by Nicole Fox
“And from now on,” he added, “You’re not alone. I won’t let anything happen to Opal. Or Katrin, or whatever name she has to go by to be safe. I’ll do my best to protect you both.”
“Thank you, Hunter. It’s strange to me to be able to trust a man, but I feel like I can trust you. It’s kind of nice, actually.” She smiled at him, and a warmth filled her. She was starting to really like him, despite herself. And his attraction was undeniable. It’d been years since she felt any sort of sexual desire for a man. She’d been so disgusted by sex and the way it was often used against her and forced from her that the idea of letting someone get that close and being that vulnerable was impossible before. But now, with Hunter making her feel as safe as he did, and her wanting him as bad as she did, she thought maybe it was time to see.
She took a deep breath and tried not to think too hard about what she was about to say. She squeezed her eyes shut and said it as fast as she could. “Do you maybe want to come back to my place for a little while?”
When she opened her eyes again, Hunter was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a gaze full of desire. He stood up and went to the bar to pay the tab.
Chapter Eight
Vanessa
Hunter followed Vanessa back to her apartment, still reeling over the fact that she’d invited him. He was hoping to get her to open up to him, and she had, but he never imagined this. They couldn’t drive fast enough.
Inside her apartment, he sat close to her on the sofa in her living room. He had to keep looking away to avoid that same drawn-in feeling he felt before. He still didn’t think she was ready for that, but she was like a magnet to his body. He wanted to move closer, but he forced himself to stay put, reminding himself that she likely didn’t invite him back here for a booty call.
He had to act like he didn’t want her so badly. Not just for her sake, to take things slow, but he still had a job to do. Jeremy had paid him $25,000 to kill this woman. And that meant there would be only two outcomes. Either Hunter would have to kill Vanessa, or Jeremy would come and take his money back. And likely not leave either of them alive. So there was really one choice now. Protect Opal and Vanessa at all costs, knowing Jeremy had hired a hit man once to kill her. He’d do it again. And he’d already shown plenty of violence toward her in the past. Jeremy was not someone to be taken lightly. The van, too, was worrying him. There might already be someone on him, or tailing her.
“Can I ask,” she said, pouring them more wine.
He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her question.
“Well, you said earlier that your old man was mean. I guess I was just wondering what you meant by that.”
“That.” He picked up his glass and took a sip, wishing she had beer instead. “Well, let’s just say that I know exactly how Opal feels.”
“Your father hit you?”
“My father, my mother, sometimes even aunts and uncles if they were around and bored. Bunch of junkies, all of them. Always high on something or drunk off their asses. I come from a long line of no-good criminals and addicts.”
“I’m sorry they were all like that.” She reached over and put her hand on his knee. The warmth ran through him at her touch.
“It’s all I ever knew. My whole life I was told I was nothing and would never be anything. They called me stupid and put me down all the time. Miracle I even made it this far. Or finished high school. They wanted me to fail. They didn’t even come to my high school graduation. Or anything at the school. They weren’t involved in my life at all, unless it was to go get them more cigarettes or make a run.”
“What sort of run?”
“Pick up drugs, drop off drugs, whatever. The riskier the exchange, the more likely I’d be the one to go. They said it was much less likely that a kid would get robbed or shot, so it was better for everyone if I went. I’ve been mugged more times than I can count, been beaten almost to death, was stabbed a few times, and was even shot once. All doing their business.”
Vanessa gasped and put her hand to her mouth. “That’s so terrible.”
He shrugged. “Eventually I got out of there. Left them to their own devices. They didn’t last long. Both died less than five years after I left home. Guess they had no one to buy food or do their dirty work anymore.”
He decided to leave out the part how when they died, he hadn’t gone to either funeral. Not because he didn’t want to. He didn’t have the choice whether or not he wanted to. At the time he was in prison, serving a ten-year sentence. He’d always been something of a protector, so when his high school girlfriend told him her father was abusing her, he took care of it like he never got to take care of his own parents. It was his first kill. He remembered how it felt. Powerful, dangerous, wrong. Might have been his only kill, except that he found out later she’d lied. The man had never touched her. That anger and deep-seated distrust flared hot in him and never cooled down. It gave him the hard edge he had now. But the protector in him wasn’t dead. Vanessa and Opal were resurrecting it. And maybe that wasn’t the only thing.
For a moment, he considered telling her all of this. But this was a first date, and she had trust issues. This wasn’t the time. Maybe someday.
Vanessa reached for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s just so wrong what they did to you.”
It took a second for her action and her statement to come together in his mind. “You’re crying… for me?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I hate to think of anyone going through what I went through, and what they did to you was so much worse. I wish I had the capacity to kill sometimes. It might be awful to say that, but I can’t help it. Did you ever fantasize about killing your parents?”
