Chapter 32
HUNTER
I curl my fingers around my phone, struggling to contain my excitement. “Yes, Aiden. Jamison has left already and is in Miami. He won’t get in the way.”
“Good riddance. How are the other details coming along?” Aiden’s in FBI mode. Focused and controlled.
“Everything is going as planned. Isabella and my mother think Dorothy is coming back to work this week.”
“What if they’re watching her?”
“She wants to discuss a few things, so I’m having her meet me in the office. If my mother is watching, she’ll assume it’s because Dorothy’s back at Efron Worldwide.”
“Just keep Dori safe and away from Jamison. I’ll do the rest. The only thing you need to do is have Dori where I need her to be when we take down your mom.”
“That won’t be a problem. I already have it planned to the last detail.” I stare at Dorothy’s reinstatement letter.
Handing this to her once my mother is taken care of will be the mega jackpot. I’ll need to ride out Dorothy’s anger for a day or two, but everything will fall into place once she’s back behind her desk.
Knowing I’m going to be seeing her has my heart hammering. I can’t stop picturing the day when I can be with her again.
My son could present an issue, but I’m hoping she’ll notice that I need help with him and offer to take on some of that with me.
Putting a baby in her hands should calm all her apprehensions about being a stepparent, and everything will return to how it was. The time can’t come soon enough.
Aiden brings me back to our call. “Don’t fuck this up, Hunter. If my sister gets hurt at any point, I’m holding you responsible.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her. Not only does she have the team of bodyguards Jamison hired for her, but I also have a surveillance team for her. She’s safe.”
“She better be.” He growls. “Not speaking to her is killing me, but this is for her own good.”
“You have nothing to worry about. One thing I know about your sister is she forgives everyone, even when she shouldn’t.”
“Yeah, she’s always been like that. I’ve got to run, but I’ll speak to you on Friday. Call me before you leave to take Dori to the airport.”
I glance at the door to my office, waiting for her to get here. “Done. Just make sure everything is perfect before we get there.”
“Hunter, my sister is as important to me as she is to you. The only way she gets hurt is if you fuck this up somehow.”
There’s a knock on my door.
“I’ve got to let you go. Someone is here.” I hang up without waiting for him to say goodbye. “Come in.”
The door opens and Hailey steps in. “Dori’s here to see you.”
“Send her in.” I stand, getting lightheaded. I haven’t seen her in two weeks, but it feels like a year.
She steps into my office, and the air gets sucked from my lungs. She’s wearing a formfitting cream-colored dress with opaque stockings, looking like the most beautiful angel ever created.
“Hi, Hunter. Thanks for seeing me.”
“Beauty, it’s so good to have you here.” I rush to her and encircle her in my arms. Her perfume rises in my nose, and I about pass out.
She gives me a quick hug but steps back. “Please don’t call me that.”
I shake my head, not knowing what she means. “What?”
“You just called me beauty. Please don’t.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I had. Please forgive me.” I show her to the couch. “Take a seat and tell me what’s on your mind.”
She sways over and sits. “I’m here to tell you I’m going to speak to HR after I leave your office.”
I sit beside her, facing her direction. “Why?”
“You won’t give me the company’s routing numbers, and I don’t know how else to return the money. It seems the bank won’t accept a check.”
I laugh. “Did you try?”
“You know I didn’t. I was being facetious.” She rolls her eyes.
“I know. I’m playing with you.” My neck muscles loosen with just her presence. “It’s good to see you.”
Her face softens into a warm smile. “It’s nice to see you too. Sucks to be here in your office with everyone staring at me, but meeting with you makes it worthwhile.”
Those words tell me I still have a chance. I take the opportunity to put things into motion.
“Since it’s hard to be here, let me take you to lunch. I have a proposition I’d like to discuss.”
Her back straightens. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Dorothy, I want to take you to lunch and offer you something for your move. I have no other kind of proposition, so relax.”
“Sorry. I’m just on edge being here. Maybe it will be easier to say what I need to if we’re somewhere else.”
“Great. Where would you like to go?” I stand and retrieve my belongings from my desk.
I turn back and lead her out of my office. Her bodyguard steps in line behind her.
She strides toward the elevators. “We could go to the sushi place down the street.”
