Page 52 of Altered

I was experiencing that godawful feeling of nervousness and I didn’t fucking like it.

I wasn't a nervous person as a rule, it just wasn’t an emotion I had the need tofeel, but Hope Carter seemed to have the power to knock me on my ass. The longer she spent inside that house, the more it grew inside of me.

She made promises last night; promises of love and loyalty.

I knew she meant themthen.

It was easy to make plans when the danger wasn’t present.

But now she had to face her demons.

I knew facing him wouldn’t be easy for her.

They shared a bond I would never understand.

I could only hope that she followed through.

Followed her heart.

Leaning against the side of my truck, I watched as she stepped out of the house and closed the front door behind her.

Empty handed.

My heart hammered against my chest as Hope carefully approached me, and I made a mental note of the despair in her eyes and the way she had her arms wrapped around her middle.

Not good.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, her nose was bright red, and she was hiccupping uncontrollably as she tried to stem her tears.

Immediately, my hackles rose.

If he fucked her over, I was going to lose my ever-loving mind.

Yeah, Hope and I had gone behind his back, and I held my hands up for that – it was on me – but Porter couldn’t talk. He'd made a goddamn career out of fucking this woman over.

"What happened?" I asked when she reached me. Tossing my cigarette away, I moved to touch her, but she quickly backed away, out of reach. "Sweetheart?"

"I can't," she began to say, then choked out a huge sob. "I'm sorry, Hu-Hunter, but I…I can't go…" Sniffling, she wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve. "I need to s-stay here," more sniffling, "and f-fix my m-marriage."

And there it was.

Like I'd always known deep down.

His hand of cards was stronger than mine.

She would never leave him.

"Stay here," I deadpanned. "With him."

"Don’t hate me," she sobbed. "Please, don’t h-hate me."

The burning sensation spreading across my chest was nothing compared to the absolute incredulity I felt as I looked at how miserable she clearly was.

Goddamn, did anyone look at this woman?

Did anyone care to look beneath the surface and see just how fucking unhappy she was?

I could see it.

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