58. Chapter 58
Chapter fifty-eight
Gabe
A bbie 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. “No, 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.”
“Holy fuck,” Reid and I say at the same moment.
Abbie stands up and I’m on my feet in a heartbeat, facing her. “Please tell me I didn’t give him a free pass to hurt you? Please tell me I didn’t ruin you?”
I cup her face. “Easy, Abbie, baby. We’re okay. Our father can’t win. He won’t win.”
“You’re telling me you think he might really have done this? Is he capable of such a thing?”
I don’t want to answer her. I don’t want her to know that my father, the man I’m a spawn of, is capable of such evil, but now is not the time to protect her from the truth. “Yes. Yes, I believe my father capable of such a thing. I believe he’d do anything to win and come out on top.”
“Even murder Kenneth and frame his own sons?”
“Yes, baby, even that.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I can’t let this happen to you.”
“We don’t know anything right now. This is speculation done to protect ourselves. And you. I’m going to protect you.”
She twists away from me and goes down on her knees in front of Cat and Reese. “Protect them. I’ll get another attorney. Please protect them even if you have to throw me under the bus.”
My heart squeezes. The only woman I’ve ever let close to me all but buried me. This one, this one, would bury herself for me. And I won’t let her.