Regret (Shattered Secrets Book 1)

by Bella J.

  Unfortunately, Hunter didn’t hit the first guy hard enough to send him to the ground, but when Hunter turned and back kicked him through the face, it was clear the guy was no longer conscious. His eyes rolled back, and it was dead weight that fell on to the asphalt.

  The two other men attacked Hunter at the same time, going at him from both the left and the right. But Hunter was too fast, punching one while kicking the other guy in the skull. It seemed so easy for him, like he wasn’t even trying. It would have been damn impressive if he didn’t irritate the living crap out of her.

  In what seemed like seconds, all three men were on the ground, splayed out like shriveled up little leaves in the middle of autumn.

  Hunter crouched down beside her. “You okay?”

  “Does it fucking look like I’m okay? What a dumbass question.”

  He reached out to her. “Here, let me help you get up.”

  Scarlet winced as he softly wrapped his hands around her shoulders and lifted her up from the ground. There was so much pain that possessed her body, Scarlet couldn’t even keep her eyes open.

  She felt a finger softly touch her jaw.

  “Fuck me. That had to be a huge blow.”

  Instinctively she pulled back, away from his touch. “No shit, Batman!”

  Finally able to open her eyes, she looked at Hunter, who did not seem like he had just kicked three fuckers’ asses.

  He nodded toward the men knocked out on the ground. “Who are these guys?”

  “How the fuck should I know?”

  Hunter looked at her with a curved eyebrow. “Well, it’s a pleasure saving your stubborn ass, isn’t it?”

  “No one asked you to save my stubborn ass. I was doing fine on my own.”

  Hunter let out a mocking laugh. “Yeah, I could definitely see how fine you were doing.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Pushing back the pain that was pulsing through her entire body, Scarlet squared her shoulders and walked to where her helmet was laying on the ground. With a grunt she bent over and picked it up before heading toward her motorcycle. God, it felt like her ribs and insides were all hanging outside her body.

  Hunter followed her. “I have a feeling you know exactly who these assholes are.”

  “Unfortunately for you, your feeling doesn’t know what the fuck it’s on about.”

  Wanting to get the hell away from Hunter and the assholes still passed out on the ground, she pulled the helmet over her head, ignoring the pain in her jaw, and got on her bike.

  “You ride a bike?”

  She turned to Hunter, who looked all confused. “What, are bikes only meant to be boys’ toys?”

  “I’m not saying—”

  “Fuck you, Ace.”

  “Yeah, you said that already.”

  “Fuck you, Ace.” She pulled down the visor of her helmet and saw him narrow his eyes at her.

  He stepped closer, and she started the ignition.

  “Scarlet, tell me what the fuck is going on here.”

  “Sorry, Ace—” she revved the bike “—fortunately for you, my life is not your problem.” And then she pulled off with record speed, her fear fueling her need to get the fuck away. There was no time to chitchat, especially with a guy who thought he had the right to fucking interfere and play the part of her so-called knight in shining armor—which he wasn’t.

  What she had spent years running from had finally caught up with her. The past that haunted her day in and day out was finally at her doorstep and she didn’t know how the hell it happened. She played it safe. She did everything she was supposed to do to ensure she could never be found. But somehow, someway, she had to have slipped up…because he found her. He would always find her. No matter where she tried to run to, where she tried to hide, her demons would always track her.

  Tonight only made her realize yet again that the chances of her being free of him anytime soon were slim to none.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 5

  The words fuck and me were the only two words going through Hunter’s mind as he watched Scarlet speed away on her black-and-white Kawasaki Ninja 300.

  A fucking Kawasaki Ninja 300.

  Was it weird that Hunter had a hard-on the size of fucking Texas after being in a potentially dangerous situation where someone could have been seriously hurt or—if Hunter’s suspicions were correct—kidnapped? Probably.

  But Jesus Christ, he couldn’t help it. Hearing the sound of that engine and knowing the power that woman was able to handle between her legs was making him think of hard fuckery that had a person sweating like a farm animal within seconds. Scarlet Woods was nothing like the woman he imagined he would find. The way she fought back when she was being attacked, and the fact that she was able to handle a huge-ass blow to the face like that made Hunter think this wasn’t her first run-in with these fuckers. No woman was that tough without a reason. She knew how to fight, how to push back pain in order to survive, and that made him even more suspicious about what really was going on.

  Hunter heard a groan behind him and turned around to see one of the fuckers whose face he just smashed in try to get up.

  He moved toward the groaning idiot with the swollen eye and broken nose, determined to get some answers out of him. “I believe you’re going to tell me what just happened here.”

  The man stood up straight and wiped at the blood below his nose with his sleeve. “You made a mistake here, Keaton.”

  Instantly, Hunter felt all sorts of alarm bells going off inside his head. “How the fuck do you know who I am?”

  The guy smiled with blood stained teeth. “Do you really think he would give you this job without keeping tabs on you?”

  “Who? Wolfe?” Hunter took another step forward.

  “Who the fuck else?”

  “Why?”

  The guy spat out some blood before wiping his mouth. “I’m not telling you shit.”

