All for You

by Dana Marie Bell

  Seth would look for her, but he wouldn’t be able to do it for long. He’d eventually have to go back to work, and that would eat up more and more of his time until he eventually forgot about his brief affair with the crazy lady. He’d feel guilty, especially when the coast guard found her horribly dehydrated body, but she had decided in the quiet of her room that this was for the best.

  She really was too stupid to live, wasn’t she?

  When her arms were roughly grabbed, she screamed as loud as she could. Before she could do anything more, she was incased in warm feathers and glowing, hard arms. “Idiot.”

  “Seth?” How the hell had he found her so fast?

  “Yes, Seth.” He turned her to face him and shook her. He was glowing so brightly, his features were a blur. “What the hell were you thinking? No, never mind, I know what you were thinking.” He shoved her into one of the plush seats by the steering wheel of the boat. “Do you even know how to navigate one of these?”

  She held up her hands and moved them like she was driving. His growl was less than amused, but the glow dimmed, made him easier to see. And see she did—the sexy washboard abs, the thick arms. The dark circles under his eyes.

  Shit.

  God, he looked tired. She ached to soothe him, but nothing she could say or do would fix this.

  He started the boat before speaking to her again, turning it neatly around. “You really like making a target of yourself, don’t you?” His wings fluttered, and with a sigh, he made them disappear into his back.

  He was still angry. She could see it in his eyes, and the way he sat, stiff and unsmiling. She turned her head away and spoke quietly. “I had a plan.”

  “Of course you had a plan.” He leaned back, relaxing slightly, and smiled at her, a smile completely devoid of humor. “Consider it changed.”

  They landed on the island, and Seth took her up to the house, where he changed and packed their suitcases. She tried to talk to him some more, but he was still too angry. She got nothing out of him but grunts until they finally got to the airport. Standing at the ticket counter, she decided to be bold. “Are you going home?”

  “Yes. So are you.” Oh, thank fuck. Home sounded really good, scary inhuman stalker or no. “Are you hungry?”

  He grabbed her arm again and dragged her through security. Once they were done he gravitated toward the many restaurants on the concourse.

  “A little, now that you mention it.” Another lie, but a small one. She was starving. “By the way, did anyone see you?” She flapped her hands as discreetly as she could.

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m sneakier than that.” He led her into a sit-down restaurant, having apparently decided that they both could use a real meal.

  She eyed him covertly over the top of her menu. She found him eyeing her right back, his expression turning to that sexy determination. Abby wasn’t going anywhere, and fuck if the relief she felt wasn’t overwhelming.

  She hated the thought of running alone, but she’d hated the thought of him hurt even more.

  She considered ducking back behind the menu, but decided that that was just too high school, so she put her menu down. She met his eyes and held his gaze steadily, refusing to back down.

  “It must have been nerve-racking to pilot Piotr’s boat in the middle of the night.” His smile was tight and fake as hell. “Are you ever going to try something like that again?”

  She had some serious groveling to do. “Nope.”

  “Good. Because the next time you pull a stupid stunt like that, I’m hauling your ass to Gabriel.”

  “Gabriel?” Ah, shit. That didn’t sound good. She doubted she’d be able to mollify a freakin’ archangel with her sparkling wit and charming idiocy.

  He scowled. “If Gabriel decides that you need to stay in his house, that’s where you’ll be until the trump of doom. Nothing will get you out without his say-so. He’s powerful, stronger than anyone I’ve ever met.” Seth leaned in close and growled. “He terrifies Piotr.”

  Abby gulped. She hoped she never met Gabriel, if he frightened Piotr Romanov that badly.

  The waitress arrived, and Seth dropped it. They both ordered French toast, coffee and juice, keeping it simple.

  The silence stretched out, both of them watching the other warily. “So, what’s our next step?”

  Seth picked up his coffee and took a sip. She could see the tension just draining out of him, even as his gaze never left her. As far as she could tell, he was done with the fight, letting it go with an ease few people managed. “We go home, we both go back to work, we live in your town house and you don’t go anywhere alone.”

  “Nothing new, then.”

