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Chapter 25
Hunter heard the deafening applause and cheers. Bruce’s fury and the lawyers’ frantic voices buzzed like wasps around him. But every cell in his body was focused on Aria.
She stood beside her sister, her eyes wide with both shock and the dawning recognition that she’d won. He wanted nothing more than to push through the crowd to reach her.
“You son of a bitch.” A vein throbbing in his forehead, Bruce grabbed the front of Hunter’s shirt. “How fucking dare you screw this up for us?”
“Watch it,” a lawyer muttered, indicating a uniformed police officer eyeing them from beside the stage.
“I will ruin you,” Bruce hissed at Hunter.
“No, you won’t.” Pulling away, Hunter put himself between Bruce and Aria in a warning to the other man not to get any ideas about confronting her.
“You’re fired!”
“You can’t fire me.” A crushing weight rose from his chest, letting him breathe again. “I quit.”
“Dad, let’s get out of here.” Juliette slipped her purse over her shoulder and took her father’s elbow. “We’ll re-strategize this. Withouthim.”
Bruce’s face was so red he looked as if he were about to explode. Juliette threw Hunter a cold glare and guided her father backstage.
Destiny, Nico, and the other Mariposa owners were converging on Aria with hugs and even a few tears. The audience swarmed toward the doors, their voices rising in excited conversation.
One of the lawyers, nostrils flaring, got into Hunter’s face. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”
“I know exactly what I just did.” Hunter shoved past the other man, bumping his shoulder deliberately as he made his way outside.
His heart raced. He loosened his tie and took a deep breath. Despite his relief over Aria’s win, a sudden unease stabbed him.
He’d accomplished Mission One. Mission Two would be much more difficult. Just because Imperial had failed to buy Mariposa didn’t mean everything wasfixed.
He strode down the street, the old lamps casting a yellow glow on the cobblestones. Crystals glowed in the window of Moonbeams, and Jumbo twitched his tail from his perch on the back of a sofa in the Cat Lounge. The cat regarded him through the glass, his golden eyes penetrating and strangely wise.
“Hunter.”
Her breathless voice spilled like sweet honey into his veins. Aria ran toward him, her hair billowing behind her and her face flushed. Everything inside him contracted and loosened at the same time, like a heartbeat. He clenched his fists to stop himself from reaching for her.
“I….” She stopped, searching his face, her teeth coming down on her lower lip. “I don’t know what to say, except…thank you.”
His jaw tightened. “Don’t thank me. If I’d known about the Venture project before I came to Bliss Cove, I’d probably have backed it. Hell, I’d have fought to be the one directing its execution.”
“Maybe that’s what youwould have done, but it’s not what you did.”
“Aria, I…” Something stuck in his throat. He turned away from her to the window, where Jumbo still sat looking at them. “I’ve fallen in love with this town. I’ve fallen in love with you. I love your strength, your determination, your goodness. You’re everything I want to be, even if it took me too long to realize it.”
“Hunter…” She put her hand on his arm.
“But it’s not enough.” He dragged in a heavy breath and closed his hand over hers. An ache tightened his chest. “Rejecting Imperial’s contracts doesn’t mean Mariposa Street is suddenly saved. It can’t be saved without money and support.”
“I know.” Her eyes were luminous, her mouth so lush that it was all he could do not to kiss her and let everything else fall away. “Mayor Bowers just told me she’s going to advocate for funds to restart the Historical Preservation Society so we can determine what needs to be done next. A bunch of other people have already asked how they can help support us.”
Her hope was like a sunrise. Hunter desperately wanted to tell her how happy he was, that they’d work it out, that this was such a great start.
But he’d been in this business for much too long not to know that it wasn’t enough. Mariposa needed more. Bliss Cove needed more. Aria needed more.
For most of his life, he’d lived by a plan. He’d worked hard to make one, to stick by it, to see it through. Now he no longer had one.
“I’m going back to New York.” He stepped away from her, unable to shake the feeling that he was no good to her without a damnedplan. “I have a lot of stuff to deal with. Tell Rory I hired a cybersecurity expert to make sure no one can trace her steps. Though I’m guessing she already knows.”
