Forever Yours, Sir (15 page)

“You’ve never really said how she died.”

“Becaus
e I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied, turning around.

“Fine. I get it.”

“Get what?” he replied, looking confused.

“I get the way you want this relationship
, or whatever it is we have, to go. I’m to share everything, tell you all the skeletons in my closet, but when it comes to your life then I’m to shut up and understand that you don’t want to talk about it.”

Hunter ran his hand through h
is hair. “That’s not it at all—”

“No? Then how come you won’t talk to me? How come you keep shutting me out? Is it because you don’t want to be with m
e anymore? Is that it?”

“What? No.” He stepped forward and took her shoulders in his hands. “How could you think that?”

“Because you never share anything about yourself, Hunter. It’s not just your sister’s death, it’s your whole past. You know everything about me and I know next to nothing about you. Now you’re completely shutting me out and I want to know why.”

“Cady, I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m honestly not doing this to hurt you or to shut you out. I just have a few things to deal with at the moment and I can’t talk about them right now.”

She knew that if she tried to pull the same thing he’d pester her until he got her to spill every little detail. But other than tying him down and torturing him she had no way of getting this out of him.

“Got it. You need some space to deal with whatever it is you’ve got going on.”

He sighed, smiling a little. “Thanks for understanding, baby. I knew you’d get it.”

No, she didn’t get it. Not at all. Maybe she was bein
g a needy bitch. Maybe other women would let their men just shut them out like this, but Cady couldn’t.

“I’m tired. I’m going to go to bed.”

“All right. I’ll be in shortly,” he replied.

“Actually, I think it would be better if I went to bed alone. You’ve probably got things to do tomorrow and I was planning on sleeping in. I’m beat.” It wasn’t a lie. She was exhausted.

Hunter narrowed his gaze, but surprisingly just nodded and walked to the door.

Pain stabbed her insides, she
was positive he’d protest, that he’d drag her off to bed and tell her there was no way she was sleeping alone tonight. She followed, holding the door open. He kissed her forehead.

“Lock the door behind me,” he ordered before stepping into the hallway.

Cady shut and locked the door before turning and sliding her back down the door until she sat on the floor. She brought her legs up to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. Tears dripped down her face.

She should have known better. She should have never h
ave opened up and let him in.

“Bastard
…you bastard,” she whispered, fighting back tears.

***

“What the hell have you done to Cady?” Gray asked as he stormed into Hunter’s office.

Hunter looked up from his computer screen. “What are you talking about?”

Gray threw his hands into the air. “You can be a real ignorant asshole, sometimes. Why the hell did you get into a relationship with her if you were just going to cut her off like this? Couldn’t you have done it to someone who we don’t have to work with!”

“Cut her off, what do you mean?”

“Hunter, you’re here all the time, studying those photos. You snap and snarl at everyone and you’re completely ignoring Cady.”

“I’
m not ignoring her. Cady understands that I need some space right now. I’m trying to figure out what all these photos mean.”

“Really? She understands? So you told her?”

“No,” Hunter said impatiently. “I explained this to you. This could be dangerous and I want to keep Cady far away from this.”

“You’re letting your guilt over what happened to Angie cloud your actions, Hunter
, and if you don’t wake up soon you’re going to lose that girl.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about
.”

“Don’t I? Have you even looked at Cady lately? She’s lost weight
that she couldn’t afford to lose, there are huge bags under her eyes and she’s basically shut herself off from everyone. Fix this, Hunter. Pull your head out of your ass and tell her what’s going on.”

Hunter rubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t.”

“God, you’re a selfish bastard.”

Hunter looke
d up in shock. “I’m trying to keep her safe.”

“You’re doing what is best for you. But you’re not looking at it from her point of view. That girl has lost everyone in her life. They either rejected her or died
, her foster families, her aunt, her partner. How do you think that someone who has had everyone leave them would take you pulling back like this? Without an explanation? I’d bet she sees it as you rejecting her.”

“I haven’t rejected her.”

“Does she know that?”

Gray left, shutting the door firmly behind him
and Hunter sat back with a groan. Christ, was Gray right? Did she really think he’d rejected her? It had been a week since he’d discovered the thumb drive and he still had no clue what the hell was going on. Connor was still trying to find out where that building was. Hunter had started driving around the city, trying to find it. Pointless, he knew, but he felt like he had to do something, he felt like he was going insane.

He knew he’d shut himself off, but he truly thought Cady had understood after their conversation last weekend. He needed to speak to her, he couldn’t bear the idea that she was upset, that she thought he was rejecting her.

Standing, he strode toward her office, but only Tiny was inside, putting on his jacket.

“Where’s Cady?”

“She’s already left,” Tiny said coldly.

“Okay, I’ll catch her at home.”

“Not home. Bar with us.”

Right, Friday night drinks. She never usually went, but he guessed she didn’t have much reason to wait around
for him.

“
Gotcha, thanks.”

He didn’t really feel like trying to talk to her in a crowded bar with the guys
around them. He’d turn up at her place tomorrow with breakfast and this time he’d make sure she knew that he was in no way rejecting her.

As
he stepped through the door to his house an hour later, his phone rang. He glanced at the display before answering it.

“Connor, what’s going on?”

