Page 68 of Commit
“Jokes aside, congratulations. I hate to throw this out on your wedding night or day or whatever, but I’m flying out to check out these dead guys. I could use a second set of eyes, and Atlas has a meeting with Benito.”
I feel my lips twitch. Benito is the New York City underboss waiting to slip on his father’s crown, but the guy’s a fucking tool. I respect his father. Like, even. But I see none of him in his son. His mother must have swallowed the best parts of his father’s DNA.
“What time do you want to leave?”
“As soon as possible. I want to get in and out before the feds get involved.”
I close my eyes and sigh. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the plane in an hour.”
Kenzo hangs up, leaving me to curse my luck.
I head to my room to let Starling know I have to leave, but I find her already asleep. Kissing her temple, I decide to let her rest and quietly leave the room, closing the door behind me. I’ll text her later.
I’m going to need caffeine to get through the day, so I head down to the kitchen to make some coffee. I brew a pot and grab a travel mug from the cupboard. While I stand waiting for the coffee to brew, I sense someone behind me.
I whirl around, my gun in my hand and aimed at Abbot before I even think about it.
“Fuck, sorry.”
He stands there, wild-eyed, clearly not expecting that reaction from me.
“You’re not usually up this early.” I put the gun back in my pants and take in his face. It’s less swollen than yesterday, but his eye is black, and his cheekbone is a dark purple.
“I needed to get a workout in before school.”
I turn and fill the travel mug, then grab a regular mug and fill it for Abbot. I only have a brief thought about throwing it in his face, but now that Starling is mine, I feel slightly less homicidal than before.
Handing him the mug, he frowns but takes it before grabbing the milk from the fridge and adding enough that it no longer resembles coffee.
“You don’t like coffee?” I ask.
“I don’t mind it. I have practice again later. Can you pick up Starling?”
I take a sip of my coffee, and Abbot’s eyes zero in on my tattoo. Fuck, I can’t just drop it on him and leave Starling to deal with the fallout.
I wait for him to ask, but he doesn’t. Then it hits me—I have a B on my finger, not an S. Maybe he hasn’t made the connection yet.
“I’ve got to fly out of town for a last-minute appointment. But if I’m not back in time, I’ll send someone to pick her up.”
He opens his mouth but hesitates. I wait him out, sipping my coffee.
“She won’t like being in a car alone with a strange man.”
I pause. “She takes the train and subway, which are both filled with strangers.”
“And with people who will hear her if she screams.” His face pales, letting me know he didn’t mean to say that.
“Explain,” I bark.
“It’s not my story, but I think you can figure out enough from what I said.”
“Abbot—”
“Don’t ask me again. You don’t know me or her. That’s not a dig at you, just the truth. If you did know us, you’d know we’re vaults when it comes to each other. We’re best friends. She’s the only person I trust. I’m not going to blow that by spilling her secrets.”
I bite my tongue because I can’t force him to tell me, though I’m sure I’ll drag it out of Starling eventually.
No, for the first time since I started this ball rolling, I feel something other than anger and jealousy. I feel guilty. And I don’t like it one fucking bit.