Hunter chuckled. If she only knew. “Only every night.”
“I guess they’re lucky that you turned out nothing like them.”
Right. Lucky that he turned to murder before drugs and wasn’t around to be able to kill them. No doubt he would have eventually if the lowlifes hadn’t done the job for him. Sometimes the desire was still there. He still had wonderful dreams where he got to kill them. Got to point a gun at their heads. Got to beat them to death. Got to cut them and torture them like they had to him.
Vanessa dabbed at her eyes again and brought him back to the present. She was crying for him. Feeling something for him, because of what he’d been through. Never had anyone cared like that for him. No one ever cared what happened to him. He was always the one brushed aside, forgotten and left behind. Never the one being listened to and cried for.
He dropped his eyes to the floor. If he had the emotional capacity, he might tear up himself.
# # #
“Do you want to dance?” Vanessa asked. Seeing him quiet and sad had made her bold. She felt more comfortable with him than she had with anyone in a long time and she wanted to keep it going, wanted to see how close they could be.
She got up and went to the little wireless speaker sitting on the TV. She opened the app on her new, pre-paid phone, and started playing music. The sound quality wasn’t good. Nothing like the full sound system she’d had in the house with Jeremy, but it was better than nothing. She stood there, a little awkward, waiting for him.
He seemed to be considering for a moment, then got up and took her hand. He pulled her close and held her as they swayed. It wasn’t so much dancing as it was the stiff sway of the high school couple at their first dance, but it was the nicest thing she’d felt in a long time.
For once, she didn’t feel like a mother. She wore no functional-but-not-flattering clothing. She wasn’t wearing the uniform of a school nurse. And she didn’t have on one single bruise that proved she was a survivor. She should feel good about surviving, but sometimes she wished desperately that rather than having made it through, she hadn’t had to make it at all. Being with Hunter made her feel like a woman, not just someone who got away from a horrible situation.
She was free, and for the f
irst time in so many years she’d lost track, she felt safe. It was a strange feeling. It almost made her wary of it. Too much security could make a person get lazy. She couldn’t afford that. Not when strange vans showed up. But for right now, for this little sliver of time, she could allow herself to just exist in the space of Hunter’s arms, and to be taken care of.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered in her ear.
She wiped a stray tear and smiled. “Absolutely nothing. I was thinking how I couldn’t remember the last time I felt safe.”
“I’m glad. I want to protect you both.”
She held his gaze and couldn’t get over the look of desire in his eyes. Her own expression must mirror his, because she was warm with wanting him.
He leaned closer to her, slowly. Her heart raced. He was going to kiss her. It was really going to happen. She closed her eyes and waited. His lips, warm and smooth, pressed against hers. He slipped his mouth over hers, his tongue gently playing at the edge of her lips.
It felt amazing kissing him. She hadn’t been really kissed in so long. Kissing Jeremy had been a chore, and never pleasurable. He used it as a tool of force, like everything else in their lives. But kissing Hunter was how kisses were meant to be. Soft and pleasant, building the desire in her with every pass of their tongues.
She opened her eyes to look into his when he finally pulled back from her. Behind him, she caught sight of the clock.
Vanessa gasped. “Oh no. I have to go.”
“What? Why?”
“I had no idea it was so late. I was supposed to pick Opal up an hour ago.” She scrambled to find her purse and her keys.
Hunter stood where they had been embracing just a moment ago, watching her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have been watching more carefully. I don’t mean to just kiss you and run out, I—”
“Vanessa.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers again. “It’s okay. I understand. You haven’t scared me off. It would take a lot more than that to keep from coming back.”
“Thank you. And thank you for a lovely night.”
“We will do it again sometime.” It wasn’t a question. He wasn’t taking the chance that she might say no.
“Soon,” she said.
He followed her out of the apartment and walked her to her car. When she got in, he gave her another brief kiss before closing her car door. She gave him one final smile before pulling away.
In her rearview mirror, she glanced back as often as she could before she turned and he was out of sight. He had his eyes on her the whole time. Knowing he was looking out for them, especially now that he knew the truth, and knowing he would come back, all made her feel even more safe. If Hunter were around, Jeremy couldn’t harm her, couldn’t take Opal. So maybe she’d just have to make sure Hunter was around an awful lot.
Chapter Nine
Vanessa
Vanessa knocked on Mari’s door, her apologetic expression already on her face. But Mari opened up with a huge smile and ushered her inside.
“How was your date?”
Vanessa couldn’t help grinning when she thought of Hunter. “Fantastic. I’m so sorry I’m late.”
