Page 70 of Rome
He pulled open the door and I stepped out into the hall, still keeping my gaze focused on the floor in front of me. I only took two steps before I bumped into a hard chest. Strong arms enveloped me, and I got a familiar whiff of leather. I thought I’d conjured him up from the depths of my guilty conscience, until he spoke.
“Baby girl?”
Chapter 23
Rome/Caleb
I hadn’t been able to breathe properly since Viking called to tell me that Abby had just run out of the clubhouse, after Paisley ran her mouth to her. It only got worse when Abby finally picked up the phone. I could hear the cold fury in her tone when she told me to leave her alone.
I had just started a consult with a new client, but I told him I had a family emergency, grabbed my cut, and headed to the clubhouse to find out what the fuck happened. By the time I got there, Bull had retrieved the footage from the security cameras in the common room.
King was waiting for me as soon as I walked in the door.
“My office,” he said grimly. He motioned to Bull and Viking to follow us, and the four of us crowded into the small space. He settled behind his desk and motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs. Viking took the other, and Bull took up a stance leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest.
“Abby came to visit with Viking. She was a little early, so she waited for him in the common room. Linc had to leave for a few minutes, and that fucking cunt, Paisley, took the opportunity to feed your woman a pack of lies. Star was in the room listening, and when Paisley really started in on Abby, she had the good sense to get Bull and tell him what was going on. Bull just caught the tail end of it, yelled at Paisley, and Abby took off. Viking tried to stop her, but she drove off like the hounds of hell were chasing her.”
King eyed me carefully as he turned his laptop around so we could all see the screen. I leaned forward to rest my forearms on the edge of the desk, and he glanced meaningfully at my tightly clenched fists.
“Hold it together, Rome. This gets pretty fuckin’ ugly.” He hit the button to start the video, and it was all I could do to keep my ass in the chair and listen to that cunt spew her vile bullshit. The camera angle captured Abby’s face, right as Bull came into the room and she was able to get away from Paisley. My sweet wife looked like she’d just been stabbed in the heart.
“I want that goddamned cunt banned.”
“It’s already done. She’s packing her shit now. Linc’s watching over her to make sure she’s gone in the next thirty minutes.”
“I’ve never in my life wanted to beat a woman, but I swear to God, if I see her, I’ll knock that bitch on her ass.”
King nodded solemnly. “If it’s any consolation, she and Star got into it when she realized Star ratted her out. It didn’t end well for Paisley.”
Bull snorted a laugh. “I had no fuckin’ idea Star had it in her. She took that bitch to the ground in about three seconds, then climbed on top of her and threw punches like she was being paid. If the Rossi’s ever decide to branch out into women’s MMA fights, we’ll have Trick put Star on their roster.”
Viking glanced at Bull and smirked. “I noticed you took your own sweet time wading in to pull Star off of her.”
Bull just shrugged. “I figured Paisley deserved the beatdown for fucking with Abby like that.”
“Thanks, brother. I owe you one.”
Bull shook his head at me. “You don’t owe me anything. I did it for Abby. She’s a sweet woman who never hurt anybody.”
“I need to find her. She won’t answer her phone – I think she turned it off – so I need to find her to let her know that none of that shit was true. Not one goddamned word of it. I don’t want her spending one more second believing that cunt’s bullshit.”
“Need me to hack into her car’s GPS?”
I shook my head at Bull’s offer. “No need, man. I still have the remote start app for her car downloaded on my phone.” I slipped my phone out of the inside pocket of my cut and tapped the screen. “It shows the car’s location.” I smiled grimly as the map pulled up, with a dot showing the car was parked at a small shopping center a few miles away.
“Got her.”
It took me about five minutes to get there, and I found her car parked in front of a bar at the end of the strip. I did a double-take. Abby was never one for bars, even before my drinking got out of hand. The idea that Paisley’s lies had driven Abby to stop for a drink pissed me off even more.
It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim interior. The place wasn’t even half full, not surprising considering most people were just now getting off work for the day. I looked around but didn’t see Abby anywhere. I spotted the hallway leading to the bathrooms, and decided I’d check to see if she was in the ladies’ room before asking the bartender if he’d seen her. Maybe she’d been too upset to drive, and just left her car parked here and called Amelia to pick her up?
I was only halfway down the hall when a door opened – marked “Employees Only” – and Abby hurriedly stepped out. Before I could say a word, she walked right into me without looking. I caught her as she stumbled backward, and my eyes widened as I took in her disheveled appearance. Her hair was a mess, and her mascara was smeared as if she’d been crying. I looked up as movement in the doorway caught my eye, and my blood boiled as I saw a man walking out of the same room Abby had just come from, casually buckling his belt, and adjusting his cock in his jeans. He had a satisfied smirk on his face as he glanced at Abby, a smirk he quickly lost as he caught sight of me.
“Baby girl?” I rasped, needing to make sure she was OK. I was gonna kill this motherfucker if he’d hurt her.
“Caleb?” Her voice was anguished, horror-stricken, and she stared up at me as if she couldn’t believe I was actually standing in front of her.
“Did he hurt you?” I leaned in close to ask her, and she tried to duck her head and pull away from me. I didn’t let her.
