London Bound: New Adult Romance (Chase Brothers) (21 page)

Of their own volition, her eyes scanned the grounds for Alexi, and once again found him talking animatedly with Gemma. Pain knotted Abbie’s belly. She’d told him she didn’t want to talk to him, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting to see him obviously so comfortable with Gemma.

Turning a circle in the wide hallway, she decided it was probably best to go out the way she’d come in before she got lost and trapped in this cross between
Downton Abbey
and British Stepford hell.

With her camera bag slung over her shoulder, she shuffled out the side door without anyone seeing her. Her mind had already turned to the long hot bath she needed when she heard the shouting.

“How could you be so stupid? Do you understand how you made me look?”

Abbie’s skin prickled as a chill settled around her. A fear and anxiety cocktail made a roiling boiling science project out of her stomach. “Mind your business, Abbie,” she mumbled to herself.

But as she bypassed the side garden, her feet rooted to the grass. When she saw the contorted features of a hulking man as he screamed in the face of a barely five-foot-five redhead, adrenaline coursed through her veins.

Over the years, she’d never told anyone how Evan had treated her because she was too embarrassed that he’d hit her. She could have been one of those statistics if she hadn’t finally had enough. But what if she’d had someone to step in when she needed it? He might never have hit her in the first place.

He’s bigger than you, and this time you’re not brandishing a weapon
.

She shook off the doubt demon that climbed onto her back. This was the right thing to do. It didn’t matter that fear and doubt were like two sets of chains holding her back, begging her to turn away and mind her own business.

When she spoke, her voice wobbled. “Hey, are you all right?”

The redhead didn’t even look at her, just mutely nodded. The man though, he glared. With all his fury directed at her, her steps faltered. “Just remember, he’s a coward at heart,” she mumbled to herself. Yeah, easier said than done.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Aren’t you the help? Mind your fucking business,” he snarled.

Anger had her cocking her head. Her voice was steadier now. “You see, I would love to mind my own fucking business, but you’re out here bullying a woman half your size and screaming the house down, so you’ve made it my business.” Without taking her eyes off the man, she asked the woman again, “Are you okay? You don’t have to stay here with him. We can go to my car, and I can drop you anywhere you like.”

Abbie desperately hoped this douchebag wasn’t the woman’s husband or something. Even as beads of sweat ran rivulets down her back, still, she inched closer. “My friends are inside, and they’ll take care of you too if you want.” She prayed Alexi would fulfill that promise, she just knew she had to get this woman away from this man.

“N-no, it’s okay. I’m okay. It was my fault really, I—”

Echoes of her own life flashed in Abbie’s head.

She took another step until she stood next to the woman, close enough to shove her out of the way of a fist, if one came. The man backed up, but his face was beet-red, and the vein in his forehead had started to throb.

Abbie licked her lips. “Look, why don’t you take a minute to think this through. In the meantime, she’ll go in the house.”
Call the cops
. “We’ll have a drink.”
Escape out the front door.
“Then you two can talk this out.”
Yeah, with your sorry ass behind bars.

His words came out clipped and extra crisp with his accent. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Do you have any idea who I am? I will ruin you. You have no business butting into an argument between me and my wife.”

Oh hell
. She was married to this douche? In that moment, Abbie knew this woman wasn’t going to run away or call the police or do anything that she should. She was going to go on pretending everything was okay.
Like I did
.

“Consider me a Good Samaritan, making sure she was okay. You’re nothing more than a bully.”

Tendrils of fear snaked out and wrapped themselves around her spine as the man snapped a meaty hand around her upper arm. She winced inwardly as he applied pressure. Outwardly, she schooled her features to read disdain.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Even though Abbie couldn’t see Alexi, hearing his voice was enough to put her at ease. “I saw this woman here needed some help getting away from her idiot of a husband. Now he thinks it’s a good idea to manhandle me.”

The man advanced a step, and Alexi was at her side like a flash. “Sir Robert, my friend was just leaving.”

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Alexi knew this asshole? Anger made her voice waver, and she hated it. “He was going to hurt her. If I hadn’t stepped in—”

Ice dripped off of each of Alexi’s words. “Maybe you didn’t hear me, Abbie, but it’s time to go.”

She tore her arm loose from the oaf’s grip and glared at Alexi. Why the hell was he so furious with her? Had she broken some rich elite code? “I didn’t do anything wro—”

The woman beside her shook her head. “Oh, no. You must have misunderstood. We were just having an animated conversation. My husband would never hurt me.”

Abbie stared at the redhead incredulously. He’d been gripping her so tight, Abbie could see hints of bruising on the woman’s arms. But she was going to back up this asshat? She turned to face Alexi, and she saw they weren’t alone. Gemma and her mother had followed him.

The older woman stalked over to the red-headed woman. “Emily, Robert, you’ll have to forgive Alexi and Gemma’s guest. Obviously, she misunderstood and shouldn’t have gotten involved. Emily, why don’t I take you inside so you can freshen up?”

Alexi stood firm by Abbie’s side, but she could feel the chasm between them widening. “I’m not lying, Alexi. He was going to hurt her.”

“Gemma, do me a favor and make sure Abbie gets the fuck out of here.”

The bottom fell out from her stomach.
He doesn’t believe you
.
In his world, things like this are par for the course
. And he was clearly pissed that she’d embarrassed him.

“You know what? Forget it. I’m done here anyway.” Hot tears spilled onto her cheeks as she stalked out of the garden.

* * *

Lex relaxed only marginally as Abbie retreated. Fury nearly blinded him when he’d rounded the corner of the garden and seen this prick’s hands on her. His first instinct was to give in to the violent rage that simmered just below the surface. The rage that had saved his life all those years ago. The rage he’d promised to never lose control of again.

