Hunter brought a tray of drinks back to the table at Chuck’s pub. The entire group had decided to grab some dinner and regroup. Gabby’s hunched shoulders showed exactly how uncomfortable she was with the group. He kind of wished Melissa was here to sit with her. Melissa spoke normal person better than Toni did. She’d be able to make Gabby feel more comfortable and at peace with everything.

Toni, however, was telling Gabby about how she’d managed to “steal” her own private jet, and Gabby was having a hard time finding the humor in it.

Hunter handed out a beer to everyone and then set a hand on Gabby’s shoulder. He meant it to be comforting, but when she flinched, he had a feeling he’d done the opposite of comfort.

Toni had undoubtedly noticed too, but she continued on with her story, trying her best to distract everyone. “So I get the guy to come to the land I’m, you know, trading with him for the plane. He brought his own testers out this time to make sure there was actually oil there. Now, I know there’s no oil, but I need to make sure these independent testers get the oil I planted. So when they arrive, I put on my best Pollyanna act. Bright-pink lipstick, tits out, a gallon of hairspray. I basically looked like a cartoon character. And then I ‘helped’ the testers by telling them the best place to test, which, obviously they ignored, but I stood right over the spot I wanted them to test and gave off every single fuck-me signal I could.”

“It was pretty bad,” admitted Scott.

“It was amazing. I was amazing. My mother would’ve been so proud of the reverse psychology I used. Those poor guys never stood a chance. It was amazing.” A soft smile curled Toni’s lips as she talked about her mother, and Gabby leaned forward in interest.

“Where is she?” asked Gabby. “Is she like you?”

Toni’s face fell. “She passed away a few years ago. Actually, it was Hunter’s old boss who did it. It’s how we met.”

Gabby looked to Hunter. “That’s an odd way to meet.”

“A lot of things were odd where Sterling was involved.”

Hunter looked down at his beer. This was all information Gabby didn’t need to know.

She opened her mouth, but Toni changed the subject. “So, Gabby, speaking of parents, let’s bring up the elephant in the room. Your father. What do we need to know?”

Hunter watched her shoulders somehow seem to hunch even more. Her mom had run off years ago, and after her father went to jail, she might as well have been an orphan. And it wasn’t as if the father she loved had been taken away from her. This was the father who had decided she needed to die so he could keep making his money. The whole thing was damn tragic, and Toni was picking at those wounds.

“There’s really not much to say,” said Gabby, in a normal tone. He could tell she was affected by the question, but she was hiding it well. “I always thought he was normal. He did the right things. Hugged me, told me he loved me. But one night, one of his guys messed up and he paid the ultimate price and I... I saw it. I confronted my dad and told him to turn himself in. At that time, I didn’t realize how entrenched in the life he was. I was so preachy about it. It was the wrong move. I don’t think my father could handle being talked down to by anyone, let alone his own kid. So he put out a death order on me. If it wasn’t for Hunter, I would be six feet under now.”

This time when Hunter squeezed her shoulder, she didn’t flinch. In fact, she leaned in closer to him. “After Hunter was arrested, everything seemed to fall apart. The police and IRS started to dig around and Dad was in jail before he could ever try to silence me again. The case against him was so clear that I never even had to testify. I don’t think the prosecution thought they could rely on me on the stand. He was sentenced to ten years, which wasn’t long enough in my opinion, but they only had him on racketeering charges, not murder. He was in jail for just a few months before he was killed. No one would give me a straight answer about how. He probably thought he deserved as much respect behind bars as outside. His mistake....”

Gabby was just as emotionless in her list of events as she had been before, but Hunter could tell the entire thing was painful. He wondered how many people she’d told over the years. It was such a small town that most people already knew. Or at least knew the generally accepted version of events. The whole scandal had probably only recently fallen into history, and now everything was dredged up again.

“Thanks for telling me,” said Toni earnestly.

Hunter was impressed by how quickly Toni could go from joking about running a con to being a counselor. Hunter wasn’t normally involved in this part of the job. Toni and Hart would tell him what he needed to do to help the clients. But actually hearing their stories and listening to their pain was hard. And this one was especially hard because it was Gabby he was listening to. Not some stranger. But Gabby. His Gabby.

“We’re going to figure this out,” promised Toni.