The sushi restaurant where she messed around with Jamison. No. Not happening.
“I had that yesterday. How about the private club we used to frequent? It’s not far from here, and they have better food.”
“It is delicious.” She nods as the elevator doors open. “That sounds good. Let’s go there.”
I take a breath and step inside. “Perfect. I’m glad I could please you.”
She shifts to the side, allowing her bodyguard and me to get on. I eye him up and down. He’s an attractive man and stares at Dorothy more than an employee should.
I clear my throat and square my shoulders. He catches my watch yourself gaze and faces the doors.
That’s better.
Jamison’s an idiot for letting this guy watch over Dorothy. He seems more interested in getting her into bed than he is in protecting her.
Fucking amateur.
Dorothy remains quiet as we ride down to my car. When we get there, she tells the guy, Tom, he can follow us in his car. He hesitantly agrees to her request and lets her slide into my car a moment later.
I’m looking forward to being near her, but I get a call I have to take. She peers out the window as I handle my business. I scan her legs and body while trying to concentrate on the issue I’m discussing.
We get to the restaurant right as I hang up. “I apologize that call took so long.”
“Don’t worry about it. I was just taking in my surroundings. It’s hard to believe I’m leaving on Friday.” She glances my way, but the door opens and grabs her attention.
I wouldn’t be so sure about leaving, Dorothy.
Not when you hear you have your job back.
We get out of the car. Before long, we’re seated at the same table where we shared our first meal. She’s not sitting as close to me as that night, but she’s still here with me. My heart warms at the thought.
I get back to the task at hand. “Let’s talk about the money first.”
“Please. The longer it sits in my account, the more anxious I get.” She reaches for the wine menu.
Nice.
I didn’t expect her to want to stay long enough for a bottle of wine, and they don’t serve it by the glass here—at least not the kind she drinks.
I situate myself at an angle so I’m facing her more. “I’ll make you a deal. It’s what I wanted to discuss with you when you called and said you’d like to meet up to say goodbye.”
She places the menu down. “What kind of deal?”
“Like your dance moves, the cool kind.”
Yes, I threw that in there so she’ll remember the night we decorated the Christmas tree.
She smiles wide. “My dance moves are cool.”
I take in the moment, staring at her a little too long. My chest hurts without her in my life. We belong together. Resolve rains over me, and I focus on the plan to get her back.
“I’d like you to take my jet to Miami when you leave on Friday. Flying on a commercial airline isn’t how I want you to experience your departure from here. I want you to have good memories when you think of me.”
Her eyes shine back at me. “That’s very sweet of you to offer, but I already have my ticket.”
“Cancel it. The jet is way better, and you know it.”
“Hunter, I can’t accept a gift like that from you. It wouldn’t be right.”
I shrug. “Fine. I guess you won’t be getting the routing numbers you want.”
Her lips part as if she’s about to say something, but she stops herself. She shakes her head and glances at her hands in her lap.
I’ve got to convince her, or my plan will fail. I don’t want to think of the horrible things that could happen if she doesn’t agree to this.
The server comes over, giving me time to think about how to persuade Dorothy to take the jet. Once we’ve given our order, I try to get back on track.
“If you’re concerned about how being on my jet will affect Jamison, please don’t worry. I’m not planning on going with you. All I have to do is drive you there and make sure I see you off. I promise no funny business.”
She plays with the straw in her water glass. “And if I agree to this, you’ll give me the routing numbers so I can return the money?”
“You have my word. Once you’re on the jet, you’ll find an envelope on the table. That will have all the information you need to transfer the money back to me.”
I scoot a little closer to her, wishing I could scoop her up and take her out of here. “Please, let me do this one last thing for you. Call it our parting gift.”
Searing pain shoots through my chest. I can’t let her go. Once I have my mother locked up and Dorothy knows she can come back to work with us, I can win her back .
She stares at me with what looks like admiration. “Thank you, Hunter. That’s very kind of you.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, so don’t think twice about it.”
The server comes back with the bottle of wine and opens it up.
I take the first taste and dip my head. “It’s delicious. Thanks.”
He pours us each a glass, puts the bottle in a stand near the table, and excuses himself.
