Page 7 of Fast Fury

The heat of his palm sank through her leather jacket, igniting heat of another source in her body. She slid into the booth, a bit surprised when he scooted in beside her rather than take the chair opposite her. She didn’t consider herself to be a small woman, and years of struggling with body image issues and poor self-esteem made her feel bigger than she actually was, but next to him she felt tiny. In a heightened, ultra-feminine way she liked a whole lot. Not that she’d ever admit it, being a strong, capable and independent woman who could take care of herself.

Kai slid a menu over to her. “Okay, tell me what’s bothering you,” he said without preamble.

Not seeing the point in dancing around the subject, she simply told him flat out. “Well, for one, Shelley was waiting for me in the parking garage when I got home from work tonight.”

AT THE MENTION of his ex, Kai’s entire body stiffened.

His attention sharpened on Abby, every single one of his protective instincts bristling. If Shelley had threatened her, Kai would take care of it personally.No onewas going to bother Abby while he was around, whether it was his ex or a freakingVenenocartel member. “What did she want?”

She shrugged, the scent of her trademark black leather jacket reaching his nose, her cap of pale blonde hair almost glowing in the dim light. “To know where you were and find out whether I’d seen you. I told her I hadn’t, which is true. She was really upset, but when I didn’t have anything useful to tell her, she left.”

Kai absorbed everything and analyzed it. After almost two months apart, he didn’t miss Shelley, or the constant exhaustion from having to soothe her ruffled feathers all the time. He’d tried to make it work for way too long, when the truth was, nothing would ever have made it work. He saw that now.

Thanks to Abby.

Sometimes it took another person’s perspective, then time and space to give you the distance to look at things with new eyes. He hadn’t liked what he’d seen about himself, that he’d been enabling toxic relationships for pretty much his entire adult life. So he’d finally ended it, though Shelley didn’t seem to have accepted that they were done.

“I’m sorry she did that,” he murmured. Abby had been privy to more than her share of the drama that had played out between he and Shelley. It embarrassed him that she was still dealing with more of it because of him. He wanted that chapter of his life over and done with, so he could move on. To better things.

And hopefully, to Abby.

“It’s not your fault. But the thing is…” She hesitated a moment, fiddled with her menu. “Okay, I don’t have any proof, but I feel like someone’s been following me around lately.”

He frowned in concern. “What? For how long?”

“Around a week or so. When I’m driving.”

What the hell? “Why didn’t you call or text me?”

“Because you were gone, I didn’t have any proof, and I thought I was just being paranoid because of the reasons why you had to move so suddenly. When she showed up tonight I thought maybe it might have been her I sensed, but she seemed genuinely stunned that I would think that.”

Shelley had her problems, for sure. Insecurity and jealousy being the worst ones. Would she be frantic enough to stalk Abby just to try and get a lead on him? Maybe. She’d said and done a lot of things he wouldn’t have thought her capable of during their turbulent relationship. “I can’t say for sure that she wouldn’t do it.”

“I thought so too, but her reaction to my question was real, and believe me when I say she was too upset to be able to make up that convincing a lie so fast. She was in such rough shape I barely recognized her when I first saw her standing there.”

Kai covered a wince. He felt badly for Shelley. He might not want to be involved with her anymore, but that didn’t mean he wanted her to suffer, either. “I’ll contact her and tell her to leave you alone.”

“No, that’ll just open up a whole new can of worms and she’ll keep trying to contact you. Better to leave things the way they are and give her the time and space to get over you.”

She was right. Though he felt bad for Shelley, they didn’t need to see or talk to each other again. “Even if she was following you, I don’t think she’s dangerous.” Desperate and in need of a healthy dose of self-esteem, maybe, but not dangerous. Not to anyone but herself, anyhow. “Did you ever see someone? Get a vehicle make and model or a plate number?”

“No. It’s just a feeling I couldn’t shake, and strong enough that I wasn’t going to ignore it. Maybe because of everything you told me before you moved out.”

Smart. Kai leaned back and regarded her more closely. How had he lived across the hall from her for so long and not reallyseenher? He’d been fucking blind, it was the only answer. “We did have someone watching the building, just in case, but he was reassigned as of last week.”

Abby began perusing her menu. “It could just be my imagination.”

Maybe. But maybe not. And that bothered him. “I don’t like that you’re scared. And I hate that it’s because of me.”

She turned those vivid blue eyes on him. “No, don’t be silly. You said yourself that moving would make everyone safer.”

He nodded. “I had to go.” After little Autumn Prentiss had been kidnapped on the order of aVenenolieutenant a few weeks ago, Kai and the DEA weren’t taking any chances with security. Continuing to live there when the cartel knew his address would have put everyone in the building in possible jeopardy.

“I know.” She put down her menu and gave him a wry little smile. “Shelley also made a comment that you ruined her for anyone else.”

Kai shook his head, a pang of sympathy slicing through him. He’d been good to Shelley. “That’s because she never dated anyone who treated her right before.”

Abby’s smile disappeared. “And I bet we could say the same about the two of us, too,” she murmured.

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