“I only ask for a few minutes of your time. I was the dancer in your brother’s fantasy room last night.”
He scanned my face and body and narrowed his eyes to slits. “You look very different now.”
Tugging on the ends of my hair, I lowered my gaze. “I wear a costume and wig for work.”
“What can I do for you, Abigail?”
He extended his hand for me to sit, and I gave him my nicest smile. “Please call me Abbi. How is Jethro feeling?”
“Better, thank you. I appreciate you asking.”
“I know you probably think that Kane is a bad man for what happened, but he was just protecting me because he thought I was being hurt. He’s a good person. Cash and Stefan are too. I know your brother got hurt, but if there was any way to make up for what happened without Kane having to go to jail, I really hope you’ll consider it.”
“I believe the case has already begun to move through the court system. I’m not sure what I could do, even if I wanted to. Kane’s attack was vicious. I’m not sure anything can make up for that.”
Tears began to well up in my eyes, but I needed to stay strong. “There has to be something I can do. He was just trying to protect me. Kane would never hurt someone without reason. I know your brother probably meant no harm either. It was all a horrible misunderstanding.”
Mason Jennings stared at me with a look that I knew all too well. Like his brother, he wasn’t above treating women like dirt, and I saw in his eyes that he’d already thought of something I’d be able to do for him to make this all go away.
“You seem like a determined young lady, Abbi. Kane is lucky to have such an advocate in his corner. You remind me of someone I once knew, in fact. I’ll tell you what. My brother has a small bar he’d love to have you work at. No dancing. Just bartending, but if he had someone like you behind the bar for his patrons, I’m sure he could forget the unfortunate events of last night.”
Bartend for Jethro, the man who thought grabbing at me had been perfectly fine? The man who had created all this mess? My stomach tightened at the thought of his hands on me every night, but maybe if he thought he’d get beaten again if he misbehaved he might not make the same mistake twice.
It didn’t matter if he did as long as Kane stayed out of jail.
“I’d be happy to work at Jethro’s bar, but I need your word that nothing will happen to Kane.”
“You have my word, Abbi. I’ll see to it. However, I don’t see him agreeing to your working anywhere but Club X.”
I wrote my phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “Let me handle that. If anyone can convince him, it’s me.”
Mason stood and walked behind me as I made my way to the door, his hand pressed to my lower back and making me cringe. I stopped and smiled, hoping my disgust for him and his plan wasn’t as obvious as it felt.
“You’ve been a pleasant surprise for me today, Abbi. Thank you. Good luck with your task. It’s sure to not be an easy one.”
I left his office to hurry home hoping that the lawyer Cash had mentioned the night before had been successful in getting Kane released. He’d only been away one night and already I felt alone and empty inside. I didn’t want to feel this way ever again. If Cash could get him out of jail, I would do what Mason Jennings wanted to keep him out.
Kane deserved to have someone fight for him, no matter what it took.
AFTER CASH and Jessup posted my bail, I could think of only one thing—getting back to Abbi. The sad look on her face had been too much for me as they led me out of the house, and I had to look away or I’d have done something stupid and made the situation worse. I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t sorry for what I’d done, but now that I had to pay for my crime, I saw that in my attempt to protect her I’d hurt her. If I had to spend years in jail, I’d continue hurting her. I hadn’t meant that to happen, but now that it had, I needed to do anything I could to make things better.
I’d told Cash whatever it took and however much it cost, I had to stay out for Abbi. I had millions and it could all be Jethro’s if that’s what he wanted. Even if it took every cent I’d ever made at Club X, I didn’t care.
As long as I was free and with her.
I bounded up the front stairs and stopped short as my hand touched the door handle. What if Abbi couldn’t forgive me for what I’d done? She’d spent years with men who hurt her with their hands. How different was I from them? Either way, we’d all hurt her.
Slowly, I opened the door to see her standing in the living room with Angel in her arms, as if both of them had been there all night waiting for me. Her smile beamed her happiness, and she began to softly cry.
“I missed you so much. Cash told me you were out. Are you okay?”
She put the kitten down on the floor and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. The feel of her body next to mine made everything I’d gone through fade away, and now all I knew was the happiness I always felt when she was in my arms.
“I’m fine. I thought about you alone here all night and hated that I’d fucked up so badly. Cash said you wouldn’t go with him last night. Why?”
Abbi squeezed me tightly and shook her head. “This is our home. I couldn’t leave. I belong here with you. I had to make sure I was here when you came back.”
I smoothed my hand over her hair and pressed my cheek to the top of head. “I’m sorry, angel. I fucked everything up and now we have to deal with the consequences. I should have never put you in that room with him. It was stupid.”
“Shhh. I don’t want to think about what we’ll have to do now. I just want to hold you and feel you next to me.”
Tilting her head back, I kissed her lips after missing her like I’d never missed anyone before. “I love you, Abbi. I promise when this is all over I’ll make it up to you, if you’re still with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere. There’s no one else in this world who’s shown me love like you have, Kane. You got in trouble because you wanted to protect me. How could I leave you after that?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen now. I’m not going to lie. I’m probably going to do time, unless we can find another way out of this. I told Cash I’m willing to give Mason and his brother every last dime I have, so hopefully a few million can make this go away.”
“I don’t want you to worry about this, Kane. You were trying to help someone, so I believe it will all work out. Have faith.”