Never His Girl (Kings of Cypress Prep #2) - Rachel Jonas Page 0,70
a chance to explain why,” I say. “I guess I came to finish that conversation.”
He takes a breath and then nods.
“Who were you telling me to watch out for?” I ask.
His eyes shift up to mine and a sharp pang of sadness hits me square in the chest.
“It was just a general statement,” he says, but that doesn’t feel like the truth.
“Really? Because I could’ve sworn there was someone in particular you had in mind.”
There’s no guarantee he’ll tell me more. For some reason, his conversation is far more reserved this time, compared to my last visit. Then, he’d been eager to tell me everything. Only, I wasn’t willing to listen. Not like I am now.
“Please, Hunter,” I beg in a whisper. “If there’s something I need to know, please don’t leave me in the dark. Things are getting… strange. There’s so much happening that I can’t explain, so if you know something, please tell me.”
He holds my gaze for a long time, and I’m half-convinced he’s about to tell me what I need to know, and then it’s gone. That hint of whatever I saw in his eyes that gave me hope.
“I told you. It was just a general warning.”
Heat creeps up my neck to my face and I’m feeling frustrated—with him, with this conversation. Since he’s beating around the bush, I’ll be direct.
“Did you mean Vin Golden? Is that who I need to be looking out for?”
I expect a reaction, but not the look of panic I suddenly see fill Hunter’s expression.
“Whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re digging into, leave it the fuck alone, Blue.” The words leave his mouth with a sharp edge, so I not only hear them, I feel them.
“I need to know what’s going on, Hunter.”
“You don’t want any connection to that man,” he whispers harshly, ignoring what I said last.
His response has blood rushing through my veins at lightspeed. “Ok, but why?”
“For your safety, for Scar’s… I’m begging you to let this go, Blue. Please. There’s only so much I can do to protect you from in here.”
He’s tearing up and my eyes are blurred when they flood like his. His gaze darts around the room and I’m beginning to sense his heightened paranoia is completely warranted.
When he meets my stare again, he’s shaking. “Please, Blue.”
I want to hug him, want to stay together and weather whatever he seems to think is coming together, but I can’t. Those damn chains on his hands and ankles tell me so.
“Okay,” I answer nodding. “Okay.”
He settles down, but only a little.
“I know I sound crazy as shit, but don’t trust the phones,” he warns. “If you have anything to say that you want kept private, do it in person. Trust me.”
I’m reminded of how he pressed for Ricky to have me come see him, refusing to just call. This particular warning also has me thinking of a certain picture that ended up in the wrong hands. The hands of a man I didn’t even know existed just a week ago.
I nod, feeling the gravity of Hunter’s last statement. “I promise.”
He settles against his seat again and I watch as he struggles to regain his composure, as if he doesn’t want anyone to notice he’s gotten worked up talking to me.
“Don’t come here again,” he says next, causing tension to spread in my brow. “It’s too dangerous. They’ll wonder what we talk about and I don’t want you on their radar any more than you already are.”
Another tear slips down my cheek, but for fear of calling attention to myself, I don’t wipe it. Instead, I only nod.
“Okay, I won’t.”
This is killing me, but I keep it all inside when I stand.
“I love you,” I say.
He peers up, holding so much back. “I love you more. Let Scar know, too.”
I nod. “Promise.”
It’s physically painful walking away from him this time, knowing he’s just forbidden me from returning, but I get the feeling that me doing so makes life here harder.
This visit hasn’t been in vain, though. It’s helped me better visualize my enemy, shined light on the hold he seems to have on my brother, and this villain certainly isn’t invisible. He has a name.
And that name is Vin Golden.
Chapter 27
WEST
“Pretty sure this shit could’ve waited,” I grumble.
“You’re right. We could’ve waited until Christmas Eve and grabbed Mom whatever bullshit is left on the clearance rack,” Sterling shoots back with sarcasm.
Frosty the Snowman is every-damn-where, holiday music is blaring through the mall’s loudspeaker, but I’m still not in