Chapter 10
A muted knock on the outside door awoke Abby.
She blinked and turned to see Noah sprawled on his stomach, taking up most of the bed, his head turned away from her.
His back only held a couple of bruises, light ones, so at least that part of his body had been spared.
She slid from the bed and drew on her clothes that she’d gathered last night in one place.
Not caring if she was keeping somebody waiting, she quickly used the bathroom and found a new toothbrush to use.
She washed makeup off her face and smoothed back her hair the best she could.
Then she walked out into the chilly living room and looked through the peephole.
A second later, she opened the door. “Coffee,” she mumbled, staring at the holder with three coffees.
“Here,” Tabitha said, quickly handing one over. She frowned, scrutinizing Abby. Then she lifted her nose and... sniffed? “Oh my. You okay?”
“Hmmm.” Abby took a big drink of the coffee and backed up, not caring in the slightest that she probably looked a mess.
She took another drink. “Are you here to see Noah?” Jealousy reared up hard and fast along with the caffeine hit.
Of course other women would be interested in the hard-bodied badass.
“No. I came here for you,” Tabitha said, looking way too put together in her gray skirt, pink shirt, and matching jacket. “I called Mariana, who gave me Raine’s number, who told me you were probably here. It’s Monday morning, and I need you to get to work.”
Work. She’d forgotten all about her new job.
She glanced back at the bedroom. “Noah was hurt yesterday, and I’m not quite sure how, to be honest, and he’s still sleeping.
” Her body, on the other hand, felt pretty damn good.
Relaxed and somehow lighter. No more aches or pains.
She rubbed her neck, which still felt a little odd.
Bite marks ran along her fingers. He had bitten her! How odd. Sexy, but odd.
“Um, okay.” Tabi backed away. “So. You’re with Noah. That’s great. I mean, wonderful. Did he, ah, explain about his, well, family?”
“No.” Abby frowned, sipping more coffee. “Why? Does that matter?”
The stunning blonde just stared for a couple of moments. “Yes. That matters,” she breathed. She looked at Abby’s neck. “He bit you. Did he say anything about that?”
“No.” Abby rubbed her neck again. So there was a mark. “That’s odd, right? But he was concussed and drunk, and I guess he lost control a little bit.” It felt weird to be talking about such intimate moments with a stranger, but it wasn’t like she had friends in town.
“Oh. Okay. Well, how about we start tomorrow? You and Noah should probably talk, and then we can, you know, start working?” Tabi’s eyes widened, and her face paled.
Abby sipped her coffee. “What’s wrong with you?” She looked back toward the bedroom and then to the small woman. “I mean, we’re both consenting adults.”
Tabi snorted. Actually snorted. “Right. Well. Hmmm.”
What the heck did that mean? “Are you judging me?” Irritation rose along with Abby’s awareness.
“No.” Tabi wetted her pink lips. “Not at all. Don’t care, in fact. But I wanted to make sure I wasn’t interrupting an important discussion, you know?” She kept backing away until she was outside and on the sidewalk, looking like she was about to bolt. Fast.
“I know.” Abby followed her, taking control for the first time in way too long and shutting the door behind herself.
“I could use some space, and he needs more sleep. How about you take me to my place, I shower, and then we can get to work.” She paused, her chest filling.
“I really do appreciate the job, Tabi. I’ll do a good job. I promise.”
Tabi hesitated, looking at the now closed door.
“Come on.” Abby linked her arm through her new boss’s, and led her toward a brand new and sparkling white BMW waiting by the curb. It had to be Tabi’s car. “I need a little time to think before seeing him again. Surely you understand that.”
“Well. I’ll take you to your place for a shower in a bit. First we have a quick stop to make.” Tabi sounded unsure, but she unlocked her car and strode around to the driver’s side. Once they were both safely inside, she looked over at Abby. “How are you feeling, anyway?”
Wasn’t that sweet? Maybe they could be friends. “Pretty good.” Abby finished her coffee. “Oh, shoot. I should’ve left him a note.”
