Hunter (34 page)

“That doesn't make you a worse person than him. That makes you honest, Gaige. Even if you told me you got out because you were afraid, I wouldn't think less of you.” I touched his cheek. “You're my best friend, and you know I love you, but even if Hunter dies... I won't let you do what you promised. No—now you let me speak,” I demanded, pressing my thumb over his mouth to stop him talking. “I don't need you to look after me. I need you to find your person worth dying for.”

He kissed my thumb, then pulled my hand from his face. “Fine. But no matter what happens with him, I'm staying in New York.”

“Really? The Cali boy is gonna uproot to the big, bright city?”

He shrugged. “L.A. is kinda slow. And, not gonna lie, today was kind of a rush.”

“Bored of drug smuggling?”

“No... Just thinking about how boring life would be if I didn't have you kicking my ass. And chicks with real tits wouldn't go amiss every now and then.”

Of course. There had to be an ulterior motive.

I shook my head, smiling yet again, and softly laughed when he grinned wolfishly and opened his arms for a hug. I swung my legs around the seat and threw myself against his solid body. He 'oomped' as my shoulder hit his ribs, but locked his arms around me anyway.

“Gaige?”

“Mhmm?” His exhale ruffled my hair.

“I'm scared,” I said quietly.

He tightened his grip on me, and then kissed the top of my head. “That's okay. I'll stay with you. Go to sleep, babe.”

The warmth from his body was reassuring, and somewhere between the steady beat of the rain and the comfort of my best friend, I closed my eyes.

***

I had no clothes.

That was my first thought as I woke up. I was still wearing the same, blood-covered clothes as yesterday, and a proper look through my drawers had only trumped up an old N-Sync concert t-shirt. There was a hole in the back, along the hem, but it fit.

Just.

And here I thought I'd never be glad that concerts had always run out of my size.

I was used to huge houses, but the Hamptons house far eclipsed the Calabasas one. It was closer to a fucking castle, and I hoped that, at the very least, Angelo could spend some time getting me up to speed with everything. He was the only person I knew who knew everyone.

The only one that I knew was alive for sure, that was.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Gaige said when I eventually stumbled into the giant kitchen.

I rubbed my eyes. “What time is it? And is there coffee?”

“Right here. Have mine.” He slid a steaming mug across an island in the middle of the room. “And it's eleven-thirty.”

“Really? Wow. Thank you,” I said, grabbing the mug and hugging it. “Don't you dare,” I added when he caught sight of my shirt. “It's all I have that fits me and isn't covered in blood.”

“Ah, the glamorous life of a mafia boss,” Angelo teased me, walking in behind me. He touched his hand between my shoulderblades and kissed the side of my head. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Alive,” I answered. It was the best I had. I didn't want to actually feel anything, so existing was a good way to go, it seemed.

“That's a great start.” He chuckled. “Dad's associates are on their way and will be here in a couple hours. I wanted you to sleep and wake up without your house being invaded by some of Los Angeles' dodgiest bastards.”

“Well, now I feel better.”

“Don't worry. They're a little on the dodgy side, but they're trustworthy. They get shit done. They'll help until we can get you on your feet. Unfortunately, most of your father's ranked men died yesterday—some by their own hands, some by the guys under them that sided with you, but you have one or two capos left.”

“Great,” I muttered, lifting my mug to my lips. “And they're all gonna want to take orders from a twenty-three year old girl.”

“You're hardly a girl.” Gaige looked pointedly at my chest.

“If I wasn't in dire need of caffeine right now, I'd throw this at your head. Eyes up, Pontarelli!” I snapped my fingers, and he jerked his attention to my face, then winked.

“I'm gonna go see what trouble I can find.”

“And some clothes. Please.” I smiled sweetly.

He sighed heavily. “And some clothes.”

I waited until he was gone, and then looked at Angelo. “He wants to stay, you know.”

