Surrender to Me (37 page)

She walked into the next room and sat on the sofa, taking Mamá’s hand in hers. A second later, the doorbell rang, startling her mother awake.

Logan grabbed the food and dispensed with the delivery boy in less than sixty seconds. Hunter set out paper plates, grabbed beers and bottles of water. The Colonel headed her way.

“Carlotta, time to eat. I’ll make you some eggs and toast.”

Mamá turned and saw all the little white cartons and the pile of fortune cookies on the table. “No need to trouble yourself, Caleb. Chinese is fine.”

“You’re taking heavy antibiotics. Spicy foods may upset your stomach.”

“Really, do not trouble yourself for me.” She reached out to Kata for a hand up.

The Colonel edged Kata aside. “I’m going to take care of you properly. No arguments.”

Before her mother could speak, the big man bent and lifted her mother into his arms.

Mamá looked Kata’s way, shock spreading across her face. “Caleb, I assure you, I can walk. I do not wish to be a bur—”

“Barely twenty-four hours ago, your fever was one hundred three. That’s a serious illness. You’re family now. You’ll find the Edgingtons take care of their own.”

Her mother gaped at the tight-lipped soldier. “My husband would not approve of you holding me this way.”

The Colonel’s expression turned even more grim. “With all due respect, Carlotta, any able-bodied man who expects a woman to cook for him hours after being released from the hospital doesn’t deserve the privilege of having a wife.”

True, but the Colonel was matter-of-factly making sure her mother didn’t exert herself . . . and not really hearing her discomfort. Kata winced.

Mamá’s mouth pursed. “I—I would prefer to walk.”

“When you’re stronger.”

“Colonel, I can help her. We’ll be fine,” Kata assured.

“Hunter says you’re only staying until tomorrow afternoon. It’s best that your mother and I get used to each other. I mean to take care of her until she’s well.”

End of conversation, at least as far as the Colonel was concerned. Mamá surely heard that tone, too; neither she nor Kata argued again.

If the man was going to insist that her mother eat something bland, like eggs and toast, then Kata could fix it and put her mother at ease.

As the Colonel set her mother at the kitchen table, then tucked the throw blanket around her, Kata headed for the kitchen. “Eat your dinner while it’s warm. I’ll make Mamá’s meal.”

Hunter frowned as he followed her into the kitchen. “Honey, you’re about to fall down. Sit, Kata. Eat.”

“Mamá needs my help, and I’m fine,” she lied as fatigue crept in. “The snack earlier helped.”

He grabbed her arm. “I’m willing to bet that you don’t last ten minutes. Stop being so stubborn and let me do this.”

Yanking away, she anchored her hand on her hip. “Do I need to get a string? You remember I told you that if you tried to control me outside the bedroom I would string you up by the balls?”

“Fine,” he said, his hands up, wearing a hint of a smile. “Let me help you at least.”

It went against his grain not to demand, and Kata appreciated his offer, but she wasn’t helpless. “Bacon and eggs aren’t hard. Really, I’m good.”

Hunter didn’t say a word. He merely watched as she rummaged through cabinets until she found a pan and set it on the stove with shaking hands. Exhaustion pulled at her.

“Do you think your mom will want juice?” Hunter asked, opening the fridge. “I can get you some, too.”

Hell, why hadn’t she thought that Mama might want juice? Worse, her hands wouldn’t stay still.

Right now, she didn’t have the strength to string Hunter up by the balls even if she wanted to.

“Sure. Thanks.”

Hunter poured the juice, setting a glass aside for her and giving the other to his dad, who stood waiting with a frown.

Ignoring them, Kata trudged to the refrigerator. Her legs felt weak as she withdrew the staples she needed. Gripping the door handle to keep her upright, she dug for the energy to lift the bacon and set it on the counter behind her, then grab the carton of eggs. She drew in a bracing breath.

As she made her way across the kitchen again, eggs in hand, her weary legs gave out for a split second, and she stumbled. Tears filled her eyes as she realized Hunter was right; she didn’t have the energy to do this.

Hunter was there to catch her with an arm around her waist and a hand under the eggs. His voice was a soft warmth on her cheek. “Honey, are you okay?”

Damn it, she didn’t want to admit weakness. “I’m just tired. Give me a minute.” She reached for the juice glass and gulped some. “I’ll be fine.”

