69. Chapter 69
Chapter sixty-nine
Abbie
G abe and I eat pizza, binge-watch three episodes of Game of Thrones, and then I end up in a hot bath while he walks Dexter. They arrive back in a burst of energy, with Dexter all but leaping into the tub, and I’m officially laughing. I laugh a lot with these two but there are a few perfectly surreal moments. The first happens as I’m drying off and pulling on one of Gabe’s T-shirts, while he and Dexter are roughhousing on the bathroom floor, making my efforts near impossible. I scold them and I’m immediately pulled into the battle.
The next surreal moment is when Gabe pulls me into bed, my head on his shoulder, holding me close, my body cocooned in blankets and him. It’s the kind of perfection I’ve never known with a man. I didn’t think I’d ever even go to bed with another man after my divorce, let alone find it this perfect.
The third surreal moment is directly after the second, when Dexter jumps on the end of the bed. Smart boy that he is, he doesn’t crowd us, but rather, takes a corner. Gabe lifts his head and glances at Dexter. “Smooth operator for a serial killer, isn’t he?”
I laugh. “Yes, he is.”
He strokes my hair. “You’re coming to work with me tomorrow.” It’s not a question, and he doesn’t stop there. “I’ll set you up with Human Resources. We’ll get you started on a new career.”
Surreal moment over, I inch up to my elbow to look at him. “I need to be at the shelter with my mother.”
“Your mother needs to stay away from the shelter. There are no animals there. Grab your phone. Text her and tell her to come to my office tomorrow.”
“Your office?” I ask, rolling over and grabbing my phone before sitting up. “You think she should come to your office? And even if she did, which she won’t, isn’t that disruptive to your staff?”
“She can stay with the new boyfriend. Just keep her out of the spotlight.”
“Boyfriend? Oh god. She does have a boyfriend. Why do I feel so weird about that? She’s a grown woman. A beautiful woman. She never dates. I should be happy for her.”
He raises up on his elbow. “You’re not happy for her?”
“I am. I am. ”
“Two I ams. That means you aren’t.”
“No, I am.”
“Three I ams,” he teases. “You don’t like Brandon?”
“He’s fine. I barely know him.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I’m protective, I guess. I’m projecting my history on her, I think. I don’t want her to get burned.”
“And yet here you are with me.” His voice softens. “I’m going to burn you, Abbie.”
“Not on purpose.” I punch in my mother’s number.
“Not on purpose?” he asks.
“It’s ringing,” I say dodging that ball. “Abigail?” my mother greets groggily. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I say. “Of course. Everything is fine.”
“Are you sure? It’s midnight.”
“Oh right.” I glance at the clock and Gabe. “It’s midnight. Sorry. I just want you to keep a low profile tomorrow. What’s your plan?”
“I’m staying with Brandon. I’m going to stay here until the police interview and go from there.”
“Right. Good.” I turn away from Gabe, irritated at myself for being weird about this thing with my mother. She deserves a relationship. “He’s taking good care of you?”
“Yes, honey, and I’m taking good care of him. What about you? How are things with Gabe?”
“Gabe’s wonderful,” I say and Gabe chimes in.
“And very sexy!” he calls out.
My mother laughs. “He’s quite the character.”
“Yes, he is,” I agree, poking him and when he lays down, I do the same. “He’s the reason we have Reese Summer on our side.”
“I know that. He’s a good man. I hate he’s gotten wrapped up in this.” She’s quiet a moment. “He’s very into you very quickly.”
My brow furrows. “What are you implying?”
“He wouldn’t—he didn’t—”
I launch into a sitting position again, knowing where she’s going and on the phone of all places. “Don’t even finish that sentence,” I say, appalled that she would think Gabe killed Kenneth. “Please. Because I don’t want to get angry with you.” The words snap from my mouth and Gabe’s hand comes down on my leg. He’s willing me to look at him but I can’t. Not when my mother just suggested he did this.
“I really can’t believe you were going to go there,” I say, my voice low, but even to my own ears, it still manages to whip and burn. Dexter belly-crawls to lay in front of me, his head tilting as if he’s contemplating how badly I need a tongue bath.
“Well, for the record,” she says, “I wasn’t talking down about him. If he did it, which I know he didn’t, he would have been my hero.”
“My god, mother. How can you say that? A man is dead.”
“Kenneth was a bastard. He hurt you. We both know he hurt you in all kinds of horrific ways.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “I dealt with it.”
“Did you? I don’t think you did. I still don’t think you have.”
“He would have hurt you,” I remind her.
“To hurt you. It was always about hurting you, Abigail. Enough. Enough about that man. Get some rest. We can talk about this when this is over because Reese assured me it would be soon. I love you.”
I exhale a breath lodged in my throat. “I love you, too.”
“Tell Gabe hi for me, honey. Goodnight.” She hangs up.
I set the phone on the nightstand. Gabe eases Dexter back out of my space and then pulls me down on the bed to face him, his hand settling on my face. “What just happened?”
“She thinks you did this and she thinks that makes you a hero.”
He studies me for several long beats. “She watched bad things happen to you. That’s not easy when it’s someone you love.”
“You don’t wish death on people, though. That’s not right. That’s not the way to handle anything.”
“Right,” he says and it’s like a wall slams down between us. “You’re absolutely fucking right.” He sits up, giving me his back, shutting me out.
Stunned, it takes me a moment to process but I’m certain I’ve hit more than one nerve, perhaps more than one demon of his past. Scrambling to my knees, I quickly follow him, settling on my knees beside him, facing him, my hands on his arm. “What just happened?”
“What would you do if you felt someone was threatening the life of your mother?” He looks at me, his eyes deep pools of blue torment. “What would you do to protect that person?”
“Anything,” I say softly. “Gabe, what are you telling me?”
“You want to know who I am? You want honesty?”
“Yes. You know I do.”
He runs a hand over the muscles at the back of his neck. “A few months back, a pregnant woman showed up and said her baby belonged to Reese.”
I blanch. “What? No. Tell me no. He and your sister seem so perfect together.”
“They are. It was a scam. That’s what you heard Reid talking to me about at Cat’s place. The entire thing was a set-up, a money grab. The father of the woman’s child was an attorney who hates Reese. Long story short, he was stalking Cat. He was crazy. He was a fucking lunatic. He was also a gambler who owed money to a bookie.”
I blink, not sure where this is going. “And that connects how?”
“I called and told the bookie where to find him. He, in turn, ended up in the hospital, where he couldn’t hurt my sister anymore.” He stands up, his hands settling on his hips, over the waist of his pajama bottoms. “I don’t feel guilty. He was a bad person. He could have attacked or killed my sister. She was a mess. She could have lost the baby. It was destroying her and Reese. So, that’s what I would do to protect someone I love. As you said: anything. Not even Reid knows for sure that I did this. He suspects, but I never admitted it. Now you and I know. And if that makes me like your ex, if that makes me someone you can’t live with, I need to know now.”