by J. Kenner
“Okay, thanks,” he heard Nikki say.
She came in to the break room—now Command Central—and relayed that Bijan, one of Greystone’s owners, had talked to Darrin’s last employer.
Although they hadn’t mentioned it when Bijan had called for a recommendation, he admitted now that Darrin had been let go because of harassment complaints from the female staff.
“So he’s escalating,” Winston said.
“Did he say anything that might help us locate her?” Renly asked.
Tony was already at Darrin’s apartment, searching his place. So far he hadn’t reported back.
Local law enforcement had been contacted, and a detective was on sight, working with the team. The LAPD had agreed to let Stark Security take point, but they had a team working in the field and were prepared to respond once Abby was located.
Mario was checking traffic cams, hoping to get lucky and parse out the route Darrin took with Abby. So far, he’d only been able to track them a few blocks away before losing the thread.
Leah, with whom Renly had worked the most in his short time at Stark Security, was on the phone with someone at the county, working a hunch. Now he watched as she paced the far side of the room.
So far, it didn’t look like her hunch was playing out.
As for himself, Renly was feeling damn useless. His head was throbbing, and he didn’t have a single goddamn clue as to where the son of a bitch had taken her.
Leah came over and took his hand. “Hang in there,” she said. “We’re going to get her back.”
He wanted to believe her, but fear was clinging to him. He’d had so much in his life just ripped out of his hands, and he was desperately afraid that Abby was going to follow that pattern.
And why the hell had he told her he didn’t want to be in a relationship? She had to be scared, and he wished that he’d told her everything in his heart, if only so she’d have that to cling to.
He thought about his mother and Elise. His mother had waited too damn long. Years too long. Hell, for that matter, so had Renly. He should have told Abby he loved her on his first night back.
What was there to think about? Why would he say he didn’t want to have a relationship with her?
Because he was an idiot. Because he was so goddamn afraid of losing her that he’d never claimed her.
And now here he was, and losing her was a very real possibility. And he was fucking useless between the vertigo and the jackhammer pounding in his head in the wake of the damn drugs.
Just get the fuck over it, Cooper. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and work the problem.
He looked at Ryan. “We need to track down his family tree. See if anyone alive owns property. Or if he inherited something that he hasn’t taken title of yet.”
Ryan nodded, and Nikki, still on the phone, stepped in, her head cocked as she listened to them speaking. Then she held up a finger. “Bijan, let me ask you something,” she said, her voice fading as she stepped back out into the hall again.
Renly followed, his forehead creased with a frown. Damien was in the hall as well, also on the phone, and he looked up when Nikki clutched his arm.
“No, that’s perfect,” she said. “We’ll check it out. Yes, of course I’ll keep you updated.”
She turned and looked at Renly. “His uncle owns a building in the garment district. Greystone considered buying and renovating it for office space but decided not to. It’s not much,” she said, “but at least it’s a lead.”
* * * *
Renly stared at the building, the old, abandoned warehouse in the garment district. It was a small one, currently under renovations, and there was an ancient, rickety fire escape that ran up one side.
“Heat signature on the third floor,” Leah said beside him.
“The main doors are locked tight,” Ryan said. “We can blow them, but it’ll take a while to do it silently. We don’t want him to know we’re coming.”
Renly nodded slowly, taking it all in. He looked at the fire escape. At the places where it appeared to be coming loose from the brick. Just looking at it made the world tilt beneath him.
But he could do it. He took a step forward. He could man up, go up there, and get Abby. He had to.
Leah frowned at him. “You okay?”
“Just a little head swimming from the drugs.” He felt nausea rise as he imagined being on that fire escape, the world tilting until he was parallel to the ground. Darrin taunting him.
He’d drugged Renly; he must have drugged Abby. What else was he capable of doing?
Renly knew the answer. Anything.
And if Renly fucked up, then he also up fucked up Abby’s only chance. He drew in a breath. He needed to be the one in that room. He needed to be the one who got to her. He needed to be her knight in shining armor. Because goddammit, he knew that he couldn’t live without her, and he needed to tell her as much.
But he also had to be smart, and that reality—the reality that he’d been trying to suppress since he left the SEALs—rose up in front of him. The hardest choice in his career.
He looked at Leah. “Can you give me a minute? I need to talk to Ryan.”
“Sure. Of course.”
He could tell that she was curious, but she was too much of a professional to ask. Beside him, Ryan finished speaking to a local SWAT officer, then turned his attention to Renly. “What’s on your mind?”
“I can’t go to Dubai, and I can’t climb that ladder.”
Ryan nodded slowly. “Vertigo?”
Renly took a step back. “You know?”
“I suspected. You told us about the head injury. I’ve seen you stumble a couple of times. And I can’t think of any reason other than that that you wouldn’t want to go up that ladder to rescue the woman you love.”
Renly smiled. He hadn’t told anyone he loved her, but it was nice to know that it showed. Hopefully that meant she knew, too.
