Page 18 of Abigail's King
“I would give my life to keep this woman safe. And I mean that. You do not have to worry.”
I was now positive that Jo didn’t have anything to do with the secret admirer. The way she said she felt like Abigail was a daughter to her was sincere. I decided that I would still tell her where Abigail was staying.
“Just so you are aware, Abigail is currently staying at my apartment in Docklands. I can give you the address if you need it. But please keep it within these four walls.”
“Of course I will, Kye. But shouldn’t Bianca know? She does sometimes need to contact her at short notice.”
Abigail immediately decided to come in at this point, which I was glad about, as I hadn’t known how to get around this situation, or what exactly to say.
“I still have my phone with me, and I have had my home phone diverted to my mobile thanks to Kye, so she won’t have a problem getting hold of me. The fewer people who know where I am staying, the better. Obviously, if I am going abroad then she will need to know where I am staying for emergency purposes, but I would also like to keep it within this room.”
I was glad that Abigail agreed with me on this. Even though Bianca’s background check had come back clear, her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend was still a worry. I needed to make sure everything was clear there before I could fully trust her.
“If that is what you both want, then I promise it will not go out of these four walls. Now I may have a very prestigious job for you. I should know more about it this afternoon, but as you are here, I wanted to run it past you.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“It’s for a new fashion house that is headed up by one of the old designers at Burberry. She isn’t very well known yet, but I think with you wearing her designs, she will go to big places. It’s a swimwear collection, and she wants to shoot it around Madeira. She has heard of some amazing volcanic caves that would make a fantastic backdrop.”
As soon as she said Madeira, my heart sank. I didn’t want to go home. But it would be an amazing opportunity for Abigail and the designer was right about the volcanic caves.
“The caves are fabulous, and there are some very beautiful areas in Madeira. Especially the saltwater pools at Porta Moniz are also wonderful.”
I saw Jo look at me with a puzzled expression. Abigail must have seen it too, because she explained before I could.
“Kye was born in Madeira. That’s how he knows so much about the area.”
Jo turned to look at me with a smile on her face as she answered.
“Well, that will make life easier then. The designer and I were thinking we would have to get an interpreter for you, but if Kye can speak Portuguese?”
“Fluently, and most people actually speak very good English, so it shouldn’t have been a problem.”
“Right. Well, that’s settled, then. I shall tell her you will go.”
I saw Abigail glance over at me, a worried look on her face. I knew she was more worried about me than her. I was about to put her mind at rest when she spoke.
“I’ll let you know tomorrow. Let me have a chat with Kye first. I want to make sure I will be safe. I know it’s a fantastic opportunity, but my safety comes before fame and fortune.”
Jo just smiled and agreed. I knew this would be a conversation we would have either tonight or tomorrow, but I had to get over my fear of going home somehow. Perhaps with Abigail with me, it would make things easier. I needed to speak to Bianca as well, so I decided now was the time to ask.
“If it’s okay with you, Jo, I would like to have Bianca come in here as well. I just need some information from her.”
“I’ll call her in now. Do you want me to disappear?”
“No, it’s nothing personal.”
I only needed to know one thing from Bianca, and that was the name of her ex-boyfriend. I had already discussed with Abigail that I would tell Bianca why I was here but her and Jo would be the only two people who knew. If we were going to be going to Madeira, that would make it easier to hide it from the other members of staff at the Agency. Bianca walked into the room and sat down with us.
“Hi, Bianca. I guess I should introduce myself properly. I am not one of Abigail’s old friends staying with her for a couple of weeks. I work for King Brothers Investigation Services and am employed as Abigail’s personal guard. I will accompany her to all the photoshoots and events that she has to attend. We are obviously trying to find out who is behind all of this, and part of that is investigating anyone who might have spent time or knew Abigail – or Lila, to be precise. I understand you haven’t long split up with your boyfriend?”
“What does Gary have to do with this? He never met her.”
There was something about the defensiveness in her voice that caught me off guard for a minute.
“Absolutely nothing, probably. But if he has a problem with you breaking up with him, he may have decided to take revenge on you by getting to Lila. Perhaps he may try to frame you for it and make you lose your job.”
“Oh, I see. Sorry I sounded defensive. It’s just I was very hurt by the way he treated me. His name is Gary Smith. I know, a ridiculously common name. I can give you his date of birth if that helps?”
