Give Me All Of You (16 page)

He was beginning to think that she was c
old. Because he’d wanted her so much, he’d fooled himself into believing otherwise.

He clenched his jaw
. “Yeah, I don’t need your permission for anything,” he said unapologetically,” but I do have one recurring request, can I have you tonight?”

She jumped in her seat, he smiled
but it was without triumph. She kept her head bent and remained infuriatingly silent.

He
was pushed beyond endurance, crossing over to her he slammed his fist down on the sturdy wood, she jerked in her seat and finally me his eyes. “I thought our wedding night had changed some things between us.”

She tossed back her head and
he could see the effort it took for her not to lose control, it was there in the heightened color on her cheeks, her eyes sparked fire at him, “blame yourself for being stupid.”

The chain on his temper snapped.
“I blame you for torpedoing the things that could go right between us, for closing me out,” he roared unable to keep a lid on his anger.

She eyed him coolly, unmoved
. “Having Bronswort isn’t turning out to be the bargain you’d thought?” she taunted.

He shoved
himself back from her with steely effort. “In more ways than one,” he said softly, she flinched but didn’t attempt a rejoinder.

She
kept thumbing too fast through a file, pretending to read it.

A sense of failure washed through him.
“Look we need to talk about making some cuts to our staff in several locations, and also on Jacobe Aisle, just until things picks up.”

Alarm brought her face up,
distress pulled the corners of her mouth down, her hazel eyes dimmed. “I know … this should’ve been done a long time ago.”

He stiffened, eyed her critically, “a
re you blaming me?”

She
didn’t shrink back from his quelling stare. “No Hunter. I blame myself … my father. The money we saved from your free labor helped us keep some of those workers.”

He nodded stiffly, “thanks
for that at least,” he made for the door. The sound of the doorbell ringing below was right on time. He hoped it was the person he’d asked to come. He looked back at her, “I’m leaving for the worksite now, are you coming?”

Mina swiftly changed out of her dress into the requisite shorts and t-shirt that were more appropriate to a building site.

Voices came from downst
airs. Who could it be? Hermile hadn’t mentioned an intended visitor. She shimmied into her shorts and hastened from the room.

She skidded to a stop at the
bottom of the stairs and swiveled to the right. Angry, tearful voices were coming from her father’s closed library door. She rushed towards it. Hunter emerged from the door leading to the kitchen, two small brown sacks neatly folded in his hands.

“Stop Mina.”

She threw a disgusted look at him. “Don’t tell me what to do, he’s my father. Who’s in there with him?”

“
The person who’s least likely to cause him harm, your mother.” Hunter stared quietly at her, there was something in his eyes.

“Did you do this? Her lips trembled with a sudden rush of tumultuous
, painful emotions.

Hunter
grimaced. “Yea … I don’t know what’s going on with your parents but I think Hermile misses her. It would explain why he was so focused on your life.”

She didn’t know what to say. She was floored.  A stranger …
no, not a stranger Hunter had done something she’d been too wrapped up in her own misery and anger to attempt.

She quailed under the dose of humility she’d just been fed
, she tried for a bright smile and failed, she searched his lean, serious face. “You’re not an awful man, are you?”

He cracked a cheeky smile, the first she’d seen in days. “
So I like to think,” his eyes darkened with mischievousness, “but I’m still quite arrogant.”

Unbidde
n, a smile tugged at her lips, she grinned at him.  “I know,” she tore her eyes away from his with an effort to the brown sacks in his hand, “is that lunch?” She was starving.

“Yeah,” he came over and handed her one of the packages, she sniffed appreciatively, the pungent aroma of tuna and
gooey melted cheddar cheese wafted tantalizingly beneath her nose. She shot one last worried look at the library door. “I guess we should go?”

“Yes,” Hunter turned firmly for the door.

She’d dreamed about her parents coming to an amicable understanding for so long that now it almost didn’t seem real, and she was afraid that things would go horribly wrong again.

“Mina?”
Hunter’s stern voice slashed through her consciousness, he walked over and grasped her elbow firmly, but when he looked down at her there was only compassion in his dark blue eyes, “leave them alone, they can do this.”

She swallowed, then nodded, with one last
longing look at the library door she followed Hunter out.

Buckled inside the car, Hunter opened one of the bags and took a hearty bite of his sandwich

Mina followed suit, closing her eyes in ecstasy at the cheesy, salty goodness flooded her taste buds, “Yummy,” she purred.

“If you’re not referring to that
sandwich you’re courting trouble,” Hunter warned.

She gulped down the piece in her mouth. “
You wish,” but her voice wasn’t as firm as it should’ve been.

Hunter threw her a clear look
, “I do, every night and day and countless moments in between.”

She refused to an
swer those inflammatory statements. She took another bite, this time keeping her ravings private.

Hunter maneuvered the car expertly with one hand as they began their trip to Jacobe Aisle
. “Do you mind telling me what happened between your parents?”

She took her
time chewing. What the heck. After what he’d done for them, he deserved to know.

An hour later, trepidation began to settle heavy in her gut. They pulled into the dirt parking lot of Jacobe Aisle. Several
dozen cars and trucks were parked neatly about. At the mouth of the parking lot which led down into the unfinished resort, their staff was waiting.

F
acing several dozen men and letting some of them go, if only for a few months, until the business could recover, made her insides churn with nausea.

This was her fault.

