Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One)

by Morgan Kelley

  “Yeah?” she asked.

  Rogue pulled a ring box out of his pocket and placed it in front of her.

  Dakota lifted a brow. “That looks like an engagement ring box. I know there’s no way you’re proposing to my girl. Where’s my gun?”

  He laughed.

  “Yeah, not me. If she’s going to look like some gold digging woman, she needs the bling. I figured it was sitting in my hidey-hole, so why not put it to good use.”

  Rogue tossed him the box.

  Dakota caught it.

  When he opened it, Sarah gasped.

  “Holy shit! Is that real? It’s so pretty and sparkly! I’m going to enjoy wearing that!”

  He laughed. “Yeah, it’s a real diamond. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

  “Any woman would kill to sport that ring on her finger. I am going to love this undercover mission!”

  “Why are you walking around with that rock in your pocket?” Dakota asked.

  “Well, I knew you guys needed to be the part tonight, and I wanted Sarah to be safe. If they don’t buy it, you’re both dead. There will be more guns on that boat than in an armory. I hear they have high rollers and the party organizer protects them.”

  Well, in that case, he wanted that rock on her finger. Dakota didn’t want her to get hurt. He’d die if she was injured.

  Grabbing it, he picked up the ring and went down on one knee.

  “Will you pretend to marry me, you gold digging hussy?” he asked, grinning.

  Rogue watched them.

  In that second, he saw the man’s mistake. In fact, it was a train wreck.

  He wondered if Dakota realized how much that one thing he did hurt her. His fake proposal was mean when he wouldn’t offer up a real one.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said, taking the ring and walking out.

  Dakota got up.

  “Uh, what was that all about?” he asked. “She didn’t even let me put it on her finger.”

  Rogue sighed. “You’re an idiot.”

  “What? What did I do?”

  “You just fake proposed to a woman who’s dying for you to propose in real life. You’ve made her wait until you finish chasing another woman—granted a serial killer—but she’s on the back burner to a murdering lunatic. Why do you think she’s upset with what you just did?”

  He stared at the door.

  “Really? I was only joking around about what I just did. I wouldn’t hurt Sarah. I’d die for her. She’s my woman and my partner.”

  Rogue stared at him.

  “You’re a smart man, but you’re going to lose her. What you don’t seem to get is she is hurting. Maybe it’s because I was only raised with a mother, so I can see it from a woman’s perspective, but she is hurting, and she’s covering it with an act.”

  Was she?

  Dakota felt bad.

  “You have a huge problem. She waited six months when you left, but shit like what you just did…no woman will take that. She’ll move on. She’s only going to take it so long, especially when you’re a douchebag.”

  Dakota felt like a total asshole.

  He didn’t realize…

  “We should go,” she said, leaning in the doorway. “We have shit to do. I put your ring where it’s safe,” she told Rogue. “Thank you for letting me borrow it. I’ll make sure you get it back when I’m done playing gold digging slut. We wouldn’t want to tarnish that ring’s beauty with that act.”

  Rogue tried to soothe her hurt.

  “It’s okay, Sarah. I think it’ll look gorgeous on your hand. You couldn’t tarnish it. In fact, you are more special than that stone. That shines brighter than any diamond.”

  Her eyes filled with tears.

  “Rogue, thank you for that. I really needed to hear it from someone. Sometimes, I forget.”

  Dakota could see that Rogue was right.

  He’d hurt her.

  Why was he such a dick to this woman, and why did she even love him?

  “Sarah,” he said.

  She looked over at him. There was so much pain in her eyes that it made him ache for her.

  His girl wouldn’t do that to him.

  Ever.

  In fact, all night, after he woke up in the throes of the nightmare, she held him.

  She’d talked him down.

  She’d waited for him when he stupidly ran away.

  She’d quit her career for him.

  And here…he’d made her wait to feel important enough to him—behind a killer. That had to be soul crushing on some level.

  Dakota couldn’t lose her. He’d been his happiest the last few days since she arrived.

  He watched her grab her gear.

  “I’ll be in the car. I want to run some searches on the people Mr. Harrington has in his employment.”

  She walked out, slamming the door behind her.

  Dakota closed his eyes.

  “Yeah, you were right. I really jacked this up.”

  He laughed and patted him on the back.

  “You’re seven days past jacked into ‘I’m not getting laid for the next month’ territory,” Rogue said. “There are days I’m glad I’m single. This is one of them.”

  Yeah, Dakota had to fix this.

  “We’ll make sure we don’t lose the money or the ring tonight,” he said. “How much is that ring worth?” he asked, out of curiosity.

  “About twenty grand. It’s a perfect stone. It has a sister ring. I happen to have that one too. I like to steal in pairs for a rainy day.”

  He looked at him.

  “Twenty grand? For a ring?”

  He laughed. “When you have the best woman in the world, doesn’t she deserve that?”

  He didn’t know what to say. He could NEVER give Sarah a ring like that. He was an aging ex-soldier who had worked as a civil servant.

  There was a limit to the tricks he could pull out of his hat, and buying her that rock…?

  Yeah, he couldn’t work that one out in his head no matter how he swung it.