  Now that was exactly the opportunity Hunter was waiting for. The golden opportunity to show this asshole exactly who he was fucking with.

  Hunter launched forward, grabbed the guy by his collar, and within seconds the son of bitch was eating gravel. “Talk.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Hunter pushed harder, squeezing the guy’s face deeper into the asphalt. “What’s your name, sport?”

  “Blow me.”

  “Okay, Blow Me. Talk, or you’ll be tasting fucking gravel for the next ten years.”

  “I’m not telling—”

  Hunter pulled the guy’s head up by his hair and slammed his face back onto the ground, hearing the distinct sound of teeth cracking. “Would you like to be eating your food through a straw from here on out?”

  The guy didn’t answer.

  Hunter pushed harder. “Ten seconds before your teeth become one with the road, man.”

  “Fine,” the guy gritted out. “Okay, I’ll talk.”

  “Great.”

  Hunter lifted him up by his shirt. “Why is Wolfe keeping tabs on me?”

  “Do you really think he would trust anyone when it comes to her?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Blow Me snorted. “Let’s just say she’s very special to him.”

  Reaching the end of his patience, Hunter kneed him in the gut, causing the guy to spit up more blood. “Listen, Blow Me, stop with this whole riddle me this, riddle me that bullshit and start talking straight.”

  “My name is Jeff.”

  “I prefer Blow Me. Now, unless you would like to get reacquainted with the fucking gravel, you’d better tell me exactly what the fuck is going on.”

  “Look, man, all I know is that this girl is special to Wolfe somehow. I don’t know why or what the story is with this woman, but I know he’s been searching for her for years and not a day goes by that he doesn’t stare at this one picture he has of her. It’s fucking creepy.”

  “Why is she running from him?”

  “I don’t know, man. All I know is th
at he has a fuck load of people looking for her, and our orders are to bring her to him alive.”

  Hunter let go of Jeff’s collar and rubbed his chin, his brain rushing in a million different directions. Suddenly nothing about this job made any sense. Now he was convinced that the suspicion he felt when he talked to Scarlet back at the bar wasn’t just a case of him being paranoid. Something was up, and he needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

  Determined to get some answers, Hunter took an intimidating step forward, towering over the asshole whose nose wouldn’t stop bleeding. “He let you follow me, hoping I would lead you to her?”

  Jeff nodded his head as he cracked his jaw from side to side.

  “Where were you supposed to take her?”

  “No way, man. I’m not talking anymore.”

  With narrowed eyes, Hunter stared at him speculatively. “You’re scared of this Wolfe guy, aren’t you?”

  Jeff looked up with a big old duh expression on his face. “Uh, yeah. Do you even know who the fuck this guy is? Dude, you don’t fuck with a man like Wolfe.”

  Sure, Hunter had done a little background check on this guy before he accepted the job, but there was nothing that had him thinking this guy was trouble. His background was squeaky clean. No record. No warrants of arrest. Not even a fucking unpaid parking ticket. Nada.

  “I don’t get it.” Hunter pulled his hand through his hair. “Wolfe is nothing but an ex-Marine.”

  Jeff gave a step back and glanced at his two partners who were still unconscious on the ground. “Listen, man, I’m done.” He held up his hands. “You can fucking smash my face any way you’d like, but I ain’t talking anymore.”

  Hunter could see that he wouldn’t get any more information out of Jeff. There was no mistaking the distinct look of fear on the guy’s face—which was no longer because of Hunter’s threats, but because of Wolfe.

  “Fine.” Hunter let out a breath. “Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and let you join your friends over there.”

  Jeff backed up slowly, never taking his eyes off Hunter. Smart man.

  Just as it seemed like Blow Me was about to bolt in the other direction, he stopped and turned back around. “Wolfe is hell-bent on finding this girl. If you ask me, she needs some serious protection. Tonight.”

  And with that, the guy sprinted off into the dark, leaving Hunter with a head full of unanswered questions.

  Hunter had no idea what the fuck he had just gotten himself into. But this guy had just left him with one big-ass red, flashing warning sign saying that Scarlet was in serious danger…and that he had to find her. Now.

  Chapter 6

  With a loud thud, Scarlet slammed her apartment door shut behind her. Taking a deep breath, she reached for her ribs, cringing as she finally acknowledged the pain that radiated through her body. All she needed was a few seconds to gather herself—to calm her thoughts. But while she stood there listening to her erratic heartbeat echoing inside her head, hoping like hell the pain would subside, she knew time was a luxury she just didn’t have.

  He found her, just like he always had in the past. The last three years had been the longest she was able to hide from him. And the best part was that she had been closer to home during the last few years than she had ever been since this game of cat and mouse started.

  The day Scarlet decided to run, to disappear, she never thought it would all turn out like this. Not only did she have to leave behind the only kind of life she had ever known, but she lost so much more than that. If she had known that her running away would have had this kind of domino effect, she never would have done it. Never in a million years did she think it would go this far. She’d hoped that once she left, she would have been free of him. But apparently, she was really fucking wrong.

