Lucky
I knew something was wrong before she came outside.
I had a horrible fucking feeling in the pit of my stomach and a keen ability to sense trouble.
I was experiencing that godawful feeling of nervousness and I didn’t fucking like it.
I wasn't a nervous person as a rule, it just wasn’t an emotion I had the need to feel, but Hope Carter seemed to have the power to knock me on my ass. The longer she spent inside that house, the more it grew inside of me.
She made promises last night; promises of love and loyalty.
I knew she meant them then.
It was easy to make plans when the danger wasn’t present.
But now she had to face her demons.
I knew facing him wouldn’t be easy for her.
They shared a bond I would never understand.
I could only hope that she followed through.
Followed her heart.
Leaning against the side of my truck, I watched as she stepped out of the house and closed the front door behind her.
Empty handed.
My heart hammered against my chest as Hope carefully approached me, and I made a mental note of the despair in her eyes and the way she had her arms wrapped around her middle.
Not good.
Her eyes were swollen from crying, her nose was bright red, and she was hiccupping uncontrollably as she tried to stem her tears.
Immediately, my hackles rose.
If he fucked her over, I was going to lose my ever-loving mind.
Yeah, Hope and I had gone behind his back, and I held my hands up for that – it was on me – but Porter couldn’t talk. He'd made a goddamn career out of fucking this woman over.
"What happened?" I asked when she reached me. Tossing my cigarette away, I moved to touch her, but she quickly backed away, out of reach. "Sweetheart?"
"I can't," she began to say, then choked out a huge sob. "I'm sorry, Hu-Hunter, but I…I can't go…" Sniffling, she wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve. "I need to s-stay here," more sniffling, "and f-fix my m-marriage."
And there it was.
Like I'd always known deep down.
His hand of cards was stronger than mine.
She would never leave him.
"Stay here," I deadpanned. "With him."
"Don’t hate me," she sobbed. "Please, don’t h-hate me."
The burning sensation spreading across my chest was nothing compared to the absolute incredulity I felt as I looked at how miserable she clearly was.
Goddamn, did anyone look at this woman?
Did anyone care to look beneath the surface and see just how fucking unhappy she was?
I could see it.
Always had.
"The fuck did he say to you?" I demanded, not buying this bullshit. She looked about as happy about fixing her marriage as I did. "Hope?" When she didn’t answer, I rubbed my jaw and stifled a growl. "What happened to loving me?"
"I do," she squeezed out. "I meant every word."
"Then what changed?" She covered her face with her hands, but I wasn’t having that. She wasn’t hiding from me. Gently peeling her hands away, I crouched down so that we were eye level. "Talk to me, HC."
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "He needs me more."
"Don’t!" Shaking my head, I backed away, fucking raging and needing to move. "Don’t give me that shit." I ran a hand through my hair in exasperation. "There's something you're not telling me."
"I was fooling myself last night." She forced the words out like they were killing her. "I got lost in the moment…thinking I could leave him."
Bullshit.
Bull-fucking-shit.
"What did he do?" I demanded, trying to coax the truth out of her. "Threaten you? Fill your head up with guilt? Make you feel like it's your fault that he's a weak-ass bastard who fucked his own damn recovery?" Reclaiming the space I'd put between us, I tipped her chin upwards, forcing her to look at me. "Tell me what's going on, sweetheart," I growled. "And I will fix it for you."
"I can't," she whispered, clenching her eyes shut. "I just need you to go."
"I'm not going anywhere," I shot back heatedly. "Not without you."
"Please, Hunter," she choked out. "Trust me on this."
Muttering a string of curse words, I sparked up a cigarette and took a deep drag to calm my fucking temper that was rising at a rapid rate and directed solely at her husband. "Leave you here?" I shook my head. "You're asking me for a goddamn miracle here, HC."