The “family” face he’d been wearing all evening dissolved. The “Dom” face took over. “Don’t lie. Time for you to rest. Dad, will you take care of Carlotta? Kata and I are going to have a chat.”

With that, he dipped down and picked her up, bringing her against his chest.

“What are you doing?” she screeched.

Logan did his best to smother a laugh.

Hunter didn’t answer. Marching down the hall, he shouted, “Save us some dinner.”

Kata wriggled . . . but he wasn’t letting go. “Damn it, put me down! Don’t you dare embarrass me like this.”

No response. A dozen steps later, he kicked the door shut behind him, then dropped her. Kata felt the bed at her back. Her fury seethed. Was he fucking serious, dragging her away in front of everyone like a child in need of discipline?

But she couldn’t deny that the bed felt heavenly soft. Kata was sorely tempted to close her eyes and sink into sleep.

“This is totally ridiculous.” She struggled to find her feet and get them under her.

“I agree.” His big body came over hers. His face, even in the shadowed room, said he was very serious. “I love your spirit, but if you don’t take care of yourself properly, I’ll intercede.”

Every word out of his mouth sounded too much like the Colonel talking to her mother, commanding and making decisions, without regard to her feelings. Without really listening.

Kata sagged back to the mattress, closing her weary eyes, though thoughts ricocheted through her brain. Were they both destined to be like their parents? The awful question crashed over her. Hunter behaved like a younger replica of his father—determined, protective, bossy, unbending. Just this morning, she had realized that she was more like her mother than she’d ever imagined.

A part of her had been hoping that Hunter was right, that the budding love between them would prevail. But how, when every day brought more proof that this relationship would probably destroy her—and she, slave to the increasing submissive weakness inside her, would let it happen?

Hunter leaned over and placed a brief kiss on her forehead. Even while furious, the connection between them sparked across her skin. Everything inside her yearned for more.

The truth hit her—a slap across raw cheeks. She’d fallen in love with a man who would steal her independence, even as she became addicted to his touch and was ruined for every other man.

The Colonel had cowed her mother into silence in less than five minutes. Granted, she was beat down with sickness and years with Gordon. But Kata wondered how long would it take Hunter to twist her into the same submission. Five years? One? Less? How long before she lost herself to him and her self-respect?

That was a question she had to make certain she couldn’t ever answer.

Chapter Seventeen

H
UNTER and Kata emerged from the bedroom to find that the Colonel had fixed Carlotta’s dinner, as he should have, in Hunter’s estimation. He’d spent the last twenty minutes with his lips against hers, his hands soothing her aching muscles. He wished she’d sleep, but she was too worried about her mother to do that now. Once Carlotta got settled, he’d be sure that Kata did the same.

Rolling his stiff, still-healing shoulder, Hunter reheated the Chinese food, then sat down to a plate of steaming vegetables, kung pao chicken, and steamed rice. Carlotta watched Kata pick at her beef and broccoli—and sneak a puzzled glance every now and again at his father.

After the meal, the men cleaned the kitchen with efficient silence, admonishing the women to stay put. Then the Colonel lifted Carlotta in his arms. Despite the woman’s tired protests, he carried Kata’s mother to her bedroom upstairs, down the hall from his own.

Kata followed the pair, then gave her mother some medicine, tucking her in. After Kata planted a kiss on her mom’s cheek, and Carlotta gave her daughter a weak smile, the woman drifted off. Hunter watched from the doorway as concern fell across Kata’s face.

“She’s going to be just fine.” He caressed her shoulder. “She’ll get plenty of rest.”

“If she takes a turn for the worse, I’ll get her back to the doctor ASAP,” his father vowed.

“Thank you,” she addressed the Colonel. “Remember that she’s hurting more than physically. She needs not only your care, but for you to listen to her.”

With that, Kata shouldered her way past them, out of the room. Hunter saw his father wince.

“I guess that’s your wife’s way of saying I’ve been a bulldozer. She’s right.”

“She thinks the same of me.” Hunter shoved his hands in his pockets. “You and I, we’re cut from the same cloth. I don’t know a different way to take care of Kata. I love her.”

The Colonel shot him an unreadable stare. “Tread carefully, son. If you hold on too tightly, she’ll force you to let her go.”

