Page 25 of Hunter

“That must have been hard,” he says, cringing because all he can think of is cliches with which to answer me. Though he shouldn’t feel that way; I’ve rarely spoken to anyone beyond Jake and Phoenix about my mother. Well, them and Tony. The thought of him has me shaking my head and attempting to say something, anything, to make me forget. “I didn’t speak for a long time. I think I was about six before I uttered my first words, so I got a lot of strange looks from other kids and adults. They even thought my dad was abusing me. Fortunately, I was put with a therapist with a brain who said it was completely normal under the circumstances. But even when I did speak, I was reserved and particular about who I chose to speak to.”

We fall into silence, our faces solemn, mulling over everything that’s been inflicted upon us. After a while, I look up to see him watching me, opening his mouth several times, only to slam it shut again.

“Go on,” I begin with a smile, “spit it out.”

“What do you mean by ‘arson’?” he asks with a firm frown between his eyebrows.

“God, this is going to make my family sound even more nuts,” I huff, to which he laughs. “Dad once belonged to a biker’s club stroke gang stroke sometimes they engaged in shifty stuff. Actually, a lot of shifty stuff. And, as you can imagine, they had rivals with grudges to bear, all that kind of stuff. It is likely it was the handy work of some other club.”

“Holy shit!” he whisper shouts, complete with his fork now stopped dead, just floating midair.

“Exactly,” I reply, feeling somewhat good about getting it all out in the open. “Can you imagine what it was like hearing about all this as a child? It was like being told a horror story that got turned into an episode of, ‘This is Your Life’. According to Phoenix, it was the thing that made my father give it all up. He purchased the bar but chose to remain impartial. A go-between, a messenger maybe, but not linked to any one club in particular. In fact, he collected information on each and every gang so he knew they wouldn’t touch me or my brother. If they had, he would leak everything. Clever, huh?”

“I guess, but fuck, Louisa, that’s some heavy shit!” He leans back, finally dropping his fork with a clatter onto his plate. Apparently, my strange childhood was the final straw to make him lose his appetite. “Is that your brother’s real name? Or is it some gang nickname or something?”

I smile and shake my head. I can see why a wealthy guy who grew up in private schools and frequent vacations around the world would have a bazillion questions about my strange family setup, but I didn’t think my brother’s name would be one of the first.

“’Phoenix’ is indeed a nickname, but it has nothing to do with gangs…well, not directly anyway. He was only seven years old when he earned that name. Or inflicted with it, depending on how you look at it. You seem awfully curious about my brother, Daniel.”

“He is intriguing, a terrifying beast of a man, but one who obviously loves his little sister beyond words,” he admits with a grin. “I’ve never met anyone like him.”

“Phoenix has been caring for me my whole life. He was so young when the fire happened, and he was the one who had had to carry me out of the flames, thus saving my life. The firefighter who was in charge had told my father how he had helplessly watched as this little boy had walked toward him with me in his arms, all the while the flames engulfed the house behind him. He said he was like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, a real little hero. The name stuck.”

“So, what’s his real name?”

“No way, he would literally kill me if I told you.”

“Fair enough, but can I ask you one more question?”

I nod and brace myself because I can guess it’s going to either be about my attack or the guy from last night.

“Why did you lie to me?” he asks with dreaded sympathy in his voice, as well as on his face, which has me sighing with frustration.

“Because of that look,” I inadvertently snap, gesturing to his handsome face and those pitying eyes, “the one you’re giving me now.” I lean my forearms onto the table so that no one else can hear me. “I don’t want people thinking I’m weak, and when they hear that you’ve been sexually assaulted, that’s what they assume. They think you’re broken and forever tainted. I fought that bastard as hard as I could, but he was bigger and stronger, so eventually he forced himself inside of me.”

I shake my head with my eyes screwed shut as if it will somehow block out the nightmare image of him thrusting and groaning on top of me. Daniel’s sudden presence next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist, is the only thing that snaps me out of it. That look of pity has gone, and instead, to my surprise, he’s now looking at me in awe.

“Hey, you are one strong girl,” he says, “the way you beat up on that guy last night, the way you speak up against your wall of a brother, and your overall feistiness tells me you are far from broken. You’re one badass chick, Louisa Flynn.”

“And you’re actually a pretty decent human being, Daniel Hunter,” I eventually reply, to which he throws his head back and laughs. “And much more interesting than I gave you credit for,” I tease because as it happens, I like laughing with Daniel. I like it a lot.

“Really? I’m honored that you think so,” he teases back. “I’m going to ask you one more question.”

“I suspect you’re full of ‘one more questions’,” I giggle softly at the same time as I wipe away a stray tear that managed to slip through the net.

“Well, brace yourself, because this one is extremely inappropriate,” he begins, and I feel my eyes bulging and my heart thumping more rapidly. “Would you be willing to let me take you out for dinner sometime?”

His question has rendered me completely speechless. Even though I’ve always thought of Daniel as being the hard-ass boss of the two, this chat with him has shown a completely different side to his usually unreadable exterior.

“Going on a date with the boss? That would be pretty badass of me, wouldn’t it?” I giggle nervously, to which he grins. “But am I not supposed to be engaged to Trent Matthews?”

“Shit, good point!” he blurts out and I can’t help but laugh.

“You could come over to mine? I’ll cook you something,” I venture, feeling nervous that he’ll say no and change his mind altogether. “It might not be a good something, but it will be something better than the greasy feast before you.”

“What about Phoenix?”

“He’s not invited,” I reply. “Besides, I’m a feisty woman, remember? I’ll protect you.”

---