Tabi peeled away from the curb. “You know what? It doesn’t hurt to play a little hard to get.” Her smile held both amusement and dare. “I mean, he just fell asleep last night without talking to you, right? Let him wonder a bit.”
“I didn’t need to talk. I was tired, too,” Abby protested.
Tabitha sighed. “Oh, honey. I’m here for you. I mean, I know we just met, and in anger management group, no less. But if you ever need to talk, I’m here. Just remember that in the wild times to come.”
Wild times? Abby partially turned. “Do you know about my ex-husband?”
Tabitha frowned, zipping right through a stop sign. “The guy you hit with a pitcher?”
“No. I didn’t hit him. He hit me.” Abby tried to calm her movements as she reached for the seatbelt in almost pure panic. She finally relaxed when it snapped into place. Her new friend drove like a maniac.
“What exactly was the deal with you two?” Tabitha asked.
It felt good to talk to somebody. Finally. Abby cleared her throat. “Two years ago, I quit my job and was exploring the States a little. One day, I was driving through town and hit a cow. They have free rein in the county law, and if you hit one, it’s your fault.”
Tabitha pressed harder on the gas pedal, and trees flew by outside. “You hit a cow?”
“Yeah. And I was knocked out, with gas pooling under the car. Monte came along and got me to a hospital. He saved my life.” It was the truth, and she’d go with it.
“I had left the city after a bad breakup, was pretty much alone after my grandmother died, and had some memory problems for a couple of years. Monte was there for me. Brought me flowers the first week—different ones each day.” She’d felt so alone and yet saved by him.
Tabi sighed. “Your hero, right?”
“Yes.” Abby wiped both hands down her jeans. “We started dating quickly in a whirlwind romance that was very exciting and somehow reassuring. I thought I needed him.”
Tabi tore around a corner on two wheels. “And he wasn’t Prince Charming?”
“No,” Abby whispered. “For a while, he convinced me my head injuries made me unreasonable. That I had mental problems.”
“Dick,” Tabitha spat.
Amusement shocked Abby, and she laughed. “Yeah. Then I got my feet under me, figured out he was manipulating me, and I argued back.”
Tabitha turned toward her, those black eyes glittering. “Then he hit you.”
“Yeah.” Shame and embarrassment heated Abby’s face. “I should’ve left, but I kept thinking it was my fault and I could fix it. Finally, one day, I just left. Enough. Got a divorce, and well, here I am now.”
“How?” Tabi asked.
“He’s a lawyer, and he’s best friends with the sheriff and the judge,” Abby sighed. “So no matter what I do, I’m kind of screwed. At some point, he’s going to win. Unless I take him out.” It was the first time she’d said the thought out loud.
“That’s probably the way to go,” Tabi said, driving through the wooden arches for the main part of town.
Abby blinked. “What?”
Tabi shrugged, slowing down and driving past the upscale businesses. “If you kill him, he can’t bother you any longer. It’s pretty simple, right?”
Abby’s mouth dropped open, and she partially turned, facing her new friend. Was she crazy? “Are you joking?”
“No.” Tabi drew down very fine light eyebrows. “If it’s you or him, it’s definitely him.”
Abby’s stomach cramped. There was a truth to the statement, but the blonde had said it so matter-of-factly and without any malice. Her life had gotten so bizarre lately. “You don’t seem like you have an anger problem,” she mused. If anything, her new boss was way too cold.
“I don’t. Well, usually,” Tabi acknowledged, slowing to the speed limit and even pausing to let a couple of older women cross the street from the knitting store to the diner. She finally parked the car across from the smooth brick building holding the only bank in town.
Cold prickled down Abby’s back, even though weak sunlight finally emerged through the heavy cloud cover. “Um, Tabi? Why are we here?”
Tabi took sunglasses out of her Hermes bag and plucked them on her smooth face. “We’re going to rob the bank, Abby. I really need that video of me.”
After a quick shower, Noah threw on old jeans and a blue T-shirt, already dialing Raine’s number.
“I haven’t found him yet,” Raine said, by way of answer.
“Don’t care right now,” Noah returned, jogging through the condo and out the door. “Do you have Abby?”
