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  “Holy fuck,” Reid and I say at the same moment.

  Abbie stands up and I’m on my feet in a heartbeat, facing her. “Please tell me I didn’t give him a free pass to hurt you? Please tell me I didn’t ruin you?”

  I cup her face. “Easy, Abbie, baby. We’re okay. Our father can’t win. He won’t win.”

  “You’re telling me you think he might really have done this? Is he capable of such a thing?”

  I don’t want to answer her. I don’t want her to know that my father, the man I’m a spawn of, is capable of such evil, but now is not the time to protect her from the truth. “Yes. Yes, I believe my father capable of such a thing. I believe he’d do anything to win and come out on top.”

  “Even murder Kenneth and frame his own sons?”

  “Yes, baby, even that.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t let this happen to you.”

  “We don’t know anything right now. This is speculation done to protect ourselves. And you. I’m going to protect you.”

  She twists away from me and goes down on her knees in front of Cat and Reese. “Protect them. I’ll get another attorney. Please protect them even if you have to throw me under the bus.”

  My heart squeezes. The only woman I’ve ever let close to me all but buried me. This one, this one, would bury herself for me. And I won’t let her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Gabe…

  Before I can even reach for Abbie, Cat is leaning toward her where she still kneels, drawing her hand into hers. “Honey,” Cat declares, “my father doesn’t get to destroy you or my brothers. He doesn’t get to win because he’s an ass and not only that, but I’m married to the best defense attorney on the planet, who is your attorney until this is over.”

  “We’re not deserting you,” Reese chimes in. “That’s not how we operate.”

  “You can’t represent me if I don’t hire you,” Abbie replies. “I’m not hiring you. That’s official.” She stands up and turns, running right into me.

  I catch her arms, repeating Cat’s declaration in my own words. “My father doesn’t get to destroy any of us.”

  She grabs my shirt. “I told you to walk away.”

  “My father might have dragged me into this anyway. We’re all better off with a united front. And we have your mother to think about, too.”

  “We?” she queries.

  “We,” I confirm, and as I expect with this group, everyone in the room chimes in and murmurs, “We.”

  “This is how we do things,” I add. “We protect our own.”

  The forlorn look in those green eyes of hers says what she doesn’t: I’m not one of you.

  I lean in, my cheek pressed to hers, lips at her ear. “You’re with me. You’re with us.”

  “It’s our way because it was our mother’s way,” Cat adds. “My mother was good and wonderful. This is what she would want. For us to stand together and with you. We’re stronger together.”

  “Exactly why my father served you those papers,” I say softly, for her ears only. “He was trying to divide us. Divided, he wins. Together, we win. All in together, Abbie. From this point forward, all in. Say it.”

  “Gabe,” she breathes out.

  “Say it.”

  “Yes,” she says. “I’m all in.”

  I don’t give her time to doubt that declaration. I turn her to face the room. “She’s with us.”

  “Am I re-hired, Abbie?” Reese queries.

  “Are you sure you want to be?” she asks.

  “Completely,” Reese replies without hesitation. “This is what I do. Help innocent people.”

  “Your mother’s on her way,” Reid announces. “The driver that picked her up just texted me. How’s she handling this? Where’s her head right now?”

  Abbie settles back down on the couch next to me. “She’s worried about me and she’s worried about the animals at the shelter.”

  “Talk to me about the shelter,” Reese says. “You have absolutely no idea why Jean Claude wants it?”

  “None,” Abbie says. “My ex gave it up easily in the divorce.”

  “Walker is trying to figure out why that property is in demand,” I explain. “No luck so far. It could have been personal, a way for her ex to lash out at her.”

  “Which makes it look like I set him up with Jean Claude to end this,” Abbie worries. “And really I did, but I didn’t think that meant murder.”

  “I need a copy of the email you said followed the call,” Reese says, and Abbie nods, pulling out her phone and punching a few buttons. She then shows me the email.

  I read the short, to the point message and hand it to Reese. “She made no solicitation for murder at all.”

