Page 36 of On the Wild Side
She’s shaking but concentrating on blowing on my fingers, and after the third time of going through each one, she starts to settle.
“Oh, God,” she sobs and brushes at the tears on her cheeks.
“Okay.” Shaken to the core, I cup her face and lean in to kiss her cheek, sure to be gentle so I don’t hurt her. “It’s okay now, Abs. Where’s Chase?”
“Upstairs,” she says, gesturing with her chin toward the building. “I was cleaning. I thought the condo was empty, but—” She shakes her head, and the tears start again, fueling the bright red anger pulsing through me. I’m going to kill whoever did this to my girl.
“Brady.”
I stand and turn at Chase’s voice, and see that he, along with two other cops, is leading a shirtless man out of the building, his hands cuffed behind his back.
“You motherfucker.” I charge him, fist cocked, but Chase catches me, holding me back. “I’m going to rip your goddamn heart out. I’m going to be your worst fucking nightmare, you hear me, you piece of shit?”
“Stop.” Chase’s voice is hard in my ear.
“Let me kill him.”
“I can’t let you touch him,” he says, jerking me. The asshole smirks at me, but I see blood running down the side of his face.
“Tell me she did that to him.”
“Oh, she clocked him good with a frying pan,” my brother replies, pride in his voice. “Andsheneeds you. Abbi is who you’re here for. This asshole will get what’s coming to him. He confessed to everything, gleefully. Fucker.”
“I’m going to hurt him,” I promise my brother.
“I didn’t hear that.” When the asshole is in the back of the squad car, headed to jail, Chase turns to Abbi, who’s just staring straight ahead now, the look in her eyes breaking my fucking heart, and squats next to her. “Abbi, I need to ask you some questions, but first, we should take you to the hospital.”
“No.” She focuses on him and licks her lips. “Absolutelynohospital. I’m fine. It’s nothing I haven’t had before.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
“I have to clean that condo,” she continues.
“Definitely not.” I shake my head and take her hand in mine, lacing my fingers through hers. “You’re going home. Or to my house. And we’ll call someone else to take care of this.”
“I’m the only one who can.”
“Then we’ll call the owner and tell them they have to find someone else. You’re not working today,” I stress when she tries to argue, and then she deflates, blows out a breath, and nods.
“I can’t go home,” she says softly. “Daisy is just next door, and she’d see me come home and would want to be with me, and I need some time.”
“Polly’s house,” Chase says, sparing me a glance before he calls our soon-to-be sister-in-law. When she picks up, he says, “Tell me your house in town is empty right now. Good. I need to take Abbi there. She’s okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Polly.”
“I’ll drive you. Shit, where are your shoes?”
“Inside,” she says, looking down. All I want is to pull her against me and soothe her. “I need my purse.”
“I’ll go get your things,” Chase says before jogging back inside.
“Come on.” I tug her out of her car and get her settled in my 4Runner. “Everything’s going to be okay, baby.”
“Would you really kill him?” Her voice is low, but she’s watching me shrewdly.
“In a motherfucking heartbeat.” I let the anger show in my eyes and in my voice. “He fuckingtouchedyou. He marked you. If Chase hadn’t stopped me, he’d be a dead man.”
She swallows hard and turns to look out the windshield, and I worry that I said too much. Chase returns with all of Abbi’s things, including a bucket of supplies, and we stow them in the back of the 4Runner.
“I have to come with you,” he says grimly. “I need to get her statement.”