AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How?”
“I need to leave. It’ll give you leverage and make things easier for you both.”
At first, he thought Vanessa’s voice had gone up a few octaves, but then he realized that it was Opal who had shouted, “No!”
She ran into the room and swung her little arms around Vanessa’s waist. “No!”
Vanessa and Hunter exchanged looks. What exactly had she overheard and what was she protesting?
“Opal?” Vanessa asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want Hunter to leave!” She turned to look up at them both. “He can help us, Mommy. I know he can.”
He didn’t know what to say and it seemed like Vanessa didn’t either. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Opal dropped her voice to a whisper. “I saw his guns.” She looked at Hunter, as if making sure it was okay that she’d seen. She was probably afraid he would yell at her like her daddy did.
“You did?” he asked in a light tone.
She nodded. “They’re kind of scary, but I know you can keep us safe. That’s what guns do, right?”
“If they’re used correctly, yes,” Hunter said. Though, he certainly didn’t intend to use them keep Jeremy safe. Quite the opposite. The more he got to know Opal, the more he wondered how in the world any man could hit a child, and especially this child. She was so sweet and innocent. He couldn’t even picture getting angry enough to do something like that. But maybe that was his own past speaking. All he could ever imagine was taking out his anger on people who deserved it. The ones who did horrible things like beat their children and wives. His hand involuntarily clenched into a fist. It was becoming his favorite thing to image all the different ways he might kill Jeremy. Right now, he was most in favor of strangulation. He wanted to feel that man’s neck in his hands, and watch the light die in his eyes.
“You both keep me safe,” Opal continued.
“Well, we’ll certainly do our best,” Vanessa said.
“You have to do what he says, Mommy.”
“I am, honey.”
“No, you’re going to let him leave. But he can’t leave. He has to stay. You both have to be here to protect me.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows and looked at Vanessa. Maybe somewhere in all the games of Candy Land and all the talks, all the times he told her how he was hurt as a child, when he tried to make her see he had gone through the same thing. Maybe all of that had worked after all. She did trust him, and she wanted him so stay around.
Hunter put a hand on Opal’s shoulder. The sudden urge to protect this small, fragile child rose in his chest and grew hotter. He would do anything he had to for her. “I won’t go anywhere. I’ll stay right here and protect you.”
