Hunter: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  As I watched the doors close, I collapsed to the ground, completely losing my shit. I was so fucking scared when I saw all that blood on her and the vacant expression on her face. Now she was back there and I couldn’t be with her. I had no idea how she was or what had happened to her. I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly and then the hand moved to my bicep and hauled me up off my knees. Knight dragged me over to the chairs in the waiting room and shoved me down into one.

  I paced the waiting area when I couldn’t stand to sit any longer and then I took to harassing the nursing staff about any information they had on her condition. Derek had to pull me back to the waiting area so that I didn’t get kicked out of the hospital. We waited all night and little by little, Chance’s team and then Cazzo’s team showed up at the hospital to wait with me. Cap brought Claire out and got to the hospital about six in the morning and we still hadn’t heard anything. It was past eight in the morning before the doctor finally came out to talk with us.

  “Family of Lucy Grant?”

  Claire stepped forward and pumped the doctor’s hand. “I’m Claire Grant, her sister. She doesn’t have a husband. I mean, she has a boyfriend. He’s right here, but you can tell him anything you want. I mean, I think Lucy would be fine with that. Unless, it’s not good news and maybe then I should hear it first.”

  Derek walked up behind Claire and placed his hand over her mouth. “Calm down, Claire bear. Let the man talk.”

  She nodded and Derek removed his hand. The doctor smiled kindly at her and I was ready to beat his ass for taking so fucking long to tell us how she was.

  “Lucy is doing fine. She mostly has minor scrapes and bruises. She had one puncture from a piece of wood, but it wasn’t as bad as we thought. It didn’t do any internal damage and we cleaned it up and stitched it closed. We’ve given her a sedative because she was getting quite worked up while we were examining her. She’s been through a lot, but medically speaking, she’ll be fine. However, I would suggest a counselor to help her work through what’s happened.”

  “What about a rape kit?” Claire asked. “Did you do one?”

  “We did, but I’m sorry. That’s not something I’m able to talk to you about. You’ll need her consent for me to discuss that with you.”

  “But I’m her family,” Claire said aghast.

  “I understand that Ms. Grant, but all I can tell you is that medically she is fine.”

  That didn’t answer any of my fucking questions. I needed to know if that slime bag had touched her. I saw the broken strap. I knew that he had gotten rough with her. I needed to know how serious this was.

  “When can we see her?” I asked.

  “Family can see her any time now. She’ll be released shortly.”

  “Why the hell did it take you so long to come talk to us?” I barked at him.

  “We had to be sure that she was okay and that takes time.”

  “I know. I was a fucking medic in the military, but you should have come and updated us.”

  “I’m really sorry it took so long, sir.”

  The doctor didn’t say anything else as he stepped away, leaving me fuming. Jackson placed his hand on my shoulder. “Rape kits take a few hours to perform. They couldn’t let anyone see her until they were done. It’s just part of the procedure,” he said quietly. I knew he was right, but I was fucking pissed. If a rape kit takes that long, did that mean that she had been raped or did they always take that long, no matter what?

  Claire walked over to me and held my hand. “Give me just a few minutes with her. I know you need to see her and I promise I won’t be long.”

  I nodded, knowing that I didn’t have any fucking right to demand to go in there first. I wasn’t her fiancé. Hell, I was barely her boyfriend. We had only just started over before she was taken. Claire disappeared behind the doors and I paced for another ten minutes before Claire came out.

  “She’s asking for you.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God she was talking. “Is she okay?”

  “She’s…well, she’s not quite Lucy, but she’ll come around.”

  I nodded and followed the nurse back to Lucy’s room. When I walked in, her eyes were closed and the blanket was pulled up to her chest, covering all of her. Just a few months ago, she had been in the hospital after being in a fire and I had been terrified then. This was a whole different level of scared. I was irrationally scared then because I didn’t even know how I felt about her. I just knew that I couldn’t lose her.

  Now, I felt like if something had happened to her and she had been taken away from me, my life would be over. I wouldn’t give a shit about work or any of my friends. I would just cease to exist. I knew now it was because I was so in love with her. The kind of love that Sinner, Cazzo, Cap, and Derek had all warned me about. The kind of love that brought a man to his knees and had him promising his woman the moon and stars if it meant that he was a lucky enough bastard to have her. That was Lucy for me. She was all I would ever need and I could see it crystal clear now.

  I took a seat next to her bed and slipped my hand under her blanket to find her. She was still cold, but not nearly as cold as when I found her out in the woods. Now that it was daylight, I could see that she had scratches marring her already bruised face. Her nose hadn’t healed fully from surgery yet. As far as the rest of her, I couldn’t see her body to check her out and I didn’t want to move the covers and make her cold.

  Her eyes fluttered open a half hour later and she looked around the room in confusion. When her eyes found mine, I smiled hesitantly at her. I didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling and I didn’t want to make things worse for her.

  “Do I look that bad?”

  “You look beautiful.”

