He took my hand and led me down another aisle, pulling a gun from the shelf. I shook my head instantly. “Don’t shake your head at me. I know you know how to use one of these. Claire tells us stories of how you and your dad used to go out hunting. This has a safety and it should be easy for you to handle.”
“I can’t carry that onto school grounds, Hunter.”
“Then keep it in your car or at home in the night stand. I just want to know that if you need it, it’s there.”
“But it’s not registered to me.”
“We’ll get that sorted out. For now, take it with you. I’d rather deal with the consequences of you carrying without a permit than you being dead.”
I took the gun hesitantly and checked the magazine, seeing that it was fully loaded. I wasn’t really comfortable with having a gun in my apartment, but that was mainly because I was scared I would get jumpy and shoot anyone that scared me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Lucy. I just want to make sure you’re safe. I know that I’ve fucked up a lot, but if you ever feel like you’re in danger, please don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll always be there to help you.”
I almost melted at his words. As much as I wanted to stay mad at him, he really was a sweet guy, he just had a very backwards way of showing it. I went home that night and put the gun in my nightstand, not wanting to have it with me on the campus. I wasn’t even sure if it was allowed in my car in the parking lot. But at least at night I felt safer.
✯✯✯✯✯
A few weeks passed and every week, I received some kind of note. It was always something about belonging to him. Whoever him was. I held onto the notes I received and after the third one, I decided it was time to bring them to Hunter. It creeped me out to know that this person knew where I lived and worked and was bold enough to walk right up to my apartment.
I stopped by Hunter’s house after school the night I received the third note. It was already eight o’clock at night and I figured he would be at home. When he answered in just his jeans, I couldn’t help but let my eyes trail down his beautiful body to his bare feet.
“Lucy, what do you need?”
“Uh,” I cleared my throat and looked up into his gorgeous eyes. He was smirking at me. He knew that I wanted him. “I got a few more notes. I saved them for you.” I handed over the plastic bag with the notes inside. The look on Hunter’s face sent chills down my spine.
“When did you receive these?”
“One every week for the past few weeks.”
“And you’re just saying something now? Lucy, this guy could have attacked you at any time.” He grabbed my hand and jerked me inside, looking past me into the darkness before he shut the door. “I should have just made you come home with me when I had the chance.”
“Hunter, nothing’s happened. It’s just a bunch of notes. I just brought them over because you had asked about them last time.”
“I’m going to give these to Sean at the police department. He needs to see what he can find out and you need to have some protection.”
“I really don’t think that’s necessary. I mean, it’s really creepy and everything, but they’re just notes.”
“They’re just notes now. What happens when it escalates? How bad does it have to get before you’ll see reason?”
“Look, I appreciate your help with this, but what would you have me do? Go into hiding because of some notes?”
“No, but I could hire someone to watch out for you.”
“You want to hire a security detail for notes? Hunter, do you even hear yourself? That sounds so ridiculous.”
“Lucy, this is what I do. I’ve seen shit like this get out of control way too fast and I really don’t want you to be one of the ones that happens to.”
“Look, I’ll take extra precautions when I’m going places, but I’m not ready to have someone follow me around.”
“If anything ever happened to you, I’d never forgive myself,” he said quietly, stepping toward me. His hand brushed down the side of my face and my eyes drifted closed. I knew he had me. He was drawing me in more and more every time I saw him and soon, I wouldn’t be able to resist him anymore. I stayed until morning and then did the walk of shame back to my apartment. When I got home, I got the strange feeling that I was being watched. I shook my head, hating that Hunter had ignored me and had someone follow me. I got ready for school and left, feeling someone’s eyes on me the whole way to school. I didn’t see a car following me, but then I wasn’t trained at spotting a tail either. I was going to have to have a talk with Hunter about this when I got out of school today.
✯✯✯✯✯
I was exhausted by the time I got home. My feet ached from the damn stilettos I had decided to wear and all I wanted to do was take them off and slide under my covers on my very uncomfortable futon and get some really bad sleep. I walked up the stairs to my apartment, each step more grueling than the last, and stopped dead in my tracks at the top of the stairs.
My door was ajar and I could see clearly that the doorknob was no longer attached like it should be. I took a step back, freaking out because there could still be someone in my apartment. The rational part of me said that I should just leave and call the police, but the sick and twisted side of me wanted to find out for myself if there was anyone in there. To prove to myself that I could live on my own and take care of anything that got in my way.
I took a step forward and slowly pushed the door open, peeking inside around the door. When I didn’t see anyone, I shoved the door open the rest of the way and stood in complete devastation. I didn’t have much, but what I did have was scattered and broken all over the floor. My dishes were broken on the counters and the floor, along with all my glassware. The few pieces of furniture I had were slashed and the stuffing pulled out all over the floor. Walking toward the bedroom I cringed when I saw feathers from my down pillow floating around the room in the breeze. My window was busted and the curtain was billowing from the air floating in. My futon was smashed and the sheets were slashed like someone had been in a violent rage.
