Chapter 53

Kelly

I looked out toward the mountains as I sat with my head buried in Hunter’s chest. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I wanted to just curl up in his arms and sleep. I could feel his heart beating and I could smell the mixture of sweat and blood on his skin. Part of me didn’t believe any of it was real. Like I was going to wake up in my home covered in sweat and gasping for air as I came out of a feverish dream. But as I heard the crackling of his cigarette and felt his arm go around me, I knew I wasn’t dreaming. His massive hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me closer to him and I opened my eyes to look up at him.

His sweat and blood soaked face glistened as the sun crept out from behind a cloud and shined down on the destruction that had just fallen at his hands. I looked over at Lucas, sitting on his other side.

How would we come back from this? How would things ever go back to normal?

As I turned my head and let my eyes run over the limp, dead body of the Boston gangster that lay in front of me, I knew that they wouldn’t. Things would not go back to the way they had been. A person couldn’t unsee something like this. My life as I knew it was over. Lucas’s childhood was over too. We had both been dragged into Hunter’s world and there was no going back. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I wasn’t sad. I was just overcome by it all.

I thought back to earlier in the day. Up in the bedroom, Hunter standing up from our bed, me lying there beneath him. He’d been going to tend to Lucas. In that moment, I had felt nothing but pure happiness, like my life was just how it should be. Now, sitting here with the two of them and all the carnage around us, I felt the exact same.

When I had put on my housecoat and walked to the bedroom window, only to see a knife at Lucas’s throat, I felt terror. When two men came crashing into the room moments later and dragged me downstairs, I felt terror. As they dug a knife into Hunter’s back while I stood by helplessly, I felt terror. It was a terror that this life, my new life, was over. Not for one second had I wished I could go back to before I’d met Hunter.

As soon as I saw him come around the corner of the kitchen, I knew that this man was never leaving me. Even as a purely evil and sadistic person held a knife to my throat, I felt safe looking into the powerful blue eyes of the man I loved. The man who loved me back and would demolish anything in his path so long as I was safe and we were together. No one else could give me that feeling. No one but him. I wrapped my arms around him and the tears came. Not out of sadness, but out of pure joy and relief.

I slid myself off Hunter and pressed my lips to his cheek as he cradled my head in his hand. He turned his face toward mine and planted a kiss on my lips, digging his fingers into my hair. As I pulled back, I looked deeply into his clear blue eyes and saw the look I had been waiting my whole life to see. It was the same look he’d given me in the diner when we first met, and I knew it was the way he would look at me for the rest of our lives. I pressed my lips to his and then let my face run along the coarse hair that covered his jaw.

I moved around Hunter and took Lucas in my arms, pulling him close to me and cradling him. There was nothing to be said. Nothing that could be said. For a child to witness something like that was unimaginable. He had already seen so much pain in his short life, and now this.

“Lucas. Lucas, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. You are so brave, baby. You are so incredibly brave.”

I could feel tears streaming down my face as Lucas squeezed me back. I pulled myself away and took his head in my hands and looked down at him.

“Lucas, are you all right? Let me check you out.”

I searched frantically for wounds, but I didn’t see any. Any blood on him was not his. Relief washed over me as I kept weeping and holding him tight.

“I’m fine, Kelly. I wasn’t going to let them hurt you. I was scared, but I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.”

I couldn’t believe how calm he was and the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“Lucas, it’s not your job to protect me, but you were so brave. I’m so sorry.”

He just looked up at me with all the sincerity in the world.

“You’re my sister, Kelly. No one is ever going to hurt you.”

I felt the tears gushing harder. This boy, my sweet brother, I couldn’t believe it. The fire in his eyes was real. He was too young to have seen this and to be acting like it was all okay. How could he just be okay?

“Lucas, you need to know,” I started, trying to explain everything, but Hunter put his vice grip hand on my shoulder to stop me.

“Luke. Look at me, pal.”

Lucas’s eyes turned from me and stared up at Hunter.

“Luke,” Hunter started. “I don’t know what to say to you. Your sister is right. It’s not your job to protect anyone, all right? That’s my fucking job.”

Luke’s gaze dropped toward the ground in embarrassment, but Hunter wasn’t done.

“Hey, I’m not done talking here, pal. Look at me.”

Luke slowly brought his eyes back to Hunter.

“It’s not your fucking job, understand?” Luke nodded slowly. “Now, that being said, you fucking saved my life. You saved your sister’s life.”

Lucas lit up like he was receiving a medal.

“I was down, pal. I was down and I was hurt. That’s not something I’m used to. If you hadn’t had the balls to do what you did, we wouldn’t be sitting here. You’re a fucking champion, kid. Tough as fucking nails.”

Hunter reached over and squeezed Luke’s shoulder as he smiled bright.

“All of this, this shit. This is my fault, okay? And I promise you will never have to save my ass again. All right, tough guy?”

He pulled his hand away from Lucas’s shoulder and lit another cigarette.

“Don’t worry, Hunter. I’ve got your back. You’re my boy,” Luke said.

I turned to Hunter.

Lucas’s words had caught him off guard and Hunter choked on the smoke as he let out a deep and hard laugh. I would never get tired of hearing that laugh, even if it only happened rarely.

“You’re goddamn right, kid,” Hunter chuckled. “I’m your fucking boy.”