“Yes.” He nodded, moving to the coffee machine. Sun poured in through the window, and I found myself missing the rain just a little. “He told me last night. He hates Los Angeles and the pressure Dad puts on him. I always had it easy, because one day I'd lead the family, but he's always been... floating.”

“Do you think he'll stay? Permanently? Or is it just an idea he's gotten into his head?”

Angelo leaned against the counter. “I don't know. I think it'll be good for him to spend some time in another place and find himself. I learned a lot about myself here. Gaige might be twenty-four, but he doesn't know who he is yet. He has no identity in L.A.”

Slowly, I nodded. “That makes sense. I think you're right. He's always been hiding in your shadow.”

“We're like the American versions of Prince William and Harry. I'm William.” He smirked. “He's Harry. The party boy who has limited responsibility.”

“I could give him some. Eventually, of course. But I think he'd be good with it. He just needs the freedom to be somebody.”

His smirked changed to a smile. “I think you're right.” He pulled the coffee mug from beneath the machine. “You have a little time. You have allies in this city who will be pleased to see your father removed from power. Some won't be, so you'll have to prove yourself, but I can stay as long as you need me to. I know everyone here.”

“Thank you,” I said honestly. “I have no idea what I'm doing.”

“I know.” He winked. “She'd be proud, you know. Alexandria.”

I took a deep breath.

“I once heard her tell Dad that she hoped she'd be here to see you kick your father's 'sorry fucking lying ass.' I know how hard it was for you. She'd be proud you kept your promise to yourself.”

“It wasn't hard. Not really,” I admitted. “Me or him, right? That's how it was. I think I knew that. Now I can get the Romano family back to how it should be.”

He slowly smiled. “I called the hospital this morning and pretended to be Carlo's cousin.”

“He doesn't have any cousins in America.”

“Yeah, but the hospital are idiots.” He snorted. “He's awake. He's stable, but still pushing critical. Luckily he'd just bled, and no major organs had been hit. He had his appendix removed and a blood transfusion. He drifts in and out of consciousness, but they think he'll be okay.”

If only 'think' was good enough.

I would believe it once he was standing in front of me again... And not before then.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Between visiting with other families to introduce myself with Angelo's help and slowly rebuilding the chain of command that would ultimately be beneath me, I had little time to mourn or think about Hunter. Angelo called daily and kept me updated, and while the news was always good, I refused to think about him being with me until he was.

Apparently gunshots—and emergency surgery—took a long time to recover from. Especially when you lost so much blood you really did almost die.

I felt like I'd become even closer to Gaige—and Angelo—in the past seven days. They'd both pinned themselves to my sides, becoming unofficial sort of bodyguards, and I realized that I didn't want Angelo to go back to Los Angeles.

Right now, he was my favorite person, because he'd done the one thing I never thought he could do: Find Hunter's parents.

Apparently, they'd left New York and hidden in Yukon, Canada, after Hunter turned eighteen. It explained why he'd never mentioned them, but I got the feeling they didn't particularly like him doing the job he did.

There was also, according to Angelo, the fact that Hunter's dad had once tried to kill mine.

Personally, I wanted to kiss him for that, but whatever.

That's what I was doing as I thought about how drastically my life had changed in such a short space of time—waiting. For his parents. I knew they were going to the hospital to see him before they came here, to me.

I'd been banned from the hospital. “You don't need to see him with tubes and machines and shit,” I'd been eloquently told. “He said no,” I was also told.

It sucked.

I wanted to see him, but at the exact same time, I was afraid of what I'd find.

I'd already pushed money aside for the medical bills that were sure to make a millionaire cry.

I looked around the office. It was almost bare, as whenever I wasn't being the Boss and getting stereotyped, I was ripping out every ounce of my father that I could. I'd started with this room. It'd once been Mamma's office, full of light wood and bright paintings. Once upon a time, shelves that held stories of happily ever afters and endless recipe books lined the walls.

