Tomorrow's Too Late

by Nicole Edwards

  “What do we do now?”

  “I want you to stay there for a little while,” Hunter instructed. “Keep an eye on her place. As soon as I find out more, I’ll let you know.”

  “All right. And when that’s done?”

  “Meet me at the house,” Hunter grumbled.

  “Yeah…uh… No can do.”

  Hunter frowned. “Why the hell not?”

  “Not a good idea right now.”

  For whatever reason, Hunter knew Kye’s refusal had nothing to do with what happened with Dani today and everything to do with what would likely happen between them when they got back to the house.

  As much as Hunter wanted to assure him that he’d keep his hands off, he couldn’t. Simply seeing Kye revved Hunter up in ways no one else could. Unfortunately, when Hunter felt the anger and the rage come on, he tended to take it out on Kye. Sexually, of course.

  He didn’t blame Kye for not wanting to deal with him. Hunter had been a world-class asshole, getting more agitated and ornerier with every passing day. It was only fair that Kye pushed him away.

  After all, it was nothing less than he deserved.

  “Suit yourself,” Hunter grumbled before disconnecting the call.

  Tucking his phone into his pocket, Hunter pulled on his jacket and his helmet, then mounted his bike. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he couldn’t just stand around doing nothing. He figured he’d start by cruising by Max’s house, then maybe Devil’s Playground, see if he could find Dani.

  Although Max had said he would stay with her until Hunter arrived, the man wasn’t known to be true to his word. He was a fucking mob boss, for fuck’s sake. His word was shit.

  More than likely, Max had left her alone with that weasel watching the parking lot. Dani probably wanted to talk to him, so she’d simply gone to find him. Obviously, she’d been unhappy about her cousin’s high-handedness, so it made sense if she wanted to have words before she garnered a babysitter for the duration. She always did have a backbone—it was something Hunter had once admired about her—so she could easily be standing up to her cousin.

  Then again, this was Dani. She was known for bolting without explanation. Maybe she got tired of dealing with it and decided it was time to move on. It wouldn’t surprise him one bit. After all, she’d done it before.

  However, Hunter couldn’t make assumptions. And until he knew for sure that Dani was safe, no way was he going to be able to stop looking for her. It wasn’t in his nature.

  And it had nothing to do with the fact that he was once in love with her, either.

  Or so he told himself.

  *

  An hour later, with absolutely no luck in tracking Dani down, Hunter made the decision to contact Max himself. He wished like hell he could put it off until tomorrow. Conversing with the grumpy bastard was the last damn thing Hunter wanted to deal with after this clusterfuck of a day.

  “Max, you need to calm down,” Hunter stated, pacing his living room while his brother-in-law used every curse word in his vocabulary.

  “Fuck that,” Max growled, clearly not open to taking his advice. “I hired you to do a fucking job and she disappeared? For fuck’s sake, Hunter. What the hell kind of operation are you running?”

  Hunter cast a quick glance at the windows, the inky darkness beyond reflecting his mood.

  Fucking shit.

  “Where the fuck is she?” Max growled. “I left her for five goddamn minutes.”

  “So, you talked to Weasel?” Hunter taunted.

  “Yeah,” Max replied with a snarl. “He said you threatened to shoot him in the head.”

  He had. Hunter didn’t take kindly to people who couldn’t do their fucking jobs.

  “Why’d you leave?” Hunter inquired. “I thought you were staying until I got there.”

  Max sighed. “She said she needed a few minutes alone. I figured if she had to deal with you for an undetermined amount of time, she deserved that much.”

  “So she played you?” Hunter had no idea why Max would’ve believed Dani. She was prone to lying.

  Max grunted, clearly not wanting to admit that she had.

  “Do you know where she might’ve gone?” Hunter finally questioned. “Do you have a safe house somewhere?”

  Max growled. “I’ve got plenty, but she doesn’t know about them.”

