“And the next night?”
“There was no next night. He ran off with his girlfriend.” Just saying that cuts like a freshly sharpened blade.
“How did you handle that?”
“Better than you might expect because my mother didn’t. She cried so much I thought the tears might kill her.”
“Did you cry?”
“Yes. For my mother. Not for my father.”
“And for yourself when your ex cheated?”
“No. I didn’t cry for myself. I didn’t cry because of him, Gabe. No man who cheats deserves my tears. I will never cry for a man like my mother cried for my father.”
He studies me several thoughtful moments. “Nor should you.” He speaks those words almost vehemently. “No cheater is worth anyone’s tears.” He kisses my forehead. “We need to leave. You finish up. I’m going to confirm the dog walker.” He sets me aside and I can almost feel the wall slam down, not necessarily between us. More so around him but it’s different than in the past. Like there’s a door cracked and waiting on me to enter, but he isn’t ready to open it just yet. And I understand. I really do understand. No one reacts the way he just reacted unless he’s cheated or he’s been cheated on. I’m not sure if that’s guilt or pain he’s hiding from. I just know that he doesn’t believe I can handle it. Maybe he hasn’t handled it and that’s the problem. He’s wounded and he’s far from healed.
A few minutes later, with my purse in hand, I find him in the living room and he’s not talking to the dog walker. He’s standing at that window, looking out at that view he claims as his escape. The place where no one can touch him and I don’t miss the fact that he’s doing so alone but I’m not leaving him that way.
I waste no time joining him, and at the sound of my steps, he rotates to face me. I wrap my arms around him, tilting my chin up to look at him. “I promise you, I will not lie to you. I will not cheat on you. I will not judge you. I will not blame you. I will not—”
His fingers tangle in my hair and he drags my mouth to his. “A promise is nothing but words. Words aren’t enough for me. You need to know that.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Your truth, my truth, is in what we do.”
He’s right, of course. My ex made promises. Those promises were lies.
“One day you’ll trust me and I’ll trust you,” he says. “It’ll be a good day.”
The doorbell rings and he strokes my hair, a tender gesture that is somehow reserved. “That will be our ride to Reese’s office.” He releases me and heads for the door, his front door. The other door, the one in his wall, slams shut behind him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Abbie…
We exit through a side door of Gabe’s building to avoid the press, and do so with the help of Adam, a tall man with wavy hair, who works for Walker Security.
It’s a trouble-free effort and soon Gabe and I settle into the back of an SUV with Adam in the passenger seat and another man behind the wheel. “Kenneth had women,” I say as we start moving. “Any one of them could have put a hit on him and set me up.”
“Do you know who any of these women are?” Gabe asks.
“A few.”
“Make a list. Give it to Reese.”
I reach in my purse and start writing down names for no reason but keeping my mind busy. The list is five names long but there were more. Gabe takes it from me, stares at the names and then looks up at me. “You knew these women?”
“Yes.”
I point to the names. “Secretary one. Secretary two. Client. Client. Fitness trainer.”
“Yours or his?”
“Mine.”
His jaw clenches and he leans over and kisses me. “This is one of those reminders where I promise you I’m not him.”
I realize then that I said too much earlier. “And I’m not her,” I say, saying what I should have then.
“No,” he says. “You’re not.” He pulls me close and every ounce of tension we’d felt before leaving the apartment slides away. He’s not Kenneth. I’m not Kendall. We’re not them. We’re us and us is good.
***
A few minutes later, the three of us—me, Gabe, and Adam—walk into the lobby of Reese’s office to find Reid waiting on us.
“I thought you had a meeting?” Gabe asks, skipping the hello.
Reid scowls an intense scowl and still manages to look like a Ken doll, all pretty and perfect. “Like I’d read a text like the one you sent me this morning and not show up.”
“I told you to call Cat.”
“I did,” he says, eyeing me. “Which is why I’m here.”
