Hunter (16 page)

“There.” I put the bag on the countertop in front of him. “Clothes, money, documents, gun. If Isaiah tries to kill me, I can run.”

“And if he tries and he hits you?”

I shrugged. “Then I die.”

He paused for a moment before he smiled softly. “You're just like your mamma.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out, because I didn't know what to say. I didn't think I was. Mamma was brave and in control. She was strong and fought for what she believed in, no matter what the consequences were. She'd argued many corners that should have cost her her life.

“Maybe your idea about killing Enzio isn't so crazy after all,” Darien added, pushing off the island as three knocks sounded at the door. He disappeared before I could say anything then, too.

Ironically, I was starting to wonder if it
was
crazy. But then again, he was sending the fight to me...

“Well fuck me. Alexandria, you haven't aged a bit.”

I knew the voice.

I turned my head slowly toward the door. My eyes fell on Isaiah. Like Darien, he didn't look like he was in his fifties. He looked closer to thirty, and the only hint of his age was in the small lines at the corners of his eyes, and the silvery wisps of hair above his ears.

“You know damn well I'm not Alexandria, Isaiah,” I said slowly, watching him as he walked toward me. “So cut the bullshit.”

He grinned. It was an easy grin that spread across his face. “I know. I just like fuckin' with ya, Adriana. Look exactly like her, and it doesn't get much better than that.”

My tongue ran over my bottom lip. “What are you doing here? Finishing Hunter's job?”

“Why? You ordered him to kill your father, Princess? Because if so, sign me the fuck up.” He slapped his hand against the kitchen island. “That dumb fuck.”

“Give it a goddamn rest with the dumb fuck, Isaiah,” Hunter sighed, walking in behind him. “Enzio's a dumb fuck. We know. Everyone is a dumb fuck.”

“Shut up, dumb fuck.” Isaiah turned and clipped him around the back of the head. “He's lucky to be alive this morning,” he directed to me. “Snores like a pig.”

Hunter laughed. “Yeah, I'm the one who snores. You almost took out a window.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You had a sleepover? What did you do—strip down to your underwear and have a pillow fight? Eat raw cookie dough? Watch Bridget Jones' Diary?”

“She's got sass,” Isaiah observes, cocking a thumb toward me. “I like it.”

I glared at him.
I could safely say that this wasn't exactly how I imagined this conversation going. Nope, I didn't imagine Isaiah bringing the sass and swearing like a fifteen year old boy, and I didn't imagine Hunter heading straight for the coffee machine and the cookie tin.

What kind of parallel universe was I in?

“You look confused, Addy.” Hunter turned around, holding an empty coffee mug.

“Do I? I can't imagine why.”

“Probably 'cause you though I was gonna kill you, sweetheart,” Isaiah answered.

“No,” I responded flatly. “I thought we were going to bake fairy cakes together.”

He shuddered. “Fuckin' cake.”

Hunter laughed and put down the mug. His eyes found the bag on the island, and his smile twisted into a smirk. “Going somewhere?”

“I'm prepared to,” I answered, pulling the bag closer to me. “How did I know you two were coming in like you're best friends? I thought you were going to kill me.”

“Well, given that I've already tried and I failed miserably, there wasn't much of a chance of me trying to kill you a second time.” Hunter grinned.

“I can try and kill you if it'd make you feel better,” Isaiah offered. “I don't mind.”

“Uh... I think I'll pass, thanks.” I perched on the stool. “Once in a week is more than enough for me. Are you alone?”

“Did I come alone?” he questioned, and I nodded. “Yes. Your father trusts me entirely and is counting on me to kill not just you, but this shitfuck over here.” He jerked his head in Hunter's direction. “And let me tell you something, Adriana, your father is stupid.”

“Really, Isaiah, I didn't need you to tell me that. I figured that out ten years ago.”

“Yeah, that was a shit move. Cost him ten million, if you'd believe it. They gave him a week to find you, and when he couldn't, they doubled what he owed and made him pay in cash.” Isaiah pulled out a box of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. “Do you mind?”

“Uh, a little. We can go outside.” Armo smoked, so we kept an ashtray outside for whenever he was here. I stood and carried the bag to the back door. I wasn't going anywhere without the bag. It was my safety blanket in that moment.

