Page 63 of Hunter

“Where is she?” I heard Hunter’s voice down the hall.

“She’s here, man,” Jax said, his voice soft, talking as if I couldn’t hear them. “Look, something happened during the fight. Physically, she’ll be fine in a few days, but …”

There was a pause. I didn’t have to look at them to know they were looking my way.

“Thanks, brother,” Hunter said.

I first heard boots walk into the distance before Hunter’s heavier steps approached me.

He was quiet for a few second and didn’t touch me. He simply stared at me, and then looked toward the door I stood in front of. The same door I had been standing in front of for last twenty minutes.

Jax and Anna had been the ones to break up the fight, along with a few other brothers. Anna chewed out the bitches, while Jax had brought me into Hunter’s room, but I found myself standing out here before I knew it. He had tried to take me back, but when I asked for a minute longer, he understood and didn’t push.

“Mallory?” Hunter’s gravelly voice was soft in my ear, and the sound of it unraveled some of my tension.

“They know,” I said, tracing the engraved plaque on the door with my eyes. “About me and Nobel … They know.”

“I know,” Hunter said. “I told the brothers.”

“I see.”

I knew a part of me was mad at Hunter for breaking the condition, but the numbing emptiness still clung to me, and I couldn’t make it a concern. Not yet.

“Mallory, what happened?”

“I fell in love with a man I shouldn’t have,” I whispered. “I spent sixteen years falling in love with him from afar. I was the pizza delivery girl who stalked him at every opportunity. I knew his reputation with women and about him belonging to the Black Angels, but I hadn’t cared. College was a time full of pressure from my family, and I felt stressed all the time, but when I talked to Noble, it was easy, you know?” I looked up to where Hunter stood.

His green eyes were soft, his focus solely on me. I had never told anyone in my life about meeting Noble. Now, the memories seemed to flow with ease as if I were there again. As if I were that naïve teenage girl looking for love in a man who deserved everything good and then some.

“I wasn’t even a blip on his radar until one night my friends dragged me to a club. He remembered me, and we talked, and I drank and then drank some more. He seemed attracted to me, but I still think he saw me as the freckled sixteen-year-old who blushed bright red when he answered the door in his full glory. He wasn’t going to act, and I knew I had to do something … so my liquid courage and I managed to get him to give me a ride on his bike. He dropped me off at my place, and I invited him in for coffee.” I felt myself smile, and a faint sting nipped at the cut on my lip.

Hunter brushed his finger across it, his green eyes unreadable. His demeanor was quiet but also open. “Go on.”

I tried to search his expression, but he gave nothing away, so I did as he asked. I told him of that night and of my lie. Noble had been hesitant, ready to give up when we realized neither of us had condoms. Four years later, I had learned the hard way that lying about contraception was stupid. I said as much to Hunter, including how I was convinced I wouldn’t get pregnant, though it had been wishful thinking. I also went on to tell him about that day. I told him detail for detail how I broke his brother’s heart and ruined his world, of all my regrets, and how I wished it had turned out differently.

I paused for a while, my hand now in Hunter’s, and I watched as he traced his fingers over my split knuckles one by one.

I didn’t know how close the brothers were, but I had a feeling what I was telling Hunter now was crucial for whatever future we were going to have together. With that in mind, I didn’t want to leave anything out.

“I went back,” I whispered, and Hunter paused, his gaze meeting mine. “I came back to apologize. To make everything right. I knew Noble was upset and hurt when I broke the news, and a lot of that was my fault. I also knew he deserved a proper explanation.

“I had an attorney draw up some papers that said, if he ever wanted involvement with his child, he was free to have it. But unless he did, there were no obligations to me. I didn’t know what his opinion was on ever having kids, but I thought one day, if he chose to, he’d make a good father. And I hoped one day he could be that to our child. It didn’t have to be right then, or when the baby was born, or when it asked, or whatever. Whenever he was ready to be a father, we’d be there for him. Somewhere along the line, I had hoped we’d have a future together.”

I placed my other hand on top of Hunter’s. “So, I went back on Friday with the papers.”

A slow shudder of breath left Hunter’s tight lips. “The funeral …” he breathed, his eyes becoming torn with emotion.

“My hopes and dreams were gone,” I whispered, looked away. “I always thoughtmaybe somedaywhen it came to Noble. I sought comfort in the fact I hoped deep down Noble would come back for me. I never even considered he might never get the chance to decide.”

Hunter stepped away from me. I wasn’t even sure he realized.

“Then all I could think about was how my baby would never get to know their father. They’d never know how good and kind and funny he was. They’d never be lifted and held in his big strong arms, or hold their small hands in his big ones. They’d never know how much he liked fixing up anything he could get his hands on, or how he had an unhealthy obsession with pizza.” I fought for courage and lifted my head to look up. “They’d never even get to look into his beautiful, green eyes.” I reached up, and Hunter flinched as I closed my hand on his cheek. “Noble was gone, and I’d driven him away. And now my baby would never know him. That was on me. I was all alone because of me.”

“You weren’t alone, Mallory,” Hunter whispered, his voice tight and hoarse. He reached up and held my hand against his face. “You could have come to the club. We’d have taken you in. I’d have protected you.”

“A random girl claiming to be pregnant with your brother’s baby, showing up on your doorstep less than a week after he died?” I shook my head. “You wouldn’t have believed me, Hunter.Iwouldn’t have believed me. It was too much of a coincidence. Nobel was dead, and you couldn’t do a paternity test. The timing would have been too convenient. It’s not like any of you even knew me. There would have been no reason to believe me. And I wouldn’t have blamed you.”

Hunter opened his mouth as if to protest, but I shook my head.

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