“I wasn’t there,” I say, objecting to the accusation in his look. “I didn’t kill him. I was with Gabe that night.”
“And between the two of you, the police are going to think you’re both guilty and lying.”
“I have security footage to prove we’re not,” Gabe states.
Adam steps into our newly formed circle. “Reese is ready for you.”
Reid ignores him. “The woman was a redhead.” He looks at me. “Your mother—”
“Was at the shelter. I remember that night. There will be witnesses. It wasn’t her.”
Reid’s eyes meet Gabe’s and something passes between them. I don’t like it and I’d say so but Adam clears his throat and Gabe tears his gaze from his brother’s. We walk a long hallway and Cat meets us at the door of a conference room.
“Before you ask,” Gabe says, “Abbie was with me. I have security footage to prove it. We’re certain Abbie’s mother was at the shelter with witnesses to prove it.”
Reese hurries down the hall and joins us. “I don’t have much time, Abbie. This is spiraling and I need time to talk to the police before I head to court. I need you alone for a few minutes. So let’s talk quickly.”
“Alone?”
Gabe glances down at me. “It’s okay. I’ll join you in a moment.” He kisses me and I have the oddest impression that he doesn’t want to be in this meeting with me.
I don’t understand and I want to yank him along with me. I want to object, but there isn’t time. Reese is in a rush. We enter the conference room but I still manage to hear Cat say, “Dad did this, right? He set her up?”
“More like he’s setting us up,” Reid snaps.
“Let’s sit,” Reese says, shutting the door.
I sit down at the long table and the minute Reese claims the seat across from me, I explode. “I heard. They think their father set me up?”
“They think their father kills babies and feeds them to demons,” he replies, “but he may well be involved. If so, if that was his intent, he did a shit job. Blake already pulled security footage from Gabe’s place. You’re covered. As for your mother, Blake also got security footage from the shelter parking lot and then the ranch in the Hamptons. We’ll make this go away.”
“Will it be that easy? It was a redheaded woman who left Kenneth’s apartment the night he died.”
“Probably wearing a wig,” he says. “And we know very little, but forensic reports could dispute the killer as female. It’s going to depend on the details of the crime. I’ll flesh it all out when I meet with the police tomorrow.”
“I thought they wanted to meet me this evening, after your court hearing?”
“Thanks to Blake, I feel comfortable putting them off until after my trial. I want to be focused on just you.”
“And yet you needed to talk to me alone?”
“I’m not going to represent your mother or Gabe.”
I blanch. “What? Why?”
“They’re targeting all of you as suspects. My job is to protect my client, even if that means creating questions about other people.”
“Now I know why Gabe didn’t want to be in this meeting. You protect Gabe, not me.”
“That’s not what he wants and my partner—”
“No. You’re fired, and while you’re protecting Gabe, remember the email I sent to Jean Claude. Throw
me under the bus, but Gabe and my mother can’t go down.” I stand up and Reese follows.
“Abbie—”
“Thank you for the help, Reese. I hope to celebrate Gabe being out of this mess quickly.” I turn and walk out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gabe…
Abbie bursts out of the doorway and I catch her arms. “Whoa. What’s happening? Where are you going?”
“You told him to represent me, not you? No. No. And no. In case you didn’t get that. No. I fired him. He’s all yours. We’re done.”
“His partner is representing me. And his partner is damn good.”
“No, Gabe. You aren’t—”
“I am. Cole is just as good as Reese, which is why you’re staying with Reese.”
“He’s your brother-in-law.”
“Exactly. He’s partial to me. The police know this.”
“Good. They need to know.”
“They also know he won’t represent anyone he thinks is guilty. You need him.”
“If he drops you, it looks like he thinks you’re guilty.”
“Damn it, Gabe,” Reid snaps. “I told you, you should have fucking talked to her about this.”
“Yes,” Abbie says. “You should have. Why didn’t you?” Her eyes go wide. “Reese thinks I’m going to be charged. Is that it?”