  She pushed herself away from the door and grabbed the bottle of Jack on the kitchen counter before rushing to her bedroom. Alcohol was the only thing she had close enough to pain killers. Grabbing the duffel bag and pouring whiskey down her throat all happened at once, and then she started to shove a lot of shit in her bag. This was not the first time she’d had to disappear in just a matter of minutes, running yet again. So she knew exactly what she needed to take with her and what she could leave behind.

  After grabbing the only gun she owned from her closet, she buried it between the clothes she had in the bag and headed out to the kitchen. She plucked the picture off the fridge and put it in her back pocket. That picture was the only thing she had left of her old life, and it was the one item she never left behind.

  Scarlet emptied the bottle of Jack, desperate to take the edge off, then grabbed her keys and headed to the door.

  The minute she opened the latch, the door got pushed open and she was met by one giant fucking brick wall.

  “Ace? What the—”

  He shoved her back into the apartment and slammed the door shut behind him. Scarlet tried to punch the bastard in the face while spitting out a string of profanities, but he grabbed her elbow, twisted her around, and pulled her back against his chest while clutching his hand over her mouth.

  “You need to shut up.”

  Her, shut up? Not happening.

  She bit down on his hand and as soon as he let go of her mouth, she pulled her head forward slightly. “Fuck you, asshole.” Then with all her strength, she flung her head back, hitting him straight in the face.

  “Fuck!” He let go of her arms and clutched his nose, allowing her to turn around and knee him in the groin. The son of bitch doubled over, now clutching both his nose and his nuts.

  Scarlet grabbed her bag and tried to rush past him. But the bastard reached out, grabbed her waist, and lifted her off the ground while she pounded her fists into his back. She didn’t think about the pain in her ribs when she clawed and scratched and even tried to sink her teeth into him. All she wanted was to get away from him as fast as possible.

  “I knew you were one of them.” She kept on slamming her fists into his back, his head—every place she could reach.

  “Jesus. Calm the fuck down, Lucy Liu.” He tightened his grip around her waist and rushed toward the couch, where he dropped her like dead weight.

  Within a split second she jumped over the back, leaving the couch between her and the man who had become a serious pain in her ass.

  “See, I knew the minute I saw you tonight you were fucking trouble.” She never took her eyes off him.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart, you had big flashing warning signs all over your fucking head too.” He touched his nose again. “Jesus, that hurt.”

  “Serves you right. Touch me again and I’ll fucking break it.”

  Scarlet slowly stepped to the side while he started pacing in the other direction, like they were both waiting for the other to make the first move.

  “We need to leave before they get here, Scarlet.”

  “Are you working for him? Is that why you’ve been coming to the club every day for the last two weeks? You were spying on me for him?”

  Hunter shrugged. “Yes and no.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ll fill you in on the deets later, but right now we need to get you the fuck out of here.”

  She snorted. “You actually think I fucking trust you?”

  “You actually think you have a fucking choice?”

  By now she was standing by the armrest of the couch while he was standing on the opposite side, neither of them taking their eyes off each other. It was like the world’s ultimate stare-off going down and she had no intention of losing.

  She leaned slightly over the armrest, glaring at him. “I always have a fucking choice.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’m guessing the two SUVs that followed me here would disagree.”

  Scarlet’s heart fell to the soles of her feet. Her spine instantly turned to ice and she knew her fear was plastered all over her face for him to see.

  So much for a goddamn poker face.

  She
swallowed hard, trying her best to stay strong. “If you think for one second that I will go back to that son of bitch without a fight, you’ve never been more wrong.”

  Hunter took a step toward her, but she instinctively backed up and shot him a warning glare.

  He paused. “Listen to me. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. All I know is that this guy hired me to find his long lost cousin. All this shit that went down tonight, I had nothing to do with that.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You don’t have to. But right now I’m your only way out of here. Those SUVs are already parked downstairs and I’m willing to bet they have each and every entrance in and out of this place covered by now.”

  Well, shit.

  “Like I told you earlier, Ace, I can take care of myself.”

  He snorted. “Yeah, my balls can vouch for that.” He reached down and cupped his balls protectively before focusing on her again. “But the way I see it is you have two choices here.” He moved closer, and this time Scarlet didn’t back up

  “Oh yeah? And what might those two choices be, Ace?”

  He held up his finger. “First of all, it’s Hunter. We’ve established that already.” He held up a second finger. “Secondly, your choices are this. You can either trust me and let me help you get out of here, or those SUV fuckers will have you on your way back to Wolfe within the next ten minutes.”

  Scarlet felt a chill spread throughout her entire body at the mere mention of his name. That name had been the boogeyman in her nightmares for years, the devil ruling her hell, and hearing it out loud triggered all sorts of nasty feelings and emotions inside her.

  She squared her shoulders. “For all I know you’ll have me on my way to him faster than those SUV fuckers.”

  “If that’s the case,” he slanted his head to the side, “then no matter what you do here, you’re fucked. So you might as well trust me and see if that pays off.”

  For a few seconds their gazes remained locked. His green eyes were so intently focused on her, she could almost feel his determination beam out of them. Even though Scarlet had a weird feeling about this guy, there was this faint little voice inside her head that told her he was right. She had no other choice but to trust him.