Obsidian Beauty (The Obsidian Series Book 1)
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Authors: Emily Walker
Obsidian Beauty
Emily Walker
Out of jail and finally ready to confront the man who left her there to rot, Abigail Rivers is upset to learn Benton Sellers --the man she gave up her freedom for-- has moved on with no regard for the sacrifices she has made for him.
She runs into handsome police officer Scott Jenkins who doesn’t care for the man Benton is pretending to be.
The dangerous attraction between the man of the law and the ex-inmate threatens to get in the way of her revenge, but there’s a lot more going on in her former lover Benton’s life than she could have ever imagined. Things are about to get dangerous.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. Copyright 2016
©
[EMILY WALKER]
Published by Emily Walker
www.authoremilywalker.com
Cover by JRA Stevens
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author
Contents
She felt the roughness of her hands as they wrapped around the cool metal bars. They were dry and cracked from night after night of washing dishes. A privilege to be able to work while in jail, they said, but it felt more like a punishment. Before jail, Abigail River’s perfectly manicured nails hadn’t touched soapy water except for a bubble bath. Now she couldn’t remember the last time they had even seen nail polish. That was over ten years ago. She wondered if she would even remember how to paint them. He had better appreciate what she did for him, for them. His last letter said he wouldn’t be writing for a little while. There was some big heist, which was going to take him away from civilization for a while. Two years had passed and there hadn’t been a letter since. The first few years he visited a couple of times in disguise, but still sexy as hell. The next couple he came once, and the years after that his letters always explained the reasons why he didn’t visit. All his letters were full of promise and sweet nothings. She missed those letters.
There was anger. In a way she felt like he’d abandoned her. She fantasized about running those unkempt nails of hers across the bastard’s face until he bled and then letting him make up for the ten years she served him on every surface of his house, wherever he was calling home these days. Benton always did like it rough. Smiling, she walked back over to hop on her bunk and thought about the different ways they would love each other when they were finally together again.
They had always had a kind of a love-hate relationship. There would be hours of screaming at one another and then hours of making up. Sometimes things would get broken in both instances, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Forever, baby,” were the last words he spoke to her. “I’ll wait for those gorgeous tits of yours forever.” Okay, granted he could have said eyes and been more romantic, but her breasts were his favorite body part. She loved the way he gave them special attention, so she let it slide.
There would be no sleeping tonight. She would be going over and over their reunion in her head. After ten years in jail, she had thought about many things she wanted to say and do to him. She went to climb up into her bunk, not paying attention to where her foot was landing.
“Miss Priss, what the hell are you daydreaming about? You almost stuck your foot in my damn eye.” Ruby poked her head out from under the bunk.
Abigail’s cellmate was her complete opposite, and the color of their skin was only the beginning. The nickname Ruby was one she had earned at the end of a shank, both on the receiving and giving end. You didn’t mess with Ruby, and Abigail was happy to have her on her side. They called Abigail Miss Priss. No one thought she was tough at all until one day she helped Ruby in a fight and earned their respect. They still called her that because she was girly, and that couldn’t be taken away from her.
“Benton.” Abigail knew there was no reason to lie to Ruby. She could almost smell deceit on people. She would know she was lying if she said it was nothing.
“Oh, Mr. Perfect again.” Ruby stood up so she was eye level with Abigail. “Mr. I am leaving you in jail for something I was mostly responsible for, see you in ten years.” Ruby didn’t care much for Benton.
“He is waiting for me, Ruby. I’m going to be with him forever when I get out of here. One more day.” Abigail couldn’t help but smile.
“What guard did you suck off to get the hell out of here?” Ruby still didn’t believe it. “No one actually leaves for good behavior.”
“First, I would have to suck off a judge because the guards don’t have that kind of pull. Next, these lips are only going to wrap around one man for the rest of my life. You are just going to have to believe I’m getting out on good behavior.” Abigail lay back on the bunk, staring at the same ceiling she had day after day. It would be great to look at a different ceiling. She pictured watching the fan spin on Benton’s ceiling, hands intertwined and bodies gleaming with the aftermath of their lovemaking.
“Good behavior, my ass.” Ruby got back into her bunk and continued grumbling to herself while Abigail drifted off to sleep.
Despite thinking she wouldn’t sleep until the next morning, she cracked one eye upon the sound of Ruby shadow boxing in the corner of their cell. It was the day. They were letting her out! She sat straight up and gasped, scaring Ruby, who went into a fighting stance and looked up at her.
“Damn, Priss, you have to watch it when I’m in the zone.” She went back to swinging at the air in front of her and ducking an invisible opponent. The sound of keys opening the door at the end of the long row of cells made Abigail’s heart jump into her throat. The guard was coming for her. Each clank of the keys on his hip was one more step closer to her freedom.
“Ruby, come here, you have to tell me bye.”
Ruby had told her she never said goodbye and never would. She kept on boxing in the corner while Abigail begged, never stopping her workout even when the keys turned in the cell door and the bars slid to the side.