“No, he doesn’t. Reese and I exchanged text messages about this, this morning when you were sleeping. We made this decision before—”
“You and Reese made this decision,” she says flatly. “Gabe, what happened to together? Together does not mean just you.”
“I meant to talk to you this morning but the new developments were overwhelming you.”
“I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was shocked, as anyone would be in this situation. Don’t make me seem like I’m a delicate flower. You didn’t even warn me before I walked in the door.”
I scrub my jaw. “I needed to talk to Reid and Cat, and Reese is in a rush. I thought you’d hear about it from Reese and it would make sense to you.”
“I’m going to hire my own attorney.”
“Because I’m not good enough?” Reese challenges from the door.
“And I’m not good enough to defend Gabe?” Cole asks, joining us, brushing the façade of lint off his blue suit. “Hell. He’s not even going to be charged. Do I suck that badly?”
Abbie’s gaze catches on Cole, a man who is not only a hell of an attorney, he’s confident, arrogant. A friend. “You’re Reese’s partner?” she asks.
“Yes. And like Reese, I’ve never lost a case. I consider Gabe a close friend. Cat and my wife are best friends.”
“We are,” Cat interjects. “And Cole is Reese’s best friend and partner. The attorney we’re setting your mother up with is amazing as well.”
“We can’t divide loyalties,” Reese states.
“If no one is being charged, then why would you be dividing loyalties?” Abbie challenges, but she doesn’t give him time to reply. “Protect Gabe. I got him into this. Please just get him out.” She turns to me. “We can’t see each other until this is over.”
“That doesn’t help us, Abbie. We’ve had this conversation.”
“It helps you get your head on straight and think about you and your family, not me.”
“Abbie, damn it—”
“You matter to me, Gabe. You matter more than I wanted anyone to ever matter again, but that’s why you can’t win this argument. That’s why I’m leaving and you can’t stop me.” She pulls away from me and when I would go after her, Cat steps in front of me.
“Let me talk to her.”
“No, I don’t want you to talk to her. Now step aside. I don’t want to have to move my pregnant sister.”
“Trust me. She needs to hear this from me, not you.” She doesn’t wait for my reply. She takes off running after Abbie.
I turn to follow but Reid catches my arm. “Trust Cat.”
“And talk to me,” Reese says, motioning me into the conference room.
“No way in hell am I sitting down when she’s running away.”
“Then stand,” Reese says, “but get your ass into the conference room. I don’t have a lot of time here.”
I grimace and walk into the damn conference room with Reid and Cole on my heels. “I’m your new counsel,” Cole states, “and you and I need some one-on-one time, but Reese needs us to multitask.”
“Obviously, Abbie’s being set up,” I say, scrubbing my jaw. “She needs you more than I do. I can’t do this now. I have to go after her.”
“Trust my wife and your sister to get her back,” Reese says. “Have you forgotten how resourceful and convincing she can be?”
“She and Abbie barely know each other,” I argue.
“They connect,” Reese says. “That’s obvious.”
“Agreed,” Cole chimes in, all of us stepping around the conference table, but no one sits down.
Reese leans on the table. “Focus, Gabe. We’re on her team. We’re the ones who will get her out of this and she needs help. We can still work on her case, without her here.”
“And I’m one hundred percent on board,” Cole adds. “Jim, our new partner, will take over Abbie’s mom’s case. They’re communicating. He’s in trial today, but like me, he’s been brought up to date on all the details.”
“And those details are what?” I ask. “What don’t I know?”
“Blake is certain that was a wig on the security footage, and he’s not even sure it was a woman wearing it. He’s working on picking up footage from adjoining locations that might connect the dots. If we’re lucky, we won’t need to go through any interviews. Blake will end this for Abbie and her mother.”
“I can read between the lines,” I say. “If it was a man in the wig, that man could be me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Abbie…
“Abbie!”
