Page 21 of Shark’s Rise

How could she have lost so much weight in such a short amount of time? Had she gotten this sick, this fast? Was something going on before she’d left? Something I hadn’t noticed? Or was all of this more than simple stress?

My God.

What if she was dying? What if she had some sort of terminal disease and hadn’t told me? What if she knew that I was falling in love with her and that I’d be left to grieve for a life that could’ve been?

Christ. And I always thought she was the one who got spun too far up?

There had to be another explanation. A logical one. But when I tried to tilt back and better assess her, Abbi refused to let go. She clung to me even tighter.

“Baby?” I prodded. No answer. “Abs?” Still nothing but shuddering sniffles. “Abbigail Eileen.” Okay, that got a moment of stillness, at least—to which I took full advantage. “Okay, you’re scaring the living shit out of me. What is going on? And don’t you dare fucking say ‘nothing.’ So help me, I will spank you on top of everything else right now.”

She jolted her face up. “I’m—well, I’m just stressed out. This is a lot to deal with. You get that, right?”

I cupped her cheek. “Yeah. I already told you—”

“What you thought I wanted to hear.” Though she remained where she was, her voice went cold. Her gaze was dull and hard as jade. “But do you really understand this, Bas? Until you got here last night, I’ve had no one to talk to. No one! He— Elij— That man won’t even let me use the phone! So do you really know how the hell I feel?”

I slid my touch down. The ball of her shoulder felt like a sparsely padded coat hanger. “I know that I want to, okay?”

“Then start believing me.” In an angry lunge, she was off the bed and back on her feet. “You need to know about all of this, damn it. Do you know he did something to my cell phone so it won’t work in this house? Do you know that, Mr. Shark?” She stabbed her feet back into her pants. Once they were on, she stomped around the room. “He plays Mr. Innocent when I ask him about it, but he’s a liar about it all—and not a very good one! He doesn’t even try to be convincing!”

By now, her chest was heaving with fury—proving that fate really had it in for me now. Every new breath thrusted her nipples harder against her T-shirt. It was pure torture, and I was only human. The human who was hopelessly, helplessly smitten with every inch of her…

“Oh, dear God. Are you even listening to me? Or are you staring at my tits?”

“Red. Baby. I’m sorry. But you seriously can’t blame me. You’re magnificent…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She stomped over to the door and whooshed it open. As I glanced over, checking to make sure she hadn’t torn it off the hinges, she hollered, “You know what? Get out!”

I nailed my stare back on her. “Excuse the hell out of me?”

“You heard me,” Abbi snapped. “Just go hang out with the asshole. He’s your goddamn friend!”

I maintained my position on the bed but gaped at her like she was possessed. “I’m only going to warn you one time, lady. Check yourself. And the attitude.”

“Fuck you.” Abbi hiked up her chin. “And your warning! And your buddy! And his attitude! How does all of that sound?”

Finally, I stood from the bed—though I never unpinned my stare from hers. Invisible electricity zapped between us, intensifying as I approached her. One calm step. Another and then another and then another, until I had her backed up against the wall adjacent to the open doorway she’d so adamantly insisted I use. The terminology was my version of benevolence, though likely for my sanity more than hers. If I thought of her tactics as a pure order, she’d be getting different treatment than this already.

But I was feeling benevolent.

I continued reminding myself of that while pressing the entire plane of my body against hers. I moved in as though I were going to kiss her but continued past her mouth to growl into her ear, “I understand you’re not feeling well, and I also understand you’re under a lot of stress, but this behavior is uncalled for. I’ll be in the office when you’re ready to apologize.”

With a measured step backward, I held her stare, then turned and left the room. I didn’t bother closing the door, figuring she’d slam the thing behind me in her fury. Surprisingly, after getting about fifteen feet down the corridor, I heard it close softly. Instantly, she engaged the lock, as well.

In the office of the Twentynine Palms estate, I sank into an overstuffed leather chair with a tall vodka tonic. Not my usual drink of choice, but nothing about today had been usual.

I watched three lizards battle for the prime sunning spot on a flat rock in the late-afternoon sun. They took turns with their dominant displays of what looked like push-ups, until one daunted the other two into backing off. He lifted his head, seeming to crow while spreading out unchallenged.

Not much different than humans.

The conclusion made my lips quirk. Not a lot. Just enough to acknowledge the stupid truth here. Living creatures were all pretty much the same. The strongest survived. The beast who could intimidate all the others into tucking tail and running was left with the best sunning spot in the end. The old phrase from the eighteen hundreds, “To the victor belong the spoils,” came to mind.

Victor.

No. Viktor.

My smile faded.