She should’ve saved their company, but in the last several days she’d accessed the situation from Hunter’s perspective and she’d been staggered by their mounting debt. None of the resorts were making a profit, despite the influx of new cash.

Hunter
had saved them from bankruptcy but their hotels and resorts badly needed to be upgraded.

She wouldn’t have been able to keep the company afloat, no matter how many cuts she’d made,
not without Hunter’s money.

Feeling more than one
pair of hard eyes on her she lengthened her stride to keep up with Hunter’s. He reached for her hand, she flinched, but his fingers tightened in warning.

S
ome of the men snickered, others’ faces grew dark at Hunter’s show of authority. News of their marriage and Hunter’s ownership of the company was now old news.

Hunter surveyed the men.
“You guys know Bronswort’s been in trouble for a while now. We need to take some emergency steps for the next few months to balance the company’s finances,” a few muffed curses sprang up as the men realized where this was going. Hunter ignored them and carried on, “we’ve got to let some of you go for the next six months-”

“What the fuck?” An angry voice boom
ed out, there were several not so polite expulsions.

Randy Joseph
, Hunter’s foreman, stepped forward from the agitated throng of men. His dark face was mottled by rage.

He stalked towards them
and Mina stared mesmerized as he approached, his sinewy arms swinging at his side, his body coiled with leashed threat.

Randy leveled a sneer at her.
“This is your fault, you stupid bitch.”

“Joseph
!” Hunter’s voice thundered above the small gathering, killing every murmur. Hunter chucked her behind him and drew close to Joseph, “I will allow myself to believe that you’re simply overcome by this bad news, as we all are, but I require an apology for my wife who’s your boss,” his words were quietly spoken, but a muscle throbbed in his jaw as he and Joseph stared malignantly at each other.

Joseph
threw back his head and laughed the crass sound whiplashed around them, making her cringe, then he eyed her with repulsion. “Everyone knows you and your daddy fucked up the company a long time ago-”

“Joseph” Hunter barked
his hands bunched into fists. “That will be enough. Get your things and go.”

Joseph’s
dark eyes turned black, the creepiest sensation of evil skittered down her spine. How had she missed seeing Joseph’s poisonous attitude before?

Her own anger ignited. She had been the one to hire Joseph. She scuttled out from behind Hunter’s broad back.
“You may be right, we screwed things up, but you won’t be around to fix our mess. You’re fired.”

There
was no shock in Joseph’s eyes, only mockery. “I already got another position, bitc-”

Hunter was in front of her
, his fist zipped through the air and Joseph landed with a thud on the ground, sending up a fine mist of dirt.

He lunged to his feet, the
men roared, some charging towards them. Hunter was once again firmly in front of her, his fists bunched, his body tense as he awaited the oncoming onslaught of angry workers.

She
nearly blacked out the cry in her head was so agonizing, then she realized that she was screaming as she rushed towards Hunter, threw herself in front him. She turned on the men, contorted with rage. “If any of you lay one hand on my husband I will make sure that you never work for another reputable company on this island ever again.”

Dozens of eyes glared angrily at her.

Hunter’s hands closed around her waist, she yelped as he picked her up and placed her back behind him, out of harm’s way.

“Put
me down now, Hunter,” she shrieked mortified by his actions. She was trying to help him!

Hunter la
ughed heartily, his eyes warm with feeling. “Calm down there my little tiger. No one’s going to start something they’ll regret today,” he gazed meaningfully at the men, “are you guys?”

A rumble of dissension came but no one moved.

Joseph had gotten to his feet, he threw them a look of pure malice then stalked off.

Hunter ignored him and reached into his pocket. He read the names of each man who’d be staying and those who’d be laid off.

Her adrenaline began to abate. Another thought started to form inside her.

She waited until the last man, who they had laid off,
got into a beat-up white truck with rusty doors.

Hu
nter was quiet, his face drawn by the day’s unpleasant events. “It’ll be alright soon,” he murmured.

Her face
ached as though frozen. She looked up at him. The last rays of the sun were shooting out from behind fat clouds, pinks and reds streaked across the sky. “How do you know that?” she asked unable to believe it.
His face sobered. “I’ll work my tail off to make sure that our company survives.”

She was shamed
by the fierce devotion in his eyes. “Why do you care about Bronswort? It’s just another acquisition to you.”

Hunter’s face was fervent with determination.
“Mina, Bronswort is ours, not mine, doing whatever we can to fix it is our job.”

He was right. She shou
ld’ve seen it long ago. She could help. “I quit.”

Hunter’s jaw dropped
, stunned. “What did you say?”

The hurt
began to swell inside her, she felt like she was about to burst apart. With a cry, she turned from him. One moment she was walking, the next her feet were pounding the ground as she ran.

Hunter’s footsteps raced
behind her. He caught up, wrenched her to a halt. “You can’t mean it!”

She accepted his hold, relished it. I
t would be the last time he’d want to touch her. But he had to let her go. “I’m not like you Hunter. I don’t fool myself into believing I can save what’s lost. I won’t stick around and watch Bronswort go under.”

He let her go
as she’d known he would. “You’re distraught. The Mina I know loves Bronswort. She did everything she could to save Bronswort … even marrying me.”

She swa
llowed a sob. “You don’t know me. You think stalking me, buying off my father and a few nights of sex are enough for you to know me? Hunter’s eyes always so dark, grew darker still until she could barely see the whites around them. His entire body stiffened as though he’d received a mortal wound. “Mina, you don’t mean-”