Page 24 of Abigail's King
“Nath, I don’t know, man. I haven’t spoken to him in nearly eighteen years.”
“Has he tried to contact you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, reach out to him. It’s a step in the right direction. If it was Steven asking me for help, I would do it, no matter how I felt about him. You know it’s the best idea we have.”
“I know you’re right. Okay, but tell Kels to be ready when I get back. I might need my non-blood sister around. Give her a hug and kiss from me, will you? And tell her congratulations.”
Before I could hear the argument and confusion of my last statement, I hung up the phone. That just left one more thing to do. I still had Mateus’s number on my phone; I just hoped that he hadn’t changed it. I dialled the number and waited for him to answer it.
“Ricardo, é você?”
“Yes, Mateus, it’s me. But I’m using the name Kye now, if you don’t mind.”
“What’s wrong? Are you in trouble?”
“I’m fine, Mateus. I need some help. I’m currently on a security detail for Lila Goddard, the model. She has a problem with a stalker who’s been turning up to photoshoots and leaving flowers and messages, but he knows her real name, where she lives, her family’s name.”
“So they are ramping things up, then?”
“Yes. Abigail – that’s Lila’s real name – has been given a photoshoot in Madeira. The problem is I don’t have any backup. My team all have jobs over here in the UK, so I will be there on my own. I was wondering—”
“When do you need me there?”
I wouldn’t be able to thank Mateus enough for this. I went through all of the arrangements with him and he agreed he would be at my place a couple of days after we arrived. He was going to stay in the small house next to mine and keep an eye on things overnight and be around should I need him.
“Thank you, Mateus.”
“You know I will always be there for you. Eu te amo, irmão.”
“I love you too. Speak soon.”
I hung up the phone and wiped away the tear that was falling down my face. It had been eighteen years since I’d spoken to him, but he would still drop everything for me. I started to feel guilty that I had taken this long to speak to him. After all, it really wasn’t his fault who he fell in love with – or Sofia’s, come to think of it. I hadn’t noticed Abigail standing in the doorway when she spoke.
“Was that your brother on the phone?”
“Yeah. I reached out to him so I have some backup while we are in Madeira. He will meet us there on Wednesday. He just needs a few days to sort things out.”
Abigail walked over to me; I readied myself for another kiss on the cheek. I was starting to enjoy these small signs of affection she was showing me – almost wished them to happen – but when she put her arms around me and pulled me into a hug, I was shocked. The problem was, I found myself leaning into her, allowing the pain I had been holding back for so many years to come out. I was a grown man, and I was fucking crying in the arms of the woman I was slowly falling for. She was breaking down every barrier I had built around myself, and try as I might, I couldn’t stop it. She just stood there, holding me. She rubbed my back and allowed me to let every ounce of pain I had inside me out. Eventually, the tears slowed, and I pulled away slightly to look into her eyes. I was desperate to kiss her, but I knew as soon as I did, things between us would change. I couldn’t allow that to happen. She smiled at me as she spoke.
“Feels good to let the pain out, doesn’t it?”
“It does. But—”
“Don’t even think about starting on the whole, ‘I’m a man and men don’t cry.’ Because they do. They have to. It might be in private where no one but them knows, but they still cry. You’ve made the first step and reached out to Mateus. I’m sure you won’t regret it.”
I had to hope she was right, because everything about this trip felt so wrong. I just had to hope that all of us came out the other side unscathed and with our hearts intact. Because I wasn’t sure that would be the case for any of us.
