Betrayal: Kyle's Revenge (The Betrayal Series) (12 page)

“Okay, honey. I can’t wait to see you,” Kyle said before ending the call.

The disdain in his voice went unnoticed by Abby who was too busy coming to grips with the fact that the time to face the music had come earlier than she had expected.

Kyle put the phone back in his pocket and J-walked back to the other side of the street. With a dark, unreadable expression on his face, he stood in front of Brianna’s apartment building, a couple of feet to the right of the building’s awning, and waited for his cheating girlfriend. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Abby’s face when she saw him waiting for her at her lover’s place.

In the apartment, Abby stood in the middle of Brianna’s living room, frozen with dread. She slowly removed the phone from her ear and stared at the screen.

“What is it, Abby? What is going on?” Brianna asked, her brows crinkling with concern.

“Kyle’s back in New York. He’s at our apartment waiting for me,” Abby replied, her voice trailing off. She clutched her phone to her chest and stared into space.

“What?” Brianna gasped, her jaw dropping to the floor. “I thought he was going to be in Montana for another week. What happened? What happened to the reunion?”

“I don’t know.” Abby plopped on the sofa behind her, still staring into space. “He said he came back early because he missed me. He didn’t say anything about the reunion.”

“Are you okay, Abby? You look so pale,” Brianna remarked after scooting over to place her hand over Abby’s hands which were cold as ice.

Abby grabbed her handbag lying next to her on the couch and shot to her feet. “I’m okay. I’m fine. I have to go talk to him. I have to go tell him about us.”

Brianna shot to her feet too and blocked Abby’s path. “You’re not okay. You are paler than a ghost, and your hands are shaking so badly you can barely hold that phone. Let me go with you. We’ll tell him together.”

Abby shook her head. “No. This is something I need to do alone-just me and him.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to change Abby’s mind, Brianna stopped trying. “Fine. Call me as soon as it’s over. I will help you get your things and bring them here.”

“I will.”

“Good luck,” Brianna breathed before she and Abby shared a brief kiss. They gave each other a half-smile before Abby stormed out of the apartment.

In the elevator, Abby leaned against the wall and held her trembling hand over her chest. She couldn’t breathe. She felt as if the walls of the elevators were closing in on her. She knew the day of facing Kyle and confessing everything was going to come. She just wasn’t ready for it to come so soon. She thought she had another week to prepare what she was going to say to him.

In a matter of minutes, she was going to be in front of him. She couldn’t stall anymore. She couldn’t make any more excuses. The time had come for her to look Kyle in the eye and confess to him how she betrayed him with his own sister. She was going to break his heart into a million pieces. She wished there was a way she could spare him the pain he didn’t deserve.

A bell dinged, announcing to Abby that she had reached the lobby, and the elevator doors drew open immediately after. Abby took a deep breath before stepping out of the elevator. She walked through the lobby with her head down. She was mentally preparing her apology to Kyle. She figured she’d have a few minutes in the cab to put her thoughts and words in order.

At the entrance of the building, the doorman smiled and tipped his hat at Abby as he held the door open so she could get out. Abby was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t even notice him.

Outside, the chaotic sounds of the New York City night greeted Abby as she rushed towards the curb to hail a cab.  With sirens blaring and car alarms going off all around her, Abby couldn’t even hear herself think. But she did hear and recognize the voice that rang behind her while she waited for a taxi to stop. It was a very familiar voice. That voice had been haunting her dreams for the last two weeks. That voice she knew so well made her stop dead in her tracks while her heart attempted to jump out of her throat.

“So how was the party?” Kyle asked.

Abby slowly twisted her body around in the direction of the voice. Even though she knew who was talking to her, she still hoped against hope that it was someone else standing behind her. “Kyle? What are you doing here?” Abby muttered, her eyes bugging out of her face as she stared at her boyfriend standing a few feet away from her with his hands stuck in his jean pockets. She still had her phone in her hands.

Kyle walked slowly towards Abby until he was hovering over her. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. Two weeks earlier, he thought himself the luckiest man alive because Abby Sloane was his girlfriend. But that night, standing outside that building, he felt nothing but contempt and disgust for the girl standing in front of him.

“So who is he?” Kyle asked.