“See you later, Miss Priss.” That was all she got, and she had to take it. Hoping she wouldn’t see Ruby again unless it was on the outside, she let the guard lead her down the row. There were well-wishers along the way, along with a few haters.
“Bitch, you won’t make it a month. You’ll be back.”
Abigail didn’t look up. She kept her eyes straight ahead on the door she would soon be entering to leave jail behind forever. As she approached the booking desk, she had a momentary flashback of being a terrified twenty-one-year-old in platform heels and a miniskirt. Those clothes were exactly what she was getting back now, along with the wallet, which had one card in it and ten dollars. She was going to look like a streetwalker on her first day out in clothes too small for her. A great way to start the next chapter of her life.
There was only one person she could call to come and get her, and he would drop everything to do it. She had called her brother, Billy, the day before and told him she was getting out. They only allowed her to use the phone because she was leaving. He had been surprised, but told her he would be waiting when she was released.
As they opened the door of the jail and let her stumble out into the world, wobbling on high heels after years of flats, it hit her. She was free.
Billy Rivers stood in the middle of the parking lot with a bouquet of pink flowers for his sister. He lived in Florida and had driven all night to be there when she was released. His blond hair blew in the Arkansas wind and the Toyota Tundra he now drove supported his tall frame. His days of fancy cars and shameless theft were behind him. He had become a legitimate businessman and made a decision on the drive to get her that she wouldn’t drag him into anything when she got out.
Why she had gotten herself arrested in Arkansas he would never understand. His business in Florida hadn’t allowed him to make the drive as many times as he’d wanted to. He hated to think of his sister stuck in jail because of that prick, but she made him promise to leave Sellers alone, so he did. Bastard only cared about himself. Abigail walked out the door and stopped to look up at the sky, smiling. He was happy for her, and then he wondered why she had worn those clothes to a bank robbery.
“BbbbBBEEEEEE!” She ran toward him as fast as her heels would let her and jumped into his arms. He spun her around a couple times, smashing the pretty flowers on her back. When he let her back down, he handed them to her.
“Welcome back to the world, little sister. What do you want to do first?”
Abigail smelled the flowers and grinned at him. “Find Benton?” She walked with purpose toward his car as he rolled his eyes.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
***
Heading back down to Florida was a good feeling for Abigail. It was where she grew up, where they had a family once upon a time. Now that it was just her and Billy, she was so grateful her older brother still wanted to be in her life. She knew how much he hated Benton, but she needed to make her case to him so he would help her.
“Billy, it would be so easy for you to track him down. Just trace what he did from the time he left me to now.” Abigail was watching the roadside scenery with new eyes. It seemed like decades since she had seen anything except bars. Bars on the windows, bars on her cell, bars in the yard. There were so many cold metal bars to look at in jail. There weren’t any bars out here. She could go anywhere.
“Abigail, I’m a legitimate business owner now. I can’t do the old shady hacks like I used to. My clients respect me as an upstanding citizen of Clearwater.” He sat up a little taller in the driver’s seat, causing her to laugh.
“I still can’t believe you moved to Clearwater. The traffic alone would drive me crazy.” Their father had raised them in Dunedin, which was nearby, but not as congested. The town had a village feel to it, and while their father was out being a drunk fisherman, the town looked after them. She couldn’t imagine wanting to live anywhere else, but Billy wanted to move to a place where his business would thrive. There were so many people in and out of Clearwater, and people always needed a private investigator. Billy was good at what he did, although it consisted of him catching cheaters, a lot. A married man who brought his girlfriend down to Clearwater for a “business trip” better hope his wife didn’t find Billy’s number.
“It’s nice, you’ll see. The traffic is barely noticeable anymore. People trust me to handle their problems. If I start falling back into your messy ways, it’ll be no time before I’m back on the street or in jail. I can’t handle that right now. I have a kid on the way, you know.”
Abigail remembered his last letter had told her she would be an aunt soon. It was a happy time for their little family, but right now, she had bigger fish to fry.
“I know. Just do this for me, B, and I won’t bother you for anything else semi-legal. I promise.”
“You really promise?”
“Yep, find Benton and I am out of your hair.” She ruffled his hair and watched as he scrambled to fix it. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know.”
As they were stuck in nose-to-nose traffic on the highway right before the exit to Billy’s house, Abigail fought the urge to say ‘I told you so.’ How she longed to go home and see Dunedin. There were so many places she missed and wanted to see again. Finally, after twenty minutes, they made it onto their exit.
As they approached Billy’s house, he was preparing her for the state it was in.
“Lila is nesting. She redecorated twice last week. I’m letting her do what she wants for now. It isn’t much, but I’m saving to buy us a bigger place.”
“Billy, I’ve been in a jail cell for ten years. Wherever you live is going to seem like a freaking palace, I promise.”
He smiled and whipped into a short driveway in front of a robin blue house with one of the shutters falling off. They were painfully close to their neighbors in what could only be described as a vacation home.
“We plan on renting this out to tourists who want to visit the docks when we move. It’ll be a great way to make a little extra money,” Billy informed her.