“I’m an asshole. I should have told you a long time ago. I should have told you at least before you assigned me to Dubai. The type of operation that is, I’d be useless in the field.”
“I think that’s my call,” Ryan said. “And you and I know there’s a hell of a lot more to an operation than being the one who scales the outside of a building. That being said, under the circumstances, I don’t think you really want to be rushing off to the Middle East and leaving Abby behind. I’ll put you on something local, and you can stay here until your vertigo calms down and you and Abby are settled.”
Renly stared at him. “You still want me on the team?”
To his surprise, Ryan laughed outright. “You’re an excellent agent, Renly. And I’m going to assume you weren’t listening to me when I told you that there’s plenty you can do where your vertigo won’t be an issue. I’ve known a lot of men with head injuries who developed vertigo, and it tends to calm down in time. You’re going to be fine. I wish you’d told us, but you’re going to be fine.”
“Right. Good.” Relief flooded him. Hope, too. The day was turning around, and that could only mean good things for their chances.
Ryan cleared his throat. “Of course, if you keep something like that from us again, we’re going to have another talk, and I don’t think you’re going to like the outcome of that one. But right now, we’re five by five.”
Renly grinned. “In that case, I need to know who you’re sending up. I need whoever you think is best in the field to go in and rescue my girl.”
Ten minutes later, Emma was standing beside him. A former operative with a secret government agency, she was the best sharpshooter in Stark Security. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll get her back.”
Renly nodded, hating the fact that he wasn’t the one going up, but knowing this was about saving Abby, not making Renly feel warm and fuzzy.
The plan was for Emma to go up, assess the situation, and radio back. She’d take care of Darrin, and on her make, the below team would blow the downstairs door.
When the team
went in, Renly intended to be first in line. There’d still be stairs, but there’d be a solid wall and no outside world flipping sideways around him.
“Are you okay?” Emma said.
“Yeah,” he said. “Take care of my girl.”
“You’ll have her back soon.”
“I know.” He still hated the fact that he wasn’t on the front line, but for the first time in a long time, he’d been honest about who he was and what he was capable of.
And at the end of the day, it was that honesty that was going to ensure he got Abby back.
Chapter Fourteen
I’m shaking, and I don’t know if it’s from the after-effects of whatever Darrin drugged me with or fear.
I think it’s fear.
Although I’m shaking—and although I can’t see a thing through the blindfold—I’m actually pretty clear-headed. I’ve been listening to the room, trying to figure out what Darrin is doing and where we are.
It’s echoey, and I assume it’s big. I have a vague memory of being carried upstairs. I don’t know how long we’ve been here, and I don’t know what’s happened to Renly.
The last thing I remember is my head swimming and the world fading away. I’d been unable to move my legs or arms, but my eyes were open as we passed the break room, and I saw him sprawled there on the floor, spilled coffee all around him. My chest had tightened, but I couldn’t do anything, not even call out.
Everything after that is a blur. Sounds and images. It could be days that I’ve been here. It could only be hours. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m terrified for Renly. And for myself, too.
“Darrin?”
He makes a noise but doesn’t answer.
“Darrin, please. Please at least take off the blindfold.”
I hear the tread of his steps as he comes closer. And I feel hot breath on my face as he bends in close, the scent of onions surrounding me. “Why the hell do you think I would do you any favors, bitch? After the way you treated me? Do you really think you deserve to ask for anything?”
“I’m sorry if I treated you badly. I didn’t understand how you felt. I wish you’d told me outright. I’m so flattered now that I know. I’d really love to get to know you better.”
The lie makes me sick, but if it saves my life—if it gets me back to Renly—I’ll pretty much say or do anything. “Please. Please just take the blindfold off so we can talk.”
I hear squeaking outside, and I assume it’s from a fire escape. He’d said something earlier about a warehouse. And I wonder where exactly we are. Downtown Los Angeles, probably, in one of the old districts where there are abandoned garment factories. But I don’t know for certain. For all I know we’re in another state by now.
“Please?” I try to reach out, but my arms are tied to a chair.
He bends closer, and I smell his breath again. I feel his fingers trace the outline of the blindfold. Then he steps back, and I hold my breath, expecting him to take the thing off. Instead he reaches out and slaps me hard across the cheek.
“Bitch.” I hear him pacing in front of me. “Did you think I wouldn’t see the way you were cheating on me? We had something special, and you just ignored it. You went to that club with that man. You did nasty things with him. You cheated on me. But you won’t be doing anything else with him. I’ll make sure of that.”
Fear cuts through me, but there’s hope as well. He’s not talking as if Renly is dead. He’s talking as if he will be, and that at least keeps hope alive.
“I told you, I didn’t know how you felt. But I do now.”
“What makes you think that I would want you now? I saw what you did with him. Right where anyone could see. Slut.”
I almost beg again, but I don’t want him to get more riled up. So instead I dip my head and say, “I’m sorry.”
