Chapter 41
Let’s just say that cooking wasn’t exactly my forte.
“Would you just turn it off!” Hunter exclaimed, his voice sounding strained by the fact that my legs were around his neck. Not like that... this wasn’t such a pleasant experience. I had set the smoke alarm off with my breakfast and we’d been having problems with the alarm for about fifteen minutes. I was actually beginning to get concerned about the health of my ears, it was that high pitched.
“I would if you’d stop bloody moving!” I hissed, reaching up and pressing the red button again.
“I’m not moving,” he retorted, clamping his hands on my thighs. I pressed the button again, groaning when the pitch went louder and higher.
“Put me down, this is blasting my ear drums!” I replied, punctuating my sentence by patting his head. Hunter grumbled something under his breath as he lowered me to the floor from his shoulders.
“What are we going to do?!” I asked, looking up at the device created by Satan himself.
“Hammer it?” he retorted, grabbing a saucepan from the side and thwacking the alarm with it. Finally, heavenly silence.
“There, job done,” Hunter replied, brushing his hands together, smiling smugly at his work. Even the most skilled of electricians wouldn’t be able to put that back together.
“How will we be able to tell if there’s a fire?” I asked, staring at the alarm.
“Princess, this place is tiny, I think we’ll be able to see it.” I just shot him a look before retreating to the sofa, leaving my breakfast frazzling away in the oven.
“Fine, just remember stop, drop and roll,” I threw over my shoulder, flumping down on the sofa.
Hunter opened the fridge, grabbed a couple cereal bars and lobbed one at me, hitting me in the chest.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, feeling the sofa drop as Hunter sat down next to me.
I felt am arm come around my shoulder and I twisted, sitting cross legged facing him. He looked at me and grabbed my hand, twining his fingers with mine. I sighed, brining our joined hands to my face and breathed deeply with closed eyes.
“I have a plan,” I whispered. Hunter’s eyes met mine and he sighed, running his thumb along the top of my hand, his calloused skin brushing against the soft surface.
“Fancy sharing?”
“You said that Seb didn’t know what the necklace looked like, right?” Hunter nodded, seemingly knowing where I was going with this. “So, chances are, Kyle doesn’t either.” A grin spread across Hunter’s face as he nodded.
“And neither does Zoe so we can just fake it to see what she’s up to,” he finished. I smiled, leaning forward to kiss him.
“I have a necklace that we can use,” I said, sitting back against the arm of the chair.
“We’ll have to give her the real gun, though,” he let out through a sigh. That was true, but if his dad wanted the necklace that badly, there was no way that Hunter was going to be in direct danger. I didn’t overly trust Zoe but if she offered him protection then it would keep him relatively safe until we could sort it once and for all.
“That’s not too bad, is it?” he shook his head, pushing himself up from the sofa to grab his phone.
Getting hold of Zoe seemed like one of life’s almost impossible tasks. We had to ring her five times before she picked up.
“What?” she hissed when she picked up. I widened my eyes whilst Hunter just rolled his before answering.
“Hello to you too,” he muttered sitting down next to me.
“Hunter,” she said coolly. I scooted up close to the phone so that I could hear what she was saying.
“The one and only, babe. Is this a bad time?” he asked. I listened for the background noise, it was quiet but something about it seemed off.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” she replied. Hunter froze, clearly getting the hint. He looked at me before breathing deeply through his lips.
“Meet me in two hours at my place, I’ll take the deal.”
“Yes, I’ll be at practise,” she retorted, her voice getting angrier. Someone asked her what was going on in the background before Hunter answered her again, telling her that she needed to watch her back on the way.
“It’s my idiot dance partner, I’ll be with you in a moment, Mr Jacobs,” she hissed. Hunter stiffened, his jaw clenched as he hung up the phone.
“What is she doing with my dad?” he muttered to himself as I gently grasped his shoulders and forced him to look at me. His eyes were angry but I could see a twinge of fear behind them when he looked back at me.
“I don’t know, ask her when she gets to ours later, okay? For now, let’s pack and go so that we can plant the wrong necklace, I’ll wear the right one,” I replied, patting his back and getting to my feet. Hunter watched me before sighing, pushing himself to his feet and pulling me to him.
His arms were taut around my body as I brought my arms up to link around his neck. He breathed deeply into my hair, seemingly taking in the smell of his shampoo and kissed my head.
