Page 26 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

Hunter ran a hand through his disheveled hair, exasperation in his movements. “I had it on good word that Dominic was going to flee. It was then or never.”

“And the day in the prison parking lot?” That was him.

He hesitated. “I was trying to keep an eye out for you. It was an unfortunate slip he got to you.”

His lips pressed into a hard line as he continued, “I stayed in the parking lot when you went into the prison, unsure how long you would take. When you came out, you vanished into the parking lot for a few seconds, but it was a few seconds too long.”

And then the Vigilante, or I guess Hunter, jumped in the back of that van and killed that guy. I remembered his vow of protection and how angry the Vigilante had been that the man had laid his hands on me.

“But I called you,” I said. After the attack, and asked him to come get me. “And you werehome.”

At least, that’s what he’d said…

“I had to change my clothing and vehicle.”

If he had hit traffic, that wouldn’t have been enough time. But looking back, there was well over an hour break between the attack and the police arriving to take my statement before I called Hunter.

“Why were you so angry?” I challenged. “When you came to pick me up, you acted like you didn’t know that I had gone to the prison, and you were furious with me.”

“When I saw you leave your cottage in Sean’s van,” he said, “I thought about calling you, but I knew you wouldn’t listen, so I followed you instead.

“It took me a few blocks to catch up to you, but I kept my distance and followed you to the prison, where I changed into my Vigilante attire while you were inside. After I raced home, the anger set in that you had almost been killed. That’s why I was so angry.”

I considered all of this, allowing what felt like an eternity to pass as I digested everything he’d just told me. I thought about the encounter I had with the Vigilante in that alley after the second press conference. When that burglar distracted my bodyguard so the Vigilante could pull me into an alley alone.

“You tried to get me to drop the mayor’s hunt for you,” I accused.

“Think back to that conversation, Luna. Was that the only thing you took away from it?”

“You offered me proof Dominic was guilty. And you showed me evidence of another guy who had killed a girl,” I said. “You told me you don’t hurt innocent people, but I guess that was a lie too,” I said, motioning to my zip ties.

“We’ve discussed the restraints, but have Ihurtyou?”

I said nothing.

“When I had you alone and that alley—the woman wreaking havoc on my life—did I harm you?”

My lips pursed.

“The real reason I came to see you that day was to see if there was any hope that you could see my point of view.”

“To not see you as a monster,” I added.

After that day in the alley, someone had broken into my cottage, and I unknowingly moved in with a serial killer. I had made love to him. But according to him, on at least one of those occasions that I had slept in his mansion, he had slipped out during the night and tortured someone in here while I was none the wiser.

“The guy that you brought down here when I was sleeping—he was Franco’s guy, wasn’t he?”

Because it wasn’t long after I had moved into Hunter’s mansion that the Vigilante had paid me another visit, that one in the women’s restroom at work.

“Yes.”

“You breached your own security and then fired your own bodyguard for approaching me at my work.”

“He allowed a killer to get near you, Luna. Luckily, it wasmewho’d kill to protect you, but he didn’t know that, and he failed at his job, nonetheless.”

“Why did you confront me in the bathroom? You could have called or sent a letter.”

“Would you have taken it as seriously if I did?”

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