But what really got to me was the message on my wall above my bed, with what looked like black marker.
You should have stayed away from him
The bathroom was no better. Makeup filled the sink basin and nail polish was spilled all over the floor. I wouldn’t be getting my measly deposit back when they saw the newly painted linoleum floors. I called the police first to report the break in, but then I dialed Derek’s number, knowing I would need someplace to stay tonight. There was no way I would call Claire. She would totally freak out over this and I didn’t want her to see how bad it was. With a sigh, I dialed Derek’s number and waited for the ring. I could hear men talking in the background when he answered and prayed that I could keep him and his army from showing up here, ready to tear someone limb from limb. It occurred to me that whoever broke in here was most likely upset because I had been seeing Hunter and when Hunter came to the same conclusion, there would be no escaping him.
CHAPTER SIX
Hunter and Lucy
HUNTER
“Read ‘em and weep, boys,” Ice said as he placed his cards on the table. He had three sets of fish that were all the same. I flung my cards down on the table, pissed that I had lost the whole night at Go Fish. Ice collected the pot that had close to $100 in it. $20 was from me. I was sure this time around I was going to win. There was nothing that killed a night like losing $150 at Go Fish.
“Whose fucking idea was it to play this stupid game anyway?” I grumbled.
“Yours,” Chance pointed at me. “I believe you said that you were awesome at this game. How many times have you won now?” He asked around the cigar hanging out of his mouth.
“You know you look fucking stupid, right?” Chance was dressed like an old time poker dealer, complete with the visor, vest, and armbands. He brushed off his vest and glared at me.
“I look fucking awesome. You’re just
jealous because you could never pull off this look.”
“Nobody can pull off that look, dickface.” I leaned across the table and flicked my cards in his face. His cigar fell from his mouth when he jerked back and landed on his pants. He stood quickly, flinging his chair backwards as he picked up the cigar and brushed the ash from his pants.
“These were $100 pants, asshole.”
“And now they’re holy pants,” I said, pointing to his crotch where the cigar had burned through.
Chance threw his cigar in the sink behind him and popped his knuckles as he swiveled his head side to side. “Let’s go. I can take you any day.”
“You couldn’t take me out to breakfast.” Chance was a sniper in his military days and he was damn fast in the ring, but he didn’t have the bulk that I had. There was no way he would take me if we went toe to toe. Not unless I was completely distracted, which never happened.
“Hey, Lucy. What’s up?”
I looked over to see Derek on the phone, his eyebrows drawn in concern. His eyes flicked to mine and my whole body stiffened.
“Why did you go in?…Alright, I’ll be right there.”
He swore and his eyes refused to meet mine. “What happened?”
“Lucy’s apartment was broken into.”
My jaw clenched in anger and Derek held up both hands. “Calm down, man. Let’s just go check it out and see how bad it is.”
I nodded, unable to say anything else right now. The drive over was fast, but I didn’t remember any of it. All I could think of was the fact that this wouldn’t have happened if she was staying with me. If I hadn’t fucked it all up. I ran up the steps to her apartment and almost punched the fucking wall. The police were blocking off her doorway, but I could see her inside talking with an officer as he wrote down notes. Her place was completely trashed. There wasn’t a single thing in her apartment that wasn’t destroyed.
Derek let out a low whistle behind me and shook his head. “Damn, looks like they fucked up her whole place. That’s rough after she just lost everything in the fire.”
More footsteps clomped up the stairs and it took everything I had to tear my gaze away from the destruction in front of me. It looked as if every fucking member of Reed Security had shown up to see the damage. Sean Donnelly, a local detective and friend of Sebastian’s, was leading them up the stairs. There had to be about fifteen of us crowded on the tiny landing outside her apartment. Sinner stood tall, trying to peer in and see what had happened.
He whipped around and glared at me. “I thought we fucking talked about this.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We fucking told you that this wasn’t a good idea,” he said in anger.
“Whoa, I didn’t do this shit. I never would have taken it this far.”
Sean gave me a chin lift, obviously interested in the direction of the conversation. “What’s he talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing. Why don’t you just explain so we don’t have any confusion as to what happened here?”
I ran a hand over my face as all my teammates stood there wanting an explanation. “I was trying to find a way to get Lucy back. I came up with this idea to pretend like her apartment had been broken into and then I would come to the rescue.”
“That’s fucked up,” Ice said.
“I know. And when I ran it past Sinner, he explained why it was…fucked up. I swear, I didn’t do this.”
“You did what?” Lucy’s feminine voice carried over the murmurs of the men. I bowed my head, not wanting to see the anger on her face as she tore into me. “Please tell me that you did not plan to break into my apartment and destroy all my things in some desperate attempt to get me back.”
“I didn’t. I was just spitballing with Derek and the guys-”
She spun around and glared at Derek, whose eyes and mouth were wide. “You were in on this? My sister is going to marry you and you thought this was okay?”