  “Well, why the fuck not?” Hunter was surprised by his own anger. He knew that Max took care of his family, so why the fuck wouldn’t he be keeping Dani in the loop, providing her with safe places to go?

  “Because she has her own places,” Max said gruffly. “You have to remember, Dani’s mother kept her distance from my family. She didn’t want Dani associated.”

  “And you blame her?”

  “Jessica Davidson loved her daughter. I knew that much. However, she wasn’t rational when it came to…everything. I could’ve kept Dani safe if she would’ve let me. Because of the shit her mother told her, Dani doesn’t trust anyone. You should know that.”

  Oh, he did. Far too well.

  “Hold on, I just got a text.”

  Hunter waited, his eyes scanning the darkness outside.

  Max sighed when he returned. “That was a fucked-up text message from Dani. She said she’s really sorry it has to be this way.”

  “Be what way?” Hunter snarled, pausing in the middle of the room.

  “Fuck if I know. Shit. I’m as in the dark as you are. I thought you were handling this.”

  Yeah, well. Hunter knew Dani. Hell, he possibly knew her better than her own cousin. The woman was fiercely independent and if she did not want to be under Max’s thumb, she would ensure that didn’t happen. Apparently, running away was her method of choice.

  “Do you think Moroso’s on to her?” Hunter asked. He was grasping at straws, but he didn’t know where else to turn.

  “To be honest, Hunter, I don’t know what Dennis is doing. I got word he’s been asking questions and Dani’s name came up. That put me on high alert considering we’ve managed to keep her relation to me a secret over the years. No one knows who she is.”

  “Bullshit,” Hunter snapped. “If I figured it out, you can bet your ass someone else figured it out, too. And if this asshole can get to Dani so easily, what are you doing about my fucking sister? If you’re keeping tabs on everyone else, who the fuck is protecting Courtney?”

  Max’s voice dropped several octaves and went cold when he said, “I protect my wife. No one else.”

  Hunter took a deep breath. He needed to calm down. It didn’t help that Kye had refused to come over. It left him feeling out of sorts. He didn’t have a fucking clue where Dani was, which just pissed him off even more.

  Okay. He needed to start again.

  “Do you think Dani’s in danger? I mean, immediate danger?”

  “Not likely,” Max stated with a sigh. “But I think she believes she is.”

  “From Moroso?”

  “No. She’s been acting strange, even Courtney thinks so. I’ve tried talking to her, but she’s keeping it to herself.”

  “Which is why she ran?”

  “That’s my guess.”

  Hunter wanted to put his fist through Max’s face. If he were in the same room with him, he might’ve done it.

  “As long as she keeps moving, she’s safe,” Max said, his voice back to that calm, cool, irritating tone.

  “You don’t know that.” He did not like the fact that Dani had eluded him.

  “If I hear anything else from her, I’ll let you know, Hunter.”

  “Yeah. You do that.” He hung up on his brother-in-law.

  Hunter had no choice but to wait for something to happen. Until he could get more information from Claire, or attempt to find Dani himself, he was as dead in the water as the rest of these assholes.

  BY THE TIME DANI MADE it to the safe house three hours later, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. The drive had been long and riddled with traffic, which had then required her
to circle the area three times before she was comfortable that she wasn’t being tailed. That was after she’d gone twenty miles out of her way to ditch her cell phone and pick up a burner.

  At least she was confident no one was going to find her tonight. Who knew how long that would last though. In her experience, whoever was looking for her knew what she planned to do before she even did it.

  Well, not this time. When she woke up that morning, Dani hadn’t considered running. She had actually been rather content with the way her life was going. Of course, Max had to go and fuck it all up for her. The man was always meddling in other people’s business when he should’ve had enough shit going on to keep him busy.

  After pulling into the garage and closing the door, Dani dragged her bag and her purse into the house. She wasn’t planning to unpack, but she did intend to shower and change clothes, so she needed her stuff. Tomorrow she would move on and find another place she could hide out for a couple of days. As long as she was on the move, she felt better.

  Sort of.

