by Nicole Fox
“Because we were both messed up once. We’ve been through a lot.”
“And we’ve been through a lot together, too. When we first set up our system to keep Opal safe, I never thought we’d have to use it,” Vanessa admitted.
“I thought we might, but not nearly so fast. I’m just glad I could help. I wanted to be the person who finally helped you break free, like the woman who helped my mom after years of abuse.”
“And now she has your step-dad and she’s happy.”
“She is. Really happy,” Mari said.
“I’m so glad you’re my friend. Thank you for all your help.” She gave her a warm smile.
“I know it’s going to turn out okay. You’ve got a strong man who only wants to protect you. You should hear the way Opal talks about him. Like he’s her biggest hero.”
“Really?”
Mari nodded. “You’ve been through too much for this not to work out well for you. Everything is falling into place.”
“Thank you for being so optimistic. But Mari, if something happens…”
“I’ll take care of Opal.”
“Even if Hunter and I are both dead or in jail? Would you take care of her forever if I were gone?”
“Of course.” Mari reached over and squeezed her hand. “Like she was my own.”
# # #
“We have to make sure we document everything,” Nicholas said.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “We are.”
Nicholas took out the recorder from his pocket. “I need you to record your confession that Jeremy hired you to kill his wife.”
Hunter stared at the recording device. Everything about complying with this felt wrong. Was he just setting himself up to be arrested and charged with attempted murder or conspiracy to murder?
“We already have the recording of my interview with Opal,” Nicholas said. “We have Vanessa’s photos. If we get you admitting that you were hired to kill Vanessa, and then we get Jeremy to back it up with his own confession, then it’s easy. Open and shut, and Jeremy goes away forever and Opal and Vanessa live happily ever after ever.”
Hunter’s fist clenched at the reminder of the photographs. It was all he could do to keep them out of his mind and not punch a wall. In his dreams the night before, he kept seeing Vanessa covered in bruises, bleeding and swollen, unable to walk properly, and in the dream, he was running, trying to find who had done it. But every time he failed, she had a new bruise. He’d woken up panicking with a renewed sense of determination to find Jeremy and kill him.
“Fine.” Hunter wanted that happily ever after for Vanessa and Opal. And though he wanted desperately to be a part of it, he would do whatever it took to make it happen for them, even if he couldn’t be there for it.
He answered all of Nicholas’s questions while the recorder ran. Most were the same they’d discussed right after Nicholas was shot. What Jeremy had said, what he’d been paid and when, that sort of thing.
When they were done, Nicholas shut off the recorder, then checked to make sure it had captured everything.
“Be careful tomorrow,” Nicholas said. “You might have a conscience, but men like Jeremy don’t.”
“Oh believe me, I know,” Hunter said. He thought of how angry Jeremy was that Vanessa was still alive, and how he never bothered to ask about Opal. Like he didn’t care at all. He just wanted to hurt Vanessa. More than he already had.
“Okay.” Nicholas stood up and walked to the door. “I’ll go bug the hotel room, and we’ll be all set.”
“Thanks for your help,” Hunter said and held up a hand as Nicholas walked out.
He sat back down long enough to text Vanessa and tell her they were all set. Then he headed out to complete one final task.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Vanessa
Vanessa paced the living room. Hunter had texted twenty minutes ago and said he’d be back in ten minutes. Any delay like this could mean so many things. What if he’d been followed and attacked? What if he’d been shot or caught by the cops? It wasn’t even the day of the big sting yet, and she was already freaking out. If she made it through tomorrow, it would be a miracle.
There was a click in the lock, but before the door opened, Hunter called out, “It’s me.”
Her heart leapt at the sound and she dashed over to the door. She wanted to yank it open and jump into his arms, but they had to be more careful than that. She picked up her gun and pointed it at the door. The door opened slowly and when she saw Hunter’s face and that he was alone, she put the gun back down.
He closed the door and they met in a strong embrace.
“Where were you?” she asked.
“Getting these.” He brought out the hand behind his back and presented her with a bouquet of bright flowers. “I know it’s not much, but I was hoping it would brighten the day a bit.”
“Thank you.” She smelled the flowers and turned them in her hands to see all of them. “They’re beautiful.”
“Not compared to you, but they’re nice.”
She kissed him and took them into the kitchen to find a vase. “Everything go okay, then?”
“All set.” Hunter stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching her. “We got the room bugged and recorded my confession. Now I just need to get him to confess to hiring someone to kill you and we got it.”
“Right. Piece of cake,” she said sarcastically.
“It will be. Don’t worry about this. Getting Jeremy to talk will be easy. Like I said before, he thinks I have more to lose than he does, so he’ll never suspect a thing. He has no reason not to discuss the full details with me.”
