Page 76 of Live for Me

“We have a problem,” Ash said, his voice cold.

My spine straightened as my eyes shot over to Abbie to find her slowly rising from her place on the couch, throwing her blanket aside. “Who is it?” she inquired with a furrowed brow.

“Ash,” I answered her before giving her my back and walking to the fridge. “What’s going on?” I demanded, pulling open the fridge door to find it fully stocked with everything I liked. My eyes narrowed, spotting some of Abbie’s favorite things as well.

Fucking Val, ever the caretaker.

“Abbie’s boss contacted me this afternoon,” he began. “He gave me access to their old security feeds and Jake was able to hack into the system to give me a view of the live feed.”

“Okay,” I drawled, eyeing the beer on the top shelf. “What did you find?”

“Fucker just broke into the building twenty minutes ago.”

“What?” I barked, whirling around to put my eyes on Abbie. “What the hell do you mean he broke in twenty minutes ago?”

Abbie’s skin paled, her hand going to her mouth.

“Meaning I’m fucking standing in her office with the cop outside and her fucking boss,” Ash clipped as my nostrils flared, anger sparking in my chest.

Abbie’s brown eyes were wide with something I hated most in this world: fear.

“What is it?” she breathed out, her hand falling away from her mouth and coming to stand in front of me. I didn’t answer, only focusing on the fear swirling in her eyes, cooling the warmth within them. “Beau, tell me what’s wrong.”

“There’s something else,” Ash added.

Of course, there fucking was.

I didn’t break our gaze. I couldn’t. “What?” I clipped harshly, my fingers tightening around the phone.

“He left another gift.”

When he didn’t elaborate, my jaw jumped. “What did he leave her this time?”

The fear in her eyes grew, and the sight made my gut twist painfully. My wildflower deserved to live a life without fear, without worry. She deserved to live the life I promised her.

“I don’t think I should say, Beau. I don’t need you doing any cowboy shit,” the bounty hunter replied, his voice controlled. Too controlled.

Whatever the bastard left her wasn’t for her—-it was for me.

“Ash, whether I hired you or not, I was going to be doing cowboy shit,” I told him bluntly. “You’re just expediting the process by helping me fucking find him.”

“Beau—”

I cut him off. “What did he fucking leave in her damn office?” I barked, my voice bouncing off the walls of the beautiful kitchen.

There was a moment of tense silence before he gave it to me. “A photo of her in the shower,” Ash growled.

The vein in my temple began to pulse, and my next words were slow, calculated. “Say again?”

Abbie’s eyes widened, my tone compelling her to take a step closer. That was a horrible idea. I didn’t need her near me, not now. Not with the thought and images running through my head.

“I’m not repeating it. It’ll just piss me off more, Beau,” Ash replied coldly. “There was nothing else, just the photo in a white envelope.”

I looked away from Abbie, pulling myself out of the warmth of her brown pools. “Anything else you wanna update me on?”

“No.”

I hung up the phone and carefully set it down on the table before I launched it into the living room. I bent my head, squeezing my eyes shut. That fucker had seen her naked and documented it not only for his own sick pleasure, but to torment her further.

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