by Kaylee, Katy
Chase’s expression fell. “I am worried about him. We won’t be able to keep him here if his behavior continues to escalate, but I don’t know what will happen if we force him out. I feel like his work here is his lifeline, you know?”
I nodded, feeling empathy for him. “I’d be happy to meet with him, but he needs to want the help.” I was about to provide tips on how to help his brother in the meantime when the door opened and a beautiful young woman walked in.
Mr. Raven’s smile was radiant as he stood and kissed her on the cheek. He was a man deeply in love. It was beautiful to watch, even as I was envious of her. Not that I wanted Chase Raven. No, what I wanted was a man to look at me with the same love in his eyes as Chase had for his wife.
“I’m sorry, I’m interrupting,” she said.
“No, no. How are you feeling?” he asked. His hand gently rubbed her belly where a small bump indicated a baby was growing there.
She bit her lip and did a little eye waggle.
He laughed. “Again?”
I didn’t know exactly what they were communicating, but I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps Mrs. Raven was feeling amorous. I heard some pregnant women had ramped up libidos.
I stood, wondering if he was going to indulge her there or if they had a place in the building for conjugal visits.
“Ms. Reynolds, this is my wife, Sara. Sara, this is Ms. Reynolds, the therapist I was telling you about. I was just filling her in on Hunter.”
“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you,” Sara reached out her hand to shake mine.
“You too, Mrs. Raven.”
“Oh please. Call me Sara. I’m so glad you’re going to help Hunter. I know he looks scary and on edge all the time, but I think deep down he’s a softy.”
“Softy?” Chase quirked a brow.
She shrugged. “I have a soft place in my heart for him. I can see he’s hurting and wish there was something I could do to help him.”
I found her compassion for her brother-in-law sweet.
“The thing is,” Chase said. “Sara and I are expecting a child in a few months and I worry that if Hunter’s behavior continues to get worse, we won’t be able to have him around. We’re a difficult family, but we are family. I don’t want to have to push him out of the business or our lives.”
I believed Chase Raven was sincere in his concern and love for his brother, although I was annoyed at his willingness to abandon him. Then again, he had a child to consider.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’d be willing to meet with him once. I won’t force him into therapy, but I can talk to him. After that, it’s up to him if he wants help or not.”
“That’s all I ask. Thank you so much,” Chase said.
“Hunter is a good man,” Sara said. “I hope you can reach him.”
“I’ll set up a place for you to meet with him privately. Can we do it now?”
Now? “Ah…” I looked at my watch. I didn’t have clients on Friday, as most people didn’t want to start their weekends by scraping through the dark recesses of their minds. “Sure. Okay.”
“Great,” Chase said, going back to his desk and picking up his phone.
“Hunter is guarded and can be provocative,” Sara said in a way that suggested she was warning me.
“Do you feel safe around him?”
“I do, but Chase is right. He seems to be getting worse, at least around others. He’s always really sweet around me.”
Huh. Interesting. I wondered what it was about her that was different for him. Was he in love with his sister-in-law? Or was it that she looked so young and innocent. She looked barely over twenty.
“You have a special bond with him?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know. All the Raven brothers are…challenging, and Hunter is at the top of the list for that, but for some reason, around me, he seems to be able to rein it in.”
“Maybe because you’re pregnant,” I suggested. “Some men have an innate protector instinct, especially ones in the military.”
“Maybe,” she said. “I just hope he doesn’t scare you. He won’t hurt you. I’ve never heard of him being violent to people.”
“What about the women your husband says he gets with.”
Sara rolled her eyes. “Good God, the man is a whore. I have no doubt that all the women he’s with are ready, willing and able. I suspect there are some that hang out at the club just to be chosen as Hunter’s woman-du-jour.”
“Why do you suppose he does that?” I asked, having my own thoughts but trying to keep an open mind until I saw him.
“Loneliness maybe? I don’t know. All the Raven men are anti-commitment though. So, Hunter isn’t an outlier in that. What makes him different is the number of women. I’m not sure a night goes by that he doesn’t have a woman in his bed.”
That was a lot of women. I hoped he used protection.
“Your husband is the outlier then.”
Sara turned to look at Chase, who winked at her while on his call. “He used to be like them. I’m lucky he changed.”
“He’s lucky to have found a woman to show him love.”
She grinned. “He is, isn’t he?”
Chase put the phone down and came around the desk. “I’ve got maintenance setting up an unused office on the other side of this floor.” He put his arm around Sara. “Honey, I need to take care of this, but if you’d like to wait, I’ll be back to take care of that thing for you.”
“I’ll order us lunch,” she said. “You’ll need the energy.”
He bit his lip and a blush came to his cheeks. It was sweet even though I felt like a voyeur. At the same time, love and sex wasn’t a part of my life and didn’t seem like it would ever be. So I might as well live it vicariously through others.
He turned to me. “Let me take you to the room. My brothers will meet us there.”
Ah, an intervention. As a therapist, it wasn’t out of the realm of my duties to help a family do an intervention. But in the end, whether or not I counseled Hunter would be up to him.
