27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Gage
I started the day with a plan, and it was already going wrong.
It was time. I made up my mind last night, and almost ruined everything by bluntly admitting it while Abby was both crying and drunk. Thankfully, Levi saved me from myself.
But now Abby was sober. We had breakfast. We were taking the rest of the holiday weekend off.
Cargill and the shit storm he brought with him were still looming over us. Dallas was in the wind.
I didn’t care anymore.
I could tell her today, complete the bond, and twenty-four hours later crazy shit would happen. If I waited any longer, crazy shit was guaranteed to happen, and it was going to be me.
To say I was on the edge was an understatement. I was crawling out of my skin. Soon I would have to handcuff myself to the couch every night to keep from following her to the bedroom.
So, I came up with a plan. It started with a date. A real date, not a movie on my couch or an evening working late. I picked a brunch restaurant because they had the kind of waffles Abby loved. Afterward we could go for a walk—short, so she didn’t get too cold—and I would broach the topic.
Hey, by the way, you’re my fated mate and I want to bind my life to yours forever.
Fuck. I really set myself up for failure here. No going back and fixing it. The only way forward was to tell her the truth and pray she would forgive me for keeping it from her.
The problems began when Abby asked to run an errand before brunch. I thought maybe she needed tampons or other girl shit, so imagine my surprise when I pulled up to a dinky apartment complex in a less than desirable part of the city, where Abby informed me she was signing a lease for her new place.
“What the fuck do you need a lease for?” I asked, too harshly.
“Well, they won’t rent to me without one,” she answered calmly.
“You can’t live here.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll be quick. You can wait in the truck.”
“Like hell I’m waiting in the truck.” I got out, hurrying over to her side and wrenching the door open.
I wasn’t trying to be a dick, but I was seriously panicking here. Abby couldn’t rent an apartment. She was supposed to stay with me. She wasn’t going to be safe here.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” I told her as we entered the leasing office.
“Levi said it was safe. You’re free to have your apartment to yourself again.”
“I don’t want—”
“Good morning!” A plump woman that reeked of cigarettes waved from behind a disorganized desk. “Are you Abigail here for C103?”
“That’s me!” Abby said cheerfully.
She was smiling. We were standing in a room yellowing with nicotine and dust and Abby was happy.
Was she happy to get away from me, or happy because that was just her thing?
Abby introduced me to the plump woman. They exchanged pleasantries. I wasn’t listening. I stood behind her chair, arms crossed, trying to think of any way to salvage this.
Clearly, having her own apartment was important to her. She’d been grappling for this since she got to Seattle. Even if it meant living in a dump, Abby was hellbent on having something that was hers.
As much as I hated it, I couldn’t take that away from her.
We weren’t followed here, and as far as I could tell, we weren’t being tailed in general. But how long would that last? How long until someone identified Abby as the weakest link in our pack and hunted her down here?
She was too far from me. Too far from the pack. How was I going to keep her safe?
I waited until they completed the paperwork to start drilling the new landlord. I laid out my entire security system, demanding she give written permission for two door cameras and the wall mounted panel. The woman was taken aback by my bluntness, but she eventually agreed to create an addendum for the lease.
Abby was giving me sour looks from the corner of her eye. I was going to get an earful in the truck.
“You really didn’t have to do all that with the security system,” she said as I pulled out of the parking lot. “It’s not like I can afford it.”
I wanted to skip brunch. My mind was already on the new system I needed to set up for her, and all the other features I would add to it to make it secure. Whatever appetite I had was gone.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were planning to rent a place?” At the very least I could have helped her pick something that didn’t look like a glorified motel.
She twirled a finger in the strap of her purse. “Levi told me not to.”
That meddling piece of shit.
“Why did you pick that place? It’s far from work.” It’s far from me.
“It was available, and it’s in my budget.”
In her budget? I gave her ten grand, on top of what she was saving by living out of her car. Surely she could afford a better place than this. I couldn’t say that without bringing up the money though and I didn’t want to risk her giving it back again.
“Fine. I’ll set a new system up for you tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Don’t argue with me, Abigail.”
She didn’t, and her silence became a cold weight in my belly. It sat heavy on me through brunch, both of us picking at our food and refusing to look at the other.
Today was supposed to be the first step in finally completing our bond. Instead, I felt further away from Abby than I had in weeks, and I was floundering. I had no idea how to handle this.
I wondered for the first time if it was too late. Had I ruined our chances by keeping this from her?