“I don’t have anything to pay you.”

“Honey,” said Toni. “I just stole a plane. I don’t need your money.”

Gabby let out a laugh and a little bit of her guard came down, a sheen of tears showing in her eyes. Hunter couldn’t stop from taking her hand in his and giving a tight squeeze. Silently letting her know that he was there for her. Whenever she needed him.

She looked over at him from under her lashes, and for a second, he felt as though he were eighteen again. He’d never forgotten the way she looked at him after he saved her. It had been one of the stupidest, brashest decisions he’d ever made, but when he saw her panicked eyes meet his, he had no doubts or regrets. He’d save this girl a thousand times over if it meant he could get looks like that.

“Gabby! I’ve been so worried about you! When did you get back in town?”

The spell was broken by the stranger’s intrusion. The stranger who reached down and put his hand on her shoulder right where Hunter’s hand had just been.

He looked over at the newcomer and felt hatred almost immediately. From the possessive way he stood over Gabby, to the way he’d intruded on their obviously private conversation. It didn’t take a genius to realize this was her ex-husband.

Hunter reached over and pushed the man’s hand off her. He didn’t say anything as he did it. He didn’t need to explain himself.

Gabby looked over her shoulder at the man and Hunter had to give him credit. The anger that took over her immediately took the tears away.

“Ryan. What are you doing here?”

“You know. Grabbing a few beers with the guys.”

She nodded and her eyes scanned the room. Hunter had a feeling she was looking for Ryan’s girlfriend, the one he’d left Gabby for. Hunter was rather curious himself. How pretty would a girl have to be for Ryan to even consider leaving Gabby? He was fairly sure that kind of beauty wasn’t possible. Who could compete with Gabby?

“Oh,” she said in a surprised tone. “I didn’t realize you actually did that. I just figured that was code for fucking Sarah.”

Toni and Gage immediately burst into laughter, and Hart kept his measured gaze on Ryan.

Hunter also kept up his menacing presence. Ryan couldn’t be mistaken; he wasn’t picking on his lone ex-wife. She had backup.

Ryan immediately took the jab to heart. “That’s not fair,” he said defensively.

“You’re right,” said Gabby. “It’s not fair. But yes, I’m back in town. It’s nice to know that you care about my feelings now.”

“There’s no need to be rude.” Ryan shifted his weight. “I’m just being friendly.”

“It looks like Gabby has tons of friends,” said Hunter dryly.

Ryan finally turned his attention to Hunter and rubbed at his hand, the one Hunter had removed. It was obvious that he wanted to do some macho show in front of Gabby, but the uncertainty was clear in his eyes as he took in just how big Hunter was.

Yeah, buddy. Think carefully before you do anything stupid....

“So who are your friends?”

“They’re helping me out through a tough time. No one you would know.”

“Well, I was trying to say hello and be nice, but it’s clear you just want to think of me as the enemy, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Gabby. “I can’t imagine what would make me feel that way. I’m so sorry for making you feel bad for being a dick.”

Once again, laughter came from the back of the table and Ryan’s face flushed bright red. “Your taste in friends is just as bad as it’s always been. It’s no wonder Kate’s in jail. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up there too.” He turned away and walked off in a huff toward whatever hole he crawled out of.

Gabby turned back to the table, and her own cheeks were also red with embarrassment. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he was going to be here.”

Toni was still laughing. “That’s the joy of him being your ex. You don’t have to apologize for him anymore.”

“I know we’re here to help you with all this life-and-death shit, but if you want me to teach him a lesson or two, I’ll throw that in for free,” said Gage.

“Are you sure he isn’t involved in all of this?” said Hunter.

Gabby looked over at him, shocked. “Ryan? Ryan wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“He doesn’t seem like the type to care about a fly’s feelings,” said Hart.

“Not that.” Gabby shook her head. “He’s literally not capable of hurting a fly. That would involve coordination and planning. Ryan’s more of an act first, plan later kind of guy. As pissed off as I am at him about the affair, I get it. It totally makes sense for him. He was probably already fucking her before it actually occurred to him that it was a bad idea. It’s just his nature.”

Gage seemed to think about that. “That’s funny because the nature I know is a bitch. If you want to follow the natural course of nature, it is only a matter of time before you get eaten alive.”