Holy shit. It all made sense to Kye. Dani hadn’t run out on Hunter because she didn’t love him. She had left because she did.
Kye peered up at Hunter, wondering if the man understood that. Or if he was going to need Dani to spell it out for him.
THIRTEEN
HUNTER WAS TRYING TO PROCESS everything Dani had told him. It was all there, so many explanations he’d never received, and it made perfect sense.
Only it didn’t.
“Once she died, Samuel no longer had anything to hold over your head,” he stated bluntly. “So, you no longer needed me. Is that what you’re telling me?”
Dani’s eyes flew up to his face and he could see pure anger there. “Really? Is that what you think of me? You think I was only with you because—”
“Because your biological father threatened to kill your mother.” He smiled coldly. “I’m not the one who told the story, Dani.”
Dani shot to her feet. “Fuck you, Hunter.”
When she stormed out of the room, he didn’t bother trying to stop her. And when she slammed her bedroom door, he didn’t even flinch.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” Kye muttered as he pushed up off the couch and headed for the kitchen.
Hunter was on his feet then, grabbing Kye’s arm and spinning him around. “I’m an idiot? It sounds fairly logical to me. When her mother died, the threat was gone, was it not? She had no reason to be in my life, so she bolted.”
Kye’s smile said he felt sorry for Hunter. “If that’s what you think of her, then I guess it would make sense to you.”
“And you see it differently?”
Kye shrugged and jerked out of his hold. “She’s not the villain you make her out to be.”
Hunter laughed mirthlessly. “No? Are you saying this because you know her? Or because you’re hoping to get in her pants?”
Kye spun around, moving with purpose until they were damn near toe-to-toe. “You might not have any respect for her, but I do.”
“Oh, right. So, you don’t want to fuck her? You’d rather make love to her? Is that the form of respect you feel?”
Those blue eyes were steely as they stared back at Hunter.
And it confirmed exactly what Hunter had suspected.
“You did fuck her,” he snarled. “You fucking bastard.”
“Me? Why am I the bastard here, Hunter?” Kye taunted. “You threw her away. You didn’t want anything to do with her.”
“You fucked her to get back at me.”
The next thing Hunter knew, Kye’s fist reared back, then flew forward, catching him in the jaw. Hunter stumbled backward, glaring at the other man.
“Whether you like it or not, it’s not always about you,” Kye growled. “I’ll take the first shift. Outside.”
Hunter didn’t retaliate, because he deserved that punch. In fact, he deserved both of their wrath. He was being an asshole of the first order.
Unfortunately, that was his only option.
Well, that or admit that he’d lost out on the best fucking thing that had ever happened to him because he’d allowed her to run away without trying to stop her. Without getting the answers he’d so desperately needed.
More than five fucking years he’d wasted.
“Fuck,” he hissed as he made his way to the bedroom.
He paused in the hallway, staring at Dani’s door. He should go in there and apologize. Hell, he should go in there and beg her forgiveness. All this time, he’d thought she disappeared because she didn’t give a shit about him. He wasn’t so dense that he didn’t realize she’d left in order to save him from her, from her deception.
Hunter merely didn’t want to believe it because it meant he was at fault.
It was all on him.
Everything.
Losing Dani. Losing Kye.
He’d fucked it all up himself.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his bedroom door and stepped inside. He couldn’t talk to Dani yet. He’d already pissed her off enough for one night. He could wait until everyone had calmed down. Maybe tomorrow he could have a civilized conversation with her. Maybe even apologize.
After closing the door, he flopped down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He knew he should be thinking about the job, thinking about ways to find the bastard who was trying to kill the woman he loved. Not lying around feeling sorry for himself.
“For fuck’s sake,” he groused.
After all this time, Hunter found it difficult to believe he still loved Dani. But he knew deep down that it was true. He’d never stopped loving her. Sure, he’d hated her, but he’d never stopped loving her.
Only to find out that if he had put his pride aside for five goddamn minutes, the years wouldn’t have passed him by. If he would’ve just gone after Dani that day…
His mind drifted back to his wedding day.
“Lookin’ sharp, bro,” Trace said with a smirk. “Never thought you’d put on a monkey suit.”
“It’s my wedding day,” Hunter countered as he adjusted his tie, staring at the man in the mirror. The smile on his face seemed to be a permanent fixture these days. In just a few hours, Danielle Davidson would be his bride.
The door to his dressing area opened and Conner walked in, followed by Casper. Behind his father was Bryce, Tanner, Hunter’s grandfather Frank, along with RT and a handful of the agents he worked with. Including Josh.
His eyes met and held Josh’s for the longest time. The two of them had spent last night together. Not merely because Hunter wanted to be close to the man but also because he needed to know Josh was good with this. From what Josh had told him, he truly was happy that Hunter was marrying Dani.
“Looks like we’re about ready to start,” Casper announced. “You’ve got a full house out there.”
Hunter glanced at the group. “Out there? Or in here?”
Casper chuckled. “We thought we’d do a toast before you said your vows.”