But if he’d done that, he would have scared the hell out of Abbie. She would never look at him with trust again, and he didn’t want that. Getting her the hell away from the arse was the only solution. She’d sounded hurt, but that couldn’t be helped right now.

Lex stepped in Sir Richard Wembly’s path as he started after Abbie. “I think we’ve all had enough disagreements for one day. Wouldn’t you agree?” The idea of this piece of shit going after Abbie made him want to kill something. And with his Jiu Jitsu training he would probably do some serious damage.

Rage clouded the older man’s eyes as he shifted his focus from Abbie’s retreating form to Lex. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of my way.”

Lex forced his body into a relaxed pose, though he was anything but. He’d seen the bruises on Emily Wembly. He doubted that Sir Richard would physically attack him, but as the man had physically assaulted his wife and just tried to go after Abbie, he stayed alert.

Lex’s family had known the Wemblys all his life. Not once had he ever had any inclination that Sir Richard was anything other than the refined member of Parliament that he appeared to be.
Until now
.

The look he had given Abbie had said it all. The refined politician was the mask. This was the real man, and he was no better than a schoolyard bully. If Lex hadn’t come when he had, Richard would have hurt Abbie, would have continued hurting his wife. The angry savage inside reminded Lex how good it would feel to give this fool his comeuppance.

“I’m not staying out of your way. You are clearly having a problem controlling your anger.”

“Where do you get off, you little shit? Just because I’ve known your family for a long time doesn’t give you the right to be so familiar with me.”

Lex let icy menace slide into his voice as he spoke. “Sir Richard, if I were you, I would listen very closely. Just because you sit on Parliament doesn’t mean you control the world.” He stepped into the older man’s physical space and squared his shoulders. “Nick Wexler is a very good friend of mine. I seem to recall him saying you lack a way with cards. I’m sure you would hate for that to become public knowledge. After all, news like that would endanger your political career. You know the public hates a scandal.”

The older man blanched, then backed up a step. “No one would believe a pissy little upstart like you. One word to your father, and you’re done. Cut off.”

Lex let all menace he felt bubble to the surface. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about me and my brother.”

The older man went pale.

Lex continued, projecting a calm he didn’t feel. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to find out if they were true or not.” It cost him a sliver of his soul to bring those early memories to the forefront, but he needed to make a point. “If I see your wife looking a little worse for wear ever again, or I find out you bothered my friend, you might meet the same fate as Silas McMahon.”

Lex didn’t bother to see how the older man reacted. Instead, he turned on his heel and went after Abbie.

Chapter 24

After an hour and a half of driving Tamsin’s car through the slogging rain, Abbie let herself into the empty apartment. She tossed her keys on the kitchen counter and went straight for the wine. She knew Tamsin needed some time with her man, but right now she could really use her best friend.

After pouring herself a large glass with shaky hands, she quickly changed into sweats before sitting down with her laptop and turning on a DVR’d episode of Eastenders. But she wasn’t in the mood to attempt to look through any of the pictures.

But Tamsin was in Dublin with Liam and Sophie was off to Jersey with Max. So she was all alone for the first time since she’d come to London. It gave her too much time to think, and her brain replayed the scenario from the afternoon over and over and over again. Had she done the right thing?
Yes
. Should she have gone with some back up?
Probably
.

It had been foolish, but she was glad to have been able to get that poor woman away, even if it was just for the rest of the party. She’d have to make her own choices when she got home. Adrenaline still coursed through Abbie’s body, making her hands shake, and she very deliberately took a big gulp of wine.

The front door buzzer sounded, and she dragged herself from the relative comfort of the couch. With wooden legs, she trudged over to the answer box and pressed the buzzer. “Who is it?”

“Abbie, it’s Lex.”

Shit
. What the hell was he doing here? She didn’t want to see that look on his face again. The fury and disbelief she wouldn’t soon forget. “Now’s not a good time.”

“Abbie, I want to talk. Please let me up. I need to see that you’re okay.”

Oh, really? He hadn’t been too concerned about her well-being a few hours ago. At that point, he’d been more interested in keeping the fact secret that his close family friend was a wife beater. She depressed the buzzer again. “It’s okay, honestly. I’m fine.”

Lex’s smooth voice came over the speaker again. “Abbie, I’m begging you, just hear me out. Just for a minute? I’d rather not have this conversation out here for the whole world to hear.”

She’d rather not have it at all. But the truth was, she
wanted
to hear him out. Wanted to hear some explanation that would make up for what he’d done. Needed to hear that he believed her.

She buzzed him in and opened the door before taking back her post on the couch.

When he strode inside, the air left her lungs. Every time she left him, she literally forgot just how beautiful he was. And then, when she saw him again, it all came crashing into her. “What do you want, Alexi?” For the most part, she ignored him, only catching his exploration of her flat from the corner of her eye.

“I like your place. It’s cozy and girly, but not in a bad way. You’ve got nice smelling stuff everywhere and actual grown up things. I bet your kitchen drawers are full of all kinds of cooking utensils I’ve never even heard about.”

She wasn’t in the mood for his teasing. “Can you say whatever the hell you have to say and get out? I have to do some work.”

“Are you headed back to the library to print canvases? I could give you a ride and then—”

She cut him off with a look. “And then what? We’ll nearly screw each other in the lab again? I’m not interested in being with someone who doesn’t trust what I say.”

He cursed as he sank down into the couch next to her. As he spoke, he ran a hand through his hair. “Is that what you think? You think I didn’t believe you?”

“You were clearly pissed at me. Look, I know that’s not how you people do things in the rich circles, but I saw someone who needed help, so I acted. You had no right to yell at me like that.”