Page 17 of Abigail's King
Chapter Seven
Kye
The past two weeks had both been a pleasure and a complete hell. The more time I spent with Abigail, the more I could feel myself falling for her. The first night when she had fallen asleep in my arms, I had just lain there for an hour holding her. She had felt so good in my arms that I hadn’t wanted to let go. Eventually, I had taken her to her bedroom and put her to bed. She never said a word about it when she got up, and I never mentioned it. She was an amazing woman and absolutely gorgeous, but she was far too good for me. No matter how right she felt in my arms, I couldn’t deny the fact that my past actions ruled me out of any chance of being with her forever. There would always be something to come back and tear us apart. I just had to enjoy the time we spent together and lock the memories away for the rest of my life, looking back on them when I was feeling low.
I’d been with her to a couple of the photoshoots. Her presence lit up the room and she filled it with grace and beauty. I could tell how well-respected she was by everyone in the studio. Never once was there a cross word and Abigail – or Lila, as I had to remember to call her – would always oblige the photographer with anything he wanted. I had wanted to step in myself by the way one of them had manhandled her into a position. But Abigail had just looked towards me and given a slight shake of the head, telling me she was okay.
That hadn’t stopped me from threatening the guy when she had gone to get changed, though. He was told in no uncertain terms that if I heard of him ever treating a woman like that again, I would be coming back and paying him a visit. But next time, I wouldn’t be so polite. I think he got the message, because before Abigail was out from changing he had packed all of his stuff away and left. The other staff in the studio thanked me. They all had a problem with the guy, who thought he could treat women like objects, but were always too afraid of losing their jobs to say anything. If one good thing came out of this, it would be that this guy might actually see women as people going forward, but the rest of the team promised to contact me if that changed.
There had been a delivery each week to the photoshoots, both times a bouquet of white roses and a message for Abigail. I had intercepted both before they could get to her. I didn’t want her worrying more than she already was. She had seemed calm the past week, my presence providing the support she needed. But if she had realised the deliveries were still being made, I wasn’t sure she would be so composed. The first note she received had been pretty much like the others, but the second was the one that worried me.
My Darling Abigail,
I hope you have been wearing my gift.
Don’t worry, I will see it soon enough.
Never forget it, because I will know.
Your Secret Admirer (Soon to be just Your Admirer)
The fact that he had changed to calling her Abigail set off alarm bells in my head. Also, the fact that he was saying he would no longer be a secret admirer suggested that soon we would know exactly who it was. Part of me was glad of this fact, because we would know exactly who and what we were dealing with. However, the fact that he could just turn up at any moment worried me. I had tried to get Abigail to let me stay in her changing room while she got changed, but that was immediately shot down. It wasn’t that I wanted to see her – well, not only for that reason – but because I wanted to keep her safe. She insisted she would just lock the door and I could stand outside if I was that worried. The guys were still running background checks on everyone that had ever worked with, met, or gone out with Abigail. It was a massive task and I was fearful that something would happen before we got a lead. I just had to make sure I was with her at every moment of the day.
It was Friday morning and we were heading Into the agency to have a meeting with Jo Robinson, the owner. I had run background checks on Jo and Bianca, and they had both come back clean. I had met them both briefly when we went into the office last week, with Abigail introducing me as a friend who was staying for a couple of days. I wanted to meet them both in person for a longer period. Whoever was doing this had to be working for the agency. How else would they have known where Abigail was going to be and where she lived? If they had been following her, then they would have known she was at my place, and nothing had turned up there, although Kelsey had found a couple of letters at Abigail’s house when she went round to check on the place.
I had decided that I would come clean to Jo about who I was and what I was doing, but that was it. I was pretty sure I could trust her, and if anything came to my address then I would know exactly who was behind it. Bianca was more of a complication. Abigail had said that she had recently broken up with her boyfriend, who was obsessed with another woman. Could that other woman have been Abigail?
I was going to have to run some background checks on him; I just needed to find out his full name, and not just Gary, as Abigail had known him.
I had so much running through my head that I hadn’t noticed Abigail talking to me.
“Earth to Kye. Have you heard anything I said?”
“I’m sorry, Bonita. I was just going over some stuff in my head. I didn’t mean to ignore you. What did you say?”
“I said, why don’t you come with me to my sister’s tomorrow? I’m sure Christine and Lucas would love to meet you. And she always does enough food to feed an army, with enough for take-home containers for the next week.”
Meeting Christine and Lucas worried the hell out of me. It sounded too much like we were in a relationship, which we weren’t. I needed to find a way to get out of this, and quick.
“That should be your time. You don’t want me impeding on your family life. Your work and home life are more than enough. I can just drop you off and pick you up when you are done. I’m sure no one will try anything with Lucas there.”
“I would feel a lot happier and safer if you were there. Please, Kye?”
She always knew how to get around me. I was like putty in her hands…or words, in this case.
“If you really want me to be there, then yes, I will go. But don’t expect me to be chatty. I’m a moody bastard around people I don’t know.”
I saw a victorious smile appear on her face as we pulled up outside the agency.
We were currently in Jo’s office explaining the situation to her, and the fact that I would be accompanying Abigail to every photo shoot and event. The events would be more of a problem, as it would appear that I was with Abigail. We had agreed that I would not stand next to her at any function, but be within touching distance should anything happen.
“So you are the young gentleman that saved Sienna’s life, then?”
I had wondered when this discussion would come up. Abigail had warned me that Jo knew Sienna’s mother quite well and had heard all about what I had done in her rescue.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying young. I just did the right thing in the end. I should have gone to jail for what I did, but Sienna, Jayden, and Mason are very caring and understanding people. If it hadn’t been for Mason and Jayden vouching for me, I would still be in prison now.”
“Well, as long as you have changed your life around, that is all that matters. Along with keeping this young lady safe. She is like a daughter to me, and I couldn’t stand to see her get hurt. I’m so glad she went to see Jayden.”