She nodded, looking around at the wind chimes hanging from the porch and the beach towels blowing in the wind. Inhaling deeply, she took in the salty sea air and felt close to home.
“It’s nice, Billy. It seems cozy.” Walking in the front door, she noticed it was all one big room. The kitchen and living room were together, and the bedroom and bathroom were off to the sides. She could see the whole house from standing at the front door. Lila was sitting on the couch and looking very pregnant. She started to get up when she saw them coming in.
“Don’t you dare get up,” Abigail said, rushing over to hug her sister-in-law before she could stand. She had always liked Lila even though they had only met a couple of times.
“You are still just as pretty, Abigail, and in such good shape. I’m pretty much a whale at the moment.” Lila rubbed her belly and laughed.
“No, you aren’t, you are beautiful. Billy, tell her she’s beautiful.” She held Lila’s hands and smiled. Her sister-in-law was one of the nicest people she had ever met. There had only been a couple of instances when Billy brought her with him, and Abigail had instantly loved her.
“I tell her she is every day, sis. She doesn’t believe me.” Billy sank into a recliner and propped up his feet. He was tired from the drive, but glad to have his sister home with him and out of that depressing place.
Abigail almost cried when Lila told her she would get a towel and everything she needed for a bath.
“I’m sure after that long away from a private bathroom, a bath would be quite the luxury,” Lila said as she struggled up from the couch, belly first. Watching Lila waddling into the bathroom, Abigail couldn’t help but think how cute she looked. She laid out some bubble bath and a towel, turning the bathwater on. She showed Abigail the shampoo and soap and left her to enjoy the bathroom.
Sinking down into the water beneath the bubbles, Abigail was in heaven. There was something to be said for not bathing in a big room with women on every side of you. The colorless tile on the floor and the endless spray of lukewarm water and steam was a frightening place in prison. It was good to be able to clean the day’s sweat and the jail’s stink off you, but it was scary. The shower was where inmates were the most vulnerable. It was best to get in and get out, so you were in less danger of getting into a fight, or worse.
Billy and Lila talked quietly together about names for the baby and how it must feel for Abigail to be free after all those years.
“We take so many things for granted. I will never say this place is like a prison again.” Lila nodded, looking around the small house.
Billy frowned. “You never said that.”
“Well, I thought it. It doesn’t matter, Billy. You are focusing on the wrong part. We are lucky to have this place. When we move we will be lucky to have our new place. I just don’t want to take anything for granted.”
Billy smiled, knowing where she was coming from. Abigail exited from the bathroom in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt Lila had lent her.
Billy could relax because she wouldn’t ask him about Benton anymore while his wife was around. His little sister was persistent, though, so it would only be a matter of time before she was on him again. It would take some work—calling people he hadn’t talked to in a long time—but he could do it. Truthfully, he wished she would let the man go. He had never brought anything to her except heartache.
“All right, guys, this old pregnant lady has got to go to bed.” Lila pushed herself up off the couch and headed toward the bathroom, leaving the siblings to get back to business.
Abigail walked over and grabbed two beers from the refrigerator, popping them open before handing one to Billy.
“I know what you are going to say, but don’t you just want to relax for a few days before you see him?” Billy took a drink from his beer and let the chair down.
“It’s been long enough, Billy. You two don’t want me to hang around this place, anyway. There isn’t enough room, and you know it.”
He nodded at his sister’s words and set the beer down on the coffee table. “It might take a couple days, even if I work through the night.”
Abigail nodded and relaxed back onto the couch. Billy grabbed his laptop from the bedroom and started the long process of tracking down Benton.
“What name was he going by when you were arrested?”
Abigail thought about it for a minute. It had been a while since she’d thought about that night. They were holed up in a hotel down the road from their target. They had cased the bank for a week and knew when the shift changes were on the vault, knew who had to open it, and knew the tellers by name. It would be an easy job for the lovers who had pulled off many more complicated robberies all over the U.S. They hadn’t been in Arkansas for long, but they were fitting in perfectly. Benton was in the shower while Abigail lounged in lingerie on the bed, looking over the floor plans of the bank.
She was wearing the gorgeous diamond and emerald jewelry he had given her the night before, and was happier than she had been in a long time. There was something exciting about the fact he had stolen it for her even though he could afford to buy it. Hearing the shower shut off, she sat up and lounged back against the pillows.
“Hello, Mrs. Daniels, you’re looking lovely.” He climbed onto the bed, dragging his lips along her jaw line and up to her ear, while his hand traveled up her stomach and over her breast.
“Mr. Daniels, you naughty man.” Abigail closed her eyes and allowed him to move his lips down her body as she tangled her fingers in his hair.
Billy brought her back to the present and out of her memories.
“Sis, what name was he going by?”
She shook the memories away and focused on Billy, as his expression told her he was already getting frustrated.
“Alan Daniels.” She had been Tia Daniels, and they were playing a married couple from Tennessee looking for a loan for a new home in Arkansas. She stretched out on the couch and leaned back to wait for her brother to ask other questions. The questions never came, and she drifted off to sleep.
