Page 44 of Hunter

With disappointment written all over his face, he turns toward me while wrapping his shirt around his chest.

“You know I want to though, don’t you?”

I suddenly feel nervous, wondering if he’s going to change his mind about me because I have all this extra baggage. One of which is a hulking great big over-protective brother.

“Of course,” he whispers, then walks over to kiss me on the cheek. “And I know how much tonight meant. Thank you, Lou, thank you for trusting me to look after you.”

Chapter 18

Louisa

Past

Rach and I are bopping away merrily to the beats on the dance floor, getting lost in the music with a little alcoholic high and the fact that I’m perfectly safe in my brother’s bar. Tony’s been out on one of Javier’s errands and I’m waiting for him to come and join me. Being nineteen now, he’s already done a ton of stuff I don’t want to know about, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t getting worried about him, about my boy. He’s getting more and more like Javier and Phoenix, and less like the carefree friend I fell in love with.

“Where the hell is your man, Lou?” Rach shouts inside of my ear. “It’s nearly eleven!”

“I don’t know, let me go and check my phone,” I shout back, and we jump off the platform, and wave over to Jake who only joined us last week. Our long-lost cousin who we haven’t seen since he and I were about nine years old. I retrieve my phone from behind the bar and begin typing a text when Rach pats my arm, and gestures over to another part of the bar. My mouth drops open as soon as I look over to see my boyfriend leaning up against some girl dressed in next to nothing, laughing and looking at her with obvious lustful eyes.

“Lou,” I hear Phoenix say to me as he walks over to where I’m standing, completely frozen, breaking piece by piece at the end of the bar. He follows my line of sight and suddenly stands up straight with a thunderous expression and a look of pure rage in his eyes. I try to hold him back but he’s already heading toward Tony with murder in mind.

“What the fuck are you playing at, Ortega?!” He yanks Tony away from the girl and swings him around to face him, his teeth bared, and his hands clenched into fists. “Look at my sister, you piece of shit!”

Tony eventually looks over to where I’m still crumbling inside and sort of shrugs it off, as if what he’s doing isn’t a big deal at all.

“I’m just chatting with Heather here, chill the fuck out, Phoenix!” he snaps with a smug grin on his face. “I don’t need this bullshit when I come back from a job; you of all people know what it’s like to need to relax after what we get up to.”

“Not when you’re dating my sister, you fucking dick!” Phoenix shoves at him and begins to draw a crowd. “And certainly not in my bar, humiliating her at the same time. Jesus fucking Christ!”

“Tony, can we go out back and talk…at least?” I say shyly to him because right now, I’m afraid of the man before me; I don’t recognize him at all.

“No thanks,” he scoffs, “I don’t wanna fucking talk after I’ve been at work. Now, if you fancy sucking me off, or opening your legs for me, which has been a while by the way, then I’m all ears, sweetheart!”

“That’s it!” Phoenix growls before planting his fist in Tony’s face.

A fight ensues, and though Tony tries hard to fight back, it’s very rare to find anyone who can match my brother for speed or strength. I scream at them to stop, already crying over Tony’s hurtful words, but they don’t even hear me, they’re too wrapped up in their rage.

Eventually, I look up into the crowd of cheering bikers to see Javier’s grave face, which is covered with disappointment and sadness. He eventually sees me, and slowly shakes his head and mouths ‘I’m sorry’ before I run out back and into the safety of my room. Rach, one of Phoenix’s on-again-off-again girlfriends, comes in and lies down beside me, trying to soothe my cries until I eventually fall asleep.

In the morning, I remember the events of last night and instantly curl up into myself, releasing tears that have stored themselves up overnight. It takes a good half an hour or so before I can force myself to get up and get dressed, almost drowning under the shower as I fall into a trance-like state. When I do eventually emerge into the land of the living, Phoenix is already sitting on the couch waiting for me. He pats the cushion next to him; he doesn’t even have a scratch.

“I know what you’re going to say, Phoenix,” I sigh, “but I love him.”

“He’s not the same Tony you fell in love with, Lou, he wasn’t strong enough to not let his ‘job’ turn him into an asshole.”

“Trust me, I know all about assholes at work, Tony isn’t one,” I reply, talking of my creepy boss who keeps hitting on me, touching me inappropriately, and asking me to stay late. I’ve only given Phoenix the brief version for fear he’ll go down there and kick his ass. “He’s just adjusting to it, that’s all.”

“Lou, even Javier is worried about how much it’s changing him.” My brother turns to face me, almost begging me to see the reason, but I can’t, not with Tony. “I think you need to let him go, and so does Javier.”

“I can’t do that, Phoenix,” I utter quietly but with determination in my voice, “he’s my forever. The boy I’m meant to be with forever; we promised each other.”

“He’s not a boy anymore, Lou, he’s a man, and a fucking dick of a one too,” he says with his tempter beginning to escape from the calm exterior he’s trying to put on for me.

“Lou?” A sheepish voice, one that I remember from before he began working with Javier, calls out for me. “Lou, baby, I’m so sorry!”

Tony stands before us, with a busted lip, a swollen eye, and all other manner of injuries. In his hands is a bunch of red roses, no doubt expensive, no doubt not the last I’ll receive from him, no doubt I’ll accept them anyway.

“Oh my God,” I gasp, mainly from the sight of his beaten-up appearance. I rush to my feet and walk over to him, all the while Phoenix shakes his head. I reach up to touch his lips and he cradles his face inside of my hand.

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