  *

  Two hours later, it was painfully evident Dani wasn’t going to get any sleep. Although it wasn’t that late, she was exhausted, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shut her brain down. Didn’t help that every little creak and groan of the house made her jump.

  “This was a good idea why?” she asked the woman staring back at her in the mirror.

  Oh, right. Because if she hadn’t run, she would’ve been sitting somewhere while Hunter tried to kill her with that death-ray glare of his. A few bumps in the night were nothing compared to having to deal with him face-to-face.

  Frowning, Dani splashed cool water on her warm cheeks, then grabbed a hand towel. While she dried her face, she continued to stare at her appearance. Maybe she should dye her hair. No one would be looking for a blonde. As it was, her dark auburn strands stuck out like a sore thumb. Not only the color but also the length. However, the thought of putting any chemicals in her hair freaked her out. She’d never done it before. What happened if she burned all her hair off?

  Okay, so maybe she wasn’t cut out for life on the run. When she’d done it in the past, it had always been well-planned. She knew where she was going, how long she would be there, and she always knew she was far enough away that she was relatively safe. That wasn’t the case anymore.

  It wasn’t that she was vain, but…okay, maybe a little. She knew she could’ve easily disappeared long ago if she would’ve simply altered her appearance somewhat. However, part of her had always expected she’d finally be able to go home. When Samuel died, that should’ve been the end of it.

  Not that Dani truly had a home. The apartment she lived in was simply a place to eat and sleep until she needed to move again. That had been the story of her life for as long as she could remember.

  Maybe she really should consider changing her hair color. And if it burned all her hair off…

  “No one would be looking for a bald woman, either,” she said aloud, grinning for the first time that night.

  Then again, she could simply fake her death. Then she’d be free to do whatever the hell she wanted. No one would be looking for her, period. She could move to China or someplace exotic and it wouldn’t matter that she would stick out like a sore thumb.

  Shaking her head, she tossed the towel onto the sink and headed back to the living room. She glanced at her laptop but decided not to mess with it. If someone was trying to locate her, they’d have an opportunity to get a bead on her if she logged on. Dani knew she couldn’t risk that tonight. Tomorrow, she’d stop in at an Internet café and log on using their free Wi-Fi. It would be a hell of a lot safer.

  Plus, she’d be on the move again, so even if they did track her to Oklahoma, they wouldn’t know where she went from there. Hell, Dani wasn’t even sure where she was going from there.

  Sighing, she reclined on the couch and pulled the blanket up to her neck, staring up at the ceiling. If she wasn’t going to sleep, then she at least hoped morning would come soon. Otherwise, she was going to go crazy.

  In fact, it was quite possible she was halfway there already. It didn’t help that she couldn’t stop thinking about Hunter. Ever since she’d seen him that morning, memories from her past continued to plague her.

  Her overtaxed brain instantly conjured up images of the night he had proposed to her. She remembered it so clearly. Too clearly.

  “You cooked,” she said as soon as she walked through Hunter’s front door to find him standing in the kitchen.

  He smiled, and it warmed her insides. Hunter Kogan wasn’t the smiling type. Not because he had anything to frown at, though. More because he was always so serious. According to him, his job had hardened him. She had never understood that, considering he told her he was mostly a glorified babysitter.

  “Come,” he said, motioning toward the small table. “Sit.”

  Dani set her purse on a barstool and moved into the kitchen. That was when she noticed the candles on the table and the bottle of wine chilling in an ice bucket.

  He’d gone all out.

  “Special occasion?” she asked, suddenly suspicious of his motives.

  He smiled again, and her insides melted.

  Hunter came over, pulled out a chair, and urged her into it. She went willingly, grinning like an idiot. This man wasn’t usually sweet, but something was definitely up tonight.

  “What’s going on, Hunter?” she asked, reaching for his hand before he could turn away.

  His eyes heated—God, she loved his eyes. Until she’d met him, Dani had never seen eyes like his. They were such a light gray, they were almost white. But when he was turned on like he was now, they were silver.