  “You’re just saying that because you want to get laid.” She laughed lightly and then closed her eyes again. When she opened them, she looked almost confused.

  “What happened?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me that.”

  “I remember running away from Noah, but then it’s kind of a blur. I think I kind of blanked it out.”

  “We found you in the woods. He was out there with you, but he’s dead now.”

  She nodded and blew out a breath. I hated to bring this up, but it was eating at me and I needed to know.

  “Lucy, did he rape you?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “He would have tried. When I woke up there, he was being so sweet to me, so I figured it was best if I played along with his delusion. I pretended that I wanted to be there with him. He had been planning on taking me back home. I think he really thought we were in a relationship. After dinner, he took me upstairs and I convinced him that I wanted to be in charge and I cuffed him to the bed.”

  A grin lit my face. “That’s my girl.”

  She laughed. “No, that’s your stupid girl. Claire would have been so pissed at me. I thought I was being so slick. I told him that I was going home and that I was never planning on sleeping with him.”

  “How did he get out of the cuffs?”

  “They were toy cuffs. They had that release button. I didn’t even realize it until he popped them open. I could hear Claire in my head yelling at me for being the stupid heroine that didn’t just run away.”

  “She probably would have been yelling at you the whole time she was reading the book,” I laughed. “So, what happened then?”

  “He chased me and we fell down the stairs. We pretty much destroyed the downstairs fighting each other. He tackled me over the sofa and I threw him into the coffee table. I wasn’t sure if he was dead or alive and my mind kept playing tricks on me. That’s when I ran, but everything’s fuzzy after that. I think I was in shock.”

  “You were. When we found you, you were completely out of it.”

  “It’s probably for the best. I don’t really want to remember the rest.”

  I didn’t want to either, but I could never forget the look on her face when I found her. I would never be a
ble to get the gory image of her out of my mind.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore. The doctor said that I had a piece of wood sticking out of me.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to remove it because I didn’t know if there was any internal damage. The doctor said that you’re all good, though.”

  “Does that mean I can go home now?”

  “Pretty soon. Where do you want to go?”

  “Can I stay with you?”

  “Of course,” I smiled. All the pressure that had been building in my chest disappeared in an instant. “I didn’t want to insist, but I was hoping you would say that you wanted to come home with me.”

  “Well, I’m still not over seeing Claire naked, so there’s no way I’m staying with her and Derek.”

  “You can stay with me for as long as you want.”

  I leaned over her and kissed her lightly on the lips. I craved her so much, but after everything she had been through, I just wanted to feel her lips against mine and hold her tonight in my arms.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Are you sure you’re ready to go home? Because you can stay here as long as you need,” I told Lucy. It had been a week and she was packing her bag to head home. I didn’t want her to go, but I had to respect her decisions. The last time I had tried to force her to do things my way, she got so pissed at me that I almost lost her.

  “I’m sure. I can’t just stay here forever. I have to be able to live on my own again. If I always stay with you, I’ll end up afraid of my own shadow.”

  “Lucy, there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself some time to heal.”

  “I know that and I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but this is something I have to do.”

  “Okay,” I said softly, kissing her on the lips. We hadn’t had sex since she’d gotten out of the hospital. She was pushing for it, but I wasn’t ready. I kept seeing her in that torn nightgown and it just didn’t feel right. I felt like she needed more time to heal and I didn’t want her freaking out if things went too fast between us.

  “Alright, well, I’d better get home before it gets dark out.”

  “Do you want me to come with you? I could stay the night over there. You know, give you a chance to be used to being there again before you’re alone.”

  “No, that’s very sweet, but I’ll be fine.”

  I pulled her gently against me and kissed her softly. “Be careful going home and make sure you lock your doors.”

  “I promise,” she smiled. I walked her down to her car and as soon as she pulled away, I pulled out the keys to my truck and followed her discreetly to her apartment. There was no way that I was letting her stay there all alone. She had woken multiple times a night from nightmares and hadn’t been able to fall back asleep. I couldn’t let her go through that. I needed to be close to her, even if she didn’t know it.

  I waited for her to head up to her apartment and then I slipped in the building, turning my phone to silent as I sat down outside her apartment. It didn’t take long before I heard her shutting off the lights and heading for her bedroom. I leaned back against the wall and waited for the inevitable. An hour later, she was screaming in her room and it took everything in me to sit out there and wait for it to stop. When I heard her shuffle out into the kitchen, I heard the sobs as she tried to calm herself down and I just couldn’t deal with it.

  I crept down the stairs and stood outside, dialing her number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Lucy. I just needed to hear your voice and make sure that you were okay.”

  “Oh, I’m good.” I heard her voice quivering as she tried to get herself under control. “I had a nightmare, but I’m okay now.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, you know it’ll probably take time.”

  “Probably,” I replied. “You know, I was thinking that Thanksgiving is coming up and I really don’t have any family around to be with. Would you like to spend it with me?”

