Page 32 of Shark’s Pride

“If I knew that, don’t you think I’d have gone straight to the police instead of enduring all of this?” The way she seethed on the last word actually hiked my esteem for her a little. I knew the self-will it took to find one’s spine even in times of pure terror. And whether Tawny was embellishing her truth or not, I did believe her fear was real. “I wouldn’t have risked a bigger media blowup and endangering your plans for your new building again for a simple apology. But since everything has taken this crazy course, whatever it is, they’ve been trying—” She interrupted herself with an audible gulp. “Well, they’ve been—” Then dropped her head into her hand.

“What?” Abbi clutched Tawny’s forearm. “It’s all right. Just breathe,” she exhorted, though her words trembled as well.

“Th-They tried to kill me. Twice, actually. And I mean for real this time.”

“What?” I growled.

“The first time, it was messing with my car brakes. I grew up around cars; I know sliced lines when I see them. The second, they weren’t so subtle.” She gulped hard while pulling down the hoodie’s zipper. Underneath the jacket, her torso was covered by a faded “I Heart LA” T-shirt—and a neck full of purple bruises.

“Oh my God.” Abbi gasped.

“This morning.” Tawny zipped back up just as quickly. “I woke up, and there was a guy in a ski mask over me. And his hands were already there, squeezing.”

Abbi gasped again. “Are you okay?”

Tawny wobbled her way through a nod. “I—I think so.”

“Did you see a doctor? More importantly, have you gone to the police?”

Insanely, I was on the same page as Tawny now. We swung pointed looks at Abbigail, filled with the same message.

Are you fucking serious?

My fiery redhead gave back as good as we gave her, planting hands on her hips. “Oh, I’m sorry if my normally law-abiding-citizen ways seem ridiculous to you both. But there are lines, and then there are lines.”

I circled to the other side of the counter to stand beside her. I nudged her up off her chair, replacing my body onto the seat and pulling her to stand between my thighs. I didn’t care if Tawny gawked while I gave my girl some attention. I wouldn’t care if Tawny whipped out her phone and recorded our affection to use in getting her next quick buck. All the tension in the room was getting to me, and I’d spent way too many minutes without touching her.

“I happen to enjoy your lines,” I crooned against her forehead. “Very much.”

“Hmmph.” But it didn’t sound like Abbigail meant it. At least not yet.

“All right…then I’m sorry if I insulted you.” I held her face between my palms before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

“Forgiven,” she whispered at last and kissed me as chastely in return.

“This morning didn’t go the way I thought it would,” I said against her lips. That earned me a soft giggle, though Tawny ruined the moment—imagine that—with a subtle clearance of her throat.

“I’ll…ummm…get out of your hair now,” she murmured. “Thank you for the tea. And just for listening. It was never my intention to cause you so much trouble, Sebastian. I just wanted to tell you to watch your back. I don’t know why these people want me out of the way or why they think I’m a good conduit to you.” She shook her head. “But I’m pretty clear about one thing. You are definitely their end target.”

Her declaration hit the air like a mallet against steel. Even thirty seconds later, the reverberations didn’t stop. Part of me registered the impact, especially because I could still feel the vibrations through every inch of Abbi’s frame.

And despite Tawny’s helpless and haggard face, I had to take this information seriously. Very seriously. She wasn’t the only fly that had flown into my soup lately. When I cocked back and studied all the pieces, it was starting to look like a complete picture. The fake suicide threat from Cinnamon. The bizarre phone messages. Even the miles of red tape at City Hall through which Grant was still hacking to get the paperwork straight for breaking ground on the Edge.

Goddammit.

These cockroaches—if they were even real, because God only knew what was really going on behind this woman’s glassy stare—might even be the bastards standing in the way of the biggest dream of my life. Bigger now because there was someone in my life to share it with. Someone I could see as part of that dream.

“Wait.” I barked it with such violence, Tawny froze in place. “Not so fast, little bomb dropper.” As she turned and actually threw me a glare, I went on. “You know that I’ll be relaying every word of this to Elijah Banks, my personal private investigator, right?”

She shrugged. “Of course. And you should.”

“So you know he’ll have additional questions and need to get in touch with you. Where do I tell him you’re staying?”

Her chuckle wasn’t surprising. “I’m…in between addresses.”

“A cell phone, then?” I asked.

“I told you already; they took my phone.”