Still in Love

Unless Con figured out that Teddy had asked me for the money. He would have known that I didn’t have that type of money to give without asking him. He knows me so well. My best guess is that Con did what he did to try to get me out of worrying about getting Teddy the money. If there was no deal then I wouldn’t have to come up with the money for it. I can’t even be upset at him because I was the one lying to him and still he had been protecting me.

“I’ll talk to him.” Guilt weighs on me. I lost Teddy his chance. If I’d talked to Con from the start this might not have happened. He could have seen Teddy was doing better. That he was trying to start over again.

“It’s too late. I have to leave town.”

“Oh God, Teddy. What did you do?”

Layla looks over at me.

“I might have to leave the country.”

“How bad?” This is what I was afraid of. When Teddy gets down on himself he goes off the rails.

“A million dollars bad.” I can’t believe this. My eyes burn with tears. The last time he got himself into a mess like this he almost got killed.

“Are you somewhere safe for now?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty banged up. I need to heal up before I take off.”

“Stop drinking,” I snap at him.

“Kills the pain.”

I clench my teeth together to keep from yelling at him. It’s not going to help right now. “I’ll call you back. I’m going to see what I can do.”

“Don’t tell that husband of yours, Abby. I’m not so sure he wasn’t the one who had me jumped.”

“What? Con would never,” I hiss at him.

“I think there is a lot about Con you don’t know. He just hides it from you.”

I’m not so sure that’s true. I know the dark sides of Con. Mainly when it comes to protecting me.

“He wouldn’t hide something from me.”

“I bet if you asked him, he’d say the same thing about you.” His blow lands hard. A tear slips out from my eye. Layla pulls the car over to the side of the road. I mouth to her to take me home. Teddy’s drunk and in pain. So he’s lashing out at me.

“Keep yourself out of trouble. I’ll call you back.”

“Abby.” He says my name softly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I tell him before I end the call. I put my face in my hands. I’m not sure who I’m mad at. Teddy, Con or myself. I’ve made a mess and I have no idea how I’m going to clean it up.

“Do you want me to call Con?” Layla asks. I drop my hands from my face.

“No,” I snap out. Okay, I am mad at him. It’s stupid because I’m mad at him for the same things I’m doing. He’s sneaking around about my brother and I’m sneaking around talking to my brother. “I just want to go home.”

“We’re almost there.” Layla speeds up some. My mind goes to the jewelry in the safe.

Chapter 15

Constantine

“There’s a delivery,” the head of my security informs me as I’m about to leave. The tone of his voice tells me I’m not going to like it.

“Is it a delivery I can receive in my office or do I need to come down?”

“Better come down, sir.”

I pull on my jacket and call Abigail.

“Hey,” she says. Her bright voice ratchets up my frustration. Her damn brother is making me keep a secret from her. If there’s a free space on his face, I’m punching it.

“Baby, I’m going to be late. I have a business meeting that came up.”

“Oh, okay. When will you be home?”

“I’m not sure. Get something delicious to eat and don’t wait up. You might want to take a nap, though. I’ll be hungry for some dessert when I get home.”

She laughs sweetly and says that I better do a good job or I’ll be replaced. It’s the right comment for the moment as the joke makes me want to murder someone. That someone does not turn out to be Teddy.

“Who the hell is this?” I ask. A young man—barely out of high school—lies in a beaten bloody mess on the receiving deck of the building. My head of security frowns.

“I thought you would know. This was attached.” He hands me a slip of paper, stained on the edges with the red blood turning brown.

“A gift to let you know what could happen next. Signed, Mr. Thune.” I read aloud. “Who the hell is Mr. Thune?”

“We believe it is the business partner of Gregory Marks.”

“So he’s the front man and Thune is the muscle.” I drop down to my haunches to get a better look at the beaten kid. “Is this some random kid or is he connected to their organization?”