Hunter heard the voice of reason, experience.

“Is that what happened with you and Mom?”

He shouldn’t ask. Hunter knew it . . . but damn it, to this day he didn’t understand why his father had simply let Amanda go. The Colonel had never explained, and after she’d left, Hunter had never seen his mother again. Maybe understanding would help him with his own disintegrating union.

“In retrospect, yeah. I controlled so much of her life to avoid losing her that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.” The Colonel rubbed the back of his neck. “Amanda wanted more affection, wanted to know I valued her feelings and opinions. The only things I was good at were protecting her and, when I wasn’t deployed, showing her how much I desired her. It wasn’t enough.”

Hunter damn near choked. It sounded too fucking parallel. “She wanted to leave. I get it. But you gave up and let her go so easily.”

“You think that was
easy
?” the Colonel growled. “Letting her go was the fucking hardest thing I’ve ever done. I loved her, but didn’t know how to be what she wanted. I gave her some space, agreed to the separation. I’d hoped the strategy would show her that I’d changed. But then I found out she’d been seeing someone else. I was so furious, but up until the day she was killed, I kept hoping that she would come back to me. Eventually, I realized that I’d loved her enough to set her free. She just didn’t love me enough to come back. And I couldn’t force her.”

Hunter felt every word down to his bones. His mother had been so miserable being controlled that she’d walked out on a husband and three children and never looked back. Kata had been fighting him since before they said “I do.”

Dread rolled through his belly as the years peeled away. He remembered his parents’ ugly fights, the rage his mother had spewed. Her pleas for freedom. She’d finally grabbed it the only way she’d known how. Even in middle school, Hunter had become aware of the depression and anger that plagued his mother. Still, he’d been shocked when she left. He’d always assumed his father would keep the family together.

That should have been love’s role. When the Colonel had finally realized it, he’d let her go.

“I’ve known for years that you disapproved of me not fighting to keep your mother.”

His gaze snapped up, and he met his dad’s head-on. “I lost respect for you that day, sir.”

“You weren’t good at hiding it. I could hardly keep Amanda against her will. I did what I thought had the best potential for long-term success.” He shrugged as if he’d finally accepted years of pain and loneliness. “But after years of not hearing her unhappiness and not doing enough to change my ways, I was going to lose her, regardless.”

In that moment, everything crystallized inside Hunter. “You’re right. It takes a wise man to know when he can’t win. And a brave one to let his woman go.”

Hunter didn’t know if he was that brave.

The Colonel sent him a sad smile. “Apparently not too wise. Carlotta isn’t even mine, and I’m smothering her already. I know how I should behave, but I’m not good at implementing it. I suggest you learn, too.”

Or Kata will be gone.

Under the tangle of anxiety, denial, and anger, Hunter knew his father was right. And it made him sick to think that, in all the time he’d been trying to show her how much he loved her, he’d also been hurting her.

“You know that biblical verse, ‘Love isn’t selfish. It’s patient and kind . . .”

Hunter closed his eyes. Yeah, he knew, just as he knew he’d been selfish, impatient, and pushy. “Fuck.”

“Things between you and Kata aren’t as smooth as you’d like, are they, son? It’s hard when you’re newlyweds.”

“She already wants a divorce.” He forced the words out, pinching the bridge of his nose. It hurt to admit just how much he’d screwed up, but his dad was being so damn honest.

The Colonel sucked in a breath. “What do you want?”

“I love her. I can’t stand the thought of her not being mine.”

His father clapped him on the shoulder in understanding. “But if her heart isn’t with you, then she’s not yours anyway. Sometimes . . . you have to let go. Better to do it now, before she comes to hate you.”

His voice cracked as painful memories twisted his strong face.

Hunter watched his father leave the cozy room. He turned to Carlotta, seeing a lot of Kata in her slightly lined face. It hadn’t escaped his notice how disturbed Kata had been by her mother’s interaction with his father. Hunter just hadn’t been able to curb his own need to care for her in much the same way. But he saw now that if he didn’t change fast, he was going to lose her for good.

With a heavy sigh, he turned out the lights in the little bedroom, then wandered downstairs. Kata had gone off to bed, according to Logan, whose phone continued to beep.