“Like I asked, Abbi, how can I help you?” My game plan was to give her the least amount of information possible. Rio was a capable adult and was not violating the law or a doctor’s orders by leaving that facility.
Abbi sighed loud enough for me to hear this time. “I’m worried about her, Grant,” she said softly.
“Okay. Thanks for calling.”
“Grant! Wait. Don’t hang up.”
Her rushed plea torpedoed my intention of ending the call. Damn it. These women were making me soft.
“Please just tell me where you are. Can you just tell me so I can stop worrying? What are your plans?”
I gritted my jaw. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“But you realize she really needs help, right? She was completely manic the other day at the Abstract kitchen. I’ve never seen her act that way. Honestly, it really scared me. That’s the only reason I reached out for help. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Grant! You have to believe me!” The predictable tear spigot turned on, and Abbi’s watery sniffles accompanied her pleas as the subject had progressively shifted focus to her. Rio had complained about both traits of Abbi’s before, and now I was getting a front-row seat to the Abbigail show.
Boy, she and Sebastian were made for one another.
“Actually, Abbigail, I don’t have to do anything.”
“Grant—”
“You’re about to give birth.” I was diplomatic but determined, which was going to prevail over her stubbornness and tears. “Maybe it’s best that you concentrate on all of that right now and just trust that Rio is in good hands.”
A long pause. I even wondered if we’d gotten disconnected, but I didn’t try to confirm or hail her.
“Grant, don’t be angry,” she finally said with the smallest voice.
“Abs, I’m not angry.” I laughed and knew I sounded as incensed as I felt. “I’m baffled. How you thought caging her in somewhere was in her best interest—I mean, you say you love her and want what’s best for her, yet you do something that is so at odds with her psychological and emotional well-being. Your actions make your words sound more like hollow lip service than anything else.”
Again with the long pause, but I knew the connection was fine. And hell, if it wasn’t? This conversation was over a while back, as far as I was concerned.
“Well…” she stuttered for a reply. “Well.” She sighed heavily, having a tough time with the next part. “Then I made a mistake. Will you just let me talk to her? Please, Grant, is she there?” she asked, and I could hear the waterworks gaining momentum in her shaky voice.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I replied resolutely.
“Grant! She’s my sister. You can’t decide who she talks to and who she doesn’t.”
Matter-of-factly I replied, “It appears I can.” I let that statement hang heavy in the air before going for the finishing move that would secure my spot at the wobbly-legged card table with all the other naughty kids for every holiday meal at Casa Shark, from now until eternity.
Ha! As if I’d ever be invited back to that house!
“Also, Abbigail, she was your sister-in-law, not your sister. But I suppose, technically, she isn’t even that anymore, is she? I think it’s best you worry about your own life for a while. I don’t think you’ve got what it takes to be making decisions in Rio’s. Good luck with everything, though.”
After disconnecting the call, I said to the blank phone screen, “You’re going to need it,” and made my way back to the stateroom. I flopped down and tossed my phone onto the bed. If I were back up on deck, I’d throw the thing overboard after the past two conversations I’d had on the damn device.
“Hey, Tree. What’s up?” Rio asked from behind me, startling me out of my fantasy.
I turned to find her standing in the doorway, drying her short hair with a towel. She’d found the fluffy terry robe on the back of the bathroom door and was swaddled in the fresh, white cotton.
With a dismissive gesture toward my phone, I stammered while trying to decide how much to share regarding the call. “Nothing you have to worry about. I bet that shower felt good. How was the water pressure?”
But I should’ve known better. There was no way she would just let the subject rest if she thought it deserved more attention. Rio would give Bas a warrior’s level of competition if tenacity was their chosen battle weapon.
When we spent those first few days in the Abstract prep kitchen and got under each other’s feet as much as we got on one another’s nerves, I would tease her and liken her to a stubborn old mule. Remembering those days made my blood heat to the point I tugged on my T-shirt a few times.
“Really, Grant?” She followed the accusation with the curious puppy head tilt I normally loved so much. Except this time the gesture wasn’t so cute. “You’re asking me about water pressure when you’re so tense you look like you could crack walnuts in your fists. You have them balled up like you’re ready to punch something.”
More like someone.
With determination in her chocolate eyes, she held my focus while closing the distance between us. About a foot of space separated us when I could smell the familiar scent of her shampoo from her damp hair. I greedily inhaled breath after breath through my nose to take in that smell, as if I could store it in my mind for times when she wasn’t nearby.
“Your eyes are so blue right now,” she commented and leaned back to take in my entire expression. “They get like that when you’re dealing with a lot of emotion.” She said the words as a statement of fact rather than a question. She knew me better than most other people in my life. But that was just another thing I’d discovered about this woman. She took the time to notice details. Not just about other people but about the world around her. I admired the trait immensely.
Surprising us both, she put her hand on my chest, right over my heart. “What’s going on inside here?”
Christ. If you only knew.
But my annoyance with Sebastian and his ladylove had nothing to do with the matters in my heart—so I attempted a careless shrug. Rio let her hand drop away, and I instantly missed the contact. I wanted to feel that same hand slide down my abdomen and then tend to the burning need in my dick. And more…so much more than that. I was starving for her. My desire pulsed like a strobe light, bright and painful one moment, disarmingly shadowed the next.
But instead, with a heavy sigh, I offered my best explanation. “Some people go through life completely clueless that the world doesn’t revolve around them. They can’t see past their own shit long enough to realize not everything has to be what’s in their best interest. It’s frustrating.”
“Thank you, Grant,” she said quietly, and it was my turn to employ the confused head tilt. Rio pointed to the phone on the bed. “I heard some of that conversation. Not much, but enough to surmise who you were talking to and what it was about. More accurately, who it was about.”
“I understand that Abbigail is worried about you. I believe she truly is. But I’m not convinced her intentions are completely altruistic. She’s morphing into him with the control bullshit.” We both knew who I meant without using his name.