Page 115 of Shark’s Pride

“That’s probably Elijah.”

Her eyes turned into huge liquid lagoons. “Elijah?” She skittered up the wall, gaining her feet but staying pinned. She balled her fists. “Why? What’s he doing here?”

I jammed my hands through my hair, grabbing on to the strands for leverage. “I need you to go with him, Abbigail.”

“Go?” She flattened herself tighter to the wall. “Go…where?”

“There’s a house that will be safe…”

“No.”

“Please don’t give me a hard time about this. I’m begging you, Abbigail.”

“Are you even serious?” she yelled. “Do you even know what you’re threatening to do right now?”

“And you wouldn’t have?” I rebutted. “If you’d considered everything that’s already happened? If that shark had been left on the front stoop of your condo? Or Sean and Rio’s house? If it were her, or any of your brothers, in photos like that?”

The thick pools in her eyes broke open. Her tears spilled down her taut cheeks. “Please! Please don’t send me away like this.”

“Bas?” Elijah called from the far side of my office door. “Hey, I’m here. Open the door!”

“In a minute!” I bellowed.

I turned back to her. Walked over to her. Gently gathered her back toward me, gulping hard as she spilled full sobs into my chest. “It’s not forever, okay?”

“It will be if they finally kill you.”

And she’d gone there. Not that I hadn’t, at least a thousand times already, in my darkest moments. But I couldn’t validate that by even addressing it. Instead, I husked into her hair, “You can come back as soon as we know who is doing this. And as soon as we catch them and make them pay for this nightmare.”

She leaned tighter into me. Circled her arms around my neck and twisted her fingers into my hair until my scalp hurt. I welcomed the misery. Outward pain, commiserating with my inner agony.

“What about my family?” she rasped. “What about Abstract? My business? Bas, I—I can’t just leave Rio and my clients. We have events coming up and goals to—”

“I have it all handled.” I added a gentle kiss to her forehead with my firm assurance. “Grant is going to help Rio. That way he can keep an eye on her. That’ll free up a couple of men to join Elijah’s main task force.”

“A couple of men?” She drew back far enough to scrutinize my whole face. “Have you had my family watched this whole time too?”

“Yes.” The time for tactful evasion had well passed. “It was necessary. I think you can see why.”

Finally I saw the reluctant agreement that led to her bow.

“The good news is no one seems interested in any of them at this point. Elijah will be with you most of the time. He has specific orders not to touch you. And of course, I will come whenever I can. As much as I can.”

Her chin wobbled. Emerald tears continued to well in her eyes and tumble down her cheeks. “Sure,” she grated. “Whenever you can.”

“Abbigail.” I pressed my lips to her forehead again. “I’m sorry, baby.”

She jerked away from my touch. “Elijah will take me back to the house, then? So I can get clothes and toiletries? I’ll also need some time to handle things. I need to call Sean. My dad. And I’ll need to meet with Rio—”

“No,” I emphasized. “Everything is taken care of. It’s done. This is happening right now.”

A harsher sob burst from her. But she said nothing. Did even less. Other than back farther away from me.

She’d accepted her fate.

Another victory that felt nowhere like a win.

I wheeled away and crossed to the door. My shoes felt filled with lead. As I let my friend in, the door felt even heavier.