Bending Steele

Chapter Forty-Six

Her words soaked into his head, turning his soul cold. His eyes traced the worried, tired lines across her beautiful face. Fuck, she had been through hell and was still going through it. Adam put his hand over hers and pulled it gently from his face. His rage building as he felt her tremble beneath his touch.

He had no doubt whatsoever that the man who had been stalking and terrorizing her all these years was never going to give up until she was returned to him...or was dead. Possibly, he only wanted her back so he could kill her. The thought made him physically ill and turned his blood into molten lava. Every instinct in his body screamed for him to tuck her away somewhere safe, hunt him down like the dog he was and put an end to this once and for all.

Adam never put much faith in subscribing to the notion of fate, but it was now damn clear to him she was meant to cross his path. She was the one meant for him. To show him what real strength was and to give his life purpose. A life which for many years now had felt impotent until she came crashing into it. There were so many things which had been beyond his control...the death of his father, being forced to step into shoes he didn't want to fill...his mother...none of those things he could fix. But this, this he could.

His blood boiled with the need to make some phone calls, but there would be time for that soon enough. Right now, her comfort and well-being had to be top priority.

"What do you mean...killing someone? Has he killed before?" Getting up from his knees, he settled onto the couch next to her and drew her tighter against him. She cuddled into his chest and he closed his eyes briefly. She felt better to him than he ever imagined a woman could feel. The fact he had finally found the right woman who completed him was incomprehensible and he damn sure wasn't going to let some insane, sadistic bastard take her away from him. Not now...not ever.

Her face grew tense, her lips pulling into a frown as a blush started to fill her pale features. "There was a man I was seeing in Chicago." Turning, she avoided his gaze. Her hands picking anxiously at imaginary lint on her yoga pants.

"We all have pasts, Abigail," he said softly. Reaching up, he cupped her chin and lightly twisted her head towards him. He was in awe of the strength burning behind the worry and it humbled him. He stroked her hair, continuing to caress her and running his hand up and down her back until her shaking subsided a bit. "I want you to tell me everything. No matter what it is." It would kill him to hear about another man, but if he was going to help her, then he needed to swallow back his jealousy and acquire as much information as he could from her while she was willing to give it.

She continued to stare at him, silently assessing his every nuance. He wasn't surprised by it and he tried valiantly to keep his frustration from showing. Adam knew it wouldn't be easy to chip away at the distrust she had erected around herself. Especially after his foolish reactions to the documents in that fucking folder. In his mind, he cursed Jillian for interfering, but mostly he cussed himself for having Jonathan pull the damn background check to begin with.

Not because he was to blame for Dean tracing it. He was positive there was no way in hell he could have hacked into Steele Industries firewalls or there was a chance his security team had failed. His systems were more protected than the computers at the White House. No...Dean finding her had nothing to do with what he had done, but he was solely to blame for her mistrust in him. He lost a lot of what little ground he had gained with her and it would take time and patience to retrieve it back.

Pulling away from him, she stood up and walked over to the fireplace. It took all his self-control not to follow her and bring her back to his embrace. But, he sensed she needed the space and he would give it to her. Whatever it took to get her to trust him again, he would do. After all, he was a stubborn man and she was more than worth it.