  “Other than the fact that we’ll officially be living together, no.” Seth grinned as Abby blushed bright red. The waitress placed their food in front of them, and both of them dug in with gusto. Abby finished everything on her plate in record time. When they were done, Seth led them back down the concourse. Their baggage had already been checked in, so they had no problems getting to their gate. They both sat quietly, but it was an easy silence this time.

  She might be too stupid to live, but Seth obviously loved her anyway.

  * * *

  It was wonderful to walk into Abby’s town house again. She stood there and the tension visibly left her shoulders. Despite the break-in, Abby still thought of her home as her sanctuary. It was obvious in the easy smile, the way she unconsciously kicked off her shoes and padded barefoot across the carpet to sink into her sofa, sighing in pleasure. She was relaxed in a way he hadn’t seen at any time other than right after making love.

  Seth carried their luggage up the stairs to her bedroom. He put his clothes away, making room for himself. He wasn’t going to argue about this. He was living with her, and he was sleeping in her bed. She would have to get used to it, because he wasn’t giving her up.

  Thankfully he’d called Trish before they’d boarded the plane. She’d stocked the fridge with Abby’s favorites, and a note from Bill indicated that nothing had been disturbed when they arrived. The Shem hadn’t been back in the house.

  No Shem would get into their home ever again.

  There was a note taped to the front of the fridge, asking Abby to call Trish as soon as they dropped their suitcases. She picked up the phone, and Seth listened in, picking up the second line from the bedroom.

  “Abby.” Trish sounded thrilled to hear from her sister-in-law. “When did you get in?”

  “We just walked in the door. How’s Bill?”

  “Worried sick, same as me. Is Seth there?”

  “Yes.” Seth wasn’t going to pretend he wasn’t there.

  “Hey, Seth. Everything all right?”

  “Everything’s fine, Trish. We’ll have you over to dinner soon, all right?”

  “Oh, really? We will, huh?” He could hear the mix of frustration and amusement in Abby’s voice.

  He slammed the bureau drawer shut. “Yes. We will.”

  “Hmph.”

  Trish laughed. “Oh, man. We will definitely be there.”

  Abby must have decided to dodge the issue. “How are the kids?”

  “Monsters. The little demons stole the last of my cookies. Don’t know why I gave birth, but I love ’em.” Seth could hear the laughter in Trish’s voice, and grinned.

  “Guess you want to know what happened?”

  Trish sighed. “You don’t have to tell me, honey. Seth did when he asked us to stock the fridge. I can’t believe someone shot at you two.”

  “Neither can I. I just want this over with.” Abby sighed. “When did you want to come over and get your gossip fill?”

  “How about Saturday night?”

  “Sounds good. So why don’t we say six?”

  “That works for us. See you then. And no liver-and-onion tacos.”

  “Thank God,” Seth muttered. He realized he’d been heard when Trish giggled.

  “Ugh. Ignore him. Go away, Seth, we’re done talking.”

&
nbsp; “Again, thank God.” He finished hanging his shirts in the closet and closed the door, ready to tackle the bathroom. By the time she hung up he’d be fully ensconced in her life.

  “Seth, what the hell are you doing up there? You know what, never mind. I’ll see in a minute. Trish, give the kids my love, and tell Bill I’ll see him Saturday.”

  “Bye, sweetie.”

  “Bye, Trish.” Abby hung up the phone, and Seth did too. Oddly enough, she didn’t come upstairs. Instead, he heard her in the kitchen, the sound and scent of sizzling meat filling the house.

  “Dinner?” He asked, coming up behind her. He put his arms around her and peered over her shoulder at the lettuce she was shredding.

  “Yup. Taco salad.”

  He left the kitchen with a smile. For all that she’d complained, she’d relaxed against him, totally at ease in his arms.

  The crisis was over, for now.

  * * *

  Abby woke up the next morning in Seth’s arms. It was amazing how right having him there was. Living with him and knowing that when night fell, they would go to bed together, was just like...

  Just like a married couple.

  She hid her face into her hands, not willing to wake Seth. She wanted marriage.

