Chapter 34 Bunny #2
“Excuse me?” Disgust and astonishment lace my tone. The sugared oats and marshmallows turn to ash in my mouth. I curse my late husband for ruining my most anticipated treat.
“It took a while to get the correspondence, but Nathaniel had Neil believing you and I were having an affair. He told him he suspected we were plotting against him. He had a file on me and knew you were lying about working undercover. How the fuck he found any of that out without tipping off someone in the department, I’ll never know.
” Hunter growls, raking a hand through his wayward curls.
If Nathaniel knew, it explains why he got more aggressive whenever I mentioned Hunter. Explains the push for a family—his desire for me not to work. Why he tried harder to isolate me.
Frowning down at my cereal, my stomach churns. Dejectedly, I set the bowl on the rolling table on the side of the bed, pushing it away before turning my attention back toward Hunter. “Nathaniel once told me Neil would be behind bars for life. How did he get out?”
“He’d been helping him apply for early release. For whatever reason, he was all too happy to leave his brother in prison—until…” His jaw muscle ticks as his gaze flicks to Faline. “Until I came into the picture.”
“So, what? You think he intended to get Neil out and send him after you?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is Neil is after you. While you were gone, he kept leaving letters about finding you before I could.” A shudder rolls through him, and he stands, pacing for a moment before retrieving Faline and curling her into his chest.
I watch him—how gently he moves so he doesn’t wake her, how he whispers promises that he’ll never let anyone hurt her.
It hits me—how hard it must’ve been not knowing where I was, or where his child was, while someone threatened our lives. If the roles were reversed, I don’t know how I would have managed.
“I’m sorry, Hunter. For getting you into this mess.” I could say it a million times and it would never be enough. All I can do is keep repeating it like a broken record and hope he hears it isn’t meaningless.
He shakes his head and returns to my side. “You know, Bunny—for all the books you read, you’re sure as shit the worst at communicating, aren’t you?”
As if sensing the anger creeping into his tone, Faline stirs. Wordlessly, he hands her to me to feed her before taking a seat. Every passing second, his frame grows more tense, knees bouncing, fists clenching, jaw ticking.
“I never claimed to be perfect, Hunter. I have issues—that’s not a secret. And after everything that happened—” I stop as he stands abruptly.
“I admit that was my fault. I never should’ve made you think… never thought you’d believe I would do that to you.” His voice is quiet, but the meaning behind them speaks volumes.
“Hunter…”
“You two really are the worst, you know that?” He huffs a laugh and goes to the window.
Confusion swirls as I get Faline to latch, but before I can look up, he laughs again.
“God, this is so fucking stupid. I can’t even rage at you the way I want—not with you holding her.” He drops to his haunches, fingers threading into his hair. “How could you do it? I guess that is what I don’t understand.”
Sighing, I shake my head. “There’s not a lot to understand. You know the motive. It’s obvious why I created the Shadow Siren.”
“That isn’t what I meant. I meant, how could you keep doing it while you were carrying her?” He motions to the baby suckling my breast.
It feels like all the air gets sucked from the room as I mull over his reaction and his words. My heart skips a beat, stumbling to keep a normal pace as it picks up.
Hunter laughs incredulously as he stands. From the sound of it, he’s not angry that I am the Shadow Siren—he’s angry I kept at it while pregnant.
“Come on, Bunny. Did you really never suspect I knew?” He comes closer, a crazed look in his eyes. “Do you really think I’m that bad at my job?”
“Hunter… I… what?”
Suddenly, he lunges, causing me to startle. Pressing further into the bed, I try to keep my breathing even as he clasps my face between his hands, careful not to jostle our daughter. A whimper escapes me, but it only seems to spur him on.
“Oh, Little Rabbit. How could you not know? I’ve been obsessed with you for so long.
How could you not figure it out? Didn’t you ever wonder how I knew exactly where you were?
Exactly where your dates were located?” His voice drops, strangely amused and skirting deranged.
“Didn’t you ever wonder how I knew you never took them home?
How I knew you came every night with my name on your lips?
Bunny, I knew when I met you, I wanted you.
Nathaniel was a momentary obstacle, but then you took care of him, and you were mine for the taking.
” His thumbs smooth over my cheekbones, wiping away the tears that I’m trying desperately—and failing miserably—to hold back.
“Hunter…” I’m not afraid of him, but I fear he might be close to having some sort of psychotic break. I’ve never seen him like this, and if what Vixey said is true—and judging by his appearance, I wouldn’t doubt it—he’s suffering from a major lack of sleep.
“Then you left me. And I won’t lie—as angry as I was, I knew you’d come back eventually. So I set a trap. I wasn’t going to let you slip away again. After all, I dreamed you up, remember? You were always meant to be mine. I wanted to know the moment you returned, so I put up cameras in your house.”
Shock spears through me, stealing my breath and plunging into my gut. “Wh—what?”
Whatever jagged joy he’s getting from confessing bleeds out of his face. He releases me like my skin burns and backs up. His gaze drops to Faline and softens, chasing away the crazy.
After a beat, he goes on, composed again.
“That’s right, Bunny. I broke a handful of laws to have front-row access to your life.
I almost felt bad about it when you returned.
But then you fought so hard against me… against the idea of us…
that I decided it was worth it.” He huffs a dry laugh.
“Imagine my surprise when I found out about your extracurriculars.”
Hunter knew. He’s always known I was the Shadow Siren.
Nausea worms its way through me, threatening to expel the few bites of Lucky Charms I managed.
“The first time you brought a man home, I was furious enough to burst in and kill him myself,” Hunter muses, a faraway look glazing his eyes. “But then you took him to the basement and came back alone. I was confused—I hadn’t set anything up down there—so I snuck in and added more surveillance.”
Images flood me—Yasha and Maru always greeting him like they knew him, even the “first” time. “The dogs—”
“Oh, yes. The boys and I were well acquainted long before you introduced us.” He smirks.
“All this time, you knew?” Astonishment—and maybe a sick sort of awe—edges out the panic swelling in my chest.
“I knew. I helped keep it secret. I fought to keep your case, even when my boss was pissed I wasn’t producing results.
” He steps closer, glare hardening. “I’ve kept you and Dove from getting caught all this time, Bunny.
And while I should’ve been clear about my intentions on New Year’s—and you leaving again is largely my fault—you should never have gone after a target while you were pregnant. ”
“I know! And I’m sorry! I can’t take it back, Hunter.
” I shove everything else he said into a mental box to unpack later.
Part of me is convinced this is a fever dream, and that the last ten minutes have been a figment of my imagination.
A product of the drugs they gave me during labor, and I’m still asleep.
“I can’t take it back either. Not the way things happened.
Not the part of me that wants to hate you now.
And that part hates me for allowing it to happen again.
But at the end of the day,” he nods at Faline, “you’re the mother of my child.
And I’ll be damned if I ever give you the chance to take her from me again. ”
Tears prick my eyes, and I try my damnedest to hold them back. “So where do we go from here, Hunter? I don’t know how to get back to where we were. I don’t know how things can ever be the same.”
“No, Little Rabbit.” He shakes his head, taking Faline and turning toward the bassinet—though it feels more like he’s turning his back on me. “Things will never be the same.”