Chapter 41

The tension in the room was clear and I could feel how rigid Hunter had become next to me. I squeezed his hand, if he could comfort me, I could offer the same.

“What?” Hunter said.

“Simon is the common denominator, sir. The men have been working in his company, mainly as bouncers officially, since three years back,” John explained. I tightened my grip on Hunter’s hand. This time it wasn’t to comfort him, but because I realised what John was telling us. It wasn’t the mafia that had sent men after me, it was Simon.

“Thank you, John. Anything else that is relevant?” Hunter asked.

“No, boss. We are keeping an eye on them. And on… the other target.”

“Good, thank you. You can leave.” Hunter dismissed him and the three of us remaining, sat in silence as we listened to the sound of him exiting the apartment. When the sound of the door to the entrance room sounded, Jason looked at Hunter.

“What do you want us to do?” he asked. Hunter looked determined and his jaw was clenched. I wondered if he felt uncomfortable discussing this with me here?

“Maybe I should let you two talk about this in peace,” I said. I got ready to stand and take my hand from Hunter’s. Hunter stopped me by pulling my hand.

“No, you should stay,” he told me before turning to his friend. “What do you suggest? I’m the first one to admit I might not be impartial on this,” Hunter asked his friend. Jason rubbed his hand over his face in a gesture that reminded me of Hunter.

“Before I tell you what I think we should do I need to know what is a priority,” Jason said. I got the feeling they both knew what they were talking about, but I was clueless.

“Hana’s safety will always be the top priority,” Hunter said without hesitation. Jason nodded and looked like he agreed. Me? I was stunned. I looked at Hunter. Sure there was this thing between us, the pull towards him that I now could see wasn’t as one-sided as I had thought. But Simon was his son. I felt humbled by his decision and it solidified my trust in him.

“Well, I do agree with you on that. You seem to have that big head screwed on tighter than I feared,” Jason said. “Is it okay if I talk freely or should I expect to go flying out the window if I do?” he asked. Hunter glared at him.

“Why do you even ask? You are just going to say what you think anyway? Just go ahead,” Hunter huffed. Jason smirked and winked at me.

“Fine. Simon is a big twat and despite your best attempt, that bitch and her hoity-toity husband corrupted him. My opinion has been that he is not one of us for quite a while. But since you love him, I have kept it to myself,” he told Hunter. He didn’t sound unkind, but he didn’t apologise for his opinion either.

“Yeah, you have kept that close to your chest,” Hunter said. I was worried about him. Simon was a bastard, but as his father, I wished that Hunter could have been spared to see that side of him.

“I say we do what we always do in situations like this. We go after the root cause to keep the innocents safe,” Jason said. Hunter sighed.

“It has to be done,” he agreed. “But I would prefer it if we don’t take the scorched earth tactics,” he added. Jason nodded.

“Let’s go for the ‘lesson well learned’ approach for now. I’ll get things rolling. I hope you have a nice day, I’ll see myself out and I will see you tomorrow,” Jason said to Hunter. “It was nice seeing you again, Hana.”

“You too,” I said as I watched him leave. Hunter remained seated, holding my hand. He looked to be deep in thought and I let him be. He had a lot to think about. I didn’t mind sitting next to him as he held my hand. It took him a while to come back to me, when he did he gave me a smile.

“Sorry, I spaced out,” he told me.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame you after the morning you have had. Is there something you need?” I asked.

“No, but thank you for asking, sweetness. Do you have any plans for today?”

“I need to call Wictor. But otherwise my schedule is free. How about you?”

“If you weren’t here I would head into the office to see if something needed to be done. But how about you call your friend and have a talk, I can do some work from home and then we eat lunch together and decide what we want to do with our Sunday afternoon?” he suggested.

“Sounds like a good plan,” I agreed. I stood up and he let go of my hand. I could feel that something had changed between us. I didn’t know what or how, but the mood was different. I headed to my room and phoned Wictor.

“Don’t leave me hanging, Hana. How was the date?” he asked. I could see the excitement shining all over his face on my phone.