Vanessa wrapped her arms around his neck. “It better be easy, and you better be perfectly safe. I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to you.”
“The only thing that will happen to me is getting Jeremy to confess so we can lock him up for life.”
She pressed her lips to his in a hard kiss. She didn’t want to waste any more time tonight talking. This could be their last night together. Though it made her sick to think that way, she wanted to make the most of it.
“Opal okay?” he asked, pausing their kissing to whisper in her ear.
“Safe and sound. Didn’t want to be away from us, but she’s okay.”
“Good.”
She pressed her lips back to his and he seemed to understand that she was done talking. Maybe he was, too. Tonight, there was fire between them. None of the soft and slow love making like they’d had the other night. This was wild and passionate.
Vanessa’s desire for him was so strong, and her love and need for him threatened to make her heart burst. She clung to him tight, not wanting to let him get even an inch away from her.
Their kissing grew rougher, and she realized they might not even make it to the bedroom. Hunter’s hands moved all over her, possessing her. Like he was touching every inch of her in case he wouldn’t get to again for a long time.
He picked her up and set her on the kitchen counter. She squeezed her legs around his waist. He had on far too many clothes for her taste. She ripped off his shirt and yanked the zipper of his jeans open, then pushed down his pants. Hunter pulled her shirt off and unzipped her jeans. In one move, he lifted her and pulled down her pants. The jeans and panties hit the floor in a soft thump beside his.
He pulled her forward, her ass sliding on the counter in her sweat. He was deep inside her with one hard movement. Vanessa moaned loudly, but he wasn’t deep enough. She pulled him closer, digging her nails into his back, bending her legs to keep him in.
He slammed against her hard and from this angle, he was able to move faster than usual. It was more like a fast dance with him standing there, thrusting his hips forward. Every time he moved toward her, she moved toward him so they came together in a slap of damp skin and groaning.
Vanessa pulled herself up on him and tugged at his hair as she bit his neck. He took a fistful of her hair and bit her earlobe. She came hard and a second later, he cam
e, too.
Hunter pounded in a few more times, then stopped. But when she met his eyes, he was still hungry with desire.
“Not enough,” he said.
He pulled out from her and picked her up. Her bare feet hit the floor and he spun her. Pushing her forward and down until her cheek rested against the warm spot on the counter where her ass had been moments before., Hunter smacked her ass and the vibration of it sent a shiver through her. She wanted him again as much as he wanted her.
He kissed along her sweaty back, blowing air across her skin to send more shivers through her. Her pussy tightened, already hot and still slick with their juices. Hunter rubbed against her, his dick growing harder every minute as he rubbed it between her ass cheeks. He smacked her ass again.
He bent over to kiss her and let his tongue run along her back. “I want every inch of you,” he said.
She moaned as he put his fingers on her clit and rubbed her. “Oh yes,” moaned Vanessa.
“Can we try something different?” he asked breathlessly. The raw hunger in his voice made her heart speed.
“I want you and I’m yours,” she breathed back. “Take me.”
He moaned in her ear and rubbed his now hard cock along her ass crack and down to her wetness, spreading it around. Then, he pressed gently against her ass and slipped inside.
She gasped in shock. She wasn’t expecting that sort of new thing. She almost made him stop. Jeremy had liked to do this from time to time, and he was always rough, and it was always painful and horrible. But she trusted Hunter, and he always made her feel good.
“Relax,” he whispered.
His hand returned to circling her clit and the sensation made her muscles let go of their tension. When she did, she found that the pleasure of him moving in and out of her ass slowly was so intense, she almost couldn’t take it.
He moved slow, in and out of her, but his hand moved fast. She felt herself contracting around his erection as he drew her closer to coming. She felt it coming and told him. He sped up slightly, but not enough to make it painful, just enough to make it even more intense.
When she came, her orgasm hit harder than any orgasm ever had. She put her hands flat on the counter, wishing she had something to grip, and screamed. It lasted a long time and when it ended, she couldn’t move.
He pulled back and out of her slowly, then leaned down over her. “You okay?”
“Uh huh,” she managed.
“Did it hurt?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “I had no idea it could feel so good.”
He let out a contented sigh. “I know.”
# # #
Hunter had been tired, but now that they lay in bed, wrapped up in each other, he didn’t think he’d sleep much at all tonight. His mind was spinning with the details of the next day. He kept thinking, what if something went wrong? And that was unlike him.
Usually, when he was planning a hit, it was methodical and strategic. He’d done it enough now that he knew how things went. But this time felt different in many ways. Besides the fact that the room would be bugged and people knew what was going on—that was bad enough, but this time he was turning the tables. He’d turned down jobs before, but he’d never turned one around like this and gone after the person who’d hired him instead of the intended mark. And there was also the small detail that technically, he wasn’t supposed to kill Jeremy at all, but just get him to confess. Of course, he always had a backup.
