Shattered King(35)

"I can't . . ."

He shook his head, silencing me. "You got regrets when it comes to her,  but in the end, that shit is useless. It will do nothing but eat you up  inside. She loved you, you loved her, and you both knew it. The way she  looked at you . . ." He kissed my temple. "Nothing else matters but  that, babe. Nothing. You need to let it out."         

     



 

I stared up into his eyes, forcing down the boulder in my throat so I could speak. "I'll break," I whispered.

"Lulu . . ."

"I'll break if I let it out."

His stared into my eyes, heat, warmth, determination, all aimed at me.  "You break." He smoothed his thumb over my lower lip and kissed me just  below my eye. "I'll put you back together. I promise you that."

Oh God.

That was when the first tear slid down my cheek.

I buried my face against his chest, fists clutching his T-shirt, and let  the tears flow. Hunter wrapped me tight in his arms and held me while I  fell apart.



A week had passed since my break down in Hunter's arms. Though I was  still emotional, I was starting to feel human again. It was thanks to  not only Hunter, but his friends, and the woman sitting beside me.

"Um . . . Ruby?" I sat on the couch, eyes glued to the TV as background  music started to play-all bow-chic-a-wow-wow. I turned to the King  Agency's receptionist sitting beside me, her glass of rum and coke  tilted dangerously as she stared at the television, mouth hanging open.

"Yeah."

"I don't think this is Dirty Dancing. That sure as hell isn't Patrick Swayze."

Ruby had come over to keep me company. Hunter was still being cautious. I  knew he was still worried about my state of mind. But even more so  today, the day after my mom's funeral. He had something he had to do and  didn't want to leave me with just one of the guys. He'd wanted someone  here with me who would actually speak to me . . . and not freak out if I  randomly started crying again. Ruby volunteered.

Some dude in a tool belt and nothing else came onto the shot, boner bobbing enthusiastically in front of him.

"Dang," Ruby whispered.

She'd certainly managed to take my mind off things. And dang was right,  the guy was hung like an elephant. It made my eyes water just thinking  about something that size coming anywhere near me. "Where did you get  this from?"

She tore her eyes from the TV. "It's mine-well, the cover is. The movie must belong to my roommate."

The music changed and we both turned back to the screen. The guy was  lubing up, the woman bent over the washing machine. "Oh, dear God," I  said.

"No . . . he's not gonna put that giant thing in there, is he . . . ?" Ruby's voice trailed off as he moved in behind her.

We both squealed. Loud.

The sound of the bathroom door crashing open came a second later. Ruby  kicked into action, diving for the TV, knocking the bowl of chips off  the coffee table and landing on her belly with an oomph. Neco, who was  watching us tonight, came flying into the living room, gun drawn. He'd  asked to use the shower when he'd arrived straight from his run, and now  wore nothing but a towel, which sat dangerously low on his hips. The  guy looked fierce. Like a hero from one of the action films I'd watched  with Hunter.

He scanned the room, then his gaze slid to Ruby, who was still scrambling commando style toward the DVD player on her belly.

His eyes went to the TV before they dropped back to Ruby. "What the fuck?"

She slid the last couple of inches and hit the stop button. "Um . . ."

"What in the fuck, Ruby?" Neco growled.

The dude was seriously scary when he wanted to be. I watched Ruby's eyes  go big as she took him in, only now noticing he was butt naked apart  from the wet, thin towel clinging to him-everywhere.

"Um . . ." she said again.

I didn't blame her for being at a loss for words, confronted with all  that bulk, that smooth, inked brown skin. It was impossible to miss the  fact he was an extremely good-looking guy.

"Ruby," he barked.

Whoa! Not cool.

I twisted to look fully at Hunter's best friend. He was beyond pissed. In fact, the guy looked ready to explode.

"It was a mistake," I said, trying to deflect that scary energy away from my new friend.

He ignored me.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, seemingly oblivious to his dangerous mood. "It  must be Scott's." She held up the Dirty Dancing cover. "He must've put  it in the wrong case."

