Possession (Club X #3)(21)
Author: K.M. Scott

“Is everything okay? Does your friend need anything else?”

“No, everything’s fine. Just the dress. Thanks.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a little while. Just tell her to hang on for a few more minutes.”

I placed the phone back on the table and looked over at Abbi. “Olivia’s bringing you something to wear. She usually gets to work by eleven, so it’ll just be a few minutes.”

“Olivia, Cash’s girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice of her. Why is she doing that?”

I’d forgotten how little Abbi knew of kindness other than Gemma. “Because I asked her. Olivia’s nice like that.”

A strange silence settled in between us, but I didn’t know what to say, so I escaped into the bathroom, leaving Abbi there. I didn’t need to be around her when she was only wearing a towel.

And then halfway through my shower, she poked her head into the bathroom. “Kane, can I eat that cake in the fridge?”

I looked out through the clear glass shower door and saw her standing there staring at me as she waited for my answer. There was no way she couldn’t see every inch of me. Christ, she was making it next to impossible not to want her.

“Yeah. No. Wait for me and I’ll make you breakfast. I have some eggs, I think.”

“Okay.” She didn’t say anything else but stood there staring at me for a few moments more before she left.

Damnit, she wasn’t going to make this easy. She had no idea how much she shouldn’t want me.

Olivia’s clothes fit Abbi awkwardly, but I couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked in her pink sundress, even though it covered more of her than it should as it hit near her ankles. Abbi fussed with the fabric while I made her breakfast, and even as she ate her scrambled eggs, she couldn’t stop touching it.

I finished my eggs and asked, “Are all your clothes at Gemma’s?”

She dropped her gaze to her nearly empty plate and shook her head. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“None?” I asked, confused since I’d seen her show up for work behind the bar dressed every night for weeks.

“No. I’ve been wearing Gemma’s until I have enough money to buy some.”

“Haven’t you gotten paid yet?”

She looked up at me and nodded. “I told you. I need money to pay for more important things. I’m trying to save up for an apartment, and I helped my mom a little with the money I’ve made so far.”

I didn’t know why but the idea of her not having clothes bothered me. Taking her plate, I put it in the sink with mine and said, “Then we have somewhere to go this morning. Get ready.”

“For what?”

“Shopping.”

Turning around, I saw the surprised look on her face. Or maybe it was confusion. Whichever it was, it quickly changed as she shook her head.

“No. I don’t want you to buy me anything.”

“Whether you want me to or not, I’m going to, so it would probably be better if you’re there. If not, I might get the wrong sizes.”

My attempt at humor didn’t work, and she frowned. “I don’t want to owe anyone anything. I’ve done that before, and it never got me anywhere good.”

“Then accept whatever I buy as my apology for basically kidnapping you last night. Then neither of us will owe the other person anything.”

Abbi considered my idea for a minute and smiled. “Okay, it’s a deal. I don’t wear anything expensive, so you’re getting off easy for kidnapping and holding me hostage.”

Her comment about being held hostage bothered me. It was stupid, but it did. I forced a smile at her joking and led her to my car for our shopping trip, her comment nagging at my gut.

“Kane, would you be willing to take me to my apartment?”

I turned to see Abbi staring at me with those big blue eyes that made me want to do anything she asked. “Yeah, I guess.”

“It’s just that my boy—I mean, ex-boyfriend might be there and…”

Looking away, I thought about what I wanted to do to this ex-boyfriend of hers who’d done all that shit to her. Beating the fuck out of him would be the first thing. Then I’d figure out what to do from there.

“Sure. You can’t be getting clothes, so why do you need to go there?”

I stopped at a red light and looked over to see Abbi’s head hung and her tugging on the ends of her hair. “My mother gave me a ceramic bell and I want to get it back. I don’t think it was broken when he—” She stopped talking and then quietly said, “I didn’t remember to take it when I left.”

Jesus, I wanted to fucking crush this guy’s skull. Not only had he done everything he could to hurt her physically, but he’d taken everything else from her.

“Just point me in the right direction.”

Abbi told me how to get to her place, and I pulled up in front of an apartment house in the middle of a block filled with rundown houses and empty, torn up lawns. She didn’t seem to want to get out of the car, instead staring down at her hands as they lay in her lap, so I opened my door and walked around to her side to show her she wasn’t alone.

She looked up at me with the purest expression of fear I’d ever seen. What else had this fucker done to her?

“It’s okay. I’m here. I doubt your ex could do anything to me.”

“I guess. I’m just wondering if this was a bad idea.”

I held my hand out to take hers. “C’mon. Show me where you used to live.”

She took my hand and we walked up to the front door. Her hand shook as she put the key in the lock, and as she pushed the door open, I felt her squeeze my fingers tightly. Whoever this guy was, he terrified her.

We entered the apartment and found nothing. The place had been emptied out. She walked into the middle of the room and slowly turned as she looked for that bell, but there was nothing left. He’d made sure to hurt her to the last.

“Oh, my God,” she sobbed as she collapsed to the floor. “It’s gone. He took it. He took everything.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sat there so tiny, her body heaving from her crying. My heart felt like someone was squeezing it in their fist. That feeling I’d had the minute I met her rushed through me again, and I crouched down next to her to put my arms around her shoulders. “Abbi, come with me.”

She looked up at me, so helpless, and dried her eyes. “I have nothing left, Kane. All I have are the clothes you bought me today. Everything I had all those months I lived here is gone.”