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“An? Are you okay?” I don’t know why I’m getting so emotional right now. It was one night and it was just sex. But it didn’t feel like just sex at the moment. It felt real. And raw. Like we had a legitimate connection, more than just our bodies. As much as I want to express all of this to Willow, I just don’t know how. I don’t know how to put all of my thoughts into words. I open my mouth to tell her that everything is fine, but I’m interrupted when the chime on the front door goes off. Hunter appears in my doorway and for one unreasonable second, I think he was just able to hear our conversation, even from outside.
“Alec just called.” His voice is the usual low gruff, and so fucking sexy. But I force myself to ignore it. “He wants me to take you two to the house.”
Willow is quick to jump from her seat and go get her things from her office. We learned pretty quickly that if Alec gives out orders like this, we’re supposed to listen without question. He doesn’t do it without reason. And given the situation going on, I’m sure he has reason.
“Is everything okay?” I ask Hunter while shutting down my computer and grabbing my things. Images begin suddenly flooding my mind with concern for Noah and his kids, afraid something may have gone wrong.
“Yeah. Just a precaution.” I nod in understanding as I pack up my laptop and swing my bag over my shoulder. By the time I’m ready to go, Willow is waiting for us by the front door. Hunter sets the alarm and locks everything up while Willow and I wait on the sidewalk. Once we’re in the car and on our way back to my brother’s, silence falls around us and I can’t help the uncomfortable tension rolling from my body.
“So Hunter,” Willow’s bubbly voice comes from the back seat. I wasn’t at all surprised when she decided to sit in the back, making it weird if I did the same. So I’m in the passenger seat next to Hunter and even though I know it’s technically not that close, it feels like we’re crammed together. “Where are you from?”
I don’t expect anything to come from Willow’s question. As much as I want some of those details from Hunter, he’s not usually one to share. Especially about his past. Which is why I’m completely thrown back when his grumbly voice says, “Pennsylvania.”
“Philadelphia?”
“Near it.” I can’t help but salivate over even the smallest bit of information.
“What made you join Dark Matter Security?” With that simple question, Hunter's posture turns rigid and uncomfortable. The car becomes so quiet that I can basically hear the way Hunter’s molars are clenching together. I assume he’s not going to say anything else and just ignore Willow’s question this time. But again, he surprises me. Sort of.
“We met and he invited me to join his team.” He says it so matter-of-factly, and I have no doubt that it’s a rehearsed response. It seems as if every member of the team has a story behind them joining DMS. I don’t know most of them, but I would assume Hunter has a story as well. As much as I want to ask him for more information, I’m not dumb enough to think he would actually tell me.
Willow being who she is just chuckles at his answer, as if she expected it. “Straight to the point, huh?” Hunter just raises one of his giant shoulders in response.
“What about your family? Are you close to them?”
“No.” That single word comes out sharp, almost angry. Willow seems to officially get the hint and just sits back in her seat. When it comes to complicated families, she understands as well as anyone. She also understands not wanting to talk about it.
Luckily it’s only a couple more minutes before we’re pulling up in front of Alec’s house. We’re all climbing out of the car when Hunter’s phone beeps with a familiar alert. It’s one I’ve heard a few times. He never says anything when he gets it. Usually he just glances at his phone, then puts it back away. I don’t know if it’s a text message or what, but it always seems to frustrate him when he gets it.
“Go inside.” I don’t bother questioning him, only walking inside with Willow. When we get to the meeting room, I expect to see everyone there, but the only people in the room are Alec and Tanner.
“What’s going on?”
“If everything goes well, your client’s kids will be in Police custody within the hour.”
“What will happen if everything doesn’t go well?” Alec doesn’t actually respond to me, instead he walks to Willow and takes her in his arms. The second their lips touch, I know trying to get Alec to listen to me will be pointless. I turn to Tanner instead.
“The kids won’t be hurt, will they?”
He shakes his head. “Not by us.” I’m not sure if that’s meant to be comforting or not. I never thought that anyone with DMS would hurt them, but I don’t want anything happening that could get them hurt by anyone.
“Don’t worry, Anya.” Tanner says gently. “We’re doing everything we can.”
“I know.” He leans forward, gently squeezing my shoulder and I’m surprised by the amount of reassurance that simple act provides. A low growl from the doorway snaps me from my thoughts and I turn to find Hunter scowling at us. Either Tanner doesn’t notice, or doesn’t care because he just turns and goes over to his giant wall of computers.
“Alec,” Hunter says in a low voice that draws my brother’s attention. He motions for him to follow and they step out into the hall. They’re only out there for a minute before they step back inside. An alarm pings and Tanner hurries to do something on his computer. Different images flash on the screens, but I can't actually make out what any of them are.
Feeling completely overwhelmed and worried about the entire situation, I blindly make my way over to the large table toward the center of the room and sit down. A soft hand rests on my back and I know Willow is sitting next to me.
It feels like forever passes before Tanner speaks again. “It’s done.”
My gaze snaps up to the man standing in front of his bank of monitors. He lifts his arms above his head and stretches his toned, muscular body.
“Done?” My voice comes out slightly hoarse but I ignore it.
“Yep.” He nods once. “Everything is taken care of and the kids are back in police custody.”
“What about the mother?” I’m not sure I want to know the answer, but I’m compelled to ask anyway.