I’ve just stepped on the elevator when Cat appears in the doorway and joins me. “Thank goodness. I was afraid I missed you.” She settles her hand on her belly. “I’m not as fast as I used to be right now.”
“I like you, Cat,” I say, as the elevator doors close. “I sincerely like you. I’d love to get to know you, but I’m not changing my mind about what just happened in that conference room.”
She turns me to face her. “You came to Gabe for help.”
“I was going to Reid for help. To hire him. Gabe and I crossed paths unexpectedly.”
“Because it was meant to be.”
“Because he got unlucky. Wrong time, wrong place.”
“Abbie—”
The elevator stops and a cluster of people shove their way inside, forcing us into a corner together. Cat casts me a dismayed look, clearly wanting to continue the conversation, but not about to do so with an audience. Kudos to her for good judgment. This isn’t something any of us want spread around. We stand there, two sardines in a can of a dozen while she, no doubt, thinks about how to change my mind, and I think about how to let her down easy. She’s Gabe’s sister. She loves him. One of the things I like about her. It’s also one of the reasons she should understand where I’m coming from.
The elevator dings at the lobby level and Cat and I allow the crowd to exit before we do the same. “Let’s go next door and get coffee,” she suggests, clearly having decided on a strategy that involves me committing to a sit-down conversation. Smart.
“I need to talk to my mother.”
“Call her, after you talk to me. Abbie. Please. Sit down and talk to me.”
“Cat—”
“If you won’t sit, I’ll go with you. Where are we going?”
I sigh. “You aren’t going to let me off the hook, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Where’s the coffee shop?”
“Next door. We need to watch for the press, though. We just left our security behind. Let’s take the side door.”
She motions me to the right and we start walki
ng. A few minutes later, we’re at a table with drinks in hand, both of us splurging on a sugar cookie as well. “I need this,” I say, taking a bite with loads of icing.
“I don’t,” Cat says. “I’m reigning in the eating, but I’ve been pretty good. A little treat shouldn’t hurt too much. I’m just trying to keep the dieting hell after birth to as short as possible.”
“Gabe’s looking forward to being an uncle,” I say, reminded now of his comments.
She sits up straighter, leaning in closer. “He talked to you about the baby and being an uncle? What did he say?”
“He hasn’t said it to you?”
“No.” She sighs. “Me and my brothers were at odds for a long while. I thought—I thought they had a lot of my father in them. I know better now.”
The father that Gabe and Reid seem to think is capable of horrible things, and yet, Cat thought her brothers to be the same. “What changed?”
“They read the letter our mother left me. They found out what our father did to her. They found out who he really was. I think they knew. I think they just didn’t want to see it, or rather, him.”
“And the letter opened their eyes?”
“Oh yes. Our father cheated on her. He treated her horribly. I think they both struggle with guilt over not seeing that or how miserable she was. I think they’ll both end up being wonderful fathers and husbands, Abbie. They won’t be like him. Gabe isn’t like him. He’s the reason Reid opened his eyes. Gabe—Gabe was easy to turn around. That letter undid him and put him back together. It made him a new man.”
Obviously, she doesn’t know that Gabe doesn’t want children. I consider what she’s shared about this letter, about his father cheating on his mother, and I feel as if there’s a connection there I’m missing. Maybe Gabe’s decision to have a vasectomy was about his father, about a fear he’s like him, his children would be like him, but it feels like there’s more. Whatever the case, Cat is hungry for Gabe’s involvement with the baby and I feed that hunger.
“I can’t speak of the past, Cat,” I say, “but I can speak of now. Gabe’s excited about your baby. He’s happy to be in your life.”
“He’s happy to have you in his life, too, Abbie. You need to let us help you. You’re family now.” She leans closer again. “He’s in love with you. You’re in love with him. Why are we in this coffee shop instead of with him?”
Her Submission Page 10
