by Mara Lynne
He’s just angry—really angry—with Candice for twisting everyone’s heads.
“Hunter?” one girl he does not even recognize exclaims as he reaches the leaving room. Her vodka is spilling out of the bottle, amazed by his unexpected appearance.
Candice sets her arms on her hips, puffing her breasts out to display her rather large stomach to everyone.
“To what do I owe this unexpected visit, Mr. Stone?” Candice starts. “Hey, everyone!” she calls, flipping her fingers in the air. “This is Hunter Stone, Damien’s half-brother. Maybe he’s here to hear the announcement.”
“Oh, shut up, Candice!” A blonde girl in a pink cocktail dress laughs. “We all know who he is. Anyone who has Etheridge in their blood has a rather peculiar taste on women.”
“And what is that supposed to mean, Kate?” Her tone is sharp, and her eyebrow reaches her hairline.
Clearly, this blonde Kate girl had one too many punch for the night. Two girls who seem to have noticed Candice’s annoyance immediately pulls her out of the scene to the bar where more glasses of cocktails are displayed.
“What did she mean by that?” Candice questions, clearly exasperated. Blood is rushing into her face, making it a little red.
“You don’t want to know,” Hunter replies as he grasps her by the arm and drags her out into the balcony. He, too, wants to strangle that Kate girl. Somehow, he thinks that she intended to include Angel on her malicious comment. Angel is not like Candice. Far from it.
Once they reach the balcony, Hunter instantly closes the glass door behind him.
“What’s all this about, Stone? Are you going to confront me with something?” Candice asks in her usual sarcastic voice. “Cause you look like an alligator with a prey stuck in its mouth.”
Not a shred of conscience remains in Hunters' heart for Candice Gregory. Not anymore.
“Ouch! You’re hurting my arm!” she complains, shaking his grasp off her.
“Thank you for the presents, Candice. They are well received.”
“Seriously, what presents?”
“Playing innocent, eh? Tell me what other lies you told me!” Blowing off his top, he scowls at her.
“Lies?” The corners of her mouth twitch. Her eyes widen with surprise and horror. “What lies are you talking about?”
“Don’t play games with me, Candice Gregory!”
“Ouch, Hunter! You are really hurting me!” She feels her arm wringing with pain.
“I know whose baby that is! I know now, Candice!”
Her gaze freezes, and her face turns ghastly pale.
“Now tell me. Look straight into my eyes, and tell me that that is not mine!” A blind rage sweeps over him like wild fire. The mound on her stomach, that thing in there is his—he knows. He could be the only father in the world now who’s not happy about it, and he feels horrible and mortified for feeling like this. Are future daddies supposed to be happy? Are they supposed to throw celebratory parties for this? Why can’t he?
He hates himself for feeling this way—he hates himself for being ashamed and guilty.
“Ha!” She forcefully laughs, cracking her voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You are clearly delusional, Hunter…”
“Bullshit! Don’t make a fool out of me, woman! I’ve had enough of your tricks,” he says, throwing away her arm. “What is it you’re planning? Why press this damn lie to Damien? Why?”
Shaking, she turns on her heels and faces away from him, directing her gaze on the view of distant suburbs. “I don’t know anything. You know what I can sue you for… this false claim…” she speaks, stuttering.
“Try me, Candice. I can put you in jail for orchestrating this, for your lies. And don’t ask for evidence. I could show them to you anytime of the day.”
“Jail? You won’t do that, Hunter. No, you wouldn’t.”
“Why can’t I? Why wouldn’t I? I can do anything to you,” he tells her. “Oh, wait! Of course! You’d say I won’t because you’re carrying my child.”
She wets her parched lips and forces her face to stay unaffected. However, Hunter clearly sees a woman who is unsure of things, fearful of what lies ahead of her, probably miserably making sure not to get trapped in her own web of lies.
“You know what? I know why you’re doing this. You’re doing this to get into Damien’s pants. You know he’s getting the family business, that’s why you’re raking your claws into his neck. You don’t care about the child. You are selfish. That’s why you dated me, right? You only want money!”
“Did you hit your head somewhere, Hunter?” She bursts into forced laughter. “And what is it to you then if Damien is not the father? Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? Why would I be jealous?”
“Because finally, for the first time, you are turned down!” With a slight sense of victory, her face relaxes and manages to pull off some smugness in her smile. “That there are people who actually prefer somebody other than you. You hate that, remember? You always want to be ahead of others. You want to be first, the best. I know how you’ve always considered Damien a competition even if he is only that innocent little brother of yours who knows nothing of your darkest follies.”
“So that’s it? Damien is your target because you hate me—because he is harmless? Is this how you get back at me, Candice?”
“All I am aware of is that Damien Etheridge will be a great father; something and someone you will never be.” Her foul smile widens. She steps a little closer to him until their distance narrows into an inch-wide gap. “Honestly, you don’t know anything about being a father. How could you? There was no one for you, Hunter. You had no one to look up to. At least with Damien, my son will feel loved.”
His knees weaken as her words get through him.
“You know nothing of me, Candice!” His eyes darken as his voice becomes cold and vengeful.
