title: Abbot: a short story
author: Kent, Alison
description: Having finished a grueling stint at the Avenging VIII's training compound, Kyle Abbot stops on his way home to do laundry. He's weary and worn, and watching the dryer tumble sounds like the perfect way to spend the afternoon… until entering the parking lot brings him face-to-face with the very situation he was designed for.Annie Whitman doesn't know what to think when a big black pickup skids to a stop between her and the thugs who work for her ex. He's kidnapped their son and has sent them to relay his demands. She's barely had time to digest the information when the knight in shining armor emerges from the truck to intervene… and deliver a beating worse than the one he receives for getting involved in her mess.While Annie tends to his wounds, feeding his hunger and his heart, Kyle covertly devises a plan to rescue her son. But Kyle owes those who rescued him decades ago too big a debt to abandon… no matter that making a family with Annie and her son will fill the hole the Avenging VIII has never managed to do.