Page 60 of Assassin's Prey
“Asshole,” I said, not without affection but with a heavy amount of exasperation.
Abby’s laughter tickled my throat as she buried her face in the crook of my neck. Her weight on my legs, her arms around me, her face tucked against me drew a groan of relief from deep inside. I never thought I’d feel this again. Never thought I’d get a chance to fill my lungs with the scent of vanilla and flowers from her shampoo, absorb the warmth of her skin. My heart still felt ragged, torn apart, as if this wasn’t real, but I had the evidence right here in my arms.
I buried my hands in her hair and lifted her head, needing to see her eyes, her light. “Holy fuck, Abby. I thought I’d lost you. I thought—”
Pain closed off my throat. Abby palmed my cheeks, her heat steadying me. “You couldn’t lose me. I wouldn’t let you.”
“I watched the car blow up with you inside it,” I said, my words more gravel than sound.
Abby’s eyes widened. “You what?”
Remi steered the SUV onto the road, heading for home. “What did you think happened, Abby?”
“I… I don’t know.” She shook her head against my shoulder. “One minute I was about to get in the car. I was… I was angry.”
I palmed her nape and squeezed. The anger didn’t matter anymore; we’d both been taught that lesson.
“I wasn’t really paying attention. I opened the door. Then there was something over my face”—she wiped a hand over her nose and mouth as a shudder shook her—“and…nothing. I don’t remember anything after that, not till I woke up back there.”
“You were at Hacr Technologies,” Eli supplied.
Abby nodded, but I could tell that all she cared about was that she was no longer there.
“We’ll call Bryant in the morning,” I said above Abby’s head. “He’s the detective assigned to your case since it was tied to the fire at the house. I think he’ll be happy to know you’re alive.”
Bryant also had his hands pretty full tonight. And while the detective probably had a very good idea what had happened back at Hacr, I didn’t think he’d be pushing for too much more than the obvious explanations. Chadwick and Rathlin would take the fall for all of it now that Redding was dead. Odd though it seemed for someone like me to trust law enforcement, Bryant was a good man, and he had more than one reason to want Rathlin behind bars. His partner was still in the hospital, after all.
“Who the hell did they have in the car then?” Eli asked. I’d described to both of them that I’d seen Abby’s hair from behind; it was the only thing that could have convinced me that she was the one in the passenger seat. Rathlin and Redding had really sold that move.
Abby shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Silence settled between us for a moment, filled with regret for the person who’d taken Abby’s place. As glad as I was that she was here with me, I hated to see the innocent die. That wasn’t the code we lived by.
“Are you okay?” I asked, unable to wait any longer. “Did they—”
Abby’s head came up, her finger landing on my lips, cutting off the questions. “I’m okay. I promise.” She stared fiercely into my eyes as if she knew where my nightmares led and was determined to obliterate them. “A few bruises, that’s all.” The slightest smirk tugged at her lips. “Chadwick had worse.”
“We noticed,” Remi crowed over his shoulder. “Good for you.”
I didn’t like it. She might say she was okay, but I wasn’t sure which would give me more nightmares, reliving the explosion or imagining what had happened to her afterward. I pulled her tighter against me.
Abby clung right back.
She wasn’t afraid, was she? “Nothing’s gonna hurt you, little bird,” I whispered in her ear. “I promise. Nothing.”
Something warm and wet hit my neck. “I know.”
But knowing and believing were two different things. My own mind kept tripping over the fact that she was alive despite her being in my arms. It was going to take a while for both of us to believe she was safe. Home.
When we got to the safe house, one glance at my brothers had them nodding toward me. A silent agreement—they’d take care of everything else; Abby was mine. I whisked her straight through the house to the master bedroom and into the adjoining bath. Abby immediately sank onto the closed toilet lid.
“I feel like I could sleep for a week,” she said, “which makes no sense because I know I slept hard after they drugged me.”
I tugged at the hem of her shirt. “I need you naked.”
“Levi…”
I squatted in front of her, letting a hint of amusement sneak through, no matter how worried I was. “I need to see you, little bird. Feel you. Only then will I know you’re truly home.”