  “I was going to wait,” he said softly.

  “For?”

  “Until after dinner.”

  She smiled. He had purposely misunderstood her question.

  “But I know how impatient you are,” he said as he went to his knee in front of her.

  Dani’s heart kicked in her chest and she did her best to hide the fear that consumed her.

  “What are you doing?”

  The look he sent her was both wicked hot and oddly sweet.

  “I’m asking you to marry me,” he said simply.

  She giggled. Hunter never was the type to mince words.

  Hunter reached for her hand, pulling it toward his mouth. He kissed her gently, then met her gaze and held it. “Marry me, Danielle. I’m the luckiest bastard in the world. Marry me and make me the happiest.”

  Her heart lodged in her throat as pain rocketed through her entire body. Hunter had no idea who she was, why she’d come into his life. Yet somehow they’d fallen in love. She had never intended for that to happen.

  “Hunter…” She needed to tell him the truth. He needed to know who she was. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

  “Say yes, Dani,” he whispered, his eyes imploring her. “Please say yes.”

  She nodded, but the words wouldn’t come. No matter how much she loved him, how much she wished this fairy tale could lead to a happily ever after, Dani knew it wouldn’t.

  After all, she wasn’t who Hunter thought she was.

  KYE STOMPED UP THE STEPS to Hunter’s front porch. When he reached the front door, he grabbed the knob and shoved it open, letting it slam against the wall as he stepped inside.

  “What the fuck?” Hunter bellowed, spinning around to stare at Kye as he reached for something on the counter.

  His gun. Figured.

  Kye slammed the door behind him, then made a beeline for the man in the kitchen. Hunter turned to face him, his facial expression proving he acknowledged Kye was a threat. Good. Kye fucking wanted him to. He was so damn pissed, there was a red haze clouding his vision.

  “You’re damn lucky I didn’t shoot you,” Hunter stated roughly, setting his weapon back on the counter.

  “You’re not that good a shot,” Kye countered.

  “Wanna bet?”

  Kye narr
owed his eyes, searching for all the words he’d rehearsed over the last couple of hours. All the things he wanted to say to this man.

  “I thought I told you to stay at Dani’s place,” Hunter said, his shoulders squaring as Kye approached.

  “Yeah? And how long would you have me do that, Hunter? Until you were finished punishing me?”

  Hunter’s eyes narrowed. “Punishing you? What the fuck am I punishing you for?”

  Kye closed the distance between them, stopping only when he was toe-to-toe with Hunter. He stared into the man’s eyes. “Until I showed up like you requested? Is that what I am to you? A quick fuck? And when I don’t roll over, you think it’s funny to keep me watching an empty apartment?”

  Hunter didn’t respond, which was Kye’s first clue that he’d pegged the situation correctly.

  Still holding his position, Kye jerked his jacket off and tossed it on the counter. “Well, I’m here. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

  Again, Hunter didn’t say a word.

  Kye continued to undress, reaching behind his head and pulling his T-shirt off. He tossed it onto the counter. Hunter’s eyes immediately trailed to Kye’s bare chest. The approval there heated Kye’s blood, making it harder to hold on to his anger.

  “Are you ready now?” Kye snapped.

  “Ready for what?”

  “For your routine orgasm,” Kye ground out through clenched teeth. “If so, you’ve got too many fucking clothes on.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah. It’s what you want, right? To fuck me out of your system? Well, two can play that game.”

  Just as he’d expected, Hunter didn’t remain motionless for long. Kye had expected it to take a little longer, but he knew eventually Hunter would cave.

  After all, Kye was only speaking the truth. He knew what Hunter was up to. Knew exactly why he wanted him there.

  Hunter ripped his own shirt off, then gave Kye a shove, forcing him back.

  Rather than give in to what the man wanted, Kye had other plans. He reached for Hunter, taking control of the situation instead of allowing Hunter to use him. It was time he turned the tables. He’d given in to Hunter too many times to count. It was high time he got what he needed.