“No,” he shook his head firmly. “We were trying to find ways to help him get you back, like running into you or letting the air out of your tire.”
She spun and narrowed her eyes at me. “You gave me a flat tire?”
“No. I mean, I was going to, but I didn’t get the chance. It went flat on its own.”
“What else did you do?”
“Nothing. I ran into you on purpose at the store, the spa, and the diner, but someone else was always with you. This was my only stupid idea and I swear I didn’t do it.”
“What were you planning to do?” She crossed her arms over her chest and I could see that I was now dealing with Demon Lucy and I had to tread carefully.
I glanced at the guys and they were all slightly shaking their heads, telling me to keep my mouth shut. “Uh…Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you. Tell me now.”
I swallowed hard, knowing that if I wasn’t honest with her now, there would be no hope for us. “I was just going to make it look like your apartment had been broken into.”
“Why would you do that?”
Another glance at the guys told me that I was fucking stupid if I answered that. “Because then you would call me to come help you.”
“Why would I call you? We broke up. I could just call Derek.”
“Told you, man,” Derek said quietly.
Lucy spun on Derek in anger. “So, you schemed to help? Someone that you knew I didn’t want a relationship with?”
Derek’s mouth snapped shut and I watched as Lucy slowly turned and glared at all the men around me. I couldn’t let them take the heat for me. This was on me, even if I wasn’t the one that broke into her apartment.
“Lucy, I swear, they didn’t have anything to do with this. This is all on me. I mean, not the apartment. I didn’t do that, but trying to get you back, I was just…fuck, I didn’t want to lose you.”
“And you thought that manipulating me was a good way to get me back? Do you see why I didn’t think a relationship would work? You just don’t get it. If you have to get me back by manipulating me, why would you want me? That’s not the basis of a healthy relationship.”
She shook her head and turned to Derek. “Can I stay with you for a little bit?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t think that everything’s good between us. I’m pissed that you went along with this.”
She pushed through the men and stomped down the stairs and out the door. I realized in that minute how utterly fucked up it was to try and worm my way back into her life. I had gone about this all wrong and now every one of my teammates was here to witness my shame.
“What do you want to do?” Cap asked.
“I need to get this shit cleaned up and fixed for her.”
He nodded and pulled out his phone, telling Maggie to get the girls together tomorrow to shop for Lucy’s apartment. When the police came out, they cleared us to go in, saying they weren’t able to pull fingerprints or anything. Whoever had done this was good.
I walked into her apartment and sighed at the state of it all. We’d have to work all night to make it look nice.
“Tell us what you want to do,” Cazzo said from behind me.
“Alright, we’re going to have to throw out all this crap. Just clear it all out. I’ll buy all new stuff. Once it’s all cleared out, we’ll scrub the place down until it sparkles. I want the walls painted and new doors put on. I want the whole place secured so that she never has to worry about coming home to this shit again.”
“You heard the man. Let’s get to work,” Cap barked at us. “Derek, call and get us a dumpster ASAP. Cazzo, see if Vanessa will go with you and get paint. Ice, your team can start carrying shit downstairs for the dumpster. Chance, your team can start cleaning. Use whatever supplies she has for cleaning and Pappy will get whatever else we need. Knight, Sinner, and Burg, get your asses back to Reed Security and get everything we need to make this place secure. Alec, Craig, and Florrie, I want a new do
or and windows installed by tomorrow. Get on the horn and find whatever you need. Bill it under Reed Security. Let’s move!”
I was fucking astonished how everyone came together and got to work without so much as a grumble. I walked into her bedroom and was practically fuming when I saw the message on her wall. This shit had to stop. I walked back out into the kitchen and saw that Sean was still talking with Sebastian.
“Sean, have you gotten anything on the notes she’s been receiving?”
“No, we didn’t find any fingerprints on the notes. Whoever is doing this isn’t giving us anything to work with.”
“That message is directed at me. I’m almost positive. I’m the only one she’s been hanging around.”
“What about people she works with?”
“There’s this one guy, Graham, but she only sees him at work. He came around a few weeks back, but she hasn’t been hanging around him.”
Sean raised an eyebrow at me. “How can you be sure?”
“Because I’ve been watching her as much as I can since she got those notes. This guy must be leaving them when I’m not around.”
“Which means he knows you’ve been watching her.”
I ran a hand along the back of my neck, irritated that I hadn’t spotted this guy before. “I haven’t seen anyone suspicious around. Sean, I swear to you. I didn’t do this. I would never do something like this to her.”
“I know that, but this means that she has a fucking stalker and we don’t have any evidence who it is.”
“I gave her a gun to keep here.” I walked over to the nightstand where I told her to keep it and saw that it was missing. “Fuck, it’s gone.”
“Was it registered?”
“Not to her.”
Sean shot me a look of disapproval.
“I was working on getting her a permit, but I didn’t want her unarmed when she was home alone. Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same for Lillian.”
Hunter: A Reed Security Romance Page 9
