Page 29 of Hunter

“Someone might recognize me.”

“And that’s a problem because …?”

“Because they’ll know I was with Noble that night and not you. They’ll take one look at Adair and know he’s Noble’s.”

“Not my problem.” Hunter shrugged, more than happy to tell the entire club that Adair wasn’t his.

“But the condition—”

“Was only that I didn’t tell people. If they figure it out on their own, I’m not breaking your condition.” Hunter’s face hardened as he looked down at me. “You’re going.”

“I. Said. No!” I snapped, getting in his face.

He growled, and I had to fight the urge to growl back.

“Then you’d better come up with a better reason, or I’ll drag your ass there myself.” From his tight expression and hard eyes, I knew there was no way to escape this without giving him a real answer, one even he couldn’t deny. Therefore, I did the only think I could think to do.

I aimed to hurt.

“Because your so-called club isn’t what you guys make it out to be. You’re a gang. Acriminalgang. Don’t think you can’t tell me you don’t push things through the state—guns and drugs, and that shit. I know where you guys get your money, and I’m not stupid. I won’t let you drag Adair into that world. He’ll get himself killed.”

If I thought Hunter looked mad before, it was an understatement. The expression on his face couldn’t be described with any word other than furious. I didn’t have to look down to know how tight his knuckles were at his sides. I could see the strain in the way his shoulders straightened and his whole face went tense.

“Watch your mouth,” he growled.

“You asked me for an answer,” I said, aware that half the bravado I had before had abandoned me. “I gave you one.”

“That wasn’t an answer. That was you saying shit you know nothing about. And if you knew any better, you’d know that we protect our brothers. We’ve got their backs. Sure, we get money by doing that type of shit, but if it’s not us providing it, then they’re gonna get it from somewhere else. Somewhere that doesn’t make sure it’s clean. We make sure no dirty scumbags are out on the streets, selling it to kids. We sell it, but we also control it.” His eyes searched mine, looking for a reaction.

I didn’t give one. I stood there wordlessly.

He had said far more than I thought he would. I had known all of it already, and I could tell how much he was trusting me with this. It was that that made me speechless.

“We’re the good guys here, Mallory. The sooner you see that, the better.”

Done, he turned and walked out the door, letting it slam shut behind him.

I remained in place as the silence surrounded me.

“I know …” I whispered into the emptiness.

Somehow, I felt as if someone would answer me, but they didn’t, and I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

Noble’s face crossed my mind as I wondered if he was looking down at me now, mad at me for the same reason Hunter was, or proud because of the reasons I was doing all of this. I felt a bittersweet tenderness in my heart as I accepted that the question would never be answered.

The feeling lingered long after I had cleaned the house until Adair woke up from his nap. I shook it off and went to my baby, knowing he needed me. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon on Hunter’s computer, making plans and buying tickets, deleting the history before he got home.

I would protect Adair.

Even if it meant giving up everything I had ever wanted.

Chapter Nine

Hunter

“You’re goingthe wrong way,” Mallory complained, keeping her eyes pinned to the window.

From her voice, it was easy to tell she was still mad about our conversation on Thursday, but three days of avoidance was what had made it solid. She refused to even look in my direction, and every time I looked in hers, I remembered her words and got mad myself.

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