Abby shook her head, feigning ignorance. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Stop playing dumb, Abby,” Kyle barked. “I know everything. You were not at a party. You’re a fucking liar. I’ve been following you for days. I know you’ve been spending the night here for the last two days. You’re fucking someone who lives in this building. So who is he?”

Abby dropped her chin to her chest and began to sob. She wasn’t going to lie anymore. She realized Kyle knew almost everything and was going to figure out the rest soon. There was no point in lying and denying his accusations. She had been busted. She just wished Kyle hadn’t found out the way he did.

“Look at me when I talk to you,” Kyle growled, curling a finger under Abby’s chin and forcefully tilting Abby’s head up so he could stare into her guilty eyes.

Abby let out a small whimper as her head snapped back. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as Kyle’s eyes bore into hers. Even in a dark street, Abby could see the chilling rage in Kyle’s eyes. The darkness in his eyes and the menace in his voice gave her goose bumps all over her body.

“I’m so sorry, Kyle,” Abby cried as passersby started to give them curious looks.

Kyle scoffed. “Sorry? You’re sorry?” His voice continued to get louder and more menacing. He unfolded his arms and dropped them to his sides. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” With his fists clenched, his nostrils flaring, and his chest rising and falling rapidly, Kyle looked away from Abby. He didn’t buy her apology and couldn’t look at her anymore. His gaze bounced around the street as if he were looking for something.

Kyle had never hit Abby, but Abby feared he would lunge at her at any second. She took a step back and cast her gaze downward. She had never seen her boyfriend so angry. “I’m so sorry Kyle. I didn’t want you to find out this way,” Abby cried before burying her face in her free hand.

Kyle chuckled and held his hands up to his chest. His face contorted as he pretended to be deeply touched by Abby’s words. The tone in his voice changed from threatening to mocking. “Well, that just makes me feel so much better, Abby. You’re so considerate. I think I may be falling in love with you all over again.”

Kyle’s sarcasm made Abby cry harder. “I’m so sorry,” she kept repeating over and over from behind her hand. She was in hell. She wouldn’t wish the guilt, the shame, and the public humiliation she was enduring that night to her worst enemy. But part of her understood that she deserved every bit of that hellish nightmare.

Kyle stepped forward until he was hovering over Abby once more. “How could you do this to me, Abby?” he whispered with a softer tone, his voice breaking. “How could you do this to us? I thought you were different from the others. I thought you were decent and honest.” Kyle ran both hands through his dirty blonde hair and rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes wandered around. The whole thing felt so surreal to him. He felt as if he was in the middle of a bad dream.

“I feel like such a fool!” he screamed.

With her gaze still cast downward, Abby removed her hand from her face and reached out to touch Kyle’s arm. She kept repeating “I’m sorry” over and over. She meant those words. She sincerely wished she could’ve turned back time and not betrayed the man who had been nothing but sweet, honest, and kind to her.

Kyle swatted Abby’s hand away, making Abby flinch and dissolve into a series of loud wails. “Don’t touch me,” Kyle snarled, the veins on this neck looking like they were going to pop. “Don’t you dare touch me. You’re fucking disgusting, Abby.”

Kyle took a step back, his face twisting with repulsion. He felt no sympathy for Abby no matter how hard she bawled or how sorry she claimed to be. Neither her words nor her tears could change how Kyle felt about her.

Abby’s wailing and Kyle’s increasingly hostile body language caught the attention of the building’s doorman who was standing a few feet away from them. The doorman did not intervene but kept a close eye on the situation.

With his fists clenched, Kyle turned his back to Abby. He looked around the busy sidewalk for something he could punch. He desperately needed to relieve the pent up anger and frustration coursing through him.  Shaking his head, Kyle ran a hand though his hair and held the nape of his neck. He slowly turned around and found Abby staring back at him with mascara smeared all around her glassy eyes.

“And to think I was going to propose to you,” Kyle said.

“You what?”

“Yes, Abby. I was going to propose to you.” His voice began to break again. “I went to Michigan to see your father a few days ago. I asked him for your hand. I was going to ask my mother for her engagement ring so I could give it to you. I was even going to fly your parents and your best friend in for the proposal. I feel like such a fucking idiot now.”