  She had to hope against hope that Seth felt the same way. If he didn’t, it would break her heart. She slid out of bed and dressed. If she kept busy, then maybe she could keep visions of rings from dancing in her head.

  Maybe.

  Abby called Nancy at the salon as soon as she got downstairs. “Mane Frame, Mercy speaking.”

  “It’s Abby. Could you put Nancy on the phone please? Oh, and don’t tell her it’s me.”

  “Thank goodness. Are you all right?” Mercy was whispering so softly, Abby could barely hear her.

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  “I’ll get Nancy.” She heard Mercy put the phone down and then bellow in a surprisingly loud voice. “Nancy! Phone!”

  The phone was picked back up. “Mane Frame, Nancy speaking.”

  “I’m back.” Abby sang out.

  The scream had her pulling the phone away from her ear. “Get your butt in here, woman.”

  Abby laughed. “Okay, let me ask Seth.”

  “Ask Seth? What, you need his permission to come to work?” The outrage in Nancy’s voice was almost welcome.

  “Well, I am still being stalked.”

  “Then you need the cop’s permission.” Nancy paused. “Wait. Why are you back, if they haven’t caught the fucker?”

  “Long story.”

  “Which I’ll be hearing.”

  “You will. And Seth has a say in whether or not I go because we’re dating.” She said the last in a rush and waited for the second scream.

  It wasn’t long in coming. “Is he there? Did you two bump uglies?”

  “Nancy.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. So. You two get funky and he now tells you what you can and can’t do?”

  “It’s not like that. Seth’s nothing like Doug, trust me on that. He’s just worried about me. We got shot at on the island, so I think he’s right to be overprotective until—”

  “Shot at?” Nancy squealed.

  Abby’s eyes damn near crossed. The woman had some serious volume going for her. “You know, you do that again and I’m hanging up.”

  “Cry me a river. What the fuck happened?”

  “The stalker found us and shot at us while we were having a picnic on the beach.”

  “A picnic on the beach? Do I need to dye your hair blond and put you in a cheerleader outfit?”

  “What?”

  Nancy huffed. “Like those stupid slasher movie victims, the ones who die in the first five minutes.” She could almost see Nancy’s hands waving in the air.

  “We were on an island owned by Piotr Romanov. We should have been safe.”

  “Okay. If you say so.” Her skeptical tone came over the phone loud and clear.

  “Really, it’s okay. He’s not that bad.”

  “Neither was Genghis Khan, and we all know how that turned out.”

  “Seth knew the layout of the island and got us to safety, but it was close. They shot the radio that had been, like, two inches from my head.”

  “Oh, my fucking God.” Nancy cursed under her breath. “Okay, yeah, you go ask him if you can come in.”

  “I will.” Suddenly, she remembered the huge fight that had led from her leaving Seth on the island. It couldn’t hurt to ask. “Nancy? Did you know where we were?

  “No, but I guessed when Andi called. Why?”

  Shit. “Did you tell anyone?” Abby started the coffee machine. She needed caffeine and she needed it bad.

  “Of course not.” Silence crackled along the line. Nancy sighed heavily, and Abby could hear her sitting down in her chair. That meant Nancy was in her office, behind her desk. “I told the girls, but you know none of them would have said anything.”

  “Which of the girls? Shop or lunch date?” If it was her Golden Lotus lunch girlfriends, then it was probably all right. But the Mane Frame girls...

  She didn’t know who she trusted there, except Nancy.

  “Beth, but she already knew. Quinn, Sam and Mercy. Grace already knew, too. You know Grace.” Nancy laughed. “Probably saw it in her crystal ball. Andi knew, because she was the one who told me.” Abby could almost hear Nancy ticking people off on her fingers. “Kaley. Yeah, I called Kaley from the shop, because she wasn’t at lunch with us last week.”

  “Where was Kaley?” Please don’t let it be Kaley.

  “She’s off chasing another one of her artifacts for the museum. When I called, she was in Bora-Bora. Do you know what the bill for calling Bora-Bora is going to be?”

