Page 57 of Fast Fury

“Thank you for being here.” He had to hide the intensity of his feelings so as not to scare her off. She already didn’t trust that he was in a good headspace after breaking up with Shelley. She might not believe him if he told her the truth right now.

This relationship was different for him. Abby was solid all the way through her character. Someone he could trust and lean on, independent and confident enough to be able to tolerate his hectic work and travel schedule, the stress of his job. He’d never been with a woman who was all of those things. Had never imagined anyone like Abby would want him.

“You doing okay?” she asked softly, rubbing a hand over his chest.

“Better with you here.” He kissed the top of her head, breathed in the scent of her shampoo. This was exactly what he’d needed and never would have asked for. They’d only been together a few days and already Abby intuitively knew him better than anyone else he’d ever been in a relationship with.

She was quiet, snuggled up against him, offering comfort and support without saying a word. Giving him the time and space to talk about it if he wanted, not pushing him. Damn, she was such a sweetheart. He slid a hand up and down her back, basking in the peace she gave him.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” he finally said after a while. “And to lose him like that…” He shook his head, pulled in a deep breath. “I saw the woman when I pulled up, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then, when I was talking to Hani by his truck, she came out of nowhere. ‘This is for my daughter’, she said, and started firing.” Kai had gone over it a thousand times in his head. What had she meant? Had Hani been involved with the daughter and broken her heart? Gotten her pregnant and bailed? It was all Kai could think of, other than maybe the daughter had taken it so hard she’d killed herself over it.

Abby made a sympathetic sound and hugged him tighter.

Kai gathered his thoughts for a moment. “I went there thinking I was going to take him down a peg or twenty, put him in his place and set him straight for the way he’d acted and the things he said yesterday. Instead I watched him die. And while he was laying there, bleeding out in front of me, you know what he said?”

She tipped her face up to look at him. “What?” she whispered.

“That he’d done it to protect me.” He ran his fingers through her short hair, his insides twisting as he recalled it. “He didn’t know who the shooter was, but he’d been trying to push me away to protect me. Because apparently theVenenocartel still has a bounty on my head and they know I’m here on the island.”

Abby sucked in a breath, fear lighting the depths of her pretty blue eyes.

“He thought if he shoved me away hard enough, that I would leave the island. Turn my back on him and just walk away.” He clenched his jaw. “Knowing he thought I’d do that hurts almost as much as losing him.”

“Ah, Kai.” Laying her cheek back on his chest, she exhaled hard. “Did you tell the police? About the bounty?”

“Yes. Talked to my CO and team leader about it too. The cops have Hani’s phone right now, but the DEA and FBI are involved in the investigation as well. They’re trying to figure out who Hani’sVenenocontact is. I’m betting the woman is involved with them too.” Kai considered it his personal mission to take them down. Once he found out who was responsible for Hani’s murder, whoever had done this would pay. He’d sworn it to Hani before Kai had left his cousin’s body in the morgue earlier.

“Think they’ve got people out looking for you right now?” she asked worriedly.

“Maybe. The cops are sending someone out to watch the house tonight, and get me a new rental. The Mustang stands out way too much.”

“And so do you.” She hugged him tighter, made a sound of distress. “I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

He hadn’t wanted to frighten her, but he loved that she cared about him so much. Setting a finger beneath her chin, he tipped her face up and met her eyes. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. There’s too much heat on the cartel now with everything that’s happened. And I’m only here for another couple days. As soon as I get all the legal stuff taken care of, I’ll stay for Hani’s funeral, then fly home.”

“Want me to stay with you until after the service?”

Her question was quiet, but sincere. And it helped fill the hole inside him that Hani’s death had created. “It means a lot that you’d do that.”

She frowned in concern. “I care about you. I hate to see you hurting and I want to be here for you. I can change my return flight and push it back a couple of days, no problem.”

The woman was holding his beating heart in her hands right now, and she didn’t even realize it. Kai brought her head back to his chest once more, kissed her temple. “Thank you. Let’s see what happens, okay?” He didn’t want to screw up her work schedule.

“Okay.”

They sat like that for a while, just holding onto each other in the quiet stillness of the house while the air became perfumed with the scent of baking lasagna. Then Abby’s phone chimed softly on the coffee table. She sat up to silence it. “As soon as I take it out of the oven it’ll need about ten minutes to rest on the counter before it’s ready.” She stood.

“Want a hand with anything?”

“No, you just sit here and relax. I found your favorite beer at the store, too. Want one?”

“God, I’d love one.”

He dropped his head back onto the back of the sofa and watched the gentle sway of her hips as she walked into the kitchen. He was still reeling from what had happened, a little numb at times, and Abby was the only thing that made it bearable. She came back a minute later with an icy cold bottle of his favorite beer.

“Thanks.” He took a swig, let out a groan as it slid down his parched throat.

“Think you can eat in a few minutes?” she asked quietly, rubbing his shoulder.

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