Page 42 of Imperfect Saint
Joshua Bell was the monster and both of the Turner siblings needed to remember that.
Hunter softened his stance, “Millie’s told me how close you two are. I know you would’ve protected her if you’d known she was in trouble. You’re a good brother to her from what I’ve seen. I won’t say I’m sorry you found out. I’m not. I’m glad you know so you don’t keep letting that bastard into her life, but I am sorry all this drama happened on your wedding day.”
“What’s a wedding without a little drama?” Colin let a shadow of a smile cross his face before it disappeared again and he shook his head, “Those are Reed’s words, not mine.”
“I like him.” Hunter gave a small smile of his own and Colin snorted.
“That’s good because he likes you too. Says you’re going to be best friends. He told me to make sure I apologized for jumping to conclusions when I saw Millie’s face. And I am sorry for that. I just saw her there, crying and bloody, and I don’t know you. I’d never seen her like that before and…” He trailed off, shrugging as if that explained it all. “I’m sorry.”
Hunter pushed himself up to his full height, “I forgive you. Like you said, you don’t know me very well. Not yet. But you should know I will never, ever, hurt her.”
Colin stared at him and then smiled again, “You know when she called last minute to say she was bringing a date, I thought this whole thing was some sort of charade. I thought maybe she was trying to prove to all of us that she’d moved on by bringing someone to the wedding. Reed though, he called it from the minute he saw you with her. He said you’re absolutely crazy about her and he was right, wasn’t he?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Good.” Colin pushed up to his full height too, “She deserves a good man. After what Joshua’s done to her, I’m glad she was able to open up to you and let you in. I’m glad she has you in her life.”
Hunter accepted the kind words with a nod and a smile. He didn’t know what else to say. He and Colin hadn’t gotten off on the right foot but they were rectifying the situation. They had time to fix it. Just so long as Millie didn’t shut him out or push him away when she woke up, Hunter had time to make her brother see that he only wanted the best for Millie too.
“Can I ask… Where’s that bastard at now?”
“Not here.” Colin’s scowl returned. “I had a little talk with him after you got Millie out of there. He lied to me. He hurt my sister. And then to top it all off, he tried to blame her for it. He actually had the balls to try and tell me she forced his hand. That it was her fault. That she’d brought it on herself.”
“That son of a bitch, I’m going to find him and hurt him, badly.” Hunter growled but Colin held up a hand.
“You won’t find him. Not here. I had him escorted off the property and security has been told his access here is revoked. He won’t be giving Millie any more trouble this weekend, or ever if I have any say in it. I already informed our father that when I return from my honeymoon, I expect Joshua’s office at the company to be cleaned out too. As of a half hour ago, he’s no longer a part of our lives in any way and Millie will never have to see his face again.”
“Good.”
Colin glanced at his watch and gave a heavy sigh, “Look, I need to go take care of some wedding issues that have arisen due to my sudden lack of a Best Man. Please tell Millie to come find me when she wakes up, will you?”
“Sure.” Hunter raised an eyebrow, “So, the wedding is still on?”
“Of course it is.” Colin looked at him as if he’d said something stupid, “You think I’d call it off because Reed kept a secret from me? No. We talked. We’re rational adults. We love each other and we’re getting married, today, as planned. I lost him once and I won’t risk losing him again over something that Millie should’ve told me in the first place. I may be short a Best Man but the real best man has always been the man I’m marrying.”
That made Hunter smile, “We’ll come down when Millie’s feeling up to it.”
“Don’t rush her. She’s dealt with a lot and not just today or this weekend. I’ll understand if she isn’t up for wedding festivities or standing in front of all those people after what she suffered today. It’ll always be the happiest day of my life, marrying Reed, but I know for her it won’t be easy to put aside what Joshua did to her. I won’t blame her if she misses us saying our vows, I guess that’s what I’m saying.”
Hunter shook his head, “You can tell her that yourself when she wakes up. I will say, Millie’s far stronger and more resilient than you think she is. You two will talk and you’ll work it out. You’re family and in my experience, that means everything.”
“You have a sister?”
“A half-sister, and she’s a lot younger than me. We’re not as close as I’d like for us to be but I do have two brothers that I work with on a daily basis. We fight. We disagree. But in the end, we’re family and we’re always there for each other.”
Colin met his gaze, “You seem like a good man, Hunter St. James. Please don’t let me down.”
“I don’t intend to let her down and that’s what’s important.” Hunter saw Colin check his watch again and motioned for him to go. “Go. I should get back in there in case she wakes up.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Hunter said goodbye and then let himself back into the room. Millie was still asleep. She looked so small in the big bed and he immediately wanted to crawl back in and hold her tight. He didn’t dare though for fear that he’d wake her. Instead he sat on the small bench where he’d offered to sleep the night before and watched her for a long time, waiting for her to open her eyes so that he would know where they went from here.
He only hoped wherever it was, that it was together.
13
Millie woke slowly from a deep sleep. She yawned, feeling groggy and out of sorts, but the second her mouth stretched open the pain shot through her jaw and her eyes flew open. She jerked her hand up, covering her mouth and then, hesitantly, touching the puffy skin and feeling the sharp sting that made it all come rushing back to her.
