Page 66 of Hunter

“Could you go and clean the tables?” he says, politely for him, then throws a cloth my way.

I catch it and turn around to drag my feet toward the furthest table, the one that’s usually covered in a sticky film, which I pray is merely the remnants of alcohol.

“Lou?” a quiet voice calls over to me. Its familiarity has me looking over in its direction straight away.

“Daniel?”

I can’t help but release a whimper over the sudden hope that’s now flooding through me. A slow trickle of tears falls over my cheeks as he closes the gap to reach me, and to my relief, he grabs me up inside of his arms. I gasp at his touch before wrapping my arms around his neck where I feel warm, safe, and so in love.

“I’m so sorry, Daniel, I didn’t mean to…I mean I-”

“What the fuck, Ortega?!” Phoenix growls from behind the bar.

His thunderous tone of voice, together with who it’s being aimed at, breaks us apart to see who he’s snarling at. As soon as we both set eyes on Tony holding a handgun that is pointing right at me and Daniel, I’m immediately pulled behind Daniel’s tall, broad frame. Without thinking, he shields me with his entire body. I try to shuffle forward, but Daniel holds me in place so I can’t move.

“Lou is mine! She knows it and now this bastard will know it,” Tony says through his clenched teeth, right before stepping forward in his heavy motorcycle boots. “Mi corazon, come here! You know it’s you and me; get here now and I’ll let your little Suit live!”

I shake my head against Daniel’s back, too scared to say anything out loud.

“I don’t think she feels the same way as you, Tony,” Daniel replies calmly, even though his whole body tenses in front of me. “I think she’d rather be with me, the guy who didn’t break her heart when she needed him most.”

I emit a small sob as I nod against his jacket and place my hands up on his back. My brother stays silent, letting Daniel take the lead here.

“Asshole! Lou and I share history, history you cannot undo,” Tony shouts, now sounding unhinged, “and if I have to, I’ll kill both of you. If I can’t have her, no one can, especially not a pathetic Suit!”

“I don’t think so, Ortega!”

I look to the side to see Phoenix now holding out his own gun, the one he keeps behind the bar. He’s pointing it right at Tony’s head. Tony laughs maniacally, and when I peek out from the side of Daniel’s body, I see he is still holding his gun firmly out toward us. He spots me, smiles with a sinister look in his eye, and pulls off the safety with a tell-tale click.

“That’s it, mi corazon, come over to me,” he says with a determined look of anger on his face. “Come here and I will forgive you and love you.”

His words tell me he’s lost hold of his senses, of rationality, of reality, so I do what anyone in love would do, I step out and throw myself in front of the man I love. The sound of a gun rings through the air as a burning sensation attacks my side, its impact winding me and causing my body to slump against Daniel’s chest. His face morphs into horror as I hear Phoenix shoot his own gun, shouting out muffled words I cannot decipher because my body is now trying so hard to deal with the bloody mess seeping through my torso.

Eventually, after what seems like much too long, Daniel slides my body down to the ground where my legs turn numb against the floor. I shiver because I’m so cold, which even I know isn’t a good sign. I turn my face to try and look up at him because if these are to be my last moments, I want to tell him what I should have done a long while ago.

“Hey, Boss,” I whisper, then laugh softly, even if it does hurt. “Did I tell you how much I love you, Hunter?”

“No…” he whimpers as he holds his finger and thumb to his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying. “But I love you, baby.”

“I know,” I whisper because I don’t have enough breath to speak any louder, “and just so you know, you are everything I ever wanted. I wanted the life you could offer me and I wanted it with you. Always you! You saved me, Daniel.”

“Don’t talk like it’s not going to happen, Lou, because it will,” he sobs, “I’m going to marry the shit out of you, and we’ll have babies and a dog. We can even get a Hyundai if that’s what you want.”

“The Ambulance is coming, hold on, Lou,” Phoenix flusters when he reaches us, “don’t you dare leave me on my own here, sis!”

“You’ll be fine Warren,” I say to his pale-stricken face, “but try to be happy, let go of your ang…”

And then there is blackness.

_____

Louisa

Past

A few weeks has passed since my attack and I’m still walking around like a zombie, unable to talk, unable to function properly. I sleep frequently and only get up for an hour or two before I need to fall unconscious again. Jake was given babysitting duty when Phoenix went away with both the Ortega boys to go and deal with ‘business’.

“You wanna make it quick and tidy, or traditional?” Javier said to Phoenix as they got on their bikes. “Please say traditional, I already have a nice empty room ready - metal floors, drainage - nice and easy!”

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