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"I'm sorry." I tried to hide my face from him because I knew my eyes would be red and swollen. Even at that moment, I didn’t want Hunter to see me ugly-cry. I didn’t have much pride remaining, given my debt to him, but I had some.
"Shh, shh," he whispered. "From the looks of those bruises, he could have killed you, Celia. He could have killed you."
"He didn't," I said, thinking of how his hands had felt around my neck. "Luckily, my mother was awake enough to come downstairs to his lair and save me. But he threatened me. There's nothing I can do but try to get her out of there. I'm worried about her, Hunter. I'm afraid he might hurt her."
"I don't blame you," he said softly. "We could put her into a safe house somewhere. Get her 24/7 nursing care."
I glanced up at him finally, surprised that he offered. "You'd do that?"
He shook his head. "Of course I would," he said, and I could hear the emotion in his voice. "She's your mother and Graham's mother. You two were my only friends for all those years…"
Then he kissed me, the kiss tender. It surprised me, given his earlier declaration that he wouldn't touch me again and if anything was going to happen between us, it would be me asking, not him taking.
I didn't kiss him back, but neither did I pull away. Finally, he broke the kiss and wiped tears off my cheeks with a thumb.
"Will you be okay?" he asked. "I have to go somewhere. Take care of some business. George will be here with you."
"I'll be fine," I said and forced a smile. Then, I frowned, wondering what business he had to take care of at that time of night. "Where are you going?"
Hunter turned to me when he got to the door. "I've got some business, that's all. Don't worry about me. George," he said and turned to George. "Can I speak with you downstairs?"
George nodded and gave me a smile. "I be right back, Celia."
I nodded and watched as the two of them left the apartment, for another floor. I hadn’t yet had a chance to explore the building and so I had no idea what else was in the building, but I assumed Hunter owned the entire place.
I went to the bathroom and changed, then crawled into my bed to nurse my wounds. I lay in the late afternoon dimness, the only light coming from the monitors in George's office space and a hanging light over the island in the kitchen.
I wondered what Hunter was doing and where he was going, but I had been so upset over what happened to me and how Spencer treated me that I quickly fell asleep.
Chapter 8
HUNTER
"I'm going to kill the bastard."
George gave me a look of exasperation and shook his head. "I know you want, but would not be best thing. How can you help Celia if you are in jail? Think for moment. What can you do to keep her safe and get him justice?"
I paced the empty warehouse floor and considered. "I'll talk to my handler in the FBI, and see what they have for evidence. What I saw in Alexandria should count for something. Even if he wasn't directly involved, the fact that he still owns that building should mean he gets charged with
owning a business that was used for child prostitution or something. Plus, there's the tapes. That's evidence of, at a minimum, production of child pornography. My handler will know."
George nodded, apparently satisfied that I wasn’t going to go off half-cocked and kill Spencer in a rage. My blood was much cooler after talking to George. But I would go to Spencer and deliver a beating. I would punch him in the face and make him regret that he hurt Celia earlier that night.
No one could blame me for that. I had pretty much carte blanche in terms of rules of engagement with the enemy—my handler in the FBI said as much. I could do what I needed to fit in with the Romanovs and they'd only make a show of punishing me if I got caught.
I accepted that risk. I was willing to sacrifice my life for my fellow Marines if needed over in Iraq and Afghanistan. I figured stopping Spencer and his fellow worms would be worth the risk. I'd do what had to be done for the greater good, even if it meant I spent some time in solitary confinement to make it look like I was a real thug.
"You go back upstairs," I said to George.
"Where you going?"
"I'm going over there to punch his face in," I replied. "He deserves at least that much attention from me, even if I can't kill him outright."
"That could be dangerous, Hunter," George said and I could hear in his voice that he didn’t like the idea. "Don't lose control."
"I won't. He's a worm. He'll crumple at the first blow, believe me. I know his type."
I went to the stairwell to take the stairs to the street. "Watch out for Celia. If anyone shows up at the warehouse for any reason, don't let them in without contacting me first."
