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Chapter Ten
Vanessa
“I need answers, Hunter,” Vanessa said. “And some things aren’t adding up.”
“Can we talk about this? I don’t know what you think is going on, but I came here to find you, to make sure you and Opal were okay. To protect you.”
She didn’t let up with her gun. If her suspicions were correct, he was part of the problem, and she might have to kill him before the night was through. She hated the idea of it, hated the thought that this man who she trusted, who she had let in when she had let in no one else, had been the one to turn her over to her greatest enemy. She hated herself for being so wrong about him, and she wanted more than anything to be wrong. To be able to trust him after all.
“Where do you really work?” she asked.
“I will explain everything. Can you please put the gun down?”
“No. Answer the question, Hunter.”
“I don’t work around the corner in the restaurant supply company.”
“Where then?” She pushed the gun harder into his head. Her anger and raw feeling of betrayal had pushed her to the point of lacking all compassion. She didn’t care if she hurt him. He’d hurt her.
“I don’t have an office or a place I go. I’m sort of a freelancer.”
“Doing what?” she growled through clenched teeth.
He took several deep breaths. “Vanessa, please, let me explain. I’ll tell you everything.”
She banged the gun hard into his head.
He grunted and said, “Okay. But at least promise to hear everything before you shoot me.”
“No.”
He hung his head. “Then I’ll talk fast and hope you hear me out. I’m a hit man. I was hired by your ex-husband to kill you and take Opal to him.”
Her breathing sped as his words hit her. Each one was a fresh slap in the face, a new wave of pain.
“He claimed you were abusing Opal, that you yelled at her all the time and hit her. He made you sound like a monster, but the very first time I met you, I doubted that what he said was true. I had to get to know you. There was no way I was going to kill you or take Opal to him if I couldn’t be sure his claim was correct. And the more I got to know you both and spent time with you, the more certain I became that there was absolutely no way you’d ever hurt Opal.”
She didn’t want to keep listening. She wanted to take out all her rage and agony on him right now. On this man who had lied to her. But he was talking fast, as he had said he would. And she couldn’t help but listen to him.
“It took no time at all for me to start having feelings for you. When I knew that you weren’t the one hurting Opal, it meant that Jeremy was. So then, I went from finding a way to kill you and take Opal to finding a way to keep you safe, and keep you both from him. He called me tonight. He thought he had me, because he hired someone to follow me. There’s been a black van lurking around. He—”
“I’ve seen it,” she said. “It followed me tonight when I got Opal out of here. I managed to lose it.”
“Good girl,” he said.
“Don’t call me that.” She hit him again with the gun.
He groaned. “Easy. I didn’t mean it as an insult. It’s hard to lose a tail. I’m genuinely impressed. After Jeremy called me to tell me he knew that we had been out, he threatened to kill me, too. So, I lied. I told him it was all a ruse to get close to you to get more information in case you ran. I convinced him that I was still working for him, on his side. Then I came right here to find you and make sure you were safe. I didn’t see your car, but I thought maybe you left a clue as to where you had gone. I had nothing else to go by. I didn’t know where you might go, so I came in to look around. And that’s when you put a gun to my head.”
“So, that black van isn’t with you? Jeremy’s other men aren’t working with you?”
“No. They’re trying to kill me, just like they’re trying to kill you. Is Opal safe?”
“Yes. That van is back. It’s sitting out front.”
Hunter cursed under his breath. “So they’re here. I don’t know who Jeremy hired to come after us, but I can tell you this. No one is as ruthless as me. I will protect you with my life, and I will make sure Jeremy never touches Opal again.”
“Why would you do that? You don’t even know us. You owe us nothing. And I’m sure Jeremy paid you plenty to do your job.”
