Read Touch of Fate (Bennett Sisters Book 2) Online
Authors: Kate Allenton
Touch of Fate (Bennett Sisters Book 2) (3 page)
His eyebrows danced up and down as his grin grew. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear while looking down her dress, “Show me where you’re hiding your weapon.”
She reached down and adjusted the slit in her dress, revealing her creamy thigh-high stockings held up by a black garter belt and the holster she had attached to the top of her thigh.
“Hot damn.”
“You’ve seen enough. If we’re late, I’m telling Emma it was your fault.” Abby smiled and grabbed her clutch, stuffing her phone inside. She hadn’t had a chance to close her purse before her cell started to ring. She checked the caller ID and hit speaker. “Speak to me.”
“Hey, doll face, you must have been right about that picture.”
She stopped gathering her things and stared at the phone clutched in her hand.
“What picture, doll face?” Butch asked.
She hushed him and returned her focus on the phone.
“Sorry, that was Butch; you know how nosy he is.” She turned and smiled at him. “What did you find out?”
“Nothing.” He sounded perplexed. “But it must have been something. The FBI showed up today demanding to talk to the investigators.”
“Really? Well, that is interesting. What did the captain tell them?”
“You were headed to a wedding, and that was all I heard.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I guess I’ll get the details tomorrow.” Abby counted on him to be her eyes and ears.
“Keep me posted if there’s anything else I can do for you. I’ll be calling in those favors when my mother comes into town.” He chuckled.
“You got it, and Ted…thanks again.” Abby flipped her phone closed, turned it off, and shoved it in her purse as she sauntered out of the house on the arm of one of her new best friends.
Abby stood oblivious to the crowd behind her with her champagne flute in hand, staring toward the orange and red sun as it lowered beneath the horizon. She smiled.
This is what peace feels like
. Her heart felt full for the first time in years, happy for her sister and the union with the man she loved. The reception was ending, like the old chapters in her sister’s life. Emma’s happily ever after was just beginning with the promise of new memories to create and happier times yet to come. The sound of clinking glasses and conversations carried on behind her. Abby ignored it all, soaking in the serenity that the moment had to offer. A gentle touch on her arm pulled her from her solitude. She inhaled a deep breath and admired the fleeting sunset once more before she plastered a smile on her face and turned to greet the awaiting wedding guest vying for her attention.
Recognition hit her like a punch in the gut. Her smile fell just like the champagne flute from her hand, which now lay in broken shards on the floor. She stepped back instinctively. A ghost from her past, the one man she had searched for, for the last eighteen years, stood a foot away. The same man that had altered her life forever. She felt the blood drain from her face and her world start to spin as her gaze locked with his.
“Abby, you’re just as beautiful as I remember.” His smile reached his eyes that glistened under the twinkling lights.
“Ryan,” she whispered, unable to do more. The years barely showed; his handsome features remained unchanged. Eyes the color of sapphires stared back at her. The same smile that had stolen her heart so long ago was once again etched across his lips. Her muscles tensed as she tried to push down the lump in her throat. The wall around her heart constricted and faltered for a brief moment. Her brain refused to process what he was doing here, hell, that he was actually here at all.
“I’ve missed you,” he replied as he took a step in her direction.
The crunch of glass beneath his shoes brought her out of her daze. Abby flinched as his hand lifted to touch her. The same hand that had brought her pleasure years ago now brought a cold chill. Her feet froze in place; she was unable to flee. She shook her head in disbelief as she tried to regain her composure. No, she wouldn’t let this man get to her, not again.
She wasn’t the same naive girl from before and hadn’t been in a long time, he’d made sure of that. Becoming a mother had changed everything. He didn’t even know her anymore, and he’d never known his son. Abby had imagined this moment for the last eighteen years of her life, yet no words slipped past her lips.
This man was a stranger and a liar. Angry tears threatened to fall. She clenched her fists tight, digging her nails into her palms. Her blood boiled at all the lost years she would never get back crying over the one man who had hurt her beyond repair.
Why is he here? How dare he be here!
Abby pulled her arm back and swung her clenched fist, hitting her intended target in the cheek. His head jerked to the side, unprepared for her reaction to his presence.
She let out a breath and rubbed her throbbing hand as pain radiated up her arm. She hadn’t dropped him on his ass as she had planned all those years ago, but an instant red mark appeared, satisfying the anger she felt inside.
“Abby, please let me explain.” He held his hand out to her in a silent plea.
“Don’t you dare fucking touch me. You lost your chance eighteen years ago, Ryan, or whatever the hell your real name is.”
She turned, took two steps, and paused, spinning around to face him once more. “Go to hell, Ryan!” she said as she stomped off in search of her sisters. Abby's pooling tears fell as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.
This isn’t happening
.
There was no way in hell she was ever going to forgive that man.
****
Richard Daley stood in the shadows of the prestigious country club watching his prey. Women dressed in their Sunday best congregated in the hall as they drank and discussed the bride’s dress, all of them oblivious that he stood within reach ready to claim his intended target. Obscured from view was how he liked it, how he needed it. His pulse quickened. He’d known Ryan would show up at the police station. Hell, he’d left him his signature calling card. He always showed up, but this time was going to be different.
Much different.
Following Ryan to this place hadn’t even been a challenge. The pimple-faced teen that threatened his freedom from eighteen years ago had turned into a man. Ryan lingered nearby, striking out with the same little brunette from the slut’s house yesterday.