The sound of helicopter blades punctuated the sudden silence through the phone. “Why in the hell would I have Abby?” Raine snapped.
Noah halted at seeing his truck parked in its spot. “Because she’s not here, and my truck is.”
“Oh. Well, Tabitha was looking for her. Maybe she has Abby?” Raine asked. “Hey. I’m about to get on a chopper to go find that asshole, but if you need me in town, say so now.”
Damn it. They were friends now. When a guy helped you escape a bunch of live grenades, he became your friend.
Even if he was one of the crazy Maxwell vampire clan from Montana.
“No. Keep on the trail. I’ll find Abby.” He clicked off.
One problem at a time. He looked down at the lighter stamp on his palm.
He’d mated the female. Full on, forever, mated. And she had no clue.
He shook his head, protectiveness hitting him square between the eyes. Or maybe that was possessiveness. He’d mated Abby, and she was his. If there was danger to her, it would end bloody. She’d be safe.
He jumped into his truck and drove away from the condo. Where would the demoness take her? To the factory? If so, which one was hers? He quickly dialed Raine again.
“What?” Raine snapped, quiet around him.
“Aren’t you in the chopper?” Noah asked. There should be tons of noise.
“Yes. It’s one of our own designs. What do you need, Siosal?” Raine sounded slightly irritated, for some reason.
“Tabitha’s factory. Do you know where it is? I’m afraid she’s with Tabi.” Noah had to explain about the mating before anybody else did. “I was out of it last night, big time, and I mated her.”
Silence. Dead, heavy, full silence. “You fucking did what?” Then the sound of something crashing hard against metal.
Was Raine hitting his head against the side of the craft?
“Damn it, I’m sorry. I knew you were hurting, and you drank three bottles of bourbon, and I left you alone with her. I’m so sorry.”
Noah shrugged, turning down another lane.
“Not your fault. I wanted her, she wanted me, and I think I may have passed out a bit.” From the first second he’d seen her, he’d wanted her on a level even he couldn’t comprehend.
This was why. “It’s early, and it’s way too fast, but she’s mine.
I know it, and on some level, she knows it. ”
Raine chuckled, the sound pained. “You have a tough road ahead. My advice? Go easy.”
It was too late for easy. “Do you know where Tabi’s factory is? Which one it is?”
“No, and that woman is obsessed with that video of her. If I had to bet, I’d say she’s cooking up a plan to rob the bank. Start there, and if she’s nowhere around, look for a fancy car by the factories. You know how demonesses like fast cars.”
Noah hadn’t been aware of that fact, but the advice was good.
He clicked off. If Tabitha took Abby to rob a bank, while Abby was already on probation, they were going to have a serious problem.
He flipped a U-turn and sped toward town, clearing the wooden arches in a blur.
He caught sight of a pristine BMW, and his heart just up and stopped.
The rare car in this small town had to belong to Tabi.
He pulled his truck up next to the car, right in the middle of the street. Two seconds later, and he was out of the truck.
Tabitha rolled her window down, her smile cat-like. “Noah. How nice to see you.”
He stomped toward the vehicle, peering down to look inside.
Relief mingled with irritation inside his chest as he found his mate, still dressed in her clothing from the day before, her hair kind of braided to the side.
She didn’t even know her body was undergoing an incredible change at the moment. “Abby? Get in the truck.”
She blinked, and then her chin set in a stubborn line. “No. I’m working.”
He cut the too-happy Tabitha a hard look. “You will not involve my mate in a bank robbery.”
“Mate?” Abby snapped from the passenger seat. “What are you? Eighty years old?”
“Four hundred and twenty-one,” he snapped back.
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Oh, they were going to have a good talk and soon. “You are not robbing this bank,” he snarled through gritted teeth at the demoness.
“I’d agree with that statement,” a low voice drawled around the other side of his truck as Detective O’Connell strolled from where he’d parked his nondescript cop car against the other curb.
Noah stiffened.
Abby gasped.
And Tabitha smiled, danger in the twitch of her lips. “Why, Detective. How fucking nice to see you,” she murmured.