  “I hope we don’t lose it.”

  Rogue shrugged.

  Did it really matter if he did?

  To have what Dakota and Sarah had, he’d give back both rings and the rest of his trinkets.

  “It’s not important. It’s only a ring.”

  Yeah, clearly that wasn’t the case. To Sarah, it mattered a whole lot.

  Now he was seeing it.

  And he felt like an ass.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Danforth Harrington’s

  Home

  W hen they pulled up to the house, Stella was ready. She’d dressed for battle against a man she knew loved her but was also horrible when it came to being bossy. There was no way her father was going to take this seriously, and she suspected the worst.

  She’d run off.

  Gotten married.

  And he hadn’t been invited.

  This was about to go all kinds of bad, and Stella could feel the tension in Zayn.

  He knew it too.

  All she wanted was to drop the bomb and call it a day. That was about the only two good things that would come out of this, and she knew it.

  “We’ll do this, and then what?” she asked like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

  She wanted him to stay calm.

  Would he hurt her father?

  She wasn’t sure. That was going to come down to what the man said to her—and in front of him.

  “I know what you’re doing, Stella. I know that you’re trying to distract me from what is coming.”

  “Please don’t worry.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, well, picture how you’d feel if my mother was still alive and I said ‘hey! This is my new wife’, and she ripped you to shreds. I may be tough, but you’re the way to my soft spot.”

  “I can do this alone.”

  “No, you can’t, and that’s my point. I won’t let him call me names, Stella.”

  “I don’t want you to get mad and…”


  He stared at her.

  “And what? Kill him?”

  There was hurt in his eyes.

  “Yes, I was thinking that, okay? I was worried because I know how awful he can be on a good day. I don’t want him to die. I’ll just leave his life.”

  “For the record, it hurts that you thought I’d kill your father.”

  “Hey! Hold on there.”

  He didn’t speak.

  “You have been, for two days, telling me that you’re a killer, and you’ve done horrible things, blah, blah, blah, and when I’m honest, you get mad at me. You can’t have it both ways, Zayn. You either want me to accept the man you are, or you don’t. You need to choose.”

  She was right.

  Zayn closed his eyes.

  “I want you to be honest with me.”

  “Then I can’t sit here and pretend that it didn’t cross my mind that you wouldn’t make him swim with the fishes.”

  “Not really my style. I tend to…”

  She stopped him.

  “Pass on the details. It’s a little too morbid for me.”

  He got it.

  “Is this our first fight?” he asked, hoping they would get through it.

  “It will be if you don’t let me handle it. If your mother told you to leave me, what would you do?”

  “I’d leave with you.”

  “Well, then you let me have the same opportunity to do that for you. I don’t want to walk away from my father, but I will if it comes down to you or him.”

  He watched her spin his ring on his finger.

  Zayn would swallow anything for this woman.

  “Okay, Stella. Have at it.”

  She leaned in and gave him a kiss. It was gentle, soft, and he relaxed.

  When she pulled away, he was ready.

  He was going to put his trust in the woman beside him.

  “Let’s go. Then I want to check in with Rogue and Dakota to see if they found anything.”

  She set his hand free.

  “Then let’s go.”

  As she headed toward the building, the security that had been outside the house let her pass. They gave him a dirty look, but he didn’t care.

  Haters gonna hate.

  He was with Stella, and he didn’t give a shit.

  As they walked in, she heard her father on the phone with someone. He was shouting about a business deal.

  No, he was verbally neutering the other person on the call, and it didn’t give Zayn high hopes for the outcome of this whole thing.

  They were screwed.

  Knocking on the door, Stella opened it a little and peeked inside.

  Immediately, her father waved her in and gave her a big smile.

  She returned it, and then she took Zayn’s hand in hers to squeeze it.

  As they stood there, the man was staring not at her, not at him, but at their joined hands. When he hung up, he stared at the man as if he was poaching some prime commodity.

  Oh, he was.

  Stella was his treasure.

  “What’s going on, pumpkin? You look all pretty today in your dress.”

  “Hi, Daddy,” she said, releasing Zayn’s hand to give him a kiss and hug. It was likely the last one she’d get. Stella knew he was going to lose it.

  This was her goodbye.

  “I love you, Daddy.”

  He gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Are you okay? You have those lines around your mouth like your mother used to get when she was upset.”

  “Do I?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I have to tell you something.”

  She headed back to Zayn and held his hand. “Last night, Zayn and I eloped. We got married.”

  No one spoke.

  There was that pause as the man let that whole sentence sink in.

  “I’m sorry. I know I didn’t get that all. Pardon, Stella? What did you say?”

  “I’m now Stella Thundercloud.”

  She held out her hand and showed him the beautiful ring she was now wearing.

  Oh, and the wedding band.

  Danforth began going red.

  Here was where it got ugly.

  “You had better be shitting me,” he said. “This had better be some joke where you start laughing and then start packing for your residency rotation in New York.”

  Well, she might as well say it all.

  “I’m not going. I’m staying here with him. We’re starting our life, here, in New Orleans.”

