A to Zane (9 page)

“Yes, he did. And shockingly, he wasn’t the first man to do that. She’s in her thirties, David.” Emily shook her head at her husband, turning back to the stove.

Now it was Zane’s turn to narrow his eyes. Neither he nor his tiger liked the idea of someone else sleeping in Abby’s bed. Not now, not ever. The feeling of forever usually made his fur crawl. He waited for it, but this time it didn’t come. He frowned down at the table confused.

When he looked up again Heath was sitting there with a broad grin on his face, as if he knew something Zane didn’t. Once again, Zane wondered if he could remove the wolf's head from his shoulders.

“Play nice, Heath.” Emily warned him without even turning around.

The smile slipped from the wolf’s face, but the gleam stayed in his eyes.

Zane grinned back, letting Heath see a mouth full of fangs. The challenge clear.

You really want to do that, pussycat?
Heath mouthed.

Emily spun then, slapping Heath upside the head. “Did I not just say Zane isn’t going to be touched? Because I thought I heard me say that.”

The large wolf alpha ducked his head and repeated yes’m several times while being scolded.

It fascinated Zane, and had for the last few days he’d been here. Emily Short and her twin, Elizabeth St. Clair, at first glance appeared to be two sweet, kind, and gentle older ladies. The men around the table treated them like spun glass, always looked after, never alone.

Zane was amazed when the alpha of a wolf pack was slapped upside the head and the wolf didn’t turn and rip off the hand that dared do it. No, Zane watched Heath sit there and take it.

He’d never seen anything like it before. For him it was better than watching a TV show.

“Now, Zane, take this up to our baby for me.” Emily set a tray with eggs, toast, and some juice in front of him. “I just want to have a quick word with the boys here.”

Zane shrugged. He was heading back to Abby anyway. “Sure.” Zane grabbed the tray and headed out.

*

“Did you find out anything?” Emily asked when Zane was gone.

“Karina did. She found out the asshole was there specifically for Abby. Someone set her up,” Duke answered.

“By who? Who would do that to Abby?” Wayne asked.

“Don’t know yet, but with my contacts, and both Heath's and Abby’s teams, we’ll find whoever did this,” Duke said.

Emily looked around the room, knowing full well they could see the intent in her eyes. No one threatened her only child and lived to tell that tale.

*

“Oh, you’re still here.”

Zane smiled as he walked into Abby’s room. “Yep, and I come bearing food.” She still looked weak, but the color was starting to come back into her face, he was pleased to see.

Zane placed the tray across her knees and walked around to the side of the bed he now considered his.

“Hold that.” He nodded at the tray, making sure it didn’t topple as he climbed in.

“What are you doing?” Abby asked, watching him with a cautious eye.

“Getting comfy while you eat.”

“There are chairs in the room, you know. Or you could just leave.”

“I could, but I won’t. So eat up.”

Zane leaned back against the headboard, crossed his legs at the ankles, and folded his hands on his stomach. With his eyes closed, he relaxed back and waited for Abby to eat. She didn’t move, and he knew she was still staring at him, waiting for him to leave.

“Either you eat, or I feed you.” He warned her without opening his eyes.

“I’m not hungry.”

Zane gave a tired sigh and opened his eyes. She was so difficult, the bloody woman.

“Fine. Here, give me that.” He took the tray and placed it on the side table. Before Abby could do anything stupid, like try to get out of the bed, he caught hold of her around the waist and lifted her. The surprise gasp made him smile as he scooted over to the middle of the bed and placed her down across his thighs. With one hand around her waist he held her in place; the other reached over and grabbed the tray and put it in front of them both.

“Zane, let me go.” Abby tried to wiggle free, but he was having none of it.

“Eat,” he demanded with a fork full of egg.

“I said I wasn’t hungry.” She huffed at him.

“Eat.”

Abby shook her head and pressed her lips tightly together. She stared at him with a triumphant look on her face.

With the skill of an older brother used to dealing with bratty kids, he reached out and squeezed her nose. If she wanted to breathe again she was going to have to open her mouth.