  “Oh, um, Claire and Derek already invited me over to their place, but you could come with me.”

  “That’s sounds like a plan.”

  “Okay, well, I should let you go. I’m sure you have to get to sleep for work tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? I could come over if you want.”

  “No.” I could hear the hesitation in her voice. She didn’t want to ask me to come over because she didn’t want to look weak. “I’m actually going to go back to sleep now.”

  “Okay. Call me if you need me. I can be over in no time.”

  “Thank you. Good night, Hunter.”

  “Good night, Lucy.”

  I hung up the phone and walked back inside, sitting back outside her door. I leaned up against the wall and prepared for a long night sleeping in the hallway. I had been through worse in the military and sleeping outside my girlfriend’s apartment so that I knew she was safe was no great hardship for me.

  When I woke up in the morning, I had a huge crick in my neck and my ass was pretty much asleep. It was already six-thirty and I had to be at work at eight. I walked downstairs after listening at her door for a few minutes and got in my truck, heading home to get ready for work. I was exhausted from bad sleep and I desperately needed coffee.

  I walked into the break room at work and poured myself a mug of coffee, sitting down at the table and lowering my head to the surface. Just a little cat nap would do me wonders.

  “Rough night?” Knight asked as he walked into the break room.

  I let out a big yawn and shook my head to clear it. “I slept in Lucy’s hallway last night.”

  “Why?”

  “She insisted on going home, but she’s been having nightmares every night. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

  “But if she didn’t know you were there, what good did it do?”

  “I knew she was safe.” He rolled his eyes at me. “Hey, don’t give me any shit about this. You followed Kate around daily and watched her from across the street at a coffee shop while she was at work in absolutely no danger.”

  “She was almost killed outside her office. I was doing the responsible thing.”

  “You were obsessed with her and you followed her everywhere. You watched her from your window at night.”

  “I never said you should be like me.”

  “I’m not being like you. I’m just trying to make sure that if she needs me, I’m close by.”

  Derek walked into the break room and gave me a chin lift. “Who do you have to be close to?”

  “Lucy,” I sighed.

  “You look like shit. Didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

  “He slept outside in her hallway in case she needed him,” Knight smirked.

  “Now you’re starting to sound like Knight.”

  Knight scowled and I huffed. “I’m nothing like him. I was keeping an eye on my girlfriend who was just terrorized.”

  Derek nodded. “Right, so did you ask her first if she wanted you to come over?”

  “No, I asked her to stay with me and she told me she ‘needed to do this’,” I said, using quotes. “She doesn’t need to do anything. Doesn’t she realize that I want to be there for her?”

  “So, she told you that she was going home alone. What did you do? Wait until she left and then follow her to her place?”

  I took a swig of my coffee, not wanting to answer that question.

  “So, you did do that,” Derek laughed. “And then what? You sat outside her door all night?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Did she call you?” Knight asked.

  “No, I called her. I heard her screaming from a nightmare and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”

  “And was she?” Derek asked.

  “No, but she didn’t want me to know. I could hear it in her voice.”

  “So, you stayed the whole night, sitting outside her apartment door that’s monitored by our security system because she might have a nightmare and
need you,” Derek surmised.

  “Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a little creepy.”

  “Creepy is an underestimation. You sound like Knight and that’s just downright terrifying.”

  “I don’t sound anything like Knight.”

  “If you want,” Knight interjected, “I could show you the easiest way to break into her apartment so that you can watch her sleep.”

  “That’s crossing the fucking line,” Derek said.

  Knight shrugged. “I did it with Kate almost the whole year she thought I was dead. I didn’t want to be away from her, so I broke in and watched her when I could.”

  “You know, you two are sick and seriously need some help.” Derek turned to me and pointed a finger. “I’m thinking of breaking our best friend status. I can’t be seen as a psychopath’s best friend.”

  He walked out the door and I flopped my head back down on the table. I was seriously screwed.

  “Come on. Let’s go train. We’ve got shit to talk about.”

  I sighed and swallowed down my coffee, then followed him down to the training center. My ass was dragging big time and all I wanted was to go back to sleep. I got in my workout gear and met Knight in the ring. I didn’t mind sparring with him. We used to do it all the time when we were in the military. I knew most of his moves, but he was also more calculating now than he was back then. But I was bigger and that gave me an advantage against him. Not that I won a lot. He was still the most trained fighter I had ever seen. He seemed to be able to read the minds of his opponents and always knew what the next move was.

  We started out with just some light jabbing, but then the jabbing turned into full out brawling. I felt like I was in the middle of a bar fight, the way he was throwing punches. I took a step back and pulled out my mouth guard.

  “What the fuck is your problem?”

  “Where’s Lola?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. She’s not talking to me.”

  “So, what? You thought you would just leave her alone?”

  “She went on vacation. What did you want me to do, follow her there?”

  “Look, your woman comes first and I get that, but Lola’s been fighting her demons for years and you just let her walk out of here.”