Chapter 108
Piper
I’m snapped out of the memory when a hand cups my cheek.
Calloused, but impossibly gentle.
I look up at Hunter.
“Are you sure he’s to blame?”
“Yes. He helped kill innocent people because power mattered more to him than human lives. He never gave a damn about what he’d done. The only reason he panicked was because my father had leverage over him.”
“You have proof?”
He nods.
“Okay,” I say quietly.
I think a part of me always knew my father wasn’t a good man.
And even the Reyes Cartel or the Bellanti Mafia wouldn’t tolerate the killing of innocents.
And if he did, then he deserves to answer for it.
Even if losing him hurts.
Then again, when I think about it, I don’t believe I ever had him as a father.
I meet Hunter’s eyes.
“Do what you have to do.”
“I’ll have the divorce papers sent over for your signature and then returned.”
He stands, and I do the same.
For a long moment, he simply looks at me.
“I have to deal with the fallout of all this. Announce his death. Speak with my grandfather. Sort out the position at Wardgrave Dynamics.”
I nod. “Go.”
“This is your time to sort through whatever is going on in that head of yours,” he says. “Because I can see it. You still want to run from me.”
My stomach twists.
“But Piper, love... You still don’t understand. This ends with us. One way or another.”
“Hunter...” My voice cracks. “Too much has happened. Too much deceit and heartbreak. You...” I struggle to find the words. “You hate me.”
A hint of a sad smile appears on my lips. “I really don’t blame you.”
“I have plenty to make up for, and I will. I hated the fact that you were married to him. I still fucking do. Every part of me does.”
His hand rises to my cheek.
“But I never hated you. I tried. Believe me, I fucking tried. Couldn’t do it.”
I lean into his touch.
“You have to stay away from me.”
A crease appears between his brows.
“Because you can’t love me. Not the way I deserve to be loved.”
The words hurt.
“Now that I finally have my life back, I have to take this chance. I have to choose myself for once.”
His touch stills.
“I deserve to be loved properly. And you can’t give me that. You see me as yours. As something to keep, to obsess over.”
A tear falls down my cheek.
“But that’s not the same as love.”
His amber eyes darken, but he says nothing.
His jaw tightens, and without a word, he leans down and presses a kiss to my forehead.
Then he turns and leaves.
Taking my heart with him. Or whatever remains of it.
Did I really expect him to tell me he loved me?
Hunter never lied about who he was.
I just wish he could.
Love me, that is.