Thirty-seven seconds later, Abby opened her mouth to suck in air, and Zane rushed the fork full of food into her mouth.

“You spit that at me, I’ll spank you, and we both know how that ends, my kinky little love monkey.”

Abby chewed the food glaring at him the entire time. She swallowed. “Kinky little love monkey?”

“I’m tired. It’s the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment.” He lifted another fork of food to her. For a second he thought she’d argue again, but she seemed to think better of it and opened her mouth.

“Good girl.”

After a few mouthfuls, she tried to take the fork from him, but Zane moved it out of her reach.

“I can feed myself.”

“I don’t doubt it, but I’m already feeding you so deal with it.”

“Kinda snippy when you’re tired, ain’t ya?” Abby muttered.

“That’s your fault too.”

“My fault? How is it my fault? I’ve been unconscious this whole time.”

Zane gave her the last bite of food and placed the tray back on the table.

“You snore.”

Abby gasped in outrage and whacked him on the arm.

“I do not!”

“Yeah, ya kinda do. Not even dainty little girl snores, like full-blown man snores,” he teased her.

“Well you could’ve used the room they gave you, and then you wouldn’t have had to hear my man snores.” She tried to get off of his lap, but Zane held her close.

“Nah, I liked having you in my arms more.”

The color he’d come to adore crept up her neck and across her cheeks.

“Besides, it was the only way I could guarantee you wouldn’t sneak off on me again.”

This time when she tried to get off him, he let her go.

The shock of her sneaking out on him was still raw. How she managed to get out without him knowing, someone who didn’t get snuck up on, ever, still amazed him.

The realization she hadn’t wanted to stay the night had been a gut shot. Zane was a tiger, one who understood the fun of a one night stand. But he always stayed until the morning, making sure the woman understood there weren’t any long-term plans for them. He’d never left in the dead of night without good reason, and he always made sure the lady was okay before he went. Abby moved like a thief in the night.

If she hadn’t been hurt when he finally caught up with her, he would’ve been sorely tempted to spank her for doing it to him.

Abby hid a yawn behind her hand, making Zane aware now wasn’t the right time for that conversation.

“Lie down. Get some rest.”

“I’ve been sleeping for a week.”

“And you’ll sleep for another week if I say so. Now lay down.”

“Such a caveman sometimes.” Abby moaned as she lay back on the bed.

“That I am.”

Zane tucked the covers in around her shoulders and watched as she lost the fight to keep her eyes open.

He brushed the hair away from her face. His mother would love her.
Where the hell did that come from?
His mother wasn’t going to meet her. Zane didn’t do forever, and only forever girls got taken home to his family.

Abby’s breathing slowed and grew deeper as she slipped into sleep.

The bruises on her face shone black and purple, tainting her beauty. She may not be forever, but for right now she was his to protect, and Zane Anderson took his job very seriously. Abby Short may not know it, but Anderson Consulting, one of the best security companies in the country, had just taken her on as a client.

*

Emily Short stood in the doorway watching the young couple sleeping. Zane had a protective arm over her daughter, holding her close.

“Why won’t he use his own room?” her husband of nearly forty years asked from behind her.

“I can count on one hand the number of nights we’ve slept apart since the day we met,” Emily replied.

“That’s different.” David wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her neck. “I knew the second you threw that knife at me, you were the one.”

Emily smiled, remembering the night like it were only yesterday.

“Who says the boy doesn’t feel the same about our baby?” she asked.

“Because she’s my baby, and he isn’t good enough for her.” David sniffed.

“No one’s good enough for your baby.”

“Is it my fault she’s perfect?” David asked. “She needs someone as perfect as her.”

“I don’t think you’ll have much say in this, sweetheart.”

David sighed, and she let him pull her away from the doorway.

“As usual I think you’re right. But if he even looks at her wrong, I’m going to show him this old man can still kick ass.”

Emily hugged him close. “My hero.”

David laughed and walked down the stairs. She watched her husband turn into the kitchen where she knew the rest of the family still were.

She looked back at Abby’s room. If Zane Anderson hurt her little girl, David wouldn’t find enough of him, ass or otherwise, to kick.