He didn’t think the confession would be difficult. Like he’d been telling Nicholas and Vanessa all along, as far as Jeremy knew, Hunter had far more to lose than he did. He would never suspect Hunter was recording him to use his confession against him to lock him away. They were on the same side, fighting for the same team. All these things were worrying him a little, but none of them were the main thing. The main thing was the nothing-to-lose part.
Until now, Hunter never had much to lose. Sure his freedom was important to him, and so was his life. There was always the chance he could be shot back or arrested and do time. He wouldn’t have gone into this business if he wasn’t somewhat accepting of the consequences. Or at least fully understanding of the reality that it could easily happen. It wasn’t prison or even death that had him tossing and turning. It was the one thing that would hurt to lose more than either of those. Vanessa.
He was wrecked. He’d gone and done the thing he swore to himself he’d never do. He’d fallen in love. How could he be so stupid to get himself into this mess? Now, here he was, all tangled up in his head over this woman and her daughter. Wondering what Opal was thinking and doing, if she was okay. Wondering if Vanessa would wait for him at all if he went away. Would she wait if it was only a year? What about five or ten? If it were more than a year or two, he’d insist that she move on. He’d be the one to end it. As much as that would kill him, he couldn’t watch her wasting her life, hoping he’d come home to her.
If he went away, it wouldn’t be for a year. Even some sort of conspiracy or intent to kill would give him a sentence of at least five to ten. Longer if there were multiple charges. And if he did manage to actually kill Jeremy? If they knew it was a hit, premeditated and everything? He’d be gone for life. Maybe parole someday. Maybe. But that would be something like 25-35 years from now. Vanessa’s whole life, Opal’s whole childhood and early adulthood. On the slight chance she’d try to wait for him, he wouldn’t let her. It was that simple.
But compared to sitting in a cell for thirty years, alone, knowing Vanessa was in the world, married and happy, death would be better. He could go out as a hero, her savior. He wouldn’t hear rumors of her moving on. He wouldn’t feel the ache of missing her all the time. He wouldn’t wish every day that she’d write or visit. He’d be gone, and he’d be out of his misery. And she could move on, not feeling guilty that she’d given up on him. She might pull something like that. If he killed Jeremy for her, she would feel obligated to stay with him, to bring him money in prison and send him things, to visit and accept calls and write. She would do it all, and then he would be the one feeling guilty. What a horrible outcome.
So, that was it. If he was going to go away, it was better that he be shot back and killed than to rot his life away behind bars. Only problem was, how did he make sure he’d be shot? No way to do it unless he pulled the trigger on himself. And as long as there was a chance he’d be a free man with Vanessa at this side, he wouldn’t be able to.
She was now the most important thing in his life, and Opal was a close second. He would do anything for them, and he was about to. But the fear ran through him like ice water. He didn’t want to lose her. He wanted to feel her warm body in his arms like he could right in this moment. He wanted her close forever. He wanted her and all of her for a long, long time. Hell, maybe they’d even get married.
That almost made him laugh. He’d never pictured himself as a husband. One of those whipped guys in a plaid shirt, shopping for tampons for their wives or spending whole Saturdays mowing the lawn and doing yard work. It had always seemed awful. And some of it still did. But he didn’t think it’d be like that with Vanessa. She wouldn’t try to control him or take over his life. She just wanted him to be safe and happy. And that was what he wanted for her, too.
He pressed his nose against her temple and breathed in her scent. How could he ever let her go? It was a wonder she was here with him. He couldn’t blow this. He had to make sure he’d be able to get back to her after this. And that meant he might have to make an even bigger sacrifice than he’d imagined. He might have to hold back and not kill Jeremy if the chance arrived. Not sticking a bullet in that asshole now that he knew what he’d done to the love of his life would be much harder than shooting him. Killing him was almost easy since it was such a strong desire in him. Really not much of a sacrifice at all now that he thought about it. The biggest sacrifice he could make for her was letting that bastard live.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hunter
When Hunter w
oke, a dread settled over him as the morning light hit the window, making the curtain seem to glow. He could lose everything today. Or, if luck was on his side, gain it.
He slid out of bed, trying not to disturb Vanessa. She rolled over and groaned when she found him gone.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her voice scratchy.
“I have to get going. We slept late. I need to be at my hotel before Jeremy gets there.”
She sat up and rubbed her hands over her face, then looked at the clock. “Oh. It is late.”
She jumped out of bed as he pulled on his pants.
“Can I make you something to eat?” she asked.
“I don’t really have time. I’m just going to take a quick shower.” He gave her a peck on the cheek before disappearing. It was a quick shower, though part of him said he better enjoy it, because it might be the last hot shower he got for a long time.