Kyle dropped his chin to his chest as he remembered how excited he was about that marriage proposal and how much thought and work he had put into it.

Abby felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. Learning that Kyle was planning to propose to her while she was cheating on him made Abby feel like the absolute worst person on earth. “I’m so sorry, Kyle. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. It just did. I’m sorry. I would never hurt you on purpose. I love you.”

Kyle snapped his head back up and glared at Abby. The fire in his eyes could have scorched the entire city. “Don’t say that. Don’t you fucking say that to me. You don’t love me. You never have. You are just like all the others.”

With his hands on his hips, Kyle began to pace around in circles. Tears had begun to well in his eyes, and he didn’t want Abby to see them. After he had regained his composure, Kyle turned his attention back to Abby who was covering her mouth with her trembling hand. He rushed towards her, making Abby flinch and jump back.

“Tell me who he is,” Kyle demanded through gritted teeth, his chest falling and rising rapidly under his t-shirt. He gripped Abby by her upper arms, squeezing and shaking her to get her to answer him. “How long have you been fucking him?”

“Kyle please. You’re hurting me,” Abby protested, looking up at him with terror in her eyes.

Kyle dropped his gaze to Abby’s hands and noticed she was holding her phone. “Call him,” he barked, pointing at the phone with his chin. “Tell him to get out here if he’s man enough. Go ahead. Call him right now.”

Abby shook her head, blubbering and clutching the phone to her chest. She was terrified of Kyle, but she wouldn’t dial her phone. Kyle still didn’t know she was cheating on him with his own sister, and Abby wanted to keep it that way, at least for the moment. She remembered how violent Kyle got towards Brianna two weeks earlier at Ryan’s party. She feared that if Kyle, being as angry as he was, found out Brianna was the “other man,” he would do something regrettable.

Suddenly, the phone in Abby’s hands began to buzz.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” Kyle snarled. “Go ahead. Answer it. Tell him to get out here so I can pummel his face into pieces. When I’m done with him, he’s going to wish he hadn’t been born.”

Abby kept shaking her head and whimpering like an injured puppy. She wouldn’t even look at the phone screen to see who it was calling her.

Seeing that Abby wasn’t going to answer it, Kyle yanked the iPhone off her hands and looked at the screen. “Brianna? Why is Brianna calling you?” Kyle asked, frowning, still not realizing what was going on. “I thought I told you to stay away from her.”

“I’m so sorry, Kyle,” Abby cried softly, no longer able to look him in the eye. She braced herself. Kyle was too smart. Abby knew he was going to put two and two together soon.

“Wait?” It took Kyle a second, but he finally figured it out. Like a child who had just touched something icky, Kyle removed his hands from Abby’s arms and held them up. He took a couple of steps back as he stared at Abby with utter revulsion in his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Abby. Her? That’s who you are fucking? What the fuck is wrong with you? How could you?”

“Please Kyle. Let me explain,” Abby begged, wiping tears from her cheeks with the back of her hands. She tried to snatch the phone back but Kyle yanked it away and out of her reach.

Kyle glared at Abby, stunned that she had been capable of doing something so utterly reprehensible. The phone, which had stopped buzzing by then, had begun to buzz again. Once again, Abby tried to snatch the phone from Kyle’s hand, but Kyle wouldn’t let her get anywhere near it. Kyle looked at the screen. It was Brianna again. Kyle tapped the screen, ignoring Abby’s pleas not to, and answered the phone. He did not say anything when the call connected. He just listened.

“Honey, it’s me. You won’t be able to pay your cab fare because you left your wallet here. If you are in a cab, tell the driver to turn around. I’m on my way downstairs with your wallet. Hello? Are you listening? Hello…”

Kyle touched the screen to end the call. He just got the confirmation he needed. His girlfriend was indeed sleeping with his own sister. Kyle realized he had been wrong about Abby. She wasn’t like the other women who had hurt him. She was worse. He believed only a truly despicable woman could be capable of doing something as vile as what Abby had just done to him. He stared at Abby from under his eyelashes, but she wouldn’t look at him. Still holding the phone, Kyle dropped his hands to his sides and waited for Brianna to appear.