Frey (30 page)

“
I want to see Victoria.
Now.” Abbi twisted out of his arms and took off toward the house.
Frey caught up with her in a couple of steps and quietly followed
her inside. She ran upstairs, but Frey didn’t go after her. He
reached out with his shifter senses and listened to make sure she
was okay. Abbi ran back down the steps and sat down at the kitchen
table. She had a business card and her cell phone with
her.

Abbi placed the call to Victoria, asking
when she could meet with her. Obviously Kaya had already spoken
with the attorney, because she had been waiting on Abbi to call.
“Today?” Abbi looked up at Frey, raising her eyebrows. He nodded.
He wanted this taken care of immediately, before Abbi could change
her mind. Now that she knew what a piece of shit Troy really was,
he didn’t think he had anything to worry about. “Today would be
wonderful. Where would you like to meet? Okay, can you hang on a
second please?” Abbi put her hand over the phone, “She wants to
meet at the manor, but I don’t want to leave Matt alone.”

“
I’ll have one of the guys
watch Matt. Tell her the manor’s fine, but give us an
hour.”

“
Ms. Holt, we will meet
you at the manor. Is an hour okay? Great, thank you. Yes, see you
then.”

“
Looks like I’m going to
see Kaya’s home after all,” Abbi said when she hung up.

“
Let me make some phone
calls, get someone on their way over here, and we’ll head that
way.” Frey knew a lot of the guys would already be at the manor for
family day. He’d leave it up to Rafael on whether or not they
stayed since he was bringing Abbi. Uri was busy with the gym, so
Lorenzo agreed to come over.

“
Lor is coming to stay
with Matt while we’re gone. He’ll be here in just a few minutes and
then we can go.”

“
Uh, Geoffrey?” The
sheepish look on Abbi’s face was so cute.

“
Yes, Abbi?” He grinned,
anxious to hear what she wanted.

“
I saw a jacket and some
boots in my closet, and I was wondering, could we, uh, maybe, take
your motorcycle to the manor?”

Frey had bought the riding gear on the hope
that one day he would get Abbi on the back of his bike. He never
expected her to suggest it. “Absolutely. Why don’t you gear up, and
I’ll go tell Matt we’re going to be gone for a little while.”

Abbi nodded then jogged upstairs to get
ready. Frey was ready to have Abbi sitting right behind him, hugged
up tight. Then again, his body was still humming from her getting
off earlier. It was probably a good thing Matthew came outside when
he did, or Frey would have had Abbi buck naked on the deck,
pounding his cock into her pussy. The remembrance of her grinding
on his dick would be the only masturbation fodder he would need for
a long time. The bliss on her face was embedded on his brain. The
scent of her arousal was fresh in his memory. The sound of her
sweet moans had been better than any mood music. If he could record
the noises she made when she was coming, he’d make millions.

Frey adjusted his cock before he went into
the gym. Matt was snoring softly. Frey hated to wake him, but he
didn’t want him to be alarmed when he woke and neither Frey nor
Abbi were home. The rumble of Lorenzo’s bike sounded from down the
long driveway, and he knew he needed to give Matt a heads up.
“Matthew…”

“
Hmm?” He blinked his eyes
and tried to open them. The pain pills were keeping him pretty
zonked.

“
I need to take Abbi to
see an attorney. Lorenzo’s here to stay with you. Is that
okay?”

Matt opened his eyes. “An attorney? What’s
wrong?” He gingerly sat up.

“
Don’t move, Buddy. Abbi’s
going to file for divorce from Troy. A friend of the family is a
lawyer, and she’s willing to meet Abbi today. Are you okay with Lor
staying here until we get back?”

“
Yes, God yes. Hell, I’d
stay with Aunt Judy again if it meant getting Abs away from
dickhead.”

Frey flinched internally. Matt had no idea
what his aunt had done. If Frey had his way, the boy would never
find out. It was bad enough that Abbi knew.

“
Knock-knock.” Lorenzo was
standing at the doorway. “Hey, Matt. How are you
feeling?”

“
Tired. Sore. Sleepy. I’m
afraid I’m not going to be very good company.”

“
That’s no problem. I’m
pretty sure I can entertain myself while you sleep.”