I’m searching for the magic words, but I don’t know what they are. He comes closer, his hands going over mine, cupping me and the armrest to which I’m tied. He’s right there. So close. If my legs were free, I could kick him in the balls.
“I don’t want you anymore,” he says. “Don’t you get it? You’re not here because I want to keep you. You’re here because I’m going to toss you away. That’s what you do with rotten things, isn’t it?”
“Darrin, please.”
He makes a rough sound that’s almost like a growl, and I feel the chair move as he pushes roughly back from me, then feel the sharp sting of his hand against my cheek. I scream, and as I do, I hear a sharp crack. I have no idea what’s going on, but there’s a thud in front of me, and for a moment—one blissful moment—I think that Darrin has fallen.
Renly?
I don’t dare to say it out loud. If I’m wrong—if Darrin isn’t injured—he’d hurt me for that. He’d punish me for thinking of Renly.
But I have to know what’s going on. I rock, trying to shake in the chair. And then I feel hands on my shoulders. “It’s okay,” a woman’s voice says. “He’s down, and you’re safe.”
“Emma?” A sob breaks free. “Oh God, Emma, where’s Renly?”
“Abby, baby. I’m right here.”
The voice is across the room, and I hear the pounding of footsteps as he races to me. And then someone is ripping off the blindfold, and Renly’s right there in front of me, one hand on my thighs, his other cupping my head.
He pulls me close and kisses me hard, then leans back long enough to work on my bindings.
Emma’s already managed to do some, and I blink, realizing there’s more going on around me than just Renly’s face in front of me.
The whole team from Stark Security is here, and I throw my now-free arms around Renly’s neck as he pulls me up to my feet.
He clutches me close, holding me so tight I fear he’s going to crack a rib. “I almost lost you. Christ, Abby, I could have lost you. I don’t think I could live if I lost you.”
“I knew you’d come,” I tell him, and it’s not just hyperbole. I did know. Every cell in my body knew that somehow Renly would save me.
“Never again,” he says, holding my shoulders and looking at me hard.
I manage a thin laugh. “Yeah, I sure as hell hope not.”
“No,” he says. “You away from me. Never again. You’re mine, Abby. Dammit, I need you.”
I blink, confused, then shake my head. Around us, the Stark Security team is securing the scene and patching up Darrin as we await the police. But I barely notice the activity. I’m too focused on Renly. The fear on his face. The passion in his words. “You’re going to have to say that again,” I tell him.
“You and me,” he says. “Forever. Call it a relationship because it is one. Call it friends with benefits, because you are the best friend I will ever have, and if you’ll have me, the last lover I’ll ever have, too.”
My heart flutters, and my hand flies to my mouth. “Is this a proposal?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Is it?”
I laugh. “No,” I say, feeling giddy enough that I could float on air. “I want to date first. But why don’t we call it a promise?”
“Baby, I will promise you the world if you want it.”
I shake my head, then feel warm tears on my cheeks as he pulls me even closer. “God, Renly, don’t you get it? I never wanted the world. All I’ve ever really wanted is you.”
Epilogue
Six months later…
“Mel, isn’t Abby’s ring stunning?” Jo Swift glances over her shoulder toward her husband, Mel, Red’s co-owner in the distillery.
“Yeah, yeah, great ring,” he says, his attention on his phone.
Jo rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t be insulted. He’s in the middle of negotiating some big deal with a hotel chain. Keeping his attention on anything other than that phone the last two days has been a piece of work. But as for me,” she continues enthusiastically, “that is absolutely gorgeous.”
“It really is,” I say, feeling deliciously giddy.
“Did Renly pick it out?”
“He did. And it’s perfect.”
He’s a few feet away, talking with Red, and I see Jo’s eyes shift that way, a small smile playing at her mouth. Happiness for me, I assume, and I reach out, gratified when Renly takes my hand without even looking.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she says, and though she looks toward her husband, I don’t see the smile I would expect. On the contrary, it almost seems as if a shadow has fallen over her.
I squeeze Renly’s hand, and he meets my eyes, the love I see reflected there filling the abyss that Jo’s darkness has created inside me.
She gives me a hug, then turns away, pasting on a smile as she heads toward Mel.
“They’re not our role model,” Renly says, whispering in my ear.
I look up, surprised. “What? Who?”
He strokes my hair. “Do you really believe I don’t know what you’re thinking?”
I laugh. “Fair enough. They don’t have a spark at all. I don’t want that to happen to us.”
“It won’t. It can’t.” Gently, he tilts my chin up. “Take another look around.”
I do, taking in all of our friends who’ve come to celebrate our engagement. Nikki and Damien, Ryan and Jamie, Linda and Winston, and so many more from my work, from Renly’s Hollywood jobs, and from Stark Security.
“There’s so much love around us,” he whispers. “But none of that even matters. Because we have enough love between us to last an eternity. We’re going to be great, baby.”
“Going to be?” I say with a quick shake of my head. “Sweetheart, we already are.”
* * * *
Don’t miss Red’s story in Ravaged With You. Click here to purchase.
* * * *