  “It’s nothing more than the document that proved Kenneth was stealing from him,” Abbie adds.

  Reese accepts the phone, reads the message and then glances at Abbie. “Can I email this to myself?”

  She nods. “Of course.”

  Reese sends the message to himself and right as he would hand the phone back to Abbie, Cat reaches for it. “Let me put our numbers in your phone,” Cat offers. “Is that okay?”

  Abbie nods. “Yes, please. Great.”

  “Ours, too, please,” Carrie says. “Pass me the phone and I can put ours in.”

  “I’ve got it,” Cat offers.

  “You aren’t saying anything about the email,” Abbie worries, shoving wisps of red curls from her face to study Reese.

  “Gabe is right,” Reese replies. “You didn’t solicit murder. You simply sent him the documents. If Jean Claude chose to react to the information you provided by killing Kenneth, no sane person does such a thing. No sane person expects such a thing. You have no reason to believe him capable of such a thing, which will be your defense.”

  “Right,” she says, and while there is nothing wrong with her tone, I know where this is going.

  My hand comes down on her leg. “You have to tell him.”

  “I do,” she says. “I just—I can’t seem,” she looks at me, “to find the words.”

  I caress her cheek. “He needs you to just be straight with him.”

  “He wants innocence. Saying this out loud doesn’t feel innocent.”

  “What is this?” Reese prods, interjecting himself with a hint of urgency in his tone. “What don’t I know?”

  I take control. I give him what he wants and needs, and what I know Abbie is going to choke on if I force her to share it herself. “She knew what Jean Claude was capable of. That’s why she tried to get me to back out of this. She was worried that if I caused trouble for him, that I’d end up dead.” I press my hand to her leg and refocus on Abbie. “You are one of the best people I know, outside of my sister. This doesn’t make you guilty.”

  Her lips press together. “Doesn’t it?”

  “No, baby,” I say softly. “It doesn’t.”

  “Did you think Jean Claude would kill him, Abbie?”

  “No.”

  “Did you believe that he was capable of murder?”

  “Yes,” she whispers. Her fingers curl on the edge of the cushion. “Kenneth would threaten me. ‘Don’t make me go to Jean Claude about you. He kills people who fuck with him.’”

  “Oh my God,” Cat murmurs but Abbie doesn’t look at her. She focuses on Reese.

  “I really didn’t think he’d kill him,” she says, “but now I sound really guilty.”

  Reese studies her for an eternal second and no one pushes him. Reese wasn’t joking about his moral compass. He doesn’t represent people he doesn’t trust or believe to be innocent. He stands up and walks a few steps before he turns to face us, his hands settling on his hips. “Did you know any names? Was there someone Jean Claude was supposed to have killed?”

  “No,” Abbie says. “It wasn’t like that. It was more my ex talking big. He did a lot of talking big. Like I said, he used Jean Claude to scare me.”

  “Fuck,” I murmur. “If he was
n’t dead, I’d fucking kill him.”

  “Amen to that,” Reid adds.

  “I might help,” Carrie chimes in. “What an asshole.” She slides her hand to Reid’s. “Thank God you got away from that man before he pulled you down.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Reese says, tuning us out, and focusing solely on Abbie, “if this gets pointed your direction. It may not. We’ll prepare tomorrow. We’ll be ready for anything.”

  Abbie breathes out. “Then you’re still with me?”

  “I’m with you,” Reese says, with no hesitation, but the lines of his face are drawn tight, his tone harrowed. I know this man. He’s worried for us. I wasn’t. I knew there was nothing that could come back on us, but Abbie’s past with her ex is riddled with motives. And mine is riddled with my father, who won’t just go the fuck away. It might be time to start to get worried.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Gabe…

  I’m still contemplating the levels of hell my father might travel to drag us there with him when Cat pops to her feet, drawing everyone’s attention as she exclaims, “I see everyone in this room worrying right now and this is ridiculous. We need to just go talk to dad and end this.”