  It was as if a bomb went off.

  The man exploded, and the security team behind him actually took a step back.

  “Over my dead, bloated, worm-ridden, puss-filled, decaying body is THAT ever happening. You are NOT marrying HIM, and you are NOT quitting with only a residency between you and being a doctor!”

  “You have a point.”

  He seemed to calm down.

  “I’m not marrying Zayn because I already have.” She, again, held up her left hand and showed him the beautiful ring and band.

  “No.”

  “Well, I’m closer to thirty than ten, so…”

  He picked up a paperweight and threw it at the wall. The metal chunk stayed embedded there.

  Still, Zayn said nothing. He was going to let his wife handle this.

  Nobody in the room dared to move.

  “No, Stella, this time, you’ll listen to me. I’ve entertained you the last few days because of what happened. I get why you’re doing what you did.”

  “Yes, because I’m in love with him.”

  He stared at her.

  “No, because you were just traumatized by an abduction. That’s why you’re doing this! Take the ring off and stop playing. Being married is serious. You’re not playing house with him. He’s a fucking mercenary, and I raised you better than that! What’s next? The gardener?”

  Zayn was waiting for that, and there it was, but still…he said nothing. Stella wanted to handle this, so here it was.

  Behind them, Rogue, Sarah, and Dakota walked in to see what all the yelling was about.

  “Daddy…”

  “You are NOT staying married to him!”

  The team looked over.

  “You got hitched?” Rogue asked.

  “Yep. Last night,” Zayn offered, as he clenched his wedding ring hand.

  “Congrats!” Sarah said, smiling at them. “I’m happy for you!”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Raged Danforth Harrington. “DO NOT congratulate them. It’s being annulled today! This is some sick and twisted misfit match made in Hell! That…man is not staying!”

  Rogue had the same look on his face as Zayn.

  That man?

  Mercenary?

  Was this man judging them?

  At least either of them could ensure their loved ones were safe. Danforth hadn’t done that at all.

  “Daddy, stop! He’s my husband!” she offered, trying to protect the man she loved.

  Zayn was her husband, and her father was destroying any chance of staying in her life.

  “He kills people for money. That’s the lowest of the low. He doesn’t care about life. You’re twelve months from being a doctor. Maia wanted that for you! You will not throw your life away for him!”

  She stayed calm.

  It wasn’t easy.

  “What did I want?” she asked. “You know, since this is my life, and you only get one.”

  “To be a doctor! You were going to practice pediatric medicine!”

  “Want to know why?” she asked.

  “Not particularly! Hell! You could be a garbage collector, but you will not be the wife of a killer!”

  Dakota objected. “Hey! Take it easy there. We’re helping you find your daughter.”

  No one missed that he’d included himself in that.

  “When I want you to talk, then you can talk! Now shut it!” he said. “You work for me!”

  Dakota stared at him.

  Who did this man think he was?

  They
may be assisting him, but they weren’t getting paid by this man to be insulted or berated.

  “Well, Daddy, I’ll tell you what I wanted. All my life, I wanted to be a mom. I wanted the one thing I didn’t have. My own mother drowned.”

  “Motherhood isn’t all that you think it is, Stella. You’re better off being a doctor.”

  She wasn’t having it.

  She was an adult.

  “If I could be like my own mother,” she began, but he stopped her.

  “She wasn’t the saint you believed her to be.”

  “Stop. You’re angry, but she didn’t…”

  He cut her off again.

  “She wasn’t. Want to know why I didn’t go with her? Want to know what she was doing on that boat?”

  Stella had a feeling it was going to be bad.

  This was the last thing she needed.

  The past month had been hell. She didn’t need to lose more of that innocence she’d had before being abducted. She needed something that would remain sacred, and that was her dead mother.

  It was all she had left of the woman.

  “No. Stop it!”

  Zayn tucked her beneath his arm to let her lean on him. He knew the man was out of control, and he was just trying to hurt her.

  He was trying to hurt anyone he could.

  “Well, you’re old enough to be married, then you’re old enough to know the truth. Our marriage was falling apart. She and I realized it was a mistake. She wasn’t on a trip. We were separated. I lied to you so you wouldn’t hurt for the rest of your life, knowing she left you!”

  “No.”

  “Yes. She didn’t want you.”

  “Lay off her,” Zayn said, “If you want to make someone hurt, you come at me. You don’t dare go at her. Hasn’t Stella been through enough?”

  The man didn’t let up.

  “Your sainted mother bailed on her only child because she thought motherhood, and you sucked.”

  She gasped.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Zayn said, moving toward the man. “I’m going to put my fist through his face.”

  Dakota stopped him.

  That wouldn’t solve anything.

  “You’re an asshole,” Sarah said. “Stella is trying to survive what happened to her. Cut your daughter a break and stop being a dick.”

  He glared at his daughter.

  “Oh, she wants to be a big girl, and with that comes the horrible truth. Your mother left you. Welcome to the wonderful world of being married. Love doesn’t last forever. What will you do when he dumps your ass? Certainly not be a doctor since you’re bailing on that—oh look! You’re just like your mother. No ability to commit!”