“How do you mean?”
“He reminded me of someone.”
“Who?”
“Me.” He shook his head and gave a humorless chuckle. “Hard to believe, right? This brick wall of muscle was bullied as a kid? But it’s true. In a lot of ways, it’s shaped who I am today.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Alex said. She squeezed his hand tighter in a show of support. “No child ever deserves to experience that.”
Hunter moved back in beside her again, leaning against the building, but not pulling his hand free from hers. “I was a big kid, always the tallest in my class from first grade on. Because I grew so fast, I wasn’t exactly the most graceful guy around. Took me a while to figure out how to move right with all this extra height and bulk, how not to intimidate people with my size.” He shrugged, his smile sad. “Anyway, because of all this, I was pretty awkward and shy, didn’t talk much in class or out of it. I did spend a lot of time watching people though, sizing them up. There was this one guy, Tommy Martin. He was a real prick. Used to bully pretty much everybody but me in class. Seems like every week he’d pick a new target. Well, one day, I’d had enough. I decided I’d come up with this elaborate plan to stop him.” He laughed, the sound deep and self-deprecating and the sheer intimacy of it made Alex’s toes curl inside her shoes. “Don’t even ask me what the plan was because I don’t remember now. The only thing that comes to memory is that it was complex and involved three paperclips and a yoga mat. Hey, what can I say? I was a fan of MacGyver back in the day.” Hunter laughed and Alex giggled. “So, I had this plan and I was going to trap him in his bullying and then humiliate him in front of the class. Except this all took place during math and right when I was about to start, the teacher called on me to answer her question. Hell, at that point I didn’t even remember my name, let alone what the fuck she’d asked me. I ended up looking like a total doofus in front of everyone, including Tommy, who never let me forget it after that. Even the teacher joined in, telling me that it was a good thing I was big and athletic because I’d never amount to anything academically.”
“That’s awful.” Alex’s heart ached for the boy he’d been and the hurting man he was now. “I’m so sorry, Hunter. She had no right to say that. And look at you now, you’re smart and accomplished and you’ve achieved so much in your life.” When he didn’t look at her, she tried a line from the scene, thinking it might lighten the mood. “Hey, niceness is priceless.”
Instead, it only earned her a dubious look from Hunter.
“Seriously?” This time he did pull away, his demeanor shifting from friendly to frosty. “If you’re done in there, we should get back to the safe house. I’ve got a lot of work to do with Cam on the security system to get things set up.”
Alex sighed as he walked away, feeling like an idiot. He’d opened up to her and she fed him a stupid line from the script as though his pain meant nothing. As she went back inside to change and grab her stuff, she hoped she’d get a chance to explain herself and make it up to him later.
9
Hunter finished tweaking the last of the hidden security cameras at the safe house according to Cam’s instructions. “Are you getting the feed?”
“Hang on,” Cam said over the speaker phone. In the background, the sounds of Everly—Cam’s soon-to-be wife—and their newborn baby cooing echoed through the line. Hunter felt a pang of loneliness deep in his chest. He’d always wanted a family of his own someday, but first the military life and later his work for Norse Security wasn’t exactly conducive to settling down. Lately though, it seemed to be on his mind more and more.
Maybe it was Cam settling down or maybe it was the breezy California lifestyle.
Whatever it was, he didn’t want to be thinking about that right now. Not with his promotion in the balance and the life of Alex’s friend at stake. There’d be plenty of time to dream about a spouse and kids and something to come home to besides frozen dinners and a cold bed after he successfully wrapped up this mission.
“Yep. Got visual. Have the actress go to the basement and say something so I can confirm audio down there,” Cam said.
“Alex?” Hunter called from atop his ladder. She peeked around the corner from the kitchen, frowning at her phone screen. “Run downstairs and say something so we can confirm sound works down there.”
She looked up at him and raised a brow.
“Please?” Hunter amended.
Alex raised her chin and walked to the stairs with the regal air of a queen. Seconds later he heard through his earpiece, “Check one, two, three.”
“Got it,” he said.
“Got it here too,” Cam confirmed. “Awesome. You should be all set for the sting.”
“Great.” Hunter sounded about as enthused as he felt, which wasn’t much. Not that he didn’t want to find Alex’s friend and wrap this up as quickly as possible, but the thought of dealing with that scumbag from the sex club again made him sick. He hated bullies of all kinds, but there was a special place in hell for people who hurt women, children, the elderly, and animals. Basically anyone smaller or more vulnerable than themselves.
Hunter closed up the camera he’d been working on, then climbed down off the ladder. “I’ll text you guys when the meeting with the boss is set up,” he said to Cam before tapping his earpiece to end the call.
“About the meeting,” Alex said from behind him, back upstairs again. “I just got a message from the manager at Club Xcite. He said the boss will be here tonight at nine to check out the location and make sure it’s adequate for their needs and secure enough for their business affairs. And we’ll have to plan on having at least ten people to house. From the shipments I’ve seen come in through the club before that’s an average number.”
Scowling, Hunter texted the info to the guys then stalked past Alex to grab a bottled water from the fridge in the kitchen. They’d done all they could to get this place ready. Depending on the number of girls and men the boss had, they could easily accommodate six in the basement and a couple more upstairs if need be. He’d made sure there were sufficient bathroom facilities, bedding and food for that many, plus him and Alex. Wasn’t much left to do now except wait. He cracked open his bottle and took a long drink before watching Alex over the rim. “Guess that means I’ll be your boy toy again, huh?”
“It’s what the boss will be expecting, given last night.”
“Yep.” Hunter squeezed his bottle harder than intended, the plastic crackling loudly in the quiet house. It wasn’t the submission that bothered him, it was how being under the control of this particular woman affected him. Jesus. He damned near embarrassed himself in that club, his cock hard as iron and all his senses completely attuned to her. All it took was one crack of that whip of hers and he was all but begging for her. And that was unacceptable, especially tonight. He’d need all his wits about him to stay on top of the situation and handle things if he needed to. “What time is it now?”
“Going on seven.” She leaned her hips back against the counter opposite him and shrugged. “Hungry?”
Yes. His cock twitched despite his will. She’d meant for food, he knew that. Hunter cleared his throat and turned to face the sink, shoving his wicked thoughts aside. “We should eat now, if we’re going to, then get ready.” He hazarded a glance back at her over his shoulder. “I want everything planned out between us so there are no surprises on our end.”