Elle turned around and strode out of the kitchen with her head held high, which Hunter took as his cue that she was done here and ready to leave. He followed, but not before he sent one last smirk Gwen and Helena’s way that conveyed a quiet but clear message to the duo . . . Your karma has just been served.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Elle walked back into Hunter’s apartment, feeling beyond exhilarated and liberated after confronting Helena and Gwen. And the fact that Hunter had told her on the drive back that he was proud of her for being such a badass . . . well, she was practically glowing. A huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders today, and even though her stepmother and stepsister still had to follow through on the agreement they’d made, Elle couldn’t help but think that her future finally looked promising.
“Can I ask you something?” Hunter said, following Elle into his living room, his hands stuffed into the front pockets of his jeans.
She heard the curiosity in his voice and met his gaze. “Of course.”
When he reached where she was standing, he tipped his head to the side. “Why did you give Gwen and Helena an option, when you could have pressed charges and still gained everything you wanted?”
“I’m not a vengeful, vindictive person,” she stated honestly.
“It wouldn’t have been revenge,” he countered. “It would have been justice.”
Elle understood his reasoning, but she had her own. “For me, justice is seeing Helena being stripped of everything that matters the most to her and suffering. Trust me, being completely destitute will be the worst kind of hell for her.” Then Elle recalled what Hunter had told her of the situation between Maddux and Arabella. “Your brother went the vindictive route with Theodore Cole by taking his daughter, and that revenge could have cost him the woman who now means everything to him. Being vengeful isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.”
“Well, when you put it that way . . .” Hunter laughed lightly and shook his head. “What are you going to do with Claire?”
Elle had actually given her good stepsister’s fate some thought on the drive back to Hunter’s. “I’m thinking about talking to her and seeing if maybe she’d want to come to work for me at the office. I could really use an assistant.”
Hunter’s brows rose in surprise. “You would do that for her?”
“Would I give her a chance and a job if she wants one? Yes,” Elle said unequivocally. “She’s earned it, I think. I wouldn’t be standing here right now if it wasn’t for her. I also don’t think that Helena is going to easily forgive Claire for betraying her about the arsenic poisoning, and I’m not going to turn her away.”
Hunter lifted a hand and skimmed his fingers along her cheek, his eyes warm and affectionate. “You are so good, and too kind.”
She shivered from his touch and suddenly ached for a more intimate contact, but just as quickly, he dropped his hand back to his side. “It was what my mom taught me growing up. To always be kind, to give others a chance.”
He smiled at her. “And the house? What will you do with it once they’re out?”
“Sell it.” She’d already made that decision. “I won’t make anything since I’ll have the equity from Helena, but the place is too big for just me, and it’s tainted with more bad memories than good. I’ll probably find a smaller place of my own closer to the office.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.”
An awkward silence fell between them, when that had never happened before. Combine that with the fact that there was a sudden air of uncertainty about Hunter when he was one of the most self-assured men she knew, and it set her on edge, because at this moment, she wasn’t sure where they stood.
At the hospital, after telling her about Natalie’s tragic death, this man had given her a glimpse of his feelings for her . . . I swore I’d never put my heart out there for anyone ever again because I was terrified of experiencing that loss again . . . and then I met you.
That night, she hadn’t had the chance to answer him, to tell him that her own heart was far more involved than she ever would have anticipated. And since, there hadn’t been an ideal time to have that conversation . . . Now, a part of her worried that maybe she’d waited too long.
Her biggest fear had been that Hunter would find her life too complicated, too filled with drama, and that she came with too much baggage for him to deal with—all because that’s what Benjamin had put into her head. But this incredible man standing in front of her was the equivalent of her Prince Charming. The fact that he’d stayed with her when she’d initially gotten sick, that he’d taken care of her while she’d heaved over a commode and then had spent two days with her in the hospital told her more than words ever could.
He’d seen Elle at her absolute worst. He knew exactly what she was dealing with when it came to Helena, and he’d been her silent cheerleader while she’d confronted her stepmother. There had been so many times and so many reasons for him to bail on her complete mess of a life, yet his support never wavered.
She’d been the one running scared, trying to protect her emotions and trying not to get attached because she knew what it felt like to be abandoned when she needed someone the most. Hunter was not that guy. He was still right there, though judging by the guarded look in his eyes, he was unsure where the two of them would go from here.
Knowing it was up to her to create that path after he’d already stated his feelings for her, she exhaled a deep breath and opened herself up to all the possibilities this man silently offered. “Do you remember in the hospital when you told me that I meant more to you than a casual fling?”
He nodded. “Of course I do.”
“And you also told me that you didn’t expect me to say anything in return right then . . . and I didn’t?” She carried that regret with her still.
The tiniest muscle in his jaw twitched. “Yes.”
She couldn’t read his expression, and her heart raced wildly in her chest as she hoped and prayed she wasn’t too late. “I should have said something, Hunter.”
His brows furrowed ever so slightly. “And what would you have said?”