3
Hunter
Friday
It was clear that someone on the inside of Raven Industries was behind the recent rash of thefts as nothing on the surveillance showed anything out of the ordinary. Whoever it was, they knew how to get past the cameras, and that meant I’d need to ask Ash for help. He ran the clubs, but his passion had been technology. He was a geek through and through. He would be the best one to figure out how our thief was getting past our security. I had some tech geeks on my team, but it was better to keep our vulnerabilities to ourselves if our problem was someone associated with Raven Industries.
As if he knew I was thinking about him, Ash poked his head through my doorway. “Chase has called a meeting.”
“Fuck, again?”
He shrugged. “Lot’s going on I guess.”
“Why don’t we stay here and you can tell me how someone is getting past our surveillance and security systems? Or better yet, who on the Raven payroll has that type of knowledge?”
Ash cocked his head. “You think it’s someone who works for us?”
“How else do they know how to get inside Raven properties without being seen?”
Ash thought for a minute. “Good point. I can look at it later. Right now, Chase is waiting.”
“Tell him I went home. Taking one of my wellness days.”
Ash laughed. “Yeah, like he’d believe that.”
Fuck. I closed my laptop and followed Ash out. I missed the days when I could do my work and never see Chase or any of my brothers. I’m not sure why I was hanging around. I had no interest in fulfilling my father’s wishes that I marry and have kids just so I could get my money. I enjoyed my work, but not the bureaucracy. And yet here I was, following my brother to yet another meeting.
Ash passed the normal conference room and instead went to a room that had been vacant since a reorganization Chase had done a few months back. Kade was leaning against the wall ou
tside the room doing something on his phone. He looked up with a smirk that had my gut go on alert. Something was up.
“In here,” Ash said motioning to the doorway.
I looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on. I looked in the room and saw Chase sitting on the edge of a desk talking to someone. He looked up and motioned me in.
I stepped into the room and saw a woman sitting in a chair arranged with several other chairs to the left of the desk. She was stunning in a schoolmarm or librarian sort of way. She had not quite red, not quite brown hair that must have been long as it was pulled back into a plain bun. Her glasses were rectangular with a slight upturn on the outer edges giving them a cat-eye appearance. Her dress was conservative; plain, pale pink blouse and dark pencil skirt. She was sitting, so it was hard to tell what her body was like, but she had nice calves, which bode well for the rest of her.
Was she a new hire? Perhaps a babysitter for me, since Chase seemed to think I was a menace to the office.
“Take a seat Hunter,” Chase said pointing to a chair directly in front of the woman. Ash and Kade entered, taking chairs near where Chase was.
Something strange was going on, but I did as he asked. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could be back at work. I’d leave the office and check out the site of the latest theft just to get out of Chase’s crosshairs.
“Hunter, we’re all worried about you,” Chase started.
Ah, fuck.
“The last few months, you’ve been angrier, lashing out. Staff is noticing, and it’s making them nervous. So, I’ve asked Ms. Reynolds here to talk with you. She’s a therapist with an office in the building, but I’ve arranged this room for more discretion.”
My head snapped to Chase. “You think I’m crazy?” I looked at my other brothers. “You all think I’m crazy?”
“Not crazy, but something is up, Hunter,” Chase said. “We know your experiences in Iraq—”
“You know jack shit about my experiences.”
Chase nodded. It was strange how cool and collected he was. He was getting more like dad all the time. “I understand. What I was saying was that they impacted you, and it seems to be getting worse. Or maybe it’s the stress of the job.”
I bolted up, knocking my chair back. I clenched my fists, working to hold back my rage so I didn’t prove him right. “If you want me out, just say so, Chase. Why you’ve kept me around is a mystery to me. But just fire me, don’t put me through some bullshit in the hopes I’ll quit.”
“We’re not pushing you out, Hunter. We want to help you get back in control,” Chase said, seemingly not bothered by my outburst.
“I can’t believe you fucks are in on this,” I seethed at my brothers.
“Mr. Raven,” the woman spoke in a soft, soothing tone that actually only served to agitate me more.
I turned, and she was standing in front of me. Clearly, she wasn’t afraid of me, so what was Chase talking about?
“I can see you feel blindsided by this, and I’m sorry for that. Your brothers are concerned for you, and I’m here simply to talk,” she said in a calm voice.
“You think talk can fix what’s up here?” I pointed to my head and leaned toward her slightly, in what I knew was an aggressive manner, but if I could scare her off, then I could really have it out with my brothers.
She didn’t flinch. “I think talking can help release some of the pain and anger. I think we can look at ways to cope with extreme emotions in a way that isn’t volatile. Maybe we can stop the dreams.”
Dreams. How did she know about the dreams?
“You do have them, don’t you?” she asked.
I didn’t respond.
“I can’t make what happened to you go away, or rather, the horror of it. But we can work together so that it doesn’t have such a grip on you,” she finished.
“You’re a miracle worker?” I scoffed.
She shrugged. “The miracle only comes if you want it.”