  Abby laughed, beyond relieved. “Get Miss Indiana Jones to pay for it. Hope she doesn’t get hurt this time. How did you get hold of her?” Kaley didn’t always leave her hotel’s address with them, so contacting her was sometimes an iffy proposition.

  Nancy snorted. “It’s the cellular age, Abby. Even Timbuktu has signal bars.”

  “Was anyone in the office with you when you made the phone call?”

  “Diana and Mercy popped their heads in to ask to go to lunch, but Mercy already knew and Diana doesn’t give a fuck since she’s getting all your clients. I bet she hopes you stay gone. None of the customers could hear anything from the front of the store.” Nancy sounded thoughtful. “You don’t think...”

  “I hope not. Where do you keep the spare key to my place?” All of the friends had keys to each other’s places for when they traveled and emergencies. It was Beth’s idea, a good one. If, for any reason, any of them was unreachable when they shouldn’t be, the rest could ride to the rescue.

  “In my desk. Top drawer. Let me guess. Who has access to your keys, right?”

  “Right.”

  “I wondered the same thing after your friend Detective Zucco got through with me. The keys are in the back of the store, in my office, in the top drawer. A customer can’t get by without one of us knowing. I questioned the girls in the spa, and none of them have seen a customer headed that way during that time frame.”

  “But it’s possible someone slipped by them.”

  “There’s always that possibility.” Nancy sighed. “You must hate this as much as I do.”

  “Hate what?”

  “Thinking you know your stalker, and that it might be a close friend.”

  She did.

  Nancy sighed again. “Well, call me back after you talk to Seth. If you can’t come in today, I want you in here tomorrow first thing. We’ve had a couple of people out sick, and the shop is jumping.”

  “I’ll be in tomorrow.”

  “All right. See you then. Bye.”

  As Abby hung up the phone, she shook her head. Telling the girls shouldn’t have been an issue. She trusted all of them. Beth, Quinn, Kaley, Grace and Sam. She knew them well. They’d grown up together, no more than two years separating them in age. An
d Nancy had slid right into the group, becoming one of them with ease. Mercy was slowly growing on them as well, and Abby had brought up the idea of including her in their lunch dates. If it was one of them, it was going to destroy the entire group.

  Nancy was right. It was killing her, thinking one of her closest friends might have tried to murder her.

  * * *

  “Seth?”

  “Hmm?”

  She was rubbing her arms again. Shit. “Nancy told the girls.”

  He blinked. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Nope.” She held up her hands. “I trust the girls she told implicitly, but what if someone overheard her?”

  What if it was one of Abby’s friends? He could hear the unspoken question loud and clear. “We deal with it.” He’d keep a close eye out, see if any of them acted suspiciously.

  “Tell me it’s not them.”

  “I can’t.” He pulled her into his lap. He’d been relaxing on the sofa, dreaming of a future with her where she wasn’t being tortured by a Shem. “I wish I could.”

  “If you saw them, would you know?”

  “Know what?” He took hold of her hands and stilled them.

  “If one of them was the Shem?”

  Shit. “Maybe not. Chameleons can hide their presence from all but the sharpest of angel-born eyes.” He kissed the back of her hand. “But maybe I can bring a friend in, see if he can find anything.” It would be hard, even for a Chameleon, to hide from a Malachi as strong as Damien.

  “Can you? Please?”

  “Of course.”

  She sighed and lay her head on his shoulder. “Kaley is on one of her archaeology jaunts.”

  He tried not to stiffen. “Really?”

  “And Nancy said some of the girls at the shop have been out sick.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll figure it out, I swear.”

  “I know. I trust you.”

  “About time.”

  The smack she landed on his stomach barely hurt.

  * * *

  The next day, Seth left her at the salon door and watched until she was safely inside before heading for work himself. All of the girls exclaimed over her changed appearance. Gone were the baggy, too-large plaid shirts and stretch pants. Abby wore a light green V-necked T-shirt with black jeans and her black sneakers. Her hair was down around her shoulders instead of in a sloppy bun. She’d even given herself a manicure and painted her short nails clear. She looked lovely, and everyone told her so.