand. “He’s just stating facts.”
“I believe you,” Reese replies. “Gabe’s right again. This is about facts and strategy. We’ll decide what you need to share and with who when we know more about the murder.”
“Then you’ll represent me?” I ask.
“Yes,” Reese says. “I will. I believe you’re innocent and from what I’ve been told by Reid and Walker Security, there were plenty of people who wanted your ex dead. But I need to ask a direct question and get an honest answer. You said you were protecting your mother. Explain that.”
“He threatened to hurt her if I left.”
“And yet you left.”
“Yes, well eventually he cared more for his other women, and less about me. It was like the bars came off the windows. He lost interest in me. I think he had a real thing for one of them. He asked for a divorce.” I give a choked laugh. “It was the best day of my life to this point.”
“ He asked for the divorce?” Reid asks, looking confused, his gaze shooting to Gabe’s, before returning to mine. “Why didn’t you ask for a fair settlement?”
“He told me if I did, he’d punish me in creative ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine. I couldn’t believe he allowed me to keep the shelter but that felt safe. How could that possibly backfire on me? And yet, it did.”
“Okay, Abbie,” Reese says. “I think, for now, we’re close to wrapping up.”
Abbie. They all call me Abbie. Because of Gabe. Because he’s shaping my life in ways I don’t yet understand but I want to. I so want to. “Help Gabe stay out of this, Reese. Please. Put him first. He’s what matters to me.”
“I’m going to help you both,” he replies. “If I’m even needed. If we’re lucky this doesn’t go beyond some basic questioning. They may have their man. I know only what you know,” he says. “And that’s not much, certainly nothing official.” He pauses a split second. “I’ll make a preemptive call on my way back into court, but if you’re contacted by the police, tell them I’m your attorney and that you’re dating my brother-in-law. That lets them know I won’t let you talk and that I’m prone to being extra cautious on this one.”
“That’s great,” I say. “Thank you.”
“I’ll let them know that I’m representing your mother as well, for the moment,” he continues. “I need to meet her before I’ll say that goes beyond initial law enforcement contact. Fair enough?”
“Yes,” I say, relieved. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed,” Reese assures me. “Now. Aside from me talking to Gabe, which I can do later tonight, is there anything else I need to cover with you, Abbie?”
“Yes actually,” I say. “There’s something you need to know before you make a call on my behalf.”
Reese laces his fingers in front of him, settling in for more. “I’m all ears.”
But so are Cat and Reid. I glance at Gabe and he nods. “Tell him. Reid knows. Cat is under a confidentiality clause with Reese’s firm.”
Tell his siblings that I all but killed my ex? Of course. Why not let them hate me right out of the gate? “My ex was threatening Gabe. He was threatening my mother. Bottom line, I not only told Jean Claude Laurette that my ex stole from him, but I gave him proof by email. I knew Jean Claude was a dangerous man but I believed he’d fire him not kill him.”
“Telling Jean Claude about your ex stealing from him is not the same as contracting someone to kill him,” Reese assures me. “You’re fine.” He winks. “You have me.” He looks at Gabe, and almost nonchalantly, says. “Did you kill him?”
“No,” Gabe states.
“Did you hire someone to kill him?”
“No,” Gabe says again.
“Do you know who did?”
“No,” Gabe replies. “But if I did, I’d send them flowers and chocolate. He was a snake, as is Jean Claude.”
“A snake you and Reid worked for,” Reese counters.
“I worked for him,” Reid states. “Gabe wasn’t in that circle. It was me and my father.”
Gabe looks at Cat. “He’s involved, Cat.”
Cat frowns. “Who?”
“Dad. He’s doing legal work for Jean Claude again now that he left the firm and Jean Claude had investments with Abbie’s ex.”
“Oh God,” she whispers, eyeing Reese. “What if he did this to pin it on Gabe and Reid? As payback for pushing him out of the firm?”
“Your father’s a dick, baby,” Reese says. “But that hurts his legacy.”
“He’s already lost his legacy,” Cat argues. “A trapped animal in a corner shows his teeth.”
“You underestimate our teeth, sister,” Reid assures her. “And we don’t even have to be angry to show them.”
Someone opens the door. “We need you, Reese.”
“On my way,” Reese calls over his shoulder, before looking at me. “I need to speak to your mother.”
“We’re flying her in from the Hamptons,” Gabe supplies.
“Call Cat when she arrives,” Reese instructs. “She’ll communicate with me.”
Gabe nods at Reese and Cat pats the table in front of me. “Be strong. This will all work out.” She’s sweet and kind, her support appreciated but I don’t miss the way her voice is now a different octave, defeat just below the surface. Her father’s involvement has changed this for her. She’s worried and I’m not sure what to make of just how worried.
She and Reese stand, followed by Reid, and in a splatter of fast activity, Gabe and I are left to watch the door seal us inside the room alone, every mistake I’ve made since meeting Gabe tormenting me with its closure; the only kind of closure we have right now. Kenneth is the only one who has closure. The kind you don’t come back from.