Frey (9 page)

Abbi sat silently at the table. She
continued to sit with the pencil in her hand, scared to move even
to lay it down. Troy paced the kitchen, stopping only to take a
drink from his bottle before grabbing Abbi’s bicep with his free
hand. He squeezed her arm to make his point, “This does not mean
you get free rein, you hear me? I will have people watching you.
You are to come straight home. Do not pass go. Do not collect two
hundred dollars. Am I clear on that, Abigail?”

“
Yes, Troy. You’re clear.”
Abbi said nothing else, because anything else might set him off. As
of now he was a slow smoldering fuse with the fuse several feet
long. If she said the wrong thing, that fuse could be cut short and
blow with her in the line of fire. She wasn’t in the mood for
shrapnel.

“
Yeah, we’re clear. I’m
going to bed. Since I don’t have to go to work in the morning, you
better be quiet when you get up and not wake me. You got it?” Troy
asked with the almost empty bottle hanging by his side.

“
I got it,” Abbi said
softly. He gave her arm another bruising squeeze before he
retreated to their bedroom, slamming the door. Abbi let out her
breath, thankful she had dodged that load of dynamite. She stood
from the table to fix herself a plate of food. Now that Troy was
home, she was allowed to eat. The backdoor opened, and Matt walked
in, or rather bounced in. He didn’t say a word until Abbi gave him
the all clear, pointing down the hall. She mimicked drinking, their
code that Troy was drunk.

Matt made his way to the stove to see what
was for supper. “Are you hungry?” she asked him, knowing it was a
dumb question. Her brother was always hungry.

“
Yep,” he said as he
removed a plate from the cabinet. When he didn’t carry on about his
day, Abbi grew suspicious. As hyper as he was, he was also as
talkative when it was just the two of them.

“
Okay, spill. What’s up
with you?” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against
the counter.

“
Geoffrey’s going to teach
me meditation. I think it’s a crazy idea, but he says it will help
channel some of my energy. His brother, some genius, is going to
tutor me in math for the SAT’s.” Matt quieted, and looked down the
hall. When he was assured the door to her bedroom was closed, he
came back. “Abbi, one of Geoffrey’s cousins works on the police
force.”

Abbi grabbed his arm, moving him farther
away from the hall into the laundry room. She didn’t shut the door
in case Troy came back. “Matty, what did you do? Please tell me you
didn’t talk to another cop about Troy!” she begged. If word got out
Troy was abusing them, he would be ruined. There would be
repercussions. Crap! Repercussions like being put on second shift.
“Oh my god, you did, didn’t you?”

“
Abbi, he’s not just a
cop. He’s a detective. He said he can help us. Help you get away
from Troy,” Matt grabbed her wrists as he whispered. “Let them help
you, please Abs. Please!”

Abbi peeked out the laundry room door,
listening for any sign of her husband. If he found out she was even
considering leaving, his ire would be the likes of which they’d
never seen. “Matt, what exactly did you tell the detective?”

“
The truth, Abs. All of
it. From the time mom and dad were killed up until now,” her
brother said, unapologetically.

Abbi couldn’t stop the tears from rolling
down her cheeks. Her precious brother never spoke of their parents,
their past, but now he’d laid it all out to a stranger just to
protect her. She pulled him into a back-breaking hug. What if they
could help her? What if there was a way to finally be free from her
prison? Abbi wouldn’t let herself get her hopes up. Not yet. Hope
was the enemy.

Wiping the tears from her face, she said,
“Come on, let’s eat.” Abbi didn’t agree to anything. She couldn’t
let her brother put any thoughts into her head that may or may not
pan out. She heated up both their plates and placed them on the
table. She pushed her paper and pencil aside.

“
What are you working on?”
Matt asked, truly interested in what his sister was involved in. He
really was a good kid.

“
The fall festival. The
committee chose
The Nutcracker
as the theme, and they put me in
charge.”

