Page 55 of Abbe's Angel

The man who stepped out and started making his way to the house was young and fit, and the way he moved reminded Abbe of Rafe so acutely that she squinted, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her. But as she looked closer, she saw that the newcomer had a thicker, more muscular body. Abbe wandered toward him, her feet carrying her closer out of confusion.

Alejandro got out from behind the wheel and said something to the man, and he looked directly at Abbe, and then struck out in her direction.

As he neared, she marked his expensive clothes and shoes, and the determination in his demeanor that reminded her so strongly of Rafe she wondered if she was hallucinating. She stood, completely frozen on the spot, while he approached her and stopped. She noticed that his handsome face was slightly marred by three scars on the left side of his face. One sliced through his eyebrow, another grazed across his cheekbone, and the third scar left a thin, vertical white line through his left upper lip.

He looked her over and narrowed his eyes, his expression guarded. “Are you going to give that hay to the alpaca, or are you just going to tease him with it?”

Abbe was startled, noticing that she was still holding the feeding net, and a llama was craning its head over the fence, trying to reach it. She hoisted the hay over the fence, hung it on the hook, and turned back around.

“Llama. Not alpaca,” she corrected.

“My mistake,” he said with an amused flick of his scarred eyebrow. “I’m Cassiel. Raphael’s brother.”

Abbe nodded and looked down at her hands. She realized they were still covered in work gloves and took them off, tucking them into the back pocket of her jeans.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

He crossed his arms, looking her over at his leisure. “Trying to figure out what kind of girl would be smart enough to make my brother fall in love with her, but also stupid enough to leave him.”

For the first time in days, Abbe felt something other than sadness. “I’m not… I didn’t leave your… okay, first of all, he’s not in love with me,” she sputtered, so angry she was seeing spots.

“Christ, you’re dumb,” Cassiel said, laughing.

Abbe thought about slapping him. “You can go now,” she said, brushing past him.

“Oh, no, no, no, you are way too much fun,” he replied, chasing after her. “Okay, so if my brother isn’t in love with you, why hasn’t he eaten or slept in days, and why is he desperately trying to find you?”

Abbe stopped and came back to yell at Cassiel. “He is not trying to find me,” she said, even though she had no idea if that was true or not. “If he is, why are you here instead of him?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Because my brother is very good with numbers, but he’s not as, ah…resourcefulas I am,” Cassiel said, and Abbe believed him. There was an edge to this guy, something dangerous, that she could feel more than see.

“He doesn’t love me,” Abbe repeated. “He was just—”

“What? Going to dog shows with you in some elaborate ruse to ruin your life?” he asked, his sculpted face twisted into a sardonic smile.

“I—” Abbe broke off. “It wasn’t a dog show.”

He waved her idiotic protest aside. “Listen to me, little Abbe Jones from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, you do not get to come into my yard, fuck up my brother, and walk out. That’s just not how the Lorings operate.”

“I didn’t!” she sputtered. “He was the one who sent Miranda to… to…”

“My brother did not bribe someone to get your license pulled—if you knew him at all you would know he’d never do something so dirty,” Cassiel interrupted. “Miranda did that all on her own.”

Abbe stood sputtering at him for a moment. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would Miranda come after me all on her own? I don’t know her!” she shouted. “Rafesaid he was angry that I’d done that post. He wanted to—"

Cassiel interrupted her, groaning. “Oh, Jesus, Abbe,what? Rafe decided to take a break from running his billion-dollar corporation to destroy the life of a cutie pie small-town girl who spends her grandma’s inheritance saving homeless cats and dogs? The press would fucking love it if he did.”

“What does the press have to do with this?” she asked.

“Ah, everything? Apparently, you are the only person in Middlesex County who doesn’t follow the tabloid fodder about the Loring family.” He shook his head, annoyed with that thought, and got back to his main point. “Mirandahas been trying to land my brother since the day she met him. No one has ever made a dent in him before, so she was patient, thinking she had time. But then you show up, and he loses his mind. The only way to get rid of you is to make you untouchable, and setting you up as an animal abuser would definitely make it so Rafe couldn’t date you, no matter what his feelings.”

“Animal abuser?” she repeated, offended all the way down to her toes. “I wouldneverhurt—”

“Iknow. And I took care of that,” He said waving it off like it was of no consequence. “Painting you as a puppy snuffer was always a long shot, but it was her only play,” he said, like he’d already run through all the angles. “Oh, and she’s been fired, just so you know. By me.” He harumphed. “If you’re going to bribe someone you shouldn’t be so sloppy about it that some douchebag professional whiner can find it out.”

Somehow, Abbe knew exactly who he meant bydouchebag professional whiner. “You know about Danny, too?” she asked.

“Oh, I know all about Danny Harrison.” Cassiel gave her a look. “Very soon you’re going to understand that there are few things Idon’tknow.” He wasn’t boasting or trying to intimidate her, just stating a simple fact.

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