Isaiah and Hunter followed me out, and we were joined by Darien just as Isaiah sparked a match.

“Rossi tried bringing you a dead bird,” Darien explained. “It was quite the feat to get it away from him and convince him you didn't need a crow.”

“He caught a crow?”

“Yeah, just a little one. He's probably trying to find you something else.” Darien sat down. “What are we talking about?”

“Them.” Isaiah blew out a long cloud of gray-blue smoke and tapped ash into a small tray in the middle of the table. “As I was saying, they made him pay up in cash, and that's when he expanded the family business into the darker sides that your mamma refused to. He needed to make back the money and quick, and re-establish the Romano family as something to be feared.”

“Darker sides?” I asked. “Like what?”

“Human trafficking, for one. Extortion. Blackmail. He's intercepted more than enough drug smuggling rings and paid them off. Made a shit ton that way.” He dragged on the cigarette. “Helped a cartel or two get their shit in and out for a good price. He's got a finger in every pie, but he lacks the brain cells to realize those pies are hot.”

I looked down. I wasn't surprised by that, but the human trafficking gave me chills. I knew the mafia world was full of lies and blood and darkness, but that was the one thing Mamma always refused to do. She said she'd rather die than help sick motherfuckers get their kicks out of vulnerable girls. She said that as a woman, it was her duty to protect them, not condemn them.

I shouldn't have been surprised. Not really. The man had tried to sell his own daughter to pay off his gambling debts.

“What about the finances?” I asked quietly. “Did he gamble them all away?”

“Ah-ha. No.” Isaiah stubbed out his cig. “He directed me to control the movement of the money, and I did. Right into a secure bank account in your name.”

“And he didn't know?”

“Why would he know? He doesn't like getting his hands dirty, Adriana. Whereas your mother was sure to double check every document, every dollar—hell, the woman questioned a fucking missing quarter once, only to find out you'd borrowed it—your father doesn't do a thing. He's lazy. He asks everyone else to do everything for him. He doesn't even leave the Hamptons. He's too afraid of death for that.”

“Ironic that his most trusted friend is the one who wants him dead,” Hunter snorted.

“I don't want him dead. I wouldn't mind it,” Isaiah admitted.

Darien shook his head.

I was getting more and more confused by the minute. I didn't entirely understand why Isaiah was actually here, except to convince my father that he'd take care of me. And not in a good way. Everyone was too relaxed, too chilled over the whole situation, and that made me more uncomfortable than if everyone was waiting for something to happen.

I felt like I was the only one waiting for it. I didn't like it.

“I'll be right back,” I said, standing and hugging the bag to my front. Three pairs of eyes watched me as I walked into the house.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was paranoid.

Maybe there was no 'maybe' about it. I felt a little paranoid. Like every corner I turned someone was waiting to kill me.

See. This was why I wanted to go to New York before now. But no. Wait, they said. It's a silly idea, they said. Even Hunter, who agreed to take me, said to wait. I didn't want to wait. I was tired of waiting. I wanted to do something.

I wanted to watch a bullet pierce my father's skin and the light leave his eyes.

I wanted to punish him for trying to sell me, then kill me, and for stealing everything that belonged to me. It was a dark desire, morally wrong, but I didn't care. There was no such thing as morals in this world. If you had morals, you had a target on your back. It was that simple.

“Addy?”

“I just... I need a minute, okay?” I turned to Hunter.

His piercing silver eyes locked onto mine. “What's wrong?”

“This whole situation. Don't you think it's incredibly fucked?” I tightened my grip on the bag strap. “
Two
of my father's men have just decided to switch sides? Am I expected to believe it's this cut and dry? This fucking simple, huh?”

“Maybe it is.” He shrugged. “Enzio isn't well liked. I can't say I'm surprised.”

“Well I am.” My fingers hurt, I was holding the bag so tightly. “I don't think it's this simple. I don't trust Isaiah. I don't think he's telling the truth.”

“Really? The getaway bag didn't clue me into that,” he said. Sarcasm dripped from every word, and he half-smirked.

“Fuck you, Hunter. This isn't a joke. You don't know that he came alone. For all you know, he's lying, and just because he said he's alone doesn't mean he is.”

“I know, I know. I'm not sure he is lying, though. I think he genuinely hates your father.”