“Well, I won’t turn it down,” he told his father.
Frank produced a bottle of whiskey and Conner handed over a stack of clear plastic cups. They were passed around, then filled before everyone came together as a group.
“Here’s to today and all the happiness that it’ll bring,” his father stated, holding up his cup.
Everyone toasted, then tossed back their drink. Hunter was then patted on the back as they all filtered back out to the chapel.
“You ready for this?” Conner asked, staying back.
“Of course I am,” he admitted, staring at his older brother.
Conner smiled, but it was sad. Hunter hated seeing his brother suffer. After Conner’s wife had been gunned down last year, he hadn’t been the same man. Not that Hunter had expected anything different. He couldn’t imagine what the man was going through. The thought of losing Dani…he couldn’t even fathom it.
“Well, be good to her, man.”
“I intend to.”
Conner nodded, then slapped him on the shoulder. “See you in a few.”
When Conner left, and the door clicked behind him, Hunter turned back to stare at his reflection. Today was by far the happiest day of his life. He gave himself another full-length glance. That was when he noticed Josh standing behind him.
Hunter turned around to see Josh smiling at him. “You look good.”
“You do, too,” Hunter admitted. He was tempted to reach out and touch him, but he refrained. Barely.
“I wanted to reassure you that this is a good thing,” Josh told him. “I know you’ve been questioning it.”
He had, and Josh knew him well enough to see it.
“It only makes sense that one of us would eventually fall in love with someone.”
Because they weren’t in love with each other. They both knew that.
Oh, Hunter had wanted to be in love with Josh, but it hadn’t happened, and he knew he could never force something like that. He cared for him, but it wasn’t love.
“Marry her, man. Have tons o
f babies. Live happily ever after.”
“You know I’m not done with you yet,” he told his lover.
Josh smirked. “Oh, I know. And I’ll be there. As long as Dani wants me around.”
Only, it hadn’t ended that way. There hadn’t been a wedding or a happily ever after for anyone.
Just a short time later, Dani hadn’t shown up and Hunter had been left reeling, trying to understand why the woman would’ve disappeared. And she had. Without a trace. Since Dani had told him she didn’t have any family—no one he could track down to get her whereabouts—he’d been forced to let her go, to move on.
Unfortunately, Hunter had never been able to move on.
He wasn’t sure it was even possible.
Even now. All these years later.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, DANI WOKE groggy and irritable.
Probably had a lot to do with the fact that she had cried herself to sleep and then endured dreams of Hunter. In every one of them, he was telling her how horrible she was, how much he hated her.
So, not too far from reality.
She still couldn’t believe that he thought she had disappeared because she hadn’t needed him. The man clearly had never loved her the way she had loved him. Sometimes she wondered if she should’ve married him, should’ve simply gone through with it and begged for Hunter’s forgiveness once the truth finally did come out.
But she knew Hunter. It wouldn’t have mattered. The man was so hard, so cold. He would’ve kicked her to the curb, accusing her of some other heinous crime against him. No matter what, her heart would’ve been broken.
And now, as she stared up at the ceiling, she wondered how she was going to face him. Personally, she didn’t want to, but she knew she didn’t have much of a choice. Until the man who was attempting to kill her made another move, or Kye and Hunter decided to go after him, they were pretty much stuck.
Perhaps that was what she needed to do. Convince them to go after the man before he could get to her first. The last thing she wanted was for anything to happen to Hunter or Kye. And it was always better to be one step ahead of the enemy. Or so she’d heard.
Stretching, Dani decided it was time to get up. Light was already filtering through the window shade, but she had no clue what time it was. She could take a shower, have some coffee, and figure out a way to get herself out of this mess once and for all.
When she stepped into the hallway a short time later, she heard the rumbling of voices coming from the far side of the house. Kye and Hunter were both awake. Dani glanced at the bathroom door, then back down the hallway. Should she have coffee first? Or shower?
Touching the tangled mess that was her hair, she realized a shower was definitely in order, so she slipped back into her bedroom, grabbed a few things from the pile of new clothing they’d purchased yesterday, then darted into the bathroom and closed the door. The lock on the doorknob was broken.
“Of course it is,” she muttered to herself.
Figuring she needed to hurry, Dani turned on the water to heat, then stripped out of her pajamas. When she was finally under the spray, she closed her eyes and let the warm water soothe some of the aches in her muscles. The bed had been perfectly comfortable, but it had done little to alleviate the tension in her body. She was stressed, and she knew it wouldn’t get any better until she was finally home.
Wherever home ended up being.
Her apartment was gone. She hadn’t been able to pay the rent because she didn’t want to possibly alert the man who was after her of her whereabouts. And since she refused to send cash in the mail, she’d had to let it go.
Yep. Technically, she was homeless.
But that was the way it’d always been for her.
Dani still remembered the very first time she’d left the only home she’d ever known, when Nick, her father for all intents and purposes, sent her to France of all places. It’d been her wedding day. The day she should’ve married Hunter Kogan, the man who had stolen her heart. Before they could take their vows, Dani’s conscience had caught up with her.