Frey ruffled Matt’s hair. “You get some
rest. We’ll be home as soon as we can.”

Matt’s eyes closed, and he was out within
seconds. Frey and Lor walked back through the house to the kitchen
just as Abbi was coming through the other side. Lor let out a low
wolf whistle, and Frey let out a low growl. He totally agreed with
Lorenzo’s assessment of his mate, but his beast didn’t like anyone
else noticing. Abbi had applied a small amount of make-up, fixed
her ponytail, and had donned the boots and jacket. “Is this okay?”
she asked, indicating her clothes.

Lorenzo was smart and kept his mouth shut.
“It’s perfect. You’re perfect. Lor, thanks again, Brother.”

“
No problem. I’m just
adding it to your tab.”

Frey shook his head, grinning, and took Abbi
by the hand. He led her out to the garage where the sleek, black
motorcycle waited. “Oh, crap. I don’t have a helmet.”

Once they were inside, Frey gestured to a
shelf where his helmet was stored. “I wasn’t sure of your size, so
I got one of each.” Four shiny black helmets sat side by side on
the shelf. He handed her the smallest one. “Let’s try this one
first. It should be snug, but not so tight it hurts your head.” She
slid it on and grimaced. He held out the next one, and she swapped
with him. She didn’t make a face this time. When it was in place,
Frey said, “Shake your head no.” Abbi frowned but shook her head as
he asked. “Is it too loose?”

“
I don’t think so. Feels
good.” Abbi shook her head again. “Yep, we’re good.”

Frey ran the chin strap through both hooks
then looped it back through the inner one, cinching it tight. He
snapped it in place and straightened the helmet, taking a few
seconds to admire the view. “Next time, you’ll have to show me how
to do that,” Abbi said.

Next time.
Frey was ecstatic she was planning on a next
time. He put on his own helmet with Abbi observing his fingers work
the strap. He handed her a new pair of sunglasses with safety
lenses and put his own pair on. Normally he didn’t wear them, but
he wanted to show Abbi he cared about their safety.

Frey lowered the passenger foot pegs before
straddling the bike. He stood it up and pushed the kickstand up
with his heel. “Put your left foot there and swing your right leg
over.” When Abbi was seated behind him, he told her, “I’ve never
doubled anyone. Never expected to. We’ll have to get you a back
rest, but for now, you’re gonna want to hold on really tight.”

Abbi scooted herself
forward until she was flush against Frey’s body. She wrapped her
arms around his stomach and put her chin on his shoulder. Gods, he
could get used to this. He turned the key, pushed the run button
and then hit start. The massive machine came to life underneath
them. Abbi giggled. He looked back to see a smile on her face.
“Hang on, Sweetheart.” Frey toed the gearshift down into first and
eased off the clutch. Her arms were locked around him, her hands
splayed across his stomach. When they cleared the gate and were on
the road, Frey let loose on the throttle, toeing up through the
gears. When the wind hit Abbi in the face, his girl let out a
loud
woohoo
.
Yeah, he could totally get used to this.

The road Frey’s home was on was a winding,
two-lane country road that went on for several miles. There were no
real shoulders as the land on either side was mostly woods. Frey
rarely met another car since there were only a couple of other
houses on the road. He knew the twists and turns like the back of
his hand, but he didn’t want to scare Abbi on her first outing, so
he took it easy. When they were about halfway to the turnoff, Frey
noticed a car gaining speed behind him. “Abbi, I need you to hang
on tight, okay?”

“
What’s going on?” she
asked and tried to look behind them.

“
I think we’re being
followed. Please, Sweetheart, just hang on.” As soon as Abbi
tightened her grip, Frey twisted the throttle, and the bike
rocketed forward. The car sped up as well and got within inches of
the back tire. Frey gunned the bike and put as much distance
between them and their pursuer as possible. Knowing there was a
stop sign coming up, Frey pulled an evasive maneuver that he prayed
to the gods wouldn’t get Abbi hurt. When they were closing in on
the end of the road, Frey slowed the bike. The vehicle behind him
got within two car lengths, and Frey swerved into the oncoming
lane, braked hard, and the car sped past them.