“
Abs! That’s… Are you
going to dance? You should totally dance.” Matthew’s eyes lit up
with excitement. When he was little, he would watch Abbi practice.
Sometimes he would mimic her moves, spinning and twirling. Once,
she even caught him in her toe shoes. That memory of a tiny little
boy trying to walk in her ballet shoes, flopping like he had duck
feet brought a laugh from her throat. Surprised, she glanced at her
brother whose mouth was open. God, had it been that long since he’d
heard her laugh?

Just as quickly as the happy memory formed,
a bolt of sadness pierced her heart. “You know I don’t dance
anymore.”

“
Well, you should. You
were the best dancer ever, and you should really think about doing
it again. If we could…”

“
Hush. Just hush, Matty.”
Abbi stood and dumped her uneaten food in the garbage. She quickly
put the leftovers in plastic containers and shoved the pans in the
dishwasher. “I’m going to turn in. Oh, I almost forgot. Troy is
going to second shift starting tomorrow, so please be as quiet as
possible in the morning.”

Abbi didn’t miss the grin
that quirked the side of his mouth. “I’ll be quiet. Love you, Abs.”
Matt stood and kissed her on the cheek before heading to his own
bedroom. He grinned. He flipping grinned. Matt knew about Troy
going to second shift. Thinking back to Troy’s words,
the detective and the Neanderthal,
it was starting to make sense. Geoffrey Hartley.
He knew about Troy, and he had called in his cousin. Abbi didn’t
know what to make of that. Could there really be a way? Could Frey
and his detective cousin help her? And what about his brother
tutoring Matty? Why was this man getting so involved in their
lives?

Abbi got ready for bed in the hall bathroom.
When she entered her bedroom, Troy was snoring loudly, something he
did when he was drunk. Still, as quietly as possible, Abbi eased
onto her side of the bed. Once she was under the covers, she didn’t
dare move. Abbi lay still, staring at the ceiling, allowing her
mind to drift to the gym owner. Was he responsible for Troy going
to second shift? Closing her eyes, a scene played out somewhere in
the recesses of her mind. Abbi was dressed in her ballet tights-
stretching, jumping, and pirouetting. She ran across the wooden
floor, leaping, landing in the arms of Geoffrey Hartley.

When Abbi woke the next morning, Troy’s side
of the bed was empty. Abbi listened for any sign of her husband in
another part of the house. When she heard nothing, she got out of
bed and headed for the shower. Normally she would grab a cup of
coffee and take it into the bathroom with her. She didn’t want to
chance running into Troy, so she skipped that part of her
routine.

With the shower running, Abbi didn’t hear
the bathroom door open. Her hair was full of shampoo suds, her
hands massaging her scalp, her eyes closed. Cold air skimmed across
her back, and she knew. She knew Troy was going to take her right
there in the shower. She leaned her head under the spray of water
to rinse the shampoo out, but Troy had other ideas. Not giving her
a chance to rinse the foam from her face, Troy spun her so her
front was against the cool tiles of the shower.

“
Troy, please let me rinse
my eyes. I can’t see,” she begged.

“
Shut up. You don’t need
to see. Spread your fucking legs.” He kicked her ankle with his
foot. She nearly lost her balance when her foot slid too far on the
slippery surface. Troy grabbed her hips and jerked her butt back
towards him. With no warning, he forcefully pushed his way inside.
Abbi was thankful for the lather falling down her back. It
substituted as the only lube she would get. Troy shoved his forearm
against her shoulder blades, keeping her locked in place as he
pistoned in and out of her body. Abbi kept her eyes and mouth shut
so the shampoo wouldn’t get into either. Her tears seeped out the
corners of her eyes, but Troy wouldn’t see those. He was too
focused on the task at hand to ever look at her face. With a final
grunt, he spilled his seed into her body. Mission accomplished. He
pulled out and slid under the water, rinsing himself.