“Oh yes, I do! You tell me of them on the nights I share your bed. Don’t forget them, honey. And, of course, this did not happen, okay? If you don’t want me to break your lover’s heart, you’d seal your lips and swear to me your silence.”
She is not threatening him. She means every word she says.
“I don’t really want to be a cruel mom. I’d want this baby to see the world and spend the riches his name carries. However, if you try to breathe a word of this to Damien, then I’m sorry for the child. You see, you’re right. I’m selfish. I don’t really care about anything but myself. I can easily get rid of this, and I won’t ever be sorry.”
And if he decides to tell Damien about this, it will scare her off, and she might endanger the child. For goodness sakes! He heard her speak ill against the baby as though she’s not its mother.
Even if the world turns upside down, he’s still the father. In that unborn child runs his blood. And because he knows of the peril the innocent baby has gotten into unwillingly, he won’t let anything happen to it.
“I’m just wondering how Angel would react when she finds out. Does she love you enough to stay with you?”
Their heads turn straight to the direction of the glass door when they heard it slide open.
Hunter immediately straightens his back. Candice pushes backward and shrugs off the discomfort, clearing her throat.
“Hunter is here to say his congratulations,” Candice quickly says to Damien who does not even looked surprised. She wraps her arms around Damien’s waist and starts acting cool. “He’s very much excited to know the baby’s gender.”
“Oh.” Damien’s reaction is anticlimactic.
His and Hunters’ eyes meet, so fixed on each other that not even Candice’s psychobabble could disrupt them.
“Maybe I can tell Hunter the big announcement, Candice,” Damien says.
“No need, Damien. I know it’s a boy,” Hunter counters.
“Damien, babe…” She squeezes herself closer to Damien in an attempt to divert his attention. “Mary Paulette has this huge cake for the baby. She wants me and y
ou to take the first slice.”
“Why don’t you go ahead, Candice? I think my brother and I are in need of a serious talk,” Hunter says.
Candice furrows her forehead and shots Hunter a glare.
“Right, Candice,” Damien speaks. “We’ll upset Paulette if both of us miss the cake.”
“But Damien…”
“Candice,” Hunter shifts his gaze at her. “The crows are silent as the dead.”
Finally leaving them, Candice walks back inside with a grin. It has never left her since she had known that Hunter is doomed. She had forced Hunter to make the vow of silence—even without uttering a single word.
Back in the balcony, Damien continues speaking with Hunter.
“What is that oath all about, Hunter?”
“Something you will never know,” he replies.
“Listen. I don’t know why you’re even here, but I don’t want you getting near my girl, Hunter.”
“Your girl?” Hunter almost explodes in laughter. “Since when did Candice become your girl, Damien?”
“Since the day I learned she’s having my baby.”
“Your baby? Now, that’s funny! I did not know you’ve become so fond of possessing things that aren’t even yours,” Hunter says on clenched teeth. “Come on. Let’s stop pretending, shall we? We both know the truth, Damien. Your fibbing is not helping at all.”
Hunter’s feet move on its own, closing in to Damien. In a hushed voice, he tells him firmly. “I am the child’s father, not you.”
Damien shakes his head gently as though he believes nothing of what Hunter said. He’s quite surprised as to how quick Hunter had learned of the truth. The man is taking the news rather calmly. If he were in his shoes, he could have gone crazy by now.
“And so what?” Damien replies. “You’re not marrying Candice, so technically, you will not become the child’s legal father. I will be, Hunter.”
That surprised Hunter. For once, he is tongue-tied over a conversation with Damien.
“You cannot always have everything,” Damien tells him roughly. “You can only have one: the baby or Angel. You can’t have both.” No, he can’t. Damien believes so. Candice will not allow it.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’m bored. I have nothing to do,” Damien responds.
“Is this all a game to you, Damien?”
“The game is long over, Hunter. If this is one, I’m playing it rather too well.” All to save Angel’s heart… “No worries, bro. I’m naming the boy after you.”
All of a sudden, a loud smack deafens Damien’s ears, and he finds his body flying toward the ground, his jaw stiffened, and a massive pain growing on his cheek. The rusty taste of blood mixes with his saliva and reaches his throat once he has landed on the ground. He smirks, spitting the blood out.
“Still good, eh?” he remarks.
Hunter shakes the fist he used on Damien. “Do I need more practicing?”
“No. Actually, it was pretty hard. I think I heard my bone crack,” Damien replies with an annoyed grin on his face.
“Good! That’s for not being serious.”
Damien gets up, wiping the blood stain at the corner of his mouth.
“Sometimes, I wonder why I only get a girly blow from you after all the things I did.”
Then, out from nowhere, Hunter is sent flying to the deck, leaving his left cheek swollen and his nose broken.
“That’s for being a sissy,” Damien says out loud. And for putting me into this… he could have added.
“It’s true then, all is fair in love and war,” he tells Hunter who is getting up in his feet.
Chapter 32 – Strawberry and Champagne
It took Angel and Sarah three days to prepare the party, but it was all worth it. Their neighbors and some town people came to celebrate. Of course, they wouldn’t have it done without the help of Sarah’s amazing female friends who make the most delicious empanada and lechon.
