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Hunter
Something is bothering Lexi. I saw it in her eyes the minute I came out onto the balcony. She looked destroyed, completely and utterly devastated, and I wonder if it has something to do with her brother. There was real pain in her eyes and I wanted to wrestle the truth from her but recognized the signs to leave her alone to come to terms with what she’s just heard. All I can do is demonstrate how much she means to me because if she’s hurt or in pain, so am I.
She seems lost somehow and so I do what I can to bring her round. I kiss, stroke and love her as only I can and yet even as she shivers against my body and cries out my name as she comes, I have a bad feeling that everything is slowly changing between us. It’s as if Lexi Mackenzie has left the building, and I can only think it has something to do with her brother.
Vowing to coax it out of her later, I am frustrated to have to disappear into zoom meetings for the next few hours.
“I can cancel them if you want to talk about whatever’s eating you up, baby.”
“It’s fine.” She smiles through her tears which concerns me–a lot because Lexi doesn’t let emotion get in the way of things, which is why I can only think something has happened to Chase.
She tells me she has things to sort out and could use the time, so I don’t argue and just give her the space she appears to need so badly right now, and I disappear into my den for the rest of the evening. Maybe distance will give her time to sort whatever shit life is throwing at her right now and once these meetings are done, I’m going to wrestle the truth from her if it kills me.
My meetings are set to last for a couple of hours, so I set my mind to business and try to work out what the fuck these morons are telling me. Today has been a particularly bad day for the stock market and several billions have been wiped off the bottom line of nearly every hedge fund in existence. One by one, I listen to the excuses spilling from my team’s lips as they try to convince me it’s not anything they’ve done. Covering their backs and placing the blame on London, Tokyo, in fact anyone else that deals with the markets except them.
I listen on, saying nothing and think about what’s happening. It’s as if we’re experiencing a global meltdown and a terror organization is playing with us, manipulating us like pawns on a chess set. Moving silently forward, side stepping when needed with the sole aim of taking out the king. Thinking of the only one of us who bears that surname, I hope to hell Ryder has discovered that Dexter is not involved because of everyone I am closest to him and if he’s in the frame, I will have lost my best ally.
Thinking outside the box and considering the larger picture, I place the five kings in position and think about what I know. As the team drones on, covering their asses. I’m thinking of a much more destructive force at play.
I am interrupted by a call I recognize and cut the meeting with an abrupt, “I’ve got another call coming through. Work all night if you have to but keep me informed of any changes, at any hour because I want to know before it happens.”
I cut the call and take the other one and say carefully, “Dexter.”
“Hunter, what the fuck is going on?”
“You tell me, my market is crashing, Lucas’s billions are dwindling, and it appears that you are losing control of your empire.”
“So, it would seem.”
I’m not sure what to say to him because for all I know, Ryder is still figuring this out, so I remain candid and say evenly, “I’m guessing you could use a drink as much as I could right now.”
“Do you honestly think I haven’t got one in each hand right now?”
Despite myself, I laugh softly and he growls, “I’m glad one of us is finding this funny. The last thing I need is a comedian to sound off to.”
“You think I’m a comedian, you are losing it.”
He laughs. “So, what are your thoughts?”
“Someone is out to topple the organisation, one by one.”
“I thought the same.”
Thinking of the press release that is due out tomorrow, I wonder if I should say anything but realize I have no need when I hear the surprise in Dexter’s voice, “Ryder, what the fuck?”
The line cuts and something about the tone in his voice makes me stop and hold my breath. That didn’t sound like a friendly greeting and a bad feeling washes over me as I picture the scene that is unfolding at Media Corp right now.
Before I can put my phone back on the desk, the door opens and Lexi enters, holding a glass of whiskey.
“I thought you could use this, honey.”
Just the sight of her makes my heart settle and as I take the glass, I down it in one and shake my head as I exhale sharply. “This is the night from hell. The sooner this shit is sorted the better.”
She perches on the edge of the desk and it takes all my self-control not to pounce on her right now. Running my fingers through my hair, I say bitterly, “It’s a mess. I may need to work all night at this rate.”
She leans down and I taste whiskey on her breath as she whispers, “I love you, Hunter.”
For some reason that sounds like goodbye to me because the way she said it was edged with finality. There’s a sadness to her that I can’t put my finger on and as she strokes my hair, she whispers, “I mean that, I love you so hard it hurts. I have never said that to anyone other than family before and that’s because I consider you one of them. The man I never expected to meet, my soulmate who appreciates my level of weirdness. I love that you don’t apologize for who you are. It makes you unique and one of a kind. It kind of makes me want to be the rainbow outlining your thunder cloud and I am so happy I met you, because then I would have never understood what true love is.”
Her lips silence my words that I’m desperate to speak. Tell her how much she means to me, how much I love her and that when this is over, we will start afresh, a new life together with none of this hanging over us. My last thought is how much I love this woman kissing me as if her life depended on it, and then I feel nothing at all.