  Abbie casts me a hopeful look. “Is that an option? I didn’t think that was an option.”

  “No,” I say, at the same time as Reid and now the entire room is standing.

  “You’re not going to see your father,” Reese orders, on his feet and catching Cat’s hand, grounding her right here in their home. “You and our baby don’t need that stress.”

  “Worrying like this is stressful,” she replies. “Let’s just end it.” She twists around to face us all. “End it. Let’s confront him.”

  “If anyone was going to confront him, it would be me,” Reid replies. “I’m not personally involved. He sees me as the cold-hearted bastard I can be.”

  “Neither am I,” Cat argues. “I’m not involved.”

  “When you get involved, we look rattled,” I interject. “He doesn’t need to see us as rattled.”

  “Exactly,” Reid states. “Calculated is more like it, and calculated means we wait to see what Blake has to say about any tricks he might have played to frame us.”

  “We don’t need to give him ideas,” I agree. “For all we know, the police are looking at him right now.” I eye Cat’s belly pointedly. “Protect what’s important. Reid and I will deal with our bastard of a father who should be protecting you, too, but won’t.”

  The doorbell rings. “That’s Abbie’s mother,” Reid says. “Walker has the security clearance to bring her up.”

  I turn to Abbie, my hands settling on her shoulders. “Be strong and she’ll be strong.”

  “I will be,” she promises. “I don’t want her to panic.”

  “You also need to allow Reese to talk to her without you protecting her. Just like I had to do with you.”

  “Yes,” Reese states. “I need to be clear, Abbie. I’m representing you with the family right now. I’m not promising to represent your mother. I met her at the shelter. I liked her, but I need to talk to her before I make a commitment.”

  “Thank you for considering her as a client,” Abbie says. “She’s a good person, but she’s also—”

  “Abigail!”

  At the sound of her mother’s voice, Abbie rotates and takes off around the couch. I watch as the two of them collide into a hug just outside of the line of the living area. “That bastard can’t even die without making your life hell,” her mother growls.

  Abbie gasps and speaks to her mother in a low voice. I eye Reese, who gives me a small smile that tells me he gets it. She’s protecting her daughter. He motions me to join him. “Let’s go to the kitchen,” he says, kissing Cat as Reid catches her arm and urges her to stay behind. I know my brother. He’s going to talk our sister off the ledge our father will shove her off of.

  A few minutes later, me, Reese, Abbie, and her mother are in the kitchen standing around the island.

  “You’re the best of the best, I hear,” Abbie’s mother says to Reese. She looks tired, her red hair a tangled mess, dark circles shadowing her eyes. “I already knew you were generous and that you love animals, considering your help at the shelter. You’re a good man. Thank you for helping.”

  “I try to be,” Reese says. “And what was Abbie’s ex? What kind of man was he?”

  “He was no man. He was a monster.”

  “You hated him,” Reese states.

  Abbie’s mom doesn’t hesitate. “With all my heart and soul, but I suspect that man has plenty of people who feel that way. I don’t think lying about it serves a purpose besides making me look like a liar.”

  “She’s always brutally honest,” Abbie offers. “I was going to warn you about that.”

  Reese’s attention falls on Abbie. “Let me have a word with your mother alone.”

  Abbie’s spine stiffens. “Yes—but—”

  I stroke her hair. “Abbie, baby—”

  “I’m good, honey,” her mother assures her. “Let me talk to Reese.”

  “You’re sure?” Abbie asks. “Because I know this is overwhelming and—”

  “Abigail, give me some credit. I save dying animals a few days a week. I can handle a little pressure. I’m more worried about you than me. Let me talk to Reese.”

  “I’ll take good care of her,” Reese promises.

  Abbie inhales and nods at the room in general. “Yes. Okay.”