“Thank you,” he whispered, pulling away and disappearing through to the bedrooms.
Packing was pretty easy and it wasn’t until we were in the car that I remembered I’d left my breakfast under the grill. There wasn’t a smoke alarm that worked either so if there was a fire, our hiding place was totally screwed.
“I have a class at one,” I informed Hunter as he drove out from the woods and onto the smooth road. He glanced at me before nodding.
“I do at half past so I can take you in.” The small talk clearly wasn’t working so I shut my mouth and gazed out of the window as we went. Sheffield wasn’t half as bad if you didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes but when I thought about it, there were so many alleys and places to hide, it was no wonder that gangs hung out there.
“Can this other gang really offer you protection?” I asked. Hunter kept his eyes on the road but his fingers were tapping on the leather wheel.
“They aren’t those kids that stand around on corners in tracksuits with cigarettes and stolen chips. These gangs deal in drugs and guns,” he replied, pulling into the car park of the apartments.
“I gathered that when your dad sliced me; don’t treat me like I know nothing, Hunter. I’m scared as well, okay?” I huffed, getting out of the car and into the lobby, not even bothering with my bag. There wasn’t much point; Kyle didn’t pack anything of mine apart from the toothbrush and my underwear, which was kind of awkward.
“Andy,” Hunter called, grasping my arm gently when we were inside the apartment. I stopped, turning to face him. He ran his hand through his hair before pulling me into a tight embrace.
“Look, I’m stressed, alright?” he whispered, kissing my hair before pulling away from me and walking into the kitchen to get the necklace with the pendant on.
“We’ll have to disguise this somehow, do you have any other charms that could go on here with it?” he asked, holding it out to me.
Taking it from him and adding charms from my other necklaces to it felt like a personal betrayal towards Justine. Wearing the one thing that Hunter had left of her was kind of an honour.
“Does this look different enough?” I asked, holding it up for him to see. He nodded, taking my other necklace from me. It was a lot like the original, only the engraving on the back wasn’t a ‘J’, it was a small star in the corner. It was a rectangle so would still look the same.
“Just stay quiet and I’ll deal with this, I can’t have you getting involved,” he said at last, joining me on the sofa.
“Do you want me to leave?” he shook his head.
“Zoe would suspect something and would want to swear you to secrecy so you’ll need to be here.”
I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder, breathing deeply.
“I’m just going to warn you, I don’t know what’s going to happen here but I never want you to be scared of me, okay?” he asked, running his hand through my hair. I nodded against his arm.
“You don’t scare me, idiot.” I heard him scoff but he didn’t say anything else as he stood up and grinned at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I forgot, I got you a present.” My eyebrows rose as I stood up with him, grinning like an idiot. Well, that was until he pressed the present into my hands. I stared down at it before I looked up at his smiling face with a glare.
“You got me a free kick boxing lesson?” disbelief was riddled through my voice. He shrugged, taking the ticket and sliding it into my back pocket.
“I’ve been teaching you how to fight but you’ve just been busting people’s balls, so I might as well get you taught how to kick properly,” he reasoned. I just smirked, banging my forehead against his solid chest.
“It works,” I retorted with a shrug.
“It hurts,” Hunter corrected.
“Isn’t that the point?”
We were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and footsteps coming through the passage.
“Hunter Jacobs?” I turned around and Hunter’s arms came around me immediately, pulling me back behind him.
“Yes.” The guy that appeared in the doorway looked rugged, dirty and downright scary. He was the definition of the word ‘greasy’.
Zoe appeared behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder and pulling him back a step.
“Hunter, Andy, I would like you to meet Reed, my second in command,” she introduced, stepping around him with a slight smile.
“Alright,” Hunter muttered, staying firmly in front of me.
“Right, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Zoe asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“After I ask one question,” Hunter replied coolly. She nodded, gesturing for him to go ahead.
“Why were you with my dad?” Zoe sighed, running her hands down her face.
“Because Reed and Seb were caught talking, your dad wanted to make his terms clear. And he did.” Hunter nodded, taking the information in before gesturing for her to continue with the deal making.
“Reed, handle this for me, please?” I rolled my eyes when she sat down on the sofa. Lazy bugger.
“Right, Hunter. Gun and necklace, please,” Reed replied. His voice was exactly as I had expected, deep and gruff.