“I’ve found it,” Connor said excitedly.

“What?” Hu
nter said, pausing.

“The building. I know where it is.” He gave him the address. Hunter wasn’t familiar with the area, so he quickly wrote
it down.

“Got it, I’m going to head there now.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“You don’t have to.” It was a Friday night, after all.

“Hey, I’ve been dying to find out what this place is all week, you’re not holding me back now.”

***

Cady sat back against the leather seat in Gray’s car, barely managing to keep her eyes open. She felt like she hadn’t slept all week. She’d caught a few hours here and there but if she didn’t get a full night’s sleep soon, she was going to collapse.

“Thanks for giving me a ride home,” she said to Gray.

She’d decided to go out for a few drinks with the guys, sick of sitting at home on her own, but she hadn’t stayed long. Luckily, Gray had offered her a ride home because she really didn’t like the idea of taking the bus.

“You look exhausted,” Gray told her. “You need to get some sleep and eat more. You’ve lost weight.”

“Anything else you want to criticize?” she asked, staring over at him. “Maybe you don’t like the cut of my jeans? Is my hairstyle okay?”

He grunted. “Stop being a brat. I’m worried about you.”

Cady forced herself to stop being so defensive. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not and I know why. H
unter doesn’t mean to be an asshole, you know.”

“What?
Are you going to tell me it’s just part of his personality?”

“Sort of.” Gray pulled
over and parked outside of her apartment building. “Hunter has always had a protective streak when it comes to women, but particularly since his sister died. He feels guilty that he couldn’t save her. You’re the first woman he’s been involved with since her death and I’m afraid he’s being worse than usual.”

“So you’re saying that by pushing me away he’s trying to protect me?”

“Yes. Soon he’s going to wake up and realize what he’s done and he’s going to come begging for forgiveness. It’s up to you whether you listen or not, but I just wanted you to realize that there is a whole lot of background stuff going on.”

“Yeah, background information he doesn’t see fit to share with me,” she said somewhat bitterly.

“Hunter doesn’t talk much about his past,” Gray said. “It’s only because I’ve known him for ten years that he tells me anything. Just, don’t write him off entirely, okay? If anyone can teach him a lesson or two, it’s you.”

She had to smile at that even as she shook her head. Gray walked her to the door of her apartment building before his phone rang. She waved him off and walked inside, she could make it to her apartment by herself.
She took the stairs slowly. She really was tired. As she moved along the hallway to her apartment, the sound of a woman screaming had her stopping. There was the sound of something smashing and a cry of pain.

“Help!”

Not waiting to hear more, she raced to her apartment, unlocking the door before reaching for her phone. She called 911, telling them to send the cops as she grabbed her bat from under the bed. Throwing her phone on the bed, she raced out of the apartment. She pounded on the door but no one answered, not that she’d expected them to.

Another scream galvani
zed her into action and she took a few steps back then kicked the door. She had to kick it two more times before it flew open. Thank God for all those workouts Jaron had been putting her through.

Cady raced inside, bat raised. She found a man looming over a cowering woman in the living room, his fist raised as she whimpered in fright.

“Don’t even think about it, asshole,” Cady growled.

The ma
n spun around. He was a huge guy, at least six foot seven and he had to outweigh her by a hundred and fifty pounds.

“Who the fuck are you?”
he snarled.

“I’m selling cookies,” she said with a grin, trying for a nonchalance she didn’t feel. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. “Want to buy some
skinny mints? Although you look more like a peanut butter cookie kind of guy.”

He looked at her in confusion for a moment. “What the fuck?”

“You know it’s kinda sad watching you attempt to fit your entire vocabulary into a sentence,” she mouthed off. Fuck, what was she doing? She could actually hear Hunter yelling at her for riling him, but she couldn’t seem to help it. When she got scared she got mouthy.

Besi
des, he was still standing too close to the woman quietly weeping in the corner. The fact that she didn’t make a sound just about broke Cady’s heart. She wanted his focus on her, not on the poor woman behind him.

“You know, you got a real smart mouth on y
ou.”

“I know and I’ve still got all my teeth, what does that tell you?” She grinned at him.

“They won’t be that way for long.” He charged at her, his meaty fist raised in the air.

Cady swung out with her bat, catching him in the shoulder. He let out a roar but it didn’t even slow him down.

Shit.

She checked the urge to turn and run like
a chicken, instead ducking to the side at the last minute then swinging back with her leg. It should have caught him in the back of the knee and had him toppling.

Instead he just turned with a snarl. Fuck, who
was this guy? The Terminator?

She swung out with the bat again. He grabbed it with both hands, yanking it away easily and throwing it across the room.

Cady raised her arm, clenching her hand into a fist. The best defense was a good offense. She hit his stomach. Pain lashed up her arm. Then his fist connected with her face and she screamed as she fell backward, landing heavily on her ass.

Oh
God, that hurt. That really, really hurt.

He kicked her stomach, making her gag as she curled herself up into a ball. Another kick was aimed at her back.

He was going to kill her.

She wasn’t ready to die. She had so much to do. Like tell Hunter exactly what she thought of him.
Her head spun, nausea bubbling in her stomach.

He
kicked her thigh, making her whimper. She shut herself down, closing herself off from the pain.