It was a happy and fun time, but Angel was missing Hunter. For those three days, he did not even call, and that got her wondering. But last night, just before she went to bed, she finally heard his voice.
“What have you been up to? I haven’t heard from you for the last three days,” she asks him, rolling over to the edge of the bed to turn the lamp on.
She thought she heard him sigh.
“Is there a problem, babe?” She puts herself into a sitting position, resting her back on the head of the bed.
“No. No,” Hunter answers.
“You sound sad.”
“I’m just missing you. That’s all.”
“Well, it’s been three days.” She is very excited to tell him about the success of the party and how she was able to meet a lot of good-natured locals.
“There are just a few things I need to do at work.”
“Are they that serious?” She hears Hunter’s downcast laugh through the receiver. “Well, I guess they are. You want me to come home?”
“Oh no, babe… Spend as much quality time with your parents.”
“Mom’s been acting quite strange lately. She’s become more melodramatic, you know. She’s more nervous than me about this whole wedding thing,” she tells him.
“Ah, parents!”
“But seriously, babe, I’m missing you. I wish you are here with me right now.” The bed feels cold and empty without him.
“How much do you miss me?”
Even if Hunter is on the other side of the globe, he does not fail to make her uncomfortably giddy and warm inside. “How much do I miss you?”
“I miss you to the moon and back,” he says.
“I miss you as much as the sun if it were gone forever,” she answers, chuckling.
“I love you, Angel.”
“And I you, Hunter.”
***
How is he going to tell her?
Hunter wishes he has a basin of cold water to pour onto himself just to get his brain working. He knows he can’t just casually break the truth out to her.
The words were at the tip of his tongue. He knew what he was going to say; it’s just that he was short of courage. What if after he had said it, he’d lose her? What if she realizes he’s not worthy of her? What if she’d hate her?
He pours champagne into his glass and munches on a strawberry that was on it.
For days, he’s been watching Candice’s activities. He could not let go of the fact that his child is being carried by a woman who threatens to have it aborted if her plans go the wrong way. She’s been out for nights on end, partying with friends, and probably without Damien’s consent. So, he had to go wherever she goes.
He does not know what to do.
You can only have one: the baby or Angel. You can’t have both...
Damien’s words still ring in his ears, and every night, they haunt his dreams. Jesus! He would do anything not to reach that point. He would not be able to choose one over the other. He loves Angel with all his life, and he’s willing to lose anything but her.
But how about the child?
Hunter would not want it to grow like him, to feel underappreciated and unloved. He would not let the child grow without a father, hating the man who is not there for him. He’s been in that situation, and he knows how terrible it is. He would not want his son to be like him, to grow continuously seeking for fatherly affection and resort to silly stupid things just to earn what he’s always wanted. He met bad people because of that—a lot of them. He opened himself to that dark and dangerous world, and there was no one to pull him out of there. He found that sense of importance and care from those strangers who transformed his entire life for the worse.
He does not want his child to have the same life and fate as he did. He has ruined one already; his conscience will burn in hell if he let another one suffer. He has to be there for the kid. But how is he going to do that if Candice is threatening abortion or worse, keeping it away from him?
His phone rings, and he immediately pick
s it up when Paul’s number flashes.
“Mr. Stone, sir?”
“Yes, Paul?” His eyes are beginning to feel a little heavy now.
“Sir, Ms. Gregory is being brought to the hospital right now.”
“What?” His hair on his arms raises, and chill shoots up his spine. His glass of champagne falls to the floor, and his elbow hits his plate of strawberries, breaking it as it crashes into the solid ground.
***
Angel finally decides to return to America after two days of not getting any calls from Hunter except for a few good morning texts.
“He might be really busy,” she tells Sarah while packing her things. “I’ll surprise him. He’s got no clue I’m going back home tonight.”
“It will be alright, honey,” Sarah says.
“Of course, it is, mom. Hunter is a workaholic. He’s always busy with things.”
George grunts, turning away from the conversation and heading to the living room couch to read a newspaper. He chooses not to speak this time because he has no good words to say.
“Right, he is a very busy man,” Sarah utters. “But you’d call us once you’ve reached home, okay? Send Hunter our regards.”
“Yes, I will.”
***
The hands of the clock moves too slow. Waiting is literally killing his sanity. Paul has been offering him coffee for the past few minutes, but Hunter could not seem to calm himself. Behind that door is Candice probably fighting for her life.
“Sir, will you please calm yourself?” Paul says.
“Candice bled, Paul!” His baby is in danger.
Paul’s face turned pale. He lowers her voice, but it is too late to take back what he said, “I’m sure the doctors will have her fixed by now.”
Hunter shoots him a glare, and Paul swears to himself he’d zip his mouth for an entire week.
His head is currently filled with negative thoughts, and if not for Damien’s arrival, he would be pulling his hairs out of his head by now.
Damien appears as though he has seen a ghost instead of Hunter. No one can blame him. His hair is disheveled, and his face is an unpainted canvas.
