six months later…
I sat relaxed in a beach lounger, frothy white sand and the dark Mediterranean my only view for miles. As the horizon dipped, I soaked up the last warm rays of sunlight on the private balcony that overlooked the sun-bleached coast. It was paradise, to be sure, and such a far cry from the cold concrete jungle of Chicago.
“Evenin’, Mama. How’re my girls?” A smoky scent snaked around my nostrils before soft lips nipped at the crook of my neck. Golden dusted arms wrapped around my torso and landed on the defiant swell of my belly.
“We’re perfect.” I threaded my fingers through Hunter’s as they settled on my abdomen, my eyes drifting closed as I relished the feel of him pressed against me, enveloping me, loving me. “Thank you.”
“The thanks is all owed to you, sweetheart. Giving me your heart, giving me a baby, giving me a chance to make it right and raise a kid how a kid deserves to be raised.” His lips pressed a kiss at the crown of my head. “I can’t thank you enough.” His large hands worked decadent strokes at my shoulders. “Dinner’s ready,” he said, pulling me from my comfortable seat in the lounger.
“We are starved.” I grinned and pressed up on my toes to place a long, lingering kiss on his crooked lips. We’d been here for nearly six months, our days eaten up with walking in the sand, taking pictures, and late night swims. Tucked on a tiny island in the eastern Mediterranean, we’d finally found our bliss.
“What was that for?” He finally pulled away, his hands tangling in my dark, wind-tousled locks that splayed around my shoulders.
“Being you. Loving me. Loving us.” Pleasure flowed through my veins as my toes dug into the sand as we padded up the short pathway to our two-bedroom villa.
“Mm, it’s my pleasure. Believe me.” His large hand curved over my rounded ass and squeezed, forcing a giggle past my lips.
“Stop! You can’t make me laugh, I have to go pee!” I sped up.
“Of course you do.” He laughed and followed me up the sandy path. My bladder had fast become a topic of taunting as the months of pregnancy had taken over my body.
Tucked far off the coast of Greece, with only a small hospital and a few thousand local villagers, we’d found perfection. A midwife was set up for all of my prenatal care and the birth, and barring any complications, we would have our baby right here on the island, bringing her home to this little cove overlooking paradise.
After JW went down, we left everything behind. My divorce from Brant was finalized the very same day federal investigators released the bank account left in my name. It was mine to do with at will. My will was to donate it, but after much cajoling, Hunter convinced me to move it into a trust fund for the baby. And while we hadn’t gone into wit-pro, the feds determining it no longer necessary since the organization seemed much more internally focused and licking its wounds on the down low, we still acted as if we’d escaped in our own form of witness protection. Dumping cellphones and cutting all contacts, including my mother, Brant, and the investigation. We’d started a new life. A life where there was no looking back. Happiness coursed through my bloodstream as I finished in the bathroom and then washed my hands before glancing in the mirror.
The girl that looked back at me was nearly unrecognizable from the straight-laced girl I’d been a year ago. Before Hunter, as I’d taken to referring to it. The girl that stood there was sun-kissed and bronzed. I nearly fit in like a local with my dark rimmed eyes and curly hair, now wispy and wind-blown with salty waves.
But staring back was also someone wiser, aged by life and experience. It looked good. My smile was brighter, my cheeks rosier. I was happy. Whether it was hormones from pregnancy or not, life felt perfect. Like we’d found our pristine bubble of hope, and the future was finally ours again.
“Hey–I was thinking a compromise on name,” I exited the bathroom and headed for the kitchen, cool red tile beneath my feet. “What about Lucy? It’s close to Luca–” I rounded the corner and found Hunter frozen in the middle of the kitchen, his eyes focused with anger at his latest burner phone in one hand. “What is it?” My stomach twisted as I approached. “Hunter?” He didn’t hear me at all. “Hunter!” I tightened a fist at his elbow when I reached him.
His eyes darted to mine, flashing from my protruding belly up to my eyes before they melted from anger to fear. He pushed the phone into my hands. A message from an unavailable number sat staring back. Violent, black, blocky words that felt all too familiar as they burst my fragile bubble once again.
You can’t hide forever.
Hunter’s dark gaze met mine, our hearts hammering as if in unison. Someone had found him, found us. My greatest fear materializing before my eyes, the outfit was back, and they were ready for revenge. Hunter would be followed, a target on his head, for the rest of his life. I’d been foolish and naïve to hope for anything otherwise. But if I loved him, I would fight for him.
“I’ll take care of you, baby. This isn’t over, but I swear to God until the last day I fucking walk this Earth, I’ll take care of you and our little girl.” His hands cupped my eight-month pregnant belly as I wrapped my arms around his large body and melted into his embrace. We’d just recently found out the sex of the baby, but that joyous news seemed dim in comparison to the shadow those four little words cast. You can’t hide forever.
“I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” I mumbled, shock numbing my body from the inside out.
“Me either.” His eyelids cast down as his head nuzzled into my neck, fear eating up his usually confident energy and feeding mine.
“They won’t steal our lives.” Stubborn resilience strengthened my backbone. I loved this strong, thoughtful, good man from the very depths of my heart, and that meant I would fight for his life alongside him, as if it were my own. Because it was. “You and me.” I cupped his shoulders and forced his gaze to meet mine again. “I’ll fight this war with you until the day we both die.” A cocky grin turned my lips as I tried to bolster his defeat.
Hunter’s eyes burned into mine, his thoughts no doubt running with a thousand possibilities. He finally sucked in a measured breath as both his hands curled around my neck, burrowing his fingers into the dark locks of my hair. “I knew you were my silver lining.” A sad smile twisted his lips for a moment before he pulled me into his arms and crashed his lips against mine.
He kissed in luxuriant strokes before he pulled away and settled his forehead against mine. “The war may not be over, but I’ve got you now.” He placed another, softer kiss against my lips. “A man can take on the world with a good woman at his side.” He pulled away, holding me at arm’s length, his eyes shimmering with fight and passion that radiated through every fiber of his being. “Back to the grind, Princess.”
I nodded before a grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. “We’ve totally fucking got this.”