I wanted that again. I wanted a wall of books, a desk big enough for two, and a giant, squishy sofa to collapse onto when everything was done.

I wanted a little slice of light in a world I knew would be full of darkness.

I got up and walked out of the room. I couldn't touch many other places yet, and I was slowly getting used to someone always being around. I also had a crazy request for someone to find my asshole cat and bring him to me.

Armo Pontarelli insisted he was on the case. More likely that he'd delegated it, but I was happy someone was potentially bringing me the little tuna thief.

In the dead of night, when I couldn't sleep and flashes of Hunter lying on the floor, dying, ran through my mind, I missed my furry friend.

I wanted everything to flip back to how it was.

I almost wished that instead of coming here, I'd hidden. I had every chance, but my sense of desperation for this family, for the empire that belonged to me... Except the empire had crumbled, because the people that propped it up before never belonged to me. They belonged to my father, although it was never his.

Now I had to rebuild. Everything.

I just wished I had Hunter here to help me. It would have made everything so much easier, because he knew. He knew what he was doing. He knew the men who stared at me apprehensively every time I accidentally walked into a room where one of them was.

Proving myself was hard without having someone who believed in me wholeheartedly. Angelo and Gaige were there for me, sure, but I had doubts over how much they believed in me.

Hell. I had doubts over how much
I
believed in me.

“Hey.” Angelo poked his head around the living room door. “Carlo's mom just called. They're headed back to their hotel for now. She's feeling pretty crap after seeing him.”

“Okay. They're welcome to stay here if they want to.”

“I offered, but they're understandably apprehensive.”

“That's okay. Thank you for letting me know. Now I have an hour or so in which to lament my current situation. Excellent.” I dropped onto the sofa with a huff and swung my feet up onto the coffee table.

Ugh. If only it were raining and I could watch that. At least it lulled me into a flat sense of being.

“Lamenting? Nah, not a chance.”

My heart stopped at those words. At that voice. “What in the hell are you doing here?” I snapped, looking at him. “You're supposed to be in hospital!”

Hunter laughed, leaning against the door frame. “I'm not a fan of authority. They kept making me sit down.”

Angelo grinned, winked, and backed up, disappearing down the hall.

“That's because you need to sit down! Jesus Christ, Carlo!” I scrambled up and over to him, grabbing his arm.

He laughed as I guided him over to the sofa. His ass had barely touched the cushion when he tugged me down on top of him and cupped my face. Our mouths touched, the warmth of his kiss spreading through my body.

“Behave yourself!” I ordered him, pushing off of him. “You almost died, had life-saving surgery, and you're already home and trying to kiss me? You're insane.”

“I thought that was a well documented fact,
Principessa.
” He pulled me back down, and this time, I was prepared, so I straddled him, making sure to avoid his right side where I knew he'd be sore. In fact, I avoided his stomach all together.

I ran my fingertip down the side of his face and smiled, meeting his eyes. “Actually, I don't mean to brag, but I'm kind of the queen now.”

“I know that.” He stroked his hands up and down my back, his silver eyes glittering. “But you're always gonna be my
principessa.
Wait.” He stilled. “You are still mine, right? Gaige didn't go homing in on you?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “No. He didn't. Not for a second.”

“Good.” Hunter slid his arm up my back and cupped the back of my neck. He pulled my face down to his. “So you're queen, huh? How's it feel?”

“Pretty shit, actually,” I admitted with a small smile. “Nobody in the family trusts me yet and I'm trying to figure out who
I
trust. And nobody has returned my cat yet.”

“Fucking cat,” he murmured, brushing his lips over mine. “Get another.”

“No. I want my cat. Not just a cat.” I tapped his nose. “Are you in pain?”

“A little.” He winced as he admitted it. “I kinda discharged myself so the drugs are in short supply.”

I pushed off of him. “Did Angelo know?”

“Of course. Who do you think drove me home?”