“That doesn't mean he's not here to kill me,” I argued.

Hunter closed the distance between us and cupped my chin. “Do you really think I'd let him?”

“You wouldn't have a choice if he killed you first.”

“You've really thought this through, haven't you?”

I nodded. “I'm not much use to myself if I haven't. If he's going to kill me, he's going to kill you first because he knows you'll protect me. And if he didn't come alone, then, well. We're both fucked, aren't we?”

He tilted his head to the side, dropping his hand. “If you're really worried about this, why aren't you at the Pontarelli house? You'd be much safer there.”

Because I know you can protect me alone better than all of them put together.

“Gaige,” he said, half-correctly. “You don't want us near each other.”

I shrugged one shoulder. “I guess.”

“Why not?”

“Because you'll probably kill each other, and then you're no good to me?”

“Right. Like he'd get the first shot in.”

“And that right there is exactly why you're not there.”

Hunter reached forward and took hold of the bag. He gently pried my fingers off of it, took it, and set it on the coffee table. “Adriana.” He rested his hands against my cheeks.

He wanted me to listen. He always did that. Always had. Except now I was getting too used to the roughness of his palms against my skin, too used to how his fingers would brush my hairline and the way his thumb would ghost over my mouth every now and then.

Too used to how he made my skin tingle each and every time he touched me.

“I don't like Gaige Pontarelli. I'm not going to lie to you about that. But if being at the Pontarelli house means you'll be safer until we can figure out how to get rid of your dad, then that's where you need to be.” His eyes searched mine. “Even if it means I have to stay away from you.”

My heart, the fickle bitch, clenched at the thought. I didn't want him to stay away. I'd missed him so badly it was as though I'd left a piece of my soul behind when we left. I'd just gotten him back, even if he was different than I remembered, but he was still my Hunter deep down.

“Maybe that's the reason I'm not at the Pontarelli house,” I said quietly. “Because then you don't have to stay away.”

“Adriana,” he whispered, drawing me closer to him. “You have to put your safety first. I'm replaceable. You're not.”

I threw his arms off of my face and stepped back, bumping into the windowsill. “Maybe you are in your mind, but in my mind, you're not. Don't you get that, Hunter? You're irreplaceable to me. You always have been and you always will be. No one could ever take your place in my life, and I don't give a flying, monkey-screwing fuck what you say. I would rather put my life at risk to spend an hour with you than be safe and never see your smug goddamn face again!”

His inhale was sharp. “You're emotional. You're not listening to reason.”

“Just like yesterday then, huh? When I was too emotional to stop you from screwing my fucking brains out?”

“Stop!” he yelled harshly, diving his hand into his hair. He met my eyes with his, and I shivered as the intensity of his gaze swept over me with the force of a category five hurricane. “I would rather live the rest of my life knowing you're alive and never seeing you again. You never stopped being everything to me, Addy. Fucking
never.
You just stopped being there, but you never stopped being here.” He punches his chest. “You were always there, and you always will be. Stop being so fucking stubborn and keep yourself hidden from that piece of shit, for the love of fucking God!”

My heart thundered in my own chest, and annoyance bundled deep in my stomach. Call me stupid, and maybe I was, but there was no way I was going to live without him any longer. Above everything, he was my best friend, and I loved him unconditionally. Even when he was being a giant, sexy prick.

“No.” I stood tall and stared him right in the eye. Determination flooded my veins as reality sunk deep into my body.

It hit me then.

My mother was the queen.

That was my destiny.

I was forever intended to be the head of this family. She knew somehow—I knew it in that moment. Like a whisper she'd given me beyond all doubt.

“No.” Two letters, so small. “I won't hide from him anymore. I have nothing to hide from. Everything he has belongs to me. It's my fucking empire. My fucking business. My. Fucking. Family. It never will be his. Enzio
Costella
will never be a fucking Romano.
They're my blood, and blood doesn't lie. The Romanos are
mine
.”

Hunter walked toward me, but before he could touch me, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him against me.

“And you
will
respect that choice,
Carlo.
I don't want to say it again, and I'll be fucked if I'm going to. You will respect my choice and you will do what I want you to. You say you don't play, well I'm done with the game, too. My life is not motherfucking Monopoly. Is that clear enough for you?”