She lifts her glass. “Cheers to meeting you, Hunter. I’m blessed to have gotten to know you.”
I tap my glass to hers. “Cheers to our time together. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
Our glasses clink, and we take a sip while staring into each other’s eyes. The love is still between us. Maybe not a raging fire, but there’s passion swirling in her eyes.
She places her wine down and peers my way. “I’m glad you agreed to meet with me. It’s important to me to have this conversation with you.”
“I’ll always make time for you.” My heart rate kicks up. This is my chance to plant the seeds of what I want to happen. “I’m curious how Jamison feels about us being together.”
Her eyes light up like a megawatt lightbulb. “He’s the one who suggested it.”
What?
And I really hate the look in her eyes.
“Jamison suggested we meet?” I ask.
Her cheeks turn a dusty rose. “Yes. He’s been so considerate of my feelings. It’s like he knows what’s going on inside my head and what I need before I do. It’s comforting to be with him.”
I’ve seen how she looks when she’s in love, but this is beyond that by miles. I need her to stop talking about Jamison. Her longing gaze meets mine. I take the opportunity to get the conversation going in the right direction.
“What was it you wanted to discuss with me?” I gesture to my phone. “You were the one who wanted to meet, so I’m ready to talk.”
“Of course. I thought it would be nice to have one last discussion and end things on a friendly note.”
“A friendly note?”
She puts her palm over the top of my hand. “You told me once you would take me as a friend, and I need to know that still stands. When all is said and done, I want you to think of me as someone you could talk to if you ever needed someone to listen.”
The wind in my lungs escapes as I try to hold in the fact I’m a shattered mess inside. I sit with a new awareness and stare at the woman I love whose eyes burn for another—whose heart no longer belongs to me.
She squeezes my hand. “Hunter, please say something.”
I swallow my emotions and clear my throat. “You and I will always be friends. I meant everything I said to you. I always have and always will.”
“We both meant everything we said to each other. Let’s focus on that.” She removes her hand and sits back.
Panic strikes my heart in an unrelenting lightning storm. Over and over, the bolts electrocute me until I can’t take it anymore. “That’s not true.”
“What’s not true?”
“You said you wouldn’t leave me. You told me you would stay with me. When we got back from Paris, you promised.” I can’t help myself.
This moment is just like the day I held on to my mother’s legs as she pried me off them so she could leave. I’ve done so much work to be better for Dorothy, and she still wants to abandon me .
I’m still not someone she can love. Not like she loves Jamison.
My heart cracks and crumbles to the ground. “Did none of that matter? Is it really that easy for you to walk away from us?”
She pulls back and rests her palm over her heart. “It mattered more than you can understand. You taught me how a person can change and be a better man. You showed me how hard someone will work to right all their wrongs.”
“That someone you’re referring to is me. I was the one who did that for you. No one else.”
She lowers her head and whispers, “I know, and I’ll always be grateful for that. You taught me you would clean up all your wrongs just to have another chance to love me.”
“I did that for you.”
“And that means the world to me. The love I had for you will be something I cherish for the rest of my life.”
None of that matters because even though I might have worked to better myself, that doesn’t change how her soul craves another. Her eyes shine for another. Her heart yearns and beats for another.
She doesn’t want me. She wants him.
Confusion overcomes me. “But where does that leave me?”
She lifts her head and subtly shakes it. “I’m sorry it didn’t turn out the way you hoped. I’m sorry I hurt you. And I’m sorry I’m doing it again.”
I take a deep breath as stinging tears press on the backs of my eyes. “Did you ever love me?”
“I did. Very much.”
“But never as much as you do him.” I study every twitch in her expression. “Tell me the truth. I need and deserve it. Help me put this to bed once and for all. Help me understand why so I can let you go and move on.”
She smiles warmly. “There were times when I thought I loved you as much. But my heart was already taken, and I’m so sorry for that. It took me almost losing him forever to realize that, but that’s the truth.
“Hunter, Jamison has always owned my heart. Our connection is something I can’t explain to anyone. It’s more than love. So much more.”
Her words cut me, and my world comes crashing down. I can’t take my eyes off her, fearing she’ll disappear if I do.
Our gazes connect, and something hits me.
How have I not noticed this before?
“Hunter, why are you looking at me like that?”