Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 138522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“Why?”
“I don’t know if it’s about making me pay for walking away, or what. I’ve done the searches. I can’t find anything in public records that makes that land valuable.”
“What did he offer you?”
“Pathetic money, too little to even move the animals. This is my mother’s life. Really it’s mine, too. I grew up helping her. I still help her.”
“How’d you come by the property?”
“My ex bought it for me as a birthday gift our first year together.”
“What aren’t you telling me? It seems like you’re the one holding the cards. He pays you and pays you well or you walk from the deal.”
“He’s not going to pay me well enough to move the animals. This city is high-priced and impossible as far as regulations go. We can’t just up and move, and because we won’t, they’re playing dirty. My mother is suddenly getting all kinds of fines. Even the Fire Marshall has been out. We don’t have the money for those fines.”
“How much would you need to move?”
“We bought it for two million dollars and it was a mess. It’s now worth double that, but I literally can’t find a place that will work for what my ex is offering.”
“What is he offering?”
We go through the numbers and sure enough, her ex is trying to screw her. I have no doubt that a property that houses a non-profit animal shelter isn’t easy to come by. I grab my phone from my pocket. She grabs my hand holding it. “What are you doing?”
“Calling Reid.”
“Isn’t he on his honeymoon?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“It’s his honeymoon, Gabe.”
“And?”
“Do you not like his wife?”
“I love her like a sister.”
“Then let her have her husband for her honeymoon,” she argues.
“She gets him for a lifetime.” I remove my hand from hers and punch in Reid’s number before I hit the speaker button.
“What’s up, asshole?” Reid answers.
“Do you know Kenneth Lincoln?”
“Yeah, I know the dirty little prick. What about him?”
Abigail laughs. Reid immediately reacts. “Who’s that laughing?”
“The redhead I told you about that showed up asking for you. She’s his ex-wife.”
“Sorry for that shitty part of your life,” Reid replies. “Because no one could live happily with that man.”
Abigail sighs. “Yes, well, may your marriage be happier.”
Reid replies immediately. “It is. It always will be. Why am I on the phone right now?”
“Abbie needs to be represented against her ex,” I say.
“I’m not a divorce attorney,” Reid says. “In case you got drunk and forgot, Gabe.”
“I’m already divorced,” Abbie inserts. “It’s a litigation case.”
I fill him in on the details. “As much as I’d like to sue that jerk-off, why can’t you take the case, Gabe? You’re just as qualified as I am. What am I missing?”
“His business partner on a majority of his projects is Jean Claude Laurette,” Abbie says.
“And she’s in my T-shirt in my living room right now,” I add.
“You had me at Jean Claude,” Reid replies dryly. “I didn’t need to know about the T-shirt. Email me the details and I’ll start making calls tomorrow morning. We’ll be back in a week. We can meet Abbie then.”
“Abigail,” Abbie corrects, catching my attention. “And Reid, Jean Claude is dangerous and my ex-husband is willing to hurt me and those around me. I’m worried about you taking this, especially with my new connection to Gabe.”
“I know exactly who and what Jean Claude is,” Reid replies. “I got this. We got this. Gabe,” he adds, “we’ll talk tomorrow.” He disconnects the line.
I set the phone on the coffee table. “I’ll be right back with plates and drinks.”
She stands and turns to face me, catching my arm. “Thank you, Gabe.”
“Thank me by eating this pizza with me.” I pull her to me and kiss her. “Abigail. You don’t like Abbie?”
“I like it from you, but no one else calls me that.”
“Why?”
“My father, who’s also an attorney, by the way, hated it. He thought it would make people look down on me when I became a female attorney in a man’s world. I’d never get respect was his take, and he planned this out from my childhood.”
“Like mine tried to do for my sister,” I say, but I don’t give her time to ask questions that incriminate me as going along with it for way too long. “Where’s your father now?”
“In L.A. with a young pretty thing named Katy, so please,” she kisses my cheek, “go for it. It’s okay to call me Abbie. Correcting your brother was reflex, brought on by years of following my father’s orders.”
Her ex and her father both tried to control her and yet she’s a fighter. I can see that. There’s more to her story and I want to find out what it is and I impatiently want to know now. “I’ll get those plates, Abbie.”
She laughs a sweet, sexy laugh and it takes steel willpower for me walk away. I enter the kitchen, thinking about the animal shelter as I grab two bottles of water from the fridge. “What can I help with?” Abbie asks, pausing by the island.