Page 39 of Imperfect Saint
Reed couldn’t quite muster a smile but he tried, “I knew I liked you.”
Millie lost it then, for reasons she couldn’t quite explain or even understand. The tears came flooding out and she couldn’t make them stop. She could hardly catch her breath.
It was too much. It was all just too much. She felt like she was going to faint but when her legs went to jelly Hunter was there and he caught her, lifting her into his arms and whispering that she was going to be okay.
“You can see her once she’s settled. Not until.” Hunter told her brother.
“She’s my sister and…”
“And she’s my woman. I’m putting her first and I’m taking care of her and if you try to get in my way, we’re going to have a problem.” Hunter warned, his voice a low rumble, “I don’t want to have a problem with you, Colin, so move.”
Millie clung to Hunter when he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the library. She sagged against his chest and shut her eyes. Colin had moved. He’d let her go. Hunter had said that he loved her. She should be feeling so many emotions about everything that had just happened. Pain and anger, fear and hurt, and regret were chief among them, but there was also hope because Hunter had said she was his. Instead, all that she felt in that moment, was numb.
12
No amount of counting or breathing exercises could calm Hunter’s anger now.
He wanted to rip that bastard apart. He wanted to beat him into unconsciousness. He wanted to hurt him, break him, destroy him the same way that asshole had tried to destroy Millie. He wanted to kill Joshua Bell with his bare hands.
The only thing that kept him from it was her. Millie. She didn’t need his anger. Not right now. She didn’t need more anger and violence. She needed him to be calm. She needed him to be in control. She needed to know that she was safe and that he would never, ever, let that bastard hurt her ever again.
So he swallowed his anger, beat it down into a ball and held it tight inside of him, and focused only on the woman in his arms.
Millie. His sweet, stubborn, beautiful Millie was crying. She was bruised and bloody. She was hurt, physically and emotionally. She was clinging to him and he wanted nothing more than to hold her tight and never let go.
He’d wanted her secrets, but he hadn’t wanted this. Not this. Never this.
Oh, he’d known exactly the kind of man Joshua Bell was. He’d pushed the thought to the back of his mind, but he’d known. When Lemon had called and asked him to go with Millie, to keep her safe, to keep her ex-fiancé away from her, he’d known that the asshole was an abusive fuckwad. He hadn’t wanted it to be true though and he’d let down his guard. He’d thought his mere presence was enough to keep her ex in line. But he’d been wrong and he’d known it before he even walked into that library.
Hunter had spent the afternoon wandering the Turner property. After Chuck Turner had showed him the still and shared a drink with him, Hunter had done the responsible thing and gotten the older man back up to the house. When he’d realized the rehearsal was still in full swing, he’d changed and gone for a quick run. There was a path in the woods he’d noticed when they walked out to the barn and he’d enjoyed running through the trees, pushing his body to the limit. He’d needed to work off some of his extra energy and he’d been feeling good by the time he got back to the house. He’d showered and gone downstairs to find something to eat for lunch. He’d been enjoying a couple of the mini-sandwiches on the buffet table when he’d seen Reed come into the room.
They’d laughed about how small the sandwiches were. They’d talked about how long the rehearsal had gone. And then, when Millie hadn’t appeared, he’d finally asked where she was.
If only he’d gone looking for her sooner, maybe he could have stopped Joshua Bell before he hurt her. If only Hunter had stayed by her side instead of going off to do his own thing and process all the emotions running through him, it never would have happened. Lemon had sent him to protect Millie and he’d failed. By the time he’d heard the raised voices in the room tucked back down a hallway under the stairs, he’d known that he had screwed up.
Even still, some part of him had hoped that he was wrong. He’d wanted it to simply be an argument. Yelling and arguing would have been far preferable to what he’d walked in on.
He would never be able to forget the look of fear on Millie’s beautiful face as she’d run into his arms. He hadn’t wanted to pull back to look at her face but he’d had to know his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He’d looked down and there it was, written all over her face, plain as day. The red mark that marred her cheek and the split lip and the blood and the tears, it all told the story of the relationship Millie had escaped and just why it was that she kept herself closed off and refused to talk about it.
Joshua Bell had been her only boyfriend. She’d told him that. He’d been her first and only everything. And that bastard had taken her innocence and naivety and used it against her. He’d twisted her love into something dark and insidious. Millie had left him, somehow, but she hadn’t been able to escape him. Not really. Her family wouldn’t let her and she couldn’t bring herself to tell them the truth that would make them see Joshua Bell for the monster that he was.
Until now.
Colin knew the truth now. He might not want to believe it but there was no denying the proof. It was displayed on Millie’s face for all of them to see. There was no way it was the first bruise Joshua Bell had given her but it was the first she hadn’t lied about or covered up. It was also the last because if Colin didn’t take care of that asshole, Hunter would do it himself, just as soon as he was certain Millie was okay.
“Hunter…” Her voice was soft as he carried her up the stairs to their bedroom.
“Shh, it’s okay.”
“I-I’m…”
“Shh.” He whispered again as he pushed the door open and then kicked it shut behind them. “You’re safe, baby. I got you. He’s never going to hurt you again.”
Millie’s breath caught on a sob and she buried her face against his chest, “I know.”
Hunter’s heart broke at the whispered words. He should have kept her safe. He shouldn’t have ever given her ex a chance to get her alone. If he’d been doing his job, she wouldn’t be in so much pain right now.
He’d let Lemon down. He’d let Millie down. And he could only pray that the both of them would eventually be able to forgive him.