The intersection wasn’t normally busy, and
the driver in the car was lucky. He slammed on his brakes at the
last moment as he approached the stop sign. There happened to be no
oncoming traffic, so he managed to get away unscathed. “That’s
George’s car,” Abbi said calmly from behind Frey. It might be
George’s car, but Troy Quinn had been the driver.

Frey pulled the bike off the road to check
on Abbi.

“
Are you okay?” he asked,
twisting to look at her.

“
Yeah, you’re a really
good driver. It would seem Troy has found me, though.”

“
I thought you said that
was someone named George. Who’s George?”

“
George Novak, Troy’s best
friend. When Troy can’t keep tabs on me, he has George do it. The
guy trailed me all during college since Troy wasn’t there to do it
himself.”

“
Are you sure you’re okay?
You seem really calm about all this.” Frey couldn’t believe she
wasn’t freaking out.
He
was freaking out.

“
I’m sure. You promised to
protect me. Until you prove me wrong, I’m going to trust
you.”

“
But I’ve already let you
down. Let Matt down.” Frey should have kept his mouth closed, but
he wanted there to be nothing but truth between them. At least as
far as their feelings were concerned. He couldn’t tell her the
truth of the Gargoyles, not yet.

“
No, Michael let us down,
but I’ve had time to think on that. He couldn’t have known Troy
would be out back at the exact moment Matt took the garbage out.
Even though I don’t really know you, I sense there’s something
different about you. I haven’t known very many men in my life, but
I feel something when I’m around you. I’ve read about gut instinct
and women’s intuition. Whatever it is, my heart is telling me I can
believe you. Believe
in
you. If I had trusted my gut with Troy, I
wouldn’t be in this mess right now. Until you prove me wrong, I’m
putting my trust in you and your tribe of Amazons.”

Frey’s head was spinning. Between her words
and her hands rubbing across the ridges in his abs, he felt like he
was in a dream. One from which he didn’t want to wake up. He had to
wake up. If Troy decided to come back for them, they were sitting
ducks. Frey didn’t respond, instead he pulled Abbi’s hands tighter
around his waist and continued on to the manor.

Frey was on high alert,
watching for the gray sedan to come at them again. Instead of
taking the direct route to Rafael’s, Frey took some familiar back
roads, just in case. Without further incident, they arrived. Frey
rolled up to the gate and stopped beside the security box. Speaking
in Italian, Frey said the words
she is the
light of my life, my saving grace
into the
speaker. At that moment, he knew he spoke the truth. Even during
times of war, Frey had never had a more clear purpose than the
woman seated behind him. Frey may be protecting her from her
husband, but she was saving him from himself. His past.

“
What did you say?” she
asked, her chin on his shoulder.

“
I said
my girl is beautiful.
”
Frey couldn’t admit the truth to her. Not yet.

He proceeded through the now open gate and
rode slowly down Rafael’s drive. The manor came into view, and the
lack of vehicles surprised Frey. Rafe must have sent most everyone
away. One of the detective’s vehicles was parked alongside a shiny
Mercedes convertible. Victoria was already there. Abbi slid her leg
over the bike like a pro. Frey stood next to her and showed her how
to unhook her strap. He placed the helmets over the mirrors and
took her hand, leading her to the back door.

As soon as they entered the kitchen,
Priscilla was greeting them. “Geoffrey, there you are. And you must
be Abbi. Aren’t you just the prettiest thing? Now come on in. I
saved you some cookies. I had to hide them from the rest of the
boys. You know how they are about sweets.”

Frey laughed at the older lady. He was used
to her exuberant attitude, but by the look on Abbi’s face, she
didn’t know what to think. “Abbi, I’d like you to meet Priscilla.”
Priscilla wrapped Abbi in a tight hug.

Abbi didn’t hesitate to return the embrace.
When she pulled back she was grinning. “Priscilla, it’s a pleasure.
I’ve heard some really nice things about you.”

“
Priscilla, did I hear you
say you hid some cookies from me? What am I going to do with you?”
Rafael asked from the doorway.

The housekeeper waved her hand in the air at
him. “If I didn’t hide them, nobody else would ever get any. Abbi,
it was nice to meet you, dear. If you’ll excuse me, I have things I
need to take care of.” Priscilla removed a sealed bowl from the
pantry and placed it on the island. “Cookies,” she said with a wink
to Frey.