There were no coy whispers to tease him. This conversation was for the world to hear. The brunette stood with her mouth hanging open, and her fists clenched. Then she pressed those luscious pink lips tight in a line, and he knew what she was going to do next, even if Ryan didn’t see it coming. She drew her fist back and swung, hitting the only man who had ever witnessed his sins. Ryan Douglas was going to die if the brunette didn’t kill him first. He chuckled.
Yes, this feisty little one is the key. I’m going to have fun this time, and in the end, she’s going to be mine.
Ryan Douglas looked like a teenager, his uncertainty written all over his face as the conversation progressed leaving him no prospect of an easy night. He would be leaving this party alone, well, at least without the sexy spitfire on his arm. He had struck out with the beauty but refused to retreat.
Interesting.
Richard pulled back in the shadows to devise a new plan, one that would now include this little brunette in Ryan’s death.
Abby stopped at the bar and ordered a drink, when she couldn’t find her sister. She threw her head back, emptying the clear liquid from the little glass. She coughed. The shot of tequila burned going down her throat, reminding her, she had survived the encounter and was still alive. Her brother Mike and her new brother-in-law, Jake, slowly approached. Able to read her mood, they held their hands up in surrender; clearly, they had witnessed the exchange, but she doubted Mike recognized the man.
She turned her back on them and ordered a beer. Mike walked up behind her and gently rubbed her arms and got the information he wanted. Mike’s gift had never failed him, unlike hers. Mike could touch someone and see the truth in his mind. Like a movie playing in his head. He could even pick up things the mind refused to recall. That little secret helped make him such a talented detective.
“Holy shit. You have got to be kidding me. After all these years, he shows up today, of all days.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” she said, throwing her head back and taking a large swallow of her beer. The alcohol did little to numb her mind or her throbbing hand. Her shoulders slumped as she leaned against the bar. Her head hanging low, she tried to figure out if she’d done the right thing. She lifted her head just in time to see Ryan’s approach. Abby didn’t have the gift of sight and seeing into the future, but she didn’t need it to know what was about to happen. Mike’s temper was bound to get the best of him, and Abby refused to let it be over this man. No, this man was her problem. She grabbed Mike’s arm, bringing his attention to focus back to her.
“He’s not worth it.” She drained the beer then set the empty bottle on the bar. “Jake, tell Emma I’m sorry I had to leave and I’ll call her tomorrow. Please try your best to keep Mike in line.”
She twisted her hands as she scanned the dance floor and mumbled, “I…I need to find Butch. That’s what I need to do.” Abby left them standing there to look for her one and only protector, who happened to be her ride for the night.
A tear slid down her cheek in front of a room full of family and friends, and that did nothing but piss her off. The sight of him had opened wounds that had finally started to heal.
Her family would handle him. She just needed to escape and get her head on straight. Abby thought she’d been preparing herself all her life to seek Ryan again, but she’d been wrong. The encounter left her ready to collapse on her feet, physically and emotionally drained from the wedding and the unwanted guest. Her family meant the world to her and was the only thing she had left. They had been her rock when she was a young woman with a toddler in tow, trying to make a future for them both. They had always been her cheering section, pushing her to be a better person. Since Butch had begun babysitting her, she’d grown close to him too, and he was who she needed now.
Abby made a beeline for Butch, her one and only protector, assigned to keep her safe when Emma had been in danger. The man had grown on her. His outrageous comments and constant flirting always seemed to lift her spirits even in the dire of circumstances. He made her laugh, which was exactly what she needed right now. Abby stood off to the side of the dance floor. Her gaze locked with Butch’s when another tear slid down her cheek.
He excused himself from the blonde draped around his neck, nestled his arm around Abby’s shoulder, and pulled her close to his side, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Abby leaned into him, taking the support he offered as he led her from the room. He didn’t ask questions, just escorted her out, almost as if he had read her mind and knew what her heart required at that precise moment. Abby needed the comfort only a close friend could provide, one that wouldn’t press her with questions or require a conversation and would let her sulk for the time in the comfort of her own mind.
***
Mike watched Ryan march up to him and Jake.
“Where did she go and who the hell was that she left with?” Ryan demanded, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
A muscle twitched in Mike’s jaw. Every muscle in his body strung tight, he was ready to kill the bastard who had hurt his baby sister all those years ago.
“None of your fucking business,” Mike spouted.
Jake placed a restraining hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Don’t ruin this for Emma. I’ll handle it.”
“Actually, I was told to find her brother, Mike if I couldn’t find Abby, and if I had to guess, then I’m betting that would be you.” the wedding intruder exclaimed.
“By who?” Mike and Jake barked out in unison.
“Your captain.”
“Bullshit,” Mike said as he pulled his cell out of his tuxedo pants pocket, punching numbers to figure out what the hell was going on. He shared a look and a silent nod with Jake as he confirmed the situation.
Mike’s voice grew louder. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Like hell. No, sir, she isn’t working with him. Assign someone else. Yes, sir, I know she’s the best, but you can’t possibly ask her to do this. I’ll explain everything in the morning. No, sir, she isn’t going to like this. Yes, sir, I’ll tell her.” He flipped his phone closed and took a step closer toward Ryan, infringing on his personal space.
“Don’t think you can hide behind your badge, asshole. If you mess with her again, I won’t be the only one you’ll have to worry about.”
Ryan cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s between me and Abby, and we’ll deal with the past later. I’m here on business tonight, and I need to ask her some questions. Where’d she go?”
“She’s off the clock asshole. You’re going to have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her.” Mike smirked when Ryan left the club without so much as a backwards glance. He called out to Ryan’s retreating back, “See you at headquarters.” He took a deep breath then muttered, “Bastard.”
