Page 20 of Hunter

Javier simply nods his head once before Dad and Phoenix go and grab a couple of weapons and their coats.

I’m terrified, not knowing what my father and brother are going to face when they reach Tony’s house. A place I always thought was more comforting than my own because it was full of Ava, her cooking, and all those family portraits. And now it’s a murder scene. I grimace over the thought of what it might look like but force myself to shake it off. Instead, I concentrate on the boy before me.

When the trio of men leave, and I’m safe in the knowledge that Dad has locked the door behind him, I take Tony straight to my room. I tuck him up inside my bed with me and hold on to his trembling shoulders as he huddles against my body in the fetal position. He clings to me with a death-like grip, and I stroke his hair, all the while making gentle soothing noises. I can’t begin to imagine what is going through his head right now, so I don’t even try. Instead, I make sure I give him all of me to look after him.

“D-don’t leave me, Lou, you’re my best friend,” he eventually whispers after all his tears seem to have fallen.

“I won’t, Tony,” I whisper back, “I’m going to look after you forever.”

_____

Daniel

Safe in the knowledge that whoever he is has gone and Louisa is safe, I rush behind RIP and grip hold of her in my arms and squeeze tight. She turns rigid inside my embrace, so I pull back to look at her. She stares at me with wide eyes, her brow bunched up, presumably because I’ve never touched her before, let alone held her in my arms. We stare at one another for a good few moments before I remember that she’s supposed to be here with Trent, her fiancé. I release my hold and take a cautious step back to run my fingers anxiously through my hair. It’s calming and forces me to refocus on the here and now.

“Are you ok, Louisa?” I ask, returning to my professional stance.

“Never mind that! Who the fuck was that guy?” Trent spits out. “Does he know who I am?! He just made me look like an idiot!”

“I’m fine,” she says, completely ignoring Trent, much like we all do. But I can see beyond her normal façade; she clearly isn’t fine at all. How can she be after what just happened? Especially after what I learned about her not too long ago.

Before anyone can say anything else, her phone begins buzzing. We simultaneously take a step back, as if giving her some privacy, but when she sees the caller ID, she immediately slaps her hand up to her forehead.

“Shit! It’s Phoenix!” She takes a deep breath before answering, but as soon as she does, we can all hear the indecipherable rage-induced ranting coming through the phone. “What?! He sent it to you?” More shouting ensues and all three of us look at one another before turning back to Louisa for answers. “Ok, ok, ok, I’ll be out in five. Keep your damn voice down, Phoenix!”

“What’s up?” I ask as soon as she hangs up.

“Seems Tony sent him a video of me dancing with Romeo over here,” she says sulkily, gesturing toward Trent whose eyes are now bulging out with fear. “I’ve gotta go, he’s on his way over to get me.”

“Wait,” I call after her, “I’ll come with you. You’re not going anywhere without somebody with you.”

“I would like to come with you too, Miss,” RIP says with a voice that sounds much too soft for his size.

“Well, hell, if he’s going with you, then so am I. He’s my damn bodyguard,” Trent grumbles like a petulant kid.

Louisa rolls her eyes before flapping her arms in the air and sighing in defeat.

“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she says as she exits the tent.

RIP and Trent walk up ahead a few paces while I hang back with Louisa. Even though she’s trying hard to hide it, I can see her physically shaking and a few tiny goosebumps have appeared over her naked arms and shoulders. Being a gentleman, I remove my jacket and place it over her shoulders, to which she smiles in gratitude. She wraps it tightly around her body and something about her wearing it looks…right. It strangely suits her, wearing my clothes.

“Who was that, Louisa?” I cautiously ask.

“No one I want to talk about,” she replies, trying to hide a few sniffs by keeping her eyes trained on the ground.

“That’s the guy who’s been hanging around our office lately, isn’t it?” She nods slowly but still doesn’t look up. “Ok, well in that case, I’m getting you security first thing in the morning, no arguments.”

Expecting her to argue, she shocks me by laughing, shaking her head as she does so.

“Trust me, Daniel, guys like Tony don’t respond well to security guards. It will only spur him on. I’ll need to let my brother handle it.” She stops at the sound of a motorbike pulling up on the edge of the road ahead and sighs. “Speak of the devil.”

I look up to see the thunderous-looking face of Louisa’s brother, Phoenix, now marching up toward us. His huge bike has been left to cause as much inconvenience as possible and with no fucks given. He bypasses Trent who is hiding behind RIP and comes straight over to me and punches me straight in the jaw. It’s a hard, motherfucking hit, which will make me look the color of a ripe plum tomorrow morning. The blow forces me back, so Louisa grabs hold of my arm to stop me from toppling over altogether.

“Phoenix!” Louisa screams before placing herself in front of me as some form of barrier. I try to move aside, not wanting her to get into any more grief with him, but it would seem she is just as stubborn as he is.

“You motherfucker!” He spits to the side and begins pacing up and down in front of us, no doubt trying to talk himself out of killing me. “You were supposed to keep her safe!”

“Phoenix, what the fu—” Louisa begins but he ignores her angry glaring and starts pointing his meaty finger in my direction.

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