Troy stepped out of the
tub, and only then did she move. Abbi placed her body under the
water, reaching back to turn the heat up as hot as she could stand
it. She allowed the tears to flow freely, mixing with the shampoo.
When the water turned cold, Abbi got out of the shower. There was
nowhere she could go to escape the monster she was married to. She
wrapped a towel around her body, not bothering to look in the
mirror. She knew she’d see the bruises, and they were just another
reminder of what her life had become.
You
should totally dance.
Matty’s words came
back to her, shredding her heart a little more.
You know I don’t dance anymore.
Teaching ballet to kids was a balm to her soul, but it
couldn’t make up for the day her dream was shattered. No, Abigail
Swanson was gone, and Abbi Quinn stood in her place. She didn’t
dance anymore.

Chapter Nine

Frey tossed and turned all night with
Matthew’s words floating through his brain. When he finally gave up
on sleep, he walked out the back door and down the path leading to
the water. As he made his way through the trees, Frey allowed the
silence and stillness of the early morning to ease his thoughts.
When he reached the end of the pathway, he continued down the dock
that jutted out over his five acre lake. Frey sat on the end of the
wooden platform, his long legs dangling in the water. He leaned
back on his hands and closed his eyes. Meditating would be the best
thing for him, but right now, he wanted to think about Abbi
Quinn.

Ever since meeting her, he had been consumed
with all things Abbi. It was Julian’s day to train with the sword.
When they were finished, he was going to share with Frey what he
called “highly sensitive” information he’d unearthed. Frey didn’t
like the sound of that. He hadn’t liked the sound of anything
Matthew told him the night before, either. Matthew shared bits and
pieces of Abbi’s life as he remembered it from a kid brother’s
perspective. Frey had to work hard not to become frustrated with
the teen when he would skip years of her life. Frey knew digging
information out of Matthew was betraying Abbi’s trust, but he
needed to know what he was up against.

The fates weren’t making it easy on the
Gargoyles when it came to their mates. Frey learned many centuries
ago nothing in life worth having comes easy. He had to be careful
with Abbi. Protecting her and watching over her from a distance was
one thing. Interfering in her life and convincing her to get a
divorce from her abusive husband was another. Even if they weren’t
mates, Frey would not want to see the beautiful woman abused. He
might not be so involved in the outcome, but that was neither here
nor there.

The image Frey couldn’t get out of his mind
was one of Abbi dancing. What he wouldn’t give to see the beautiful
blonde twisting and turning across a wooden floor. Matthew laughed
when he shared how he used to try to wear his sister’s pointed
dance shoes. He would walk around the house on his tip toes so he
could dance like his big sister. Frey hadn’t missed the love in the
kid’s voice as he spoke of their bond or the sadness when he
briefly mentioned their parents’ deaths. Frey took in all the
information, and as soon as Matthew left the gym, Frey had called
Julian. He wanted everything there was on Abbi, her aunt Judy, and
her dickhead husband.

A turtle not far from the dock walked into
the lake and began making his way through the calm waters. Even
though the slow animal was causing ripples in its wake, it was not
upsetting the peacefulness of the morning. In that moment, Frey
knew he was the turtle, and he had to take his next steps with Abbi
just as slow as the turtle so as not to upset the peace that could
be their relationship.

Training went well with all the Goyles
pretty evenly matched, with the exception of Urijah. He continued
to hold back unless he was sparring with Rafael. If Frey and Uri
had put on a show, the King and their cousin were truly a sight to
behold. When training was over, Rafael gave the others the good
news that Dante had rescued both Isabelle and Connor. He and his
mate had completed the bond. Finally, some good news they could
celebrate.

Once the others had driven off, Julian and
Frey made their way into Dante’s office to access his computer.
Frey didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary to see the
information on his own mate. Julian fired up Dante’s laptop. While
it was booting up, he said, “I am going to leave you alone to read
over the files. I won’t leave the property in case you have
questions or want to hit someone, but I am going to let you read
these alone.”

Frey clenched his fists. “That bad?”

“
Worse.” Julian clicked
the mouse and stood from Dante’s leather chair.

“
Yell if you need me. I’ll
be outside in the swimming pool.”

The first file Frey opened was one his
brother had named “hospital visits”. Frey reached deep within
himself for a calm he knew he would need.