“It was amazing. Everything I could dream of from a first date,” I told him. His smile fell.

“Then why do you look like someone died?” he asked.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” I said, hoping he would get distracted and argue with me about how he was not a drama queen. But apparently he was seriously worried, because it didn’t work.

“Hana,” he said in the voice he always used when he was serious.

“It was a perfect date, and we had a perfect morning,”I started.

“You spent the night together?” he exclaimed, cutting me off. I sighed.

“So, that’s the thing I needed to talk to you about. I’m staying at his place for now,” I told him.

“You have moved in together!? What is going on, Hana. And don’t tell me I’m being dramatic!” Wictor had got up from his couch and was now pacing and shouting.

“No, we haven’t ‘moved in together’,” I said, making air quotes. “On Friday some people tried to break into my apartment and my door was pretty banged up. Hunter insisted that I would stay at his place until this is solved.”

“And you are telling me this now? Hana!” He was gesturing with the hand that didn’t hold the phone as he was walking.

“I’m sorry, it was late on Friday and I was tired and then yesterday was this really nice day and then the date and the dancing and then the morning.” I was trying to explain to him that I hadn’t meant to shut him out.

“Wait? Dancing?” he asked.

“Yeah. When we got home after the date, Hunter put on music and we danced. It was… I don’t even have words for it,” I told him.

“So why aren’t you happy? Did he do something?”

“No. No, Hunter is perfect. And everything was great. But then we got information about the people who tried to break into my apartment. It looks like they were sent by Simon,” I told him.

“Fuck! I’m going to kill that little freak. I should have done so the first time I suspected that he laid his hands on you. But now I really need to!” Wictor told me. He was fuming and his natural curls were bouncing around as he made wide gestures with his hands.

“I love you too. But don’t do anything crazy. I’m trying to deal with Hunter’s feelings regarding all of this,” I said to him. He stopped walking around and looked at me.

“Tell me,” he said. So I did. I told him about how Hunter had placed me first and about what he had said to Jason and we talked about what we thought the cryptic conversation between the two of them had meant.

“It’s clear that he put your safety first. I’m reluctantly impressed by that,” Wictor told me.

“I know. But after the meeting something had changed. I don’t know what, but I could feel it. And I get it. He had to choose sides and he chose mine and that has to be tough. But what if he ends up resenting me for it?”

“Hey, it’s okay. This has to be hard on him. Give him a little time to digest things,” Wictor said.

“I know, and I understand that. But what if this is just the beginning of things he needs to sacrifice? Should I even try to start something with him? Wouldn’t it be kinder to let him be?” I asked.

“Hana, relationships will always have issues. Some small, some big. Some you can live with, some you can’t or shouldn’t. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you should give him a chance. If what you are telling me is true, he clearly is into you. Give him a breather and let him get his thoughts sorted. Then you can talk about this,” he told me.

“I guess you’re right,” I agreed. After that we switched topics and we talked about his work and I tried to snoop about his love life. After two hours we hung up and I stayed on my bed, laying flat on my back, letting my thoughts fly. Then I got up and walked down the stairs. The door to Hunter’s office was still closed and I felt like he deserved his peace. I rummaged through the fridge and found everything I needed to make stir-fried noodles. It was calming to chop all the vegetables. It wasn’t until everything was prepared and I was about to start cooking that I realised I had no idea if Hunter owned a wok, or a frying pan. I went on a scavenger hunt in the cupboards, trying not to make too much noise. I found what I needed and I got started. Just as I had poured the sauce over the vegetables, noodles and chicken, Hunter opened the door to his office.

“What is that smell?” he asked as he walked over to me. He looked better than he had when I left him.

“Lunch,” I told him. He walked up behind me and after a short hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me and looked over my shoulder. The strangeness between us was almost gone, and I felt relieved.

“It almost makes me drool. But you shouldn’t have done this on your own. I could have helped,” he told me.

“I don’t mind. I had the time and you had things to do. If you get the plates I’m almost done.” We sat next to each other and ate in silence. “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want us to do something to take your mind off it?” I asked when we were done.