The sun beat down on her skin, and the tension left Abby’s body. For two days she’d been trapped in her room, but finally the jailers—Zane and her mother—allowed her some yard time.

She needed the break from the constant attention and care they were giving her. Abby was grateful, she really was, but for a woman who valued her alone time, it was getting to be too much.

This morning she’d woken up in Zane’s arms again. The feel of his hard body pressed against hers made her want to purr. The erection pressed against her butt was too enticing to ignore. She ground her soft flesh against his hardness, imagining what he’d do if he woke up.

The low growl directly in her ear made her freeze mid-grind.

“No teasing, baby. You’re not well enough for all the things I want to do to you.” The hand around her waist dipped lower into her pajama shorts and cupped her pussy over her underwear. “But the second you’re well enough, this belongs to me.”

Abby didn’t know if she wanted to get better quicker or if she wanted to hide away. Zane shouldn’t want her, at least not for more than a night. Yet here he was, night after night, sleeping in her bed.

All thoughts of Zane pushed out of her mind when Karina walked out of the woods that surrounded Abby’s parents’ house. She had other things to deal with.

“He said you’d be here, just a little present for me.”

The words rang clearly in her head. Someone had set her up, and she wanted to know who.

“Hey boss lady, glad to see you ain’t dead,” Karina greeted her as she dropped into the empty chair.

“I’m guessing I have you to thank for that.”

Karina looked up at her with a frown.

“For taking the shot that put that jackass out of commission. I appreciate it, and my mother assures me there will be no repercussions for it either. So you don’t need to worry, okay?”

Karina’s frown deepened. “Yeah, sure, no problem.”

As cold as Karina acted, taking a life was never easy no matter how nonchalant she acted.

“So what do you have for me?” Abby decided a change of direction was best.

“Not much yet. He was scum, which we know. He mixed with lots of scum, no shocker there. But one name popped up a couple of times. Eric Culdwick. Mean anything to you?”

The heat left her body, and a chill crawled down her spine. That was a name she never thought she’d hear again.

“Do we have a location on him?”

“Not yet, but we’re working on it.”

“As soon as you hear anything I want to know.”

“Sure. You should also know your family is using their connections too.”

Abby didn’t want her family anywhere near that man. “Get in their way if you can, but don’t draw attention to yourself. I don’t want to put you in their sights.”

“Not a problem. I’d rather not have The Twins looking for me,” Karina assured her. “Anything else you want me to do?”

“No thank you. Just find him, and I’ll do the rest.”

Karina nodded. “So who is this guy then? A problem you solved looking for revenge?”

Abby gave a cold laugh. “Yeah, something like that.”

She was glad Karina didn’t dig for more information. Abby wasn’t sure she’d keep her cool, not where Eric was concerned.

“Okay, so…” Karina got to her feet. “I’ll be in contact soon.”

“Okay, and Rina, tell the team I said hi.”

“Will do, boss lady.” Karina smiled and headed off back to the woods.

“Eric Culdwick.” Even saying his name made her want to be sick.

Even ten years later, she could picture his face perfectly. Tall, dark blond hair, and the ability to sweet-talk any person, male or female, within a ten feet radius.

They’d met in college, her first time away from the family, where she hadn’t been anyone’s daughter or cousin. She’d just been Abby Short. Back then she’d been so self-assured and confident. She hadn’t cared that she was referred to as the fat cousin, or that dating had been limited at best. She was loved by her family, and when the right man came along, she’d know it.

Eric had taken that bright young thing and turned her black, taken away her sparkle, and left nothing but the shell of what she’d once been.

Karina had once asked who’d hurt her so bad she spent so long hiding who she was. The answer was simple—Eric.

It’d taken nearly a year for her to be strong enough to get out of that situation. He’d turned out to be the first problem she’d solved.

Abby closed her eyes and wondered what brought him back when he swore he never wanted to set eyes on her again.

There were things in her life she wasn’t always proud of, things she’d had to do to make a “problem” go away. But Eric was something, or someone, who made her hate herself. He’d broken her, and Abby wasn’t entirely sure she was fixed yet.