AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Noah Baxter. Married, with three kids. Wife left him and the kids for some rich prick. Disappeared for almost a year, then when her new man said he wanted some kids, they decided to show back up and try to sue Noah for custody. He’s a floor manager at the auto parts factory. A few tickets in his past, and an arrest when he was eighteen for underaged drinking. Nothing crazy, and as far as I can tell his money solely goes to providing for his family. Just couldn’t afford to pay for a good lawyer, which is why he reached out to Anya.”
“Nothing standing out?” Tanner shakes his head at Alec’s question.
“As far as I can tell, he’s only guilty of being a good dad and marrying a woman who cares more about status than her kids' dance recital.”
“Alright, well let’s get files on the rest of her clients as well as her neighbors. Like Hunter said when it first happened, it doesn’t take much to set someone off. We need to figure out what the fuck my sister did to gain someone’s attention like this and then do what we need to ensure her safety.” Tanner nods before picking up his laptop and walking over to the bank of computers. Tanner has the ability to be a scary fucker, but that can be easy to forget when he’s sitting in front of a screen with his glasses and polo shirts. I’m convinced it’s all a front to throw people off when they meet him because I’ve also seen the guy slit someone’s throat with a fucking smile on his face.
“How has she seemed to you?” Alec asks, and I fucking hate that I can’t just walk away. I don’t want to talk about Anya more than I have to, but apparently right now, I have to.
“She seems fine. If she is freaked at all, she’s not letting it show.” He nods, because I’m sure he knows his sister well enough to know that she’s most likely terrified but is too damn proud to let it show.
“Let me know if anything changes.” I don’t waste any time getting the fuck away from
Alec and everyone else. I make a pit-stop at my place to grab a few things because as much as I hate it, it’s obvious that this thing isn’t ending any time soon.
I hurry through gathering up my things, and within an hour I’m parked back in front of Anya and Willow’s office. I don’t go inside, I never do. I just sit in my car and watch, waiting for anything that looks like I should report. At least sitting out here, we have walls and a sidewalk and pedestrians between us, allowing me to think straight.
It may be hard as fuck to be around Anya like I have been, but there’s no fucking way I’d even consider letting anyone else do it. It already takes all of my willpower not to knock Collins the fuck out when he and Anya flirt. I don’t know if there’s any real interest between them, it would make sense if there was, but thankfully it’s something even he wouldn’t act on. Collins may be younger than the rest of, and borderline psychotic, but he doesn’t have a death wish. Though sitting here, watching her through the glass doors of her office as she talks and laughs with Willow, the idea of keeping my hands off of her becomes more and more blurry. Collins may not have a death wish, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe I do.
CHAPTER NINE
Anya
Hunter seems different.Different for him, at least. He’s not chatty by any means, but he seems more relaxed. Like he’s not completely pissed at my brother for making him babysit me. My mind has been swimming with confusion the past few days.
Ever since we picked up Italian food for dinner and he got all that extra dessert for me, I feel even more thrown off by the guy than usual. It’s not like I’ve ever been able to read his mind or anything, but it’s as if I’m even more lost in the chaos now. He didn’t even ask what I wanted for dinner, he just showed up outside of my office when I closed down tonight with a large pizza, breadsticks, and some cinnamon-sugar bites. My mouth began watering the moment I stepped onto the sidewalk and didn’t stop until we were settled on my couch eating and watchingPsych.
“I still don’t get why people keep believing him.” He genuinely seems completely baffled by the fake psychic on TV and I can’t help but laugh.
“People just like to have something to believe in.” He lets out a low grunt but doesn’t say anything else. It’s a little unnerving how comfortable this all feels. I’ve never been self-conscious about how much I eat, but most men in my life like to comment on it. Whether they say it as a joke, like Alec or Collins. Or even Zach who makes remarks about me still having room for a piece of eclair cake. I never feel like any of them mean it maliciously, but it gets old. Hunter doesn’t even comment on it, if anything, he seems to encourage it.
“What’s your real name?” I ask suddenly because it’s a question that’s been in my head for so long now, but I haven’t had the courage to ask. He seems much more relaxed tonight than he normally is, so my mouth decided to speak on its own. His head turns slowly toward me, and he raises a single brow in question.
“You don’t think Hunter is my real name?”
Seriously, why does his voice have to be so sexy? Every time he speaks, my body wakes up to a new level that I wasn’t even aware it was capable of. I’ve always been a sucker for a man with a deep voice, and Hunter hasn’t the deepest voice I’ve ever heard. It’s so fucking sexy.
“Well, I mean, I wasn’t sure. Everyone goes by different names. I don’t know which are first, or last, or fake-” His low rumble of laughter stops my words immediately. I’ve never heard anything even resembling a laugh out of his mouth, and there is absolutely no mistaking that that’s what this is.Holy shit.
“We don’t use fake names.” He’s not laughing anymore, but there is a slight hint of amusement in his voice. I love seeing him like this, laid back and relaxed.
“Oh-”
“Your brother addresses everyone by their last name because that fucker will be military until he dies.” I laugh a little at that because he’s right. Alec may hold a serious grudge against the military for different reasons, but he’s a soldier at heart.
“He doesn’t call Wyatt and Cole by their last names.”
“Because their last names are just placeholders.” It hits me what he means, and it feels as if my heart breaks for them all over again. I don’t know very much about Cole, really only what Lillie has shared the times we’ve gone out together. But I found out as soon as Alec brought Willow and I here, the truth about Wyatt. I thought my brother’s best friend had died six years ago, and I was completely devastated for Alec who was always so close with him. But it turned out that they had to fake his death. Apparently when my brother does something, they don’t half-ass it either. They managed to fake the dental records and everything. Official paperwork was filed declaring him dead. Then new documents were made with a changed name. Apparently, it’s the same thing that was done for Cole years ago, and Lillie most recently. I can’t even imagine living my life like that. Having certain places you can never return to, and certain people you can never see again.
“Right,” I mumble, feeling suddenly awkward about the whole conversation. “That makes sense.”
My eyes stay focused on the screen in front of us, and though I know what’s on it, I really don’t see what’s happening. My mind is swimming with so many thoughts and different knowledge I didn’t have before. I never thought too hard about why Alec didn’t call Wyatt and Cole by their last names, even though he does everyone else. It makes sense, and it shows me another level of my brother that I hadn’t seen before.
It’s quiet between us, the only sound being Shawn and Gus bickering on the TV screen. My mind prickles with awareness being this close to Hunter, and as much as I want to say something else, I’m not really sure where our conversation can go from here.
“Sabastian.” I turn at the sound of his voice and look at him with confusion.
“My name. It’s Sebastian Hunter.” I suck in a heavy breath, surprise washing over me. I assumed he had purposely changed the subject to avoid telling me his name, and I wasn’t going to push it.