At the ripe young age of nineteen, Samuel had fixed his sights on her. At twenty, she’d officially become a plant in the Kogans’ world. At twenty-two, she’d found herself engaged to the greatest man she’d ever met, and at that point, she’d realized she couldn’t go on living a lie. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Hunter, but she had. Then her mother had died, and her world had been turned upside down. So, she had left him, not wanting Hunter to find out who she really was, hating herself for what she’d done to him, the lies she’d told.
Rather than slip into her dress and make her way down the aisle, Dani had ducked out unnoticed and called a cab. She was fairly certain the taxi driver thought she had escaped from the mental hospital, based on the way he’d been eyeing her. When she told him to take her to the hotel near the airport, only a few miles down the road, she’d seen his hesitation, but when she offered two hundred dollars for what should’ve been a thirty-dollar fare, his interest in her had faded, just as she’d hoped it would.
Dani washed her hair using the travel items she had bought yesterday, then scrubbed her body. She thought about not shaving but figured that was a stupid idea. She had to feel her best and the only way to do that was to look her best. With a resigned sigh, she went to work prettying herself up.
*
An hour later, Dani emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was dry, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, and she felt significantly better. Some of the puffiness under her eyes had diminished, which she was grateful for.
Knowing she had wasted enough time, she headed for the kitchen. She glanced around, realizing Hunter was the only one in the room.
“Mornin’,” he greeted.
For the first time since she’d run into him again, the man’s tone wasn’t tinged with irritation or hatred. It caused her to snap her head in his direction.
“Good…morning,” she replied, confused.
“Can I get you some coffee?”
Dani peered over at the coffeepot. She considered getting it herself but figured it would be better to allow Hunter to do the honors. If he was offering, that meant he was willing. Since he wasn’t shooting death rays from his eyeballs, she wanted to keep it that way.
“That would be great, thank you,” she said kindly.
He pushed up from his chair, then pulled another one out for her. “Have a seat.”
Dani moved to the chair with purpose, eased down into it, and stared at the man moving around the kitchen. This morning he was wearing a pair of jeans and a charcoal T-shirt, his boots on his feet. He looked as though he had been up for a while.
“Where’s Kye?”
He nodded toward the back door. “He’s checking things out there.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Not that we can see, no.” Hunter picked up the coffee carafe and poured the dark liquid into a mug he had retrieved from the cabinet. “Still take it with sugar and milk?”
“Yes, please.”
He smiled down at the mug as he grabbed the glass sugar container. “Just a little coffee with your sweetener?”
“Yes,” she admitted, feeling her cheeks warm from embarrassment. Hunter always had given her shit about the fact that her coffee was more sugar than caffeine.
When he finished preparing it, he carried it over to her, then set it on the table. She watched him closely, trying to figure out what was on his mind. He seemed different this morning. Despite the fact that he’d been so hateful last night.
Wrapping her hands around the warm mug, she stared at him as he took a seat.
“Look, Hunter—”
“Dani—”
They both smiled. “I’m sorry. You go first,” she told him.
“No, go ahead.”
Dani nodded, then took a sip of her coffee. “I just wanted to apologize.”
“For?”
She swallowed hard. “For leaving you on our wedding day.” Dani kept her gaze
pinned on the table. “I know you probably won’t ever believe me, but I did it because I didn’t want to hurt you anymore. Samuel blackmailed me to get me into your life and I didn’t think it was fair to you, so I ran.”
His warm hand covered hers and her eyes flew up to his face. “Did you love me, Dani?”
She hadn’t expected that question, but she decided to be truthful. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
Hunter stared at her for the longest time, as though he was searching her face for the truth. She understood why. After all, she had spent most of their relationship lying to him, pretending to be someone she wasn’t, and she refused to do that to him again.
“Then apology accepted,” he finally said, his voice rough.
Dani frowned as she studied his face. “Really?”
Hunter nodded solemnly, releasing her hand. “Yeah. I’ve spent a long time wondering why you left.”
“And you believe me?” She couldn’t believe it was that easy. Nothing was easy when it came to Hunter.
“I knew Samuel, Dani. And I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about the asshole.” He shook his head. “I probably should’ve figured it out myself.”
Yeah, well. He might have if he hadn’t been so angry with her. She couldn’t blame him.
“Now that I know, I figure it’s best to put it all in the past.”
Right. The past.
What they had once shared would forever be relegated to the past.
Dani hated knowing that. Perhaps not having closure had been easier for her because it always meant there was still a chance for her and Hunter to pick up where they’d left off. She’d been naïve to think that way. Regardless of her reasons, Dani had still left him. She hadn’t given him the explanation that he rightfully deserved before disappearing from his life.
“I truly am sorry,” she said, letting her gaze settle on her coffee mug once more.
“So am I, baby,” he whispered softly.
When Dani looked up again, she could see the residual pain in Hunter’s eyes. It was evident he was haunted by his past and she hated that she was part of the reason for it.
Tomorrow's Too Late (Sniper 1 Security, 3) Page 20
