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I lift my arm and jab it back hard and fast, right into his ribs. He grunts, releasing me, and my body crumbles to the floor. I crawl away and press my back against the wall. “Why would you tell me your family is out to kill me and then tell me you’re not here to hurt me? That’s a little contradictory, don’t you think?” I wrap my arms around my chest, trying to catch my breath.
Hunter paces in front of me. His hand moves to his face and swipes it down in what I assume is frustration. Then he stops and looks at me. “I guess that wasn’t smart on my behalf. Perhaps I should go. I’m sorry to have scared you. Trust me when I say I’m not out to harm you in any way. I need you more than you know.” A light from the street catches his face as he speaks, and his eyes soften.
He needs me.
I’m sure my eyes just popped out of my head. That doesn’t sound right. I don’t know this guy.
“Why would you need me?” I slowly get back up and stay against the wall, putting about six feet between us. The streetlights’ yellow glow cast shadows along his features, making his chiseled face seem more mysterious and intriguing.
His brow furrows deeply, and concern etches across his face as he steps closer, closing the distance between us. “As I’ve said, you’re important to people. Yes, my family runs the underworld, but both of our families did at one stage.”
This entire situation makes no sense.
“But I don’t even have a family. They left me at a hospital when I was a baby. Why would I be punished for their mistakes?”
He has to be wrong!
He shakes his head. “Aelina, my grandmother knows yours. They’ve been friends for years and still are, in fact. Only now they have to keep their friendship secret because of the rivalry between our families.”
His words start to sink in. I have a grandmother. My breath shakes. “How do you know I’m the right person?”
Stepping closer again, he whispers, “Because it was your grandmother who took you away from your parents. She didn’t want to see you brought up in that world. It destroys people.”
There’s a hardness in his eyes, but I hold his gaze. “You seem to be doing all right.”
Hunter’s hand reaches out. I turn my head away, but it doesn’t stop him from brushing the hair off my cheek. His fingertips glide across the sensitive skin of my face, and then they are gone.
My body begs for more, but my mind tells me he could still be a murderer.
My murderer.
“I am a male. Males are raised as fighters, to be strong, to be leaders. Women...” He sighs, then continues, “Women are used to pay for things if debts aren’t paid off. Sometimes they don’t survive.”
I turn back toward him. I didn’t realize how much closer he’d come. He must have come closer when I turned away. His breath hits my exposed shoulder, and goose bumps rise over my body.
“But if my family were people in charge, just like yours are, wouldn’t I have been spared?” A new fear settles in my bones, causing my blood to run cold.
Hunter shakes his head again. “It’s not that simple, Aelina. You see, because of what your grandmother did, it put your family in trouble. They had a debt, or I should say a promise they couldn’t fulfill because you’d disappeared.”
“Wouldn’t my parents have seen me on the news and spoken out or come to collect me?” My voice cracks, and Hunter’s hand cups my cheek. I close my eyes while tears fill them. I don’t want to know this.
“Aelina, look at me.”
Reluctantly, I open my eyes, taking in his square jaw. He has short stubble growing—something I hadn’t noticed at the diner earlier. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but your grandmother did what she had to because she loved you then and still does now. She didn’t want you to be caught up in anything or killed. Only one night six months ago, one of my family’s men recognized you. You look so much like your mother, the spitting image. When he came to me and told me what he was about to do, I raced to save you. That man ended up in the grave, which was meant for you.”
Fear paralyzes me. Clearing my throat, I question, “How do you know about me?”
Hunter lets his hand drop, and I miss his touch already. I shouldn’t be lusting over this man whose family is out to kill me. For all I know, he could be lying, and he does have plans to hurt me.
“My granny told me about your grandmother. She would tell me all the stories of our families and how close we were. Then kids came along, and thankfully, I never had sisters, or they would have probably had a terrible life. Fortunately for your parents, their firstborn was a boy, but then they had you. A couple of days after you were born, my granny and your grandmother plotted to take you away. That, of course, made my parents furious because a deal was struck between families. They thought your parents had hidden you. My parents wouldn’t listen. So that’s where the rift began.”
“I have a brother? Is he alive?”
Hunter nods, and I don’t miss the solemn glint in his eyes.
My knees become weak, and I feel myself falling. I don’t hit the floor as Hunter scoops me up and takes me back to the living room. Inhaling his woodsy scent somewhat calms me.
I wish he would tell me what he wants, but now I have so many more questions. I can’t even begin to sort through everything poured over me like a bucket of ice-cold water tonight.
