It’s been twenty-four hours since my second re-birth of sorts. I’m still walking on shaky legs, but the bite of Hunter’s rejection isn’t as sharp. I can breathe now.
Taking in my surroundings, I ground myself, focusing on every detail, making it high definition in my mind.
My daily walk is one I’m no longer taking for granted, using it to heal and mend my tattered heart. I take in a deep breath, letting the musty smell of damp leaves fill my lungs, the cracking of twigs a constant reminder that I’m being tailed, and I am not alone. Never truly alone. My new shadows are nothing like Hunter, but that’s something I welcome right now.
They usually hide, keeping their distance, but because the past month has been anything but ordinary, one of them steps out from behind a massive tree.
“Ma’am. You have a visitor.” The tall bodyguard is stoic, not a trace of emotion behind his features. “It’s your father and someone Eric had cleared for visitation, but the choice is yours. Just give us the word, and we’ll have him out of here in no time.”
My father. A lump forms in my throat as my mouth fills with sawdust.
“Just one question. Is he sober?” I raise a brow, knowing that no matter how much healing I’ve done, I will not be facing that man if he’s intoxicated.
“Yes, ma’am. He’s sober.” Again, no trace of emotion behind the bodyguard’s face.
I suppose that’s for the best. I’ve got enough for the both of us.
“Then it’s fine. I’ll see him.” Knowing that this visit will probably devolve into an embarrassingly trashy one, I turn at the last minute. “But if you could give us some privacy, I’d really appreciate it.”
The man’s eyes narrow before they’re flitting over my shoulder to something past me. He must see what he wants because he nods, his eyes landing back on mine. “Fine. But if you need us,” He hands me a small cylinder that’s attached to a lanyard. “Just press the button at the end.”
The necklace of sorts is placed over my head, the plastic pendant hanging just between my breasts.
I feel it’s unnecessary, knowing I’ve battled this man many times before, but I wear it anyway. He may be a dick, but he’s never once overpowered me. I’m faster than he is.
“Fine.” Turning back toward the tunnel, I descend into my hobbit hole, wondering what in the fuck old man Ericson wants this time.
But stepping into the main living space, my hand instantly swings to the pendant. Something isn’t right. The entire space is trashed, it’s been ransacked.
“Dad?” My voice shakes as I call out into the empty room, and it’s a good two seconds before I get a response.
“There she is…” My father emerges from the sole bedroom, an evil grin plastered over his sweaty face. “The little whore.”
“What’s going on? Did you do this?” I’m cursing under my breath—I thought the monotone bodyguard said he wasn’t inebriated.
“No, Casper the Friendly Ghost did it. Of course I did, you stupid girl.” He chuckles sardonically.
“Hey. You can leave if you’re going to talk to me like that. I don’t need to take your bullshit anymore.” My hand drops from the pendant, and I fuel myself with the fire of my rebirth. “You came to me, not the other way around. So, the way I see it, you can crawl back from whatever hole you left because I don’t want you here.”
“Well, well, well. Look who finally grew a spine. Maybe you learned something from me after all.” A smug look of satisfaction creeps onto his face and I want nothing more than to knock it right-the-fuck-off. But he’s right. His wounds were part of the hurt I’ve had to overcome, turning me into the stronger woman I am today.
“Yes. Thank you, father. For teaching me that your being such a piece of shit has absolutely nothing to do with me. That your being worthless has nothing to do with me. That when you called me all those names, treated me like garbage, that it was just you projecting your own feelings onto me.” I take a step forward, poking the tall lanky man in the chest. “So, yes. Thank you. Thank you for being such a garbage human being that I had no choice but to overcome all of the shit you left behind.”
Surprise registers on his face, but it’s short-lived and quickly replaced by furious rage. “You stupid bitch!”
My father moves so fast, I don’t see it, his fist flying at my head with full speed and force.
I don’t get to respond because in one instant, my world spins. But even as my body crumples to the ground and as the walls around me close, I know that I lived. Just for me, and that is enough to carry me through the darkness that covers me with its cold blanket of indifference.
It is enough, because I have truly lived. If only for a moment.
Hunter
“Are you sure they’ve got our lines tapped?” I question my brother for what feels like the millionth time.
It’s been three weeks since I’ve talked to my girl, but the thought of someone attacking her because of me keeps me from calling. I can’t jeopardize her safety out of a selfish need. I won’t.
“Yes. Like I’ve already said, our phone lines are compromised. No matter how many times we scramble them, there’s a breach. It’s almost as if we had a mole on the inside, sabotaging our every move.” Jack rubs at his temples, a long frustrated sigh leaving his lips.
You and me both, brother. You and me both.
“If it seems like there’s a mole, then there’s a mole. What about your head of security? Armando, is it?” Matt turns toward Jace whose face is turning a bright shade of red.
All of the Crown brothers are in Miami, each one of us occupying a room at Jace’s beach house.
“Don’t go there. He’s like another brother to me.” Jace’s eyes drift to the door where the man in question is standing guard.
Over the past few weeks we’ve gotten to know Armando, and I can safely say that he’s good people. “I’ve got a good read on him. He isn’t the mole.”
“Then who is?” Austin’s green eyes land on me, and despite the vast secrets I hold, this just isn’t one of them.
“I’ve got no clue. Maybe—” I don’t get to finish my sentence because my phone is ringing and the number that pops up sends warmth running through me.
My girl. I’ve memorized the digits to the bunker’s line but have never dared dial them. Yet here she is, my beautiful baby doll, reaching out to me again, even after the shit way I treated her last night.
God, never in my life have I felt like such a crap human, intentionally hurting the girl I love. But I had to. There was no other choice.
The line rings for the fifth time before it dies, but almost immediately, Jack’s phone starts up.
“Hello?” Jack scowls two seconds upon answering, letting me know something isn’t right. “Ericson, slow down. I can’t understand you.”
My former friend’s name coming out of Jack’s mouth isn’t what I expected to hear, the act alone bringing me to my feet as I close the distance between us.
“Right. Okay.” There’s a pause that drains years from my life. “I’ll let him know.” Jack ends the line, his eyes drifting up to mine as he pockets his cell. “That was Ericson. There’s been an incident with his father and Melissa.”
Oh, fuck no. I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill that motherfucker.
Trying to calm my breathing, I close my eyes and suck in a lungful of air. “Where’s Mel?”
“She’s in stable condition, but she was beat pretty bad.” My knees rattle and I feel myself about to drop.
I wasn’t there. I didn’t protect her. I couldn’t keep her safe.
My world has gone to shit, the ache inside too much to bear. But as my brother stands, placing a hand on my shoulder, it’s then that his words suck the life right out of me. “I’m sorry, Hunter, but the baby didn’t make it.”
The baby. The baby. I didn’t even know there was a baby. But as my mind flits back to the cabin where I first took her, there was nothing that separated us, nothing that stopped my seed from taking hold and claiming its rightful place—deep inside my baby’s womb.
Each and every time I took her, it was without protection. Something I never do, but with her, it didn’t even cross my mind. The need to be so close to her with absolutely nothing between us was so ingrained in my desire that it wasn’t even an afterthought.
“Hunter.” Jack’s hands are on either shoulder, shaking me back into the here and now. “Snap-the-fuck-out, brother. Your girl needs you.”
He’s right, and the longer I stand here in this daze of self-deprecating pity, the longer she’s alone. That just won’t do.
I’m coming, baby doll. Daddy’s on his way.
