Page 101 of Shark’s Pride

“But it doesn’t?” she countered.

I shook my head. “Not by a long shot.”

“So was that the angle here?” She swallowed so roughly, I could see her throat struggling to work everything down. “What do you think he’s trying to get at by doing this?” A new gulp, twice as labored as before. “That you know that woman too? That you slept with her? I mean…” A wince took over her face. “Have you?”

Well…hell.

I rubbed the back of my neck, attempting to combat the tension buildup. How had this day gone to shit so quickly? I’d been riding such a high after giving my speech. The celebration hadn’t even lasted fifteen minutes before the interference from the rival I despised.

“Sebastian?”

“What?”

“Are you going to answer me?” she snapped.

It was my turn for the discomfited swallow. No matter how I answered this, it wasn’t going to be good.

“I’m not really sure, Abbi,” I admitted. “And that’s the truth. I’m not even sure I know that woman. I mean, I might…”

“Which means what?”

“We used to roll in some of the same groups. Not at the same time, but six degrees of separation and all that shit, you know? I used to go to some of the same clubs that Blake does. That means there’s a good chance we’ve had our dicks in several of the same women. I hate to admit that, but it’s also the truth.”

I cringed. The confession sounded as hideous as it felt. One look at Abbi, and I knew that as the truth too.

“Wonderful.” After her bitter mutter, she dropped her face into her hands.

“Red.” I compelled myself to stop, and stay stopped, in front of her. As torturous as the feat was, it was even harder to hold back from wrapping my grip to her shoulders. “We’ve been through this before. You know I have a past. I thought we’d discussed all those issues and put them behind us.”

She released a heavy sigh while lifting her face to look at me. “But ‘behind us’ doesn’t mean they get poofed out of existence—especially when they’re thrown at me in front of a crowd of onlookers.”

I exhaled too. Dipped in and pressed my forehead to hers. “I know. I do. And I’m sorry.”

“I know you are. It doesn’t make it hurt less.”

Her tender tone was instant balm on my heart. I told her so by taking her lips in a gentle buss but didn’t push any further. There was more weight on her heart here. I forced myself to wait patiently for her admission.

At last, she broke the stillness with a soft murmur. “Bas?”

“Hmmm?”

“Why did Viktor call you my ‘master’? Exactly what kind of clubs did the two of you go to?”

“Do you really want to get into all of that? Right now, I mean?”

After two seconds, she threw her hands up, flattening her palms on my chest. “No, I guess I don’t. At least not right now.”

I took her hands in mine. Kissed her knuckles reverently. “I love you,” I said, solemnity threading my voice. “I love you, and I love us, and I love what we’ve done to make this day happen. And I don’t want all of it ruined by this bullshit. I want to look back on the memories of today and have them all be good ones.”

“I want that too,” Abbi vowed. “More than anything. You’ve worked so hard for this. Let’s not allow him to take any of it away. If he does, then he wins.”

I kissed her again. This time with a lot of tongue and passion. Because she deserved it. Because I deserved it too, damn it. “Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true, Abbigail Gibson,” I husked. “That I’ve been dreaming all this time with you and none of it was real.”

“No, baby. It’s real. I’m real. We are real.” Yet the statements, all so heartfelt, were laced by something besides the conviction of her heart. As she pushed to her feet, I identified that force. It was the concern of her heart, as well. “But with real life, there are often real challenges,” she said with matching deliberation.

“Challenges?” I countered. “Like what?”

She paced across to the door—all three steps—and then back again. But not into my arms. She maintained a distance that looked cautious…wary. “I have to ask you this, Bas, or it’s going to eat away at me. What did Viktor mean…by knowing where all the bodies are buried? Was he being literal or figurative with that?”