I studied her more closely. She was more stunning close-up. She had hazel eyes that I suspected changed color depending on what she wore. I wondered if they changed color when she fucked too. Her skin was pale, but her cheeks were pink, as were her full lips. I wondered what they’d look like wrapped around my dick.
“What if I don’t want it?” I said.
“Then I’ll leave.” She said it like she didn’t give a fuck what I chose. I found that annoying. Didn’t she care what happened to me? Jesus, was she doing some sort of psychological voodoo on me?
“Hunter, do you really want to go through life like a fucking asshole?” Kade said.
I whirled on him. “It works for you.”
“I think what Kade so inadequately means is that you can’t be happy going through life always so angry and bitter,” Ash said. “I have no idea what happened in Iraq. I can’t imagine the toll it has taken, but if talking to Ms. Reynolds can quiet some of the anger, wouldn’t it be worth it?”
“If you don’t want me to be angry, stop pissing me off all the time.”
“What does that mean Hunter?” Chase asked.
“It means stop trying to be Dad and micromanage everything.”
“So, you want me to stop doing my job?” Chase said. “We should just leave you alone?”
“Yes.” Now he was getting it.
“If you want to be left alone, why are you here?” Chase asked.
I stepped up to him, getting into his face. To his credit, he didn’t back off, but both Ash and Kade stood up, apparently ready to intervene.
“If you want me gone, tell me to go. I’ll understand. I know I fucked up. So grow your balls, tell me off, and send me packing. I wish you would.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Like he didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about. “I don’t want you gone, Hunter. This isn’t an attempt to run you out. It’s an attempt to get you help. Whether you stay or go is up to you.”
“What could it hurt to talk to the lady?” Ash asked.
“It’s a waste of my time,” I scoffed.
“It will cut into your finding your next nightly fuck buddy,” Kade chided.
I really wanted to punch him, but I didn’t. See, I had some control.
“Perhaps you could let me talk to Mr. Raven alone,” the woman said.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ash said.
I stared at him. “You really think I’d hurt a woman?” The image of Sara, black and blue flashed in my head. I hadn’t hurt her, but she’d been hurt because of me.
“Frankly, Hunter, I don’t know anymore,” Ash said. “That’s why we’re here.”
“I could give you tips on managing your relationships with your brothers,” she said.
“Can you make them shut up?” I said turning to her.
“No. But I can help you deal with your frustration and perhaps not get sucked into a pissing match with them.”
My lips quirked up slightly. The librarian-looking therapist had some spirit.
“To be honest, it seems like all of you could use a little talk therapy,” she said.
“I like you,” I said. I was tired of being the identified problem child in the family. My brothers all had their own issues. Yeah, Chase had mellowed out some, but he was still an egomaniac.
“Good, then you’ll talk with her?” Chase asked.
“Just one time,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes. If you decide you don’t like it, that will be it.”
“You’ll just walk away?” I asked.
“I don’t see people who don’t want help. Why bother, right?”
“Right.” I studied her again, wondering what she’d look like with her hair down, and her top button unbuttoned. There were worse ways to spend an hour of my day than talking to a beautiful woman. I couldn’t bring her home since she was somehow connected to Raven industries, but a chat, perhaps a little innuendo, couldn’t hurt.
4
Grace
Friday
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br /> I had worked with some children who were brought in and forced into therapy, but never had I been in a situation to watch an adult be coerced to get help. I felt bad for Hunter even as I could see that he indeed needed help. He was coiled tight with tension. He had self-control because I was sure he wanted to take a swing at the brother named Kade. But from what the brothers were saying, it sounded like Hunter’s angry outbursts were escalating, suggesting his control was wavering.
Hunter wasn’t alone in his feelings. I wondered if I could convince him to join a veteran’s group so he could see how many others like him felt isolated and alone, even when they were with a supportive family. That they also felt like a slave to their emotions and constant state of fight or flight. He’d clearly been coping, but his coping mechanisms were starting to fail.
He turned to Chase. “So, you think that setting me up with sexy therapy lady to have my head shrunk will help me?”
Sexy therapy lady? That wasn’t me.
“I asked her here because she has experience helping people with PTSD.”
Oh hell. I worked to keep my emotions neutral, but inside I was chastising Chase. Hunter knew what was going on with him, but announcing it like that was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
“Keep out of my fucking head,” Hunter roared. Yep, like waving a red flag. “You know what, never mind. I’m outta here.” He started for the door.
“Hunter.” Chase said it loud, but not with anger or a threat. “You need to do this, or you’ll be forced to take a leave of absence.”
Hunter turned to his brother. “You’re not the boss of me. You don’t have the authority—”
“Dad agrees with me, with us,” he said with a look to his brothers. “You get your head on straight, or we’ll find someone else to take care of security.”
There was a flash of something in Hunter’s eyes. I couldn’t say it was anger. Was it guilt? Pain?
“You fucking brown noser,” he said. “Now that you knocked up your teenage intern, you’re Dad’s favorite and can do whatever you want.”
“Knock it off, Hunter. Sara is family and good for Chase regardless of Dad’s ridiculous plan,” Ash said.