Neco's jaw got tight. "One: that fucking waste of space you live with is  getting a visit from me." Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but he cut  her off. "And two: I find out this wasn't a mistake? That you were  pulling your usual shit? I won't be happy, do you understand? Lulu  doesn't need this. She buried her mother yesterday. What the fuck is  wrong with you?"

It was fast, but I saw the hurt flash across her face at his words.  These two obviously had some kind of relationship outside of work. It  went deeper; even I could see that. The way Neco spoke to her, it was  like he saw her as an annoying little sister, not a valued employee.         

     



 

I held up my hands. "Hey, don't bring me into this. Like I said, it was just an accident. She didn't mean any harm."

That pale green gaze, so striking against his dark skin, flicked to me,  then back to Ruby. Ruby got to her feet then, a look on her face that  made me want to cover my head with a cushion before all hell broke  loose.

Neco stared at her hard, but she seemed unaffected, all attitude now,  front and center. She shoved her glasses up her nose. "I didn't know you  were such a prude, Neco. It's just a little porn." She smirked when his  eyes flashed and his jaw went from tight to granite. "It was hot. What?  Are you threatened? Worried you don't measure up?"

"Ruby," he gritted out.

I tried not to look, but my eyes were drawn to the way Neco's towel was  lifting in the front. Okay, I was no longer getting sibling vibes off  these two. The air was crackling, electric. The man also had no cause  for an inferiority complex in that department. Nope.

"I think that's my cue to leave," she said. "Maybe I'll go hit a club . . ."

"Do not fuck with me. Not tonight," he rumbled. His voice had dropped,  so deep, so low, it sounded like thunder. "I have to stay here and watch  Lulu. I won't be around to bail your ass out of trouble."

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe my ass wants trouble."

He growled, like a fricking wild animal.

Ruby grabbed her bag, hitched it over her shoulder, leaned down, and  hugged me. "Sorry, Lulu. But I need to take off." Then she flounced out,  slamming the door shut behind her.

Neco watched her go then stomped off, slamming the bathroom door behind  him. And I sat there wondering what the hell just happened.

When he finally surfaced again, he was quiet, surly. Eventually, after  trying to make small talk, which failed miserably, I headed off to bed.  The guy was obviously not in the mood to chit-chat, and I had no idea  how late Hunter would be. So I left him to it.

Hunter had been amazing. He'd helped with the funeral arrangements,  stuck by my side, took care of Josh. Today was the first day we'd been  apart since I found out my mother had passed away.

And I could admit, I felt a little lost without him.

I missed him.

The funeral had been a quiet one. Just a few close friends. He'd held my  hand the entire time, was my strength when I felt like I had none left.

There'd also been a police presence, and every one of the King Agency  guys there as well, just in case, but Pierce hadn't made an appearance.  Thank God.

I tugged on Hunter's Ramones T-shirt and climbed under the covers beside  Josh. I'd slept in Hunter's bed all week. I don't know how it happened.  It just had. It'd just felt so right, God, and safe. His body wrapped  around mine, warm, strong. But with him not here-well, I didn't want to  be alone, so I snuggled closer to my son, blanked my mind, and closed my  eyes.

But my mind wouldn't shut up. Losing my mom had hit hard, the lost time,  something that dug at me, festered inside me daily. I wanted Pierce  caught. I wanted to go to bed at night knowing that son of a bitch  wasn't living it up on some island paradise, destroying someone else's  life. I didn't want him to get away with it. I wanted him to pay for  what he did to me, to Hunter, and the time he stole, the time he took  from all of us.

Because of him, I'd lost pieces of myself. Important, vital pieces.  Pierce had broken me in a way I didn't know could ever be repaired. The  people that cared for me, loved me, they deserved all of me in return.  Something I didn't know I would ever be able to give.

He needed to pay for that. I didn't care how sick and twisted it made  me, but I wanted him to hurt while that payment was being dished out.

I don't know how long I lay there, staring into darkness, but I must  have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again there was no low  hum of the TV coming from the living room. The place was completely  silent. I checked my phone. 2:30 a.m.