Mari waved her off. “She fell asleep two hours ago. She was so much fun, I’ll look after her anytime. Like maybe the next time you have a date?”
The smile returned. “There will certainly be a next time with Hunter.”
“Good. I’m so glad you found someone.”
“I’ve never felt so safe in my life.”
“Then I’m even more glad. You need to have that peace, and so does Opal. She seemed very happy to have me call her by her real name, even if she knows I still have to call her Katrin at school.”
“It’s so good to be able to tell people the truth,” Vanessa said. “I told Hunter, too, and he wants to protect us. It’s strange to feel that, though. To have a man want to keep us safe instead of hurt us.”
Mari pulled her mouth into a half smile. “Just be glad you’re able to trust like that. My lack of trust has ruined quite a lot of relationships. Probably why I’m still single.”
“It’s a miracle, really. I have no reason to trust him. And Jeremy was really the only serious relationship I had. Maybe not having a lot of bad experiences has helped me, I don’t know.”
“Maybe.”
Vanessa scooped Opal up from the sofa and cradled her against her chest. “Thank you so much. It really means the world to me.”
“Any time.”
Vanessa drove home and got Opal tucked into bed, all the while feeling the absence of Hunter. He’d been there, so close to where she was now, and she wished he still was. She undressed slowly, wondering what it would be like to undress for him. The idea of it gave her delicious chills.
She had just slipped between her cool sheets when her phone rang. A grin broke out across her face and she snatched up her phone from her bedside table, eager to hear Hunter’s voice.
“Hello?”
“Well, if it isn’t the little misses.”
Vanessa’s heart stopped, and she sat up in bed. The room spun around her and a cold sweat broke out across her skin. “Jeremy.”
“That didn’t take long, now did it? I found you in under two months.”
Vanessa’s mouth was dry and she couldn’t think. What did this mean? Where was he? What did he know?
“You missed our little date, dear. You know how I hate to be stood up.”
“What date?” Her voice sounded like a haunted version of what it was. Her tongue was thick and stubborn.
“Our court date. The one where the judge would have given me full custody of my daughter. Convenient that you missed such an important occasion.”
“You’ll never have her.”
He laughed a cruel, hardy laugh. It was the laugh he made anytime she said something he didn’t agree with.
“I know where you are. And I will send the police if you don’t hand her over.”
She pressed “End” and jumped out of bed. She was shaking so badly, she almost couldn’t get the snap done on her jeans. In her closet was a bag. She’d packed it the day they moved in and hoped to never need it. It held everything they needed to run. Clothing, money, new identification.
The bag was part one. Part two had only recently been added and she couldn’t believe that it had to be enacted so quickly. If she hadn’t had that conversation with Mari the other day, she would have nowhere to take Opal to keep her safe. She texted the code word to Mari and ran out the door.
She dashed to Opal’s room and left the door open wide so the hallway light would fill the space. She shook her shoulder.
“Opal, wake up, baby. Come on, we have to go.”
“What?” Opal rubbed her eyes and sat up.
She was about to tell her the truth. That Daddy had found them and was coming for them. But when she saw the look in her daughter’s eyes, the fearful expression, she changed her tactic. She broke into a smile, difficult as it was.
“I have a super special surprise for you!”
Her little eyes went wide again, but this time with wonder. “What it is?”
“You get to have an overnight field trip with your teacher!”
“Okay.” Opal climbed out of bed. “Are you coming, too?”
“I’ll take you over there, but I can’t stay this time. Maybe next time we can all have a slumber party.”
“Can I bring my bear?”
“Of course you can.”
“This will be so fun!” Opal was wide awake and running around her room, shoving stuffed animals and toys into her book bag.
“Okay, baby, we need to go. You have enough.”
She took Opal’s hand and grabbed her bag with the other, pulling her from the room.
“Oh wait! I just need—”
“Opal, no. We’re going NOW.”
Vanessa failed to restrain the panic in her voice. Jeremy could be coming at any moment, and they didn’t
have time to get another stupid stuffed animal. She didn’t mean to yell like that, but in her urgency, it had come out harsh.
Opal’s lower lip shook and her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry, we’re going to be late if we don’t go right now, and you don’t want Miss Snyder to be waiting for us, do you?”
She shook her head and sniffed. A tear dripped down her cheek, and Vanessa bent to give her a quick hug. “I’m sorry I yelled. We’re really late.” She slung the book bag over her shoulder and picked Opal up with her other arm. “Hold on, baby.”
Opal held on tight and snuggled her nose into Vanessa’s neck. Her throat tightened. If anything happened to her daughter, she’d kill the bastard. Her mind went to Hunter. If she called him, would he come? Would he protect them?