“Bit eager, aren’t we?” Hunter asked but Reed just frowned.
“Don’t play around with me, pretty boy,” Reed growled. Zoe smiled, taking in the scene.
“I suggest you watch your mouth. You’ll get the gun and the necklace when we’ve negotiated my terms, alright?” Reed just sighed, turning back to Zoe who just shrugged.
“You are in no terms to be negotiating, Hunter. We’re saving your ass,” Reed replied, glancing over at me before resting his dark eyes on Hunter again.
“You want the necklace and the gun for a reason so you need me for something,” Hunter retorted. Reed rolled his eyes, squaring himself up to Hunter. The scene itself was quite scary, I didn’t really want to be sitting in the middle of the fight that looked like it was about to happen. Zoe caught my eye and smirked before looking back at the boys.
“Yeah, we need you for fighting purposes and leverage,” Reed shrugged with his words, leaving Hunter looking at him curiously.
“Leverage?”
“Yeah, we’re planning on taking over your father’s area, to do that we need both you and the items. You’re a good fighter, Hunter; you’d be good to have on the team.” Reed watched Hunter whilst he processed what had just been said. It seemed to me like they just wanted to take over the other area and they needed the items for negotiation and Hunter just for the takeover itself. This was so much bigger than I originally thought. Note to self: Next time, crush on the cute little blonde guy that everybody loves. Get married and have three kids by the time I’m thirty. Don’t fart-ass around with the bad boy.
“Right, that doesn’t bother me. I just want out as soon as this is over.” Reed rolled his eyes, shaking his head.
“Don’t be an idiot, Hunter. You know that there’s no out in things like this.” Hunter cocked his head, reaching into the back waistband of his jeans and taking out the gun.
“You can have this, the necklace and me as long as you agree to my terms, simple as.” Hunter’s words hung in the air whilst Reed looked around, his eyes finally setting on me.
“She’s a pretty little thing. She’s going to get in the way,” he dragged out. I frowned.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I hissed but Hunter shot me a look that told me to shut up. I decided to take him up on that, considering that my life pretty much depended on it.
“Feisty. With the right training, she could be an asset,” Reed thought out loud. Zoe rolled her eyes whilst Hunter growled lowly.
“No. Keep her out of this. She doesn’t get in the way and she is not going to be an asset so don’t even think about it,” Hunter quickly snapped, gaining Reed’s attention.
“Protective, are we? Emotion is a weakness, you know,” Reed cooed. Hunter stood so that he was flush with him and directly in his face as he gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw.
“Andy is my girl; she is to be protected as if she were a member of your little gang. Under no circumstances will you include or threaten her in our negotiation. If that is not clear, I will put a bullet in your skull now to prevent any further complications. Got it?” Hunter ground out, his words were so cold that they scared me slightly.
Reed took a step back, clearing his throat.
“Fine.” Hunter smirked, stepping back on his own accord, glancing over at Zoe.
“However, I don’t agree to your terms. You’re asking too much of us,” Reed replied. Hunter’s hands moved so quickly that I didn’t even manage to catch what was happening. Hunter had the gun pointing directly at Zoe and something about the look in his eye told me that he had a pretty good aim and if he wanted to shoot her, he would.
“I’m done negotiating. In return for the gun, the necklace and my help in taking over my father’s territory, I expect the following. Protection for both Andy and I whilst the takeover is in action and I want out after all this is over. If not, I may as well just kill her now because otherwise there isn’t much of a point,” Hunter added with a shrug. Zoe had frozen in her spot and Reed looked incredibly tense. Me? I’m pretty sure that my jaw was resting comfortably on the floor without a care in the world.
“That sounds reasonable, put the gun down,” Zoe said, her voice fairly confident for the situation that she was in. Hunter lowered the gun, smirking at her.
“That sounds more like it. Music to my ears. I’ll get you the necklace now and I’ll be here when you need me,” he said, putting the gun back in his waistband as he retreated to the kitchen.
“The confrontation was normal, babe, you can close your mouth now,” Reed said with a chuckle.
“That was all an act?” I asked in complete shock. Reed chuckled, shaking his head no.
“No, but we need to know how serious a guy is and how hard he would be to break. If Hunter just gave in no problem, he wouldn’t be worth it,” Reed explained, sitting down on the arm of the sofa.
It wasn’t long before Hunter returned with