  I don’t give her time to change her mind. I lace my fingers with Abbie’s and lead her out of the kitchen to the hallway just off the foyer. It’s the perfect time for us to have a serious talk. For that reason, my intended destination is Reese’s home office on the other side of the apartment, but Abbie spies the bathroom, she darts away from me and inside. Running. She’s always running and it’s time to end that and a few other things while we’re at it. I’m on her heels and before she can shut the bathroom door, I’m inside the tiny visitor-sized space with her, shutting the door and locking it.

  “Oh my God, Gabe,” Abbie whispers urgently. “What are you doing?”

  I turn to face her, pulling her to me and then rotating her, placing her against the door. “Do not do what you did out there ever again.”

  “Even if I knew what you meant, you don’t get to order me around in your sister’s bathroom, Gabe.”

  “On this I do, baby. Don’t throw yourself under the train for me. I can hold back the train, but once you’re underneath, I can’t pull you back up. Do you understand?”

  Her eyes spark with anger, a stubborn set to her jaw. “No. No, I don’t understand. And to be clear, the reverse of what you just said is true. Once you’re under the train—”

  “That won’t happen.” I cup her backside and pull her to me. “I won’t go under unless you force me under, and the way you do that is by forcing me to save you by throwing myself there.”

  “I’m trying to save you, not throw you under, Gabe. I heard the fear in your sister’s voice. I saw the fear in her eyes. She believes your father will take you down. She believes he can.”

  “My sister doesn’t like to see how capable her brothers are of fighting a man like our father. You heard what Reid said to me in the hallway. There’s a part of me you don’t know and I don’t want you to know, Abbie. That part of me will win, which means you win and you’re free.”

  “What part of you, Gabe? What does that even mean?”

  “Why? Ready to run? I thought you weren’t going to run, Abbie.”

  “What part of me asking a question says that I’m running? Did I say I was running?”

  “You ran into this bathroom.”

  “I have to pee, which I can’t do with your hand on my ass and your big body on top of mine. Or with you watching. And you know what?” She pokes my chest. “After I overheard Reid talking to you, I said I wasn’t going to run because you didn’t deny what your brother said. You didn’t deny a past that he knows and worries about. You didn�
��t tell me I didn’t understand what I heard when we both know I did. That felt honest. I need honesty in my life. Be honest with me and if you aren’t, I won’t run away, but I will walk away. Be you, because I can’t deal with another man who seems like one thing but turns out to be another.”

  Be me.

  Be honest.

  She wouldn’t like the truth I have to hide, not my truth, but I don’t say this. She won’t accept it. Instead, I choose to be honest about what I can be, what I’m willing to disclose. “You want honest? When I said any man could fall in love with you, I meant me. I could fall in love with you, Abbie, if you give me the chance, but I won’t get that chance if you take a fall for me that I don’t need you to take.”

  And then I dare to ask for what I don’t deserve to hear the answer to, considering how quickly I’ve just avoided the real truth of who and what I am. “I need you to trust me. Really trust me. I need us to be a team. You and me, baby. We fight this together. Remember? That’s our word: together.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Gabe…

  Seconds tick by and Abbie just stares up at me. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t snap back as she has been the past ten minutes. The small guest bathroom of my sister’s apartment shrinks, my near declaration of love hanging in the air between us, obviously not well received. I give a choked laugh. “You wanted honest? You got love, baby. That’s as damn honest as it gets.”

  “Don’t. Don’t fall in love, Gabe. Love is ugly. It cuts and it makes you bleed and—”

  I cup her head and stare down at her. “I will never cut you and I will never make you bleed.”

  “No one thinks that’s how love will treat them,” she says. “But then they’re crying bloody damn tears.”

  She’s afraid.

  I should be afraid. Hell, I have as many reasons as she has to punch a hole through love, but it doesn’t seem to matter. I can’t seem to shut down with this woman. “I’m not doing this alone, Abbie. If I’m falling, you’re falling with me.”

  Her fingers curl on my chest. “I won’t fall, Gabe.”

  “I’ll catch you. Give me the chance, and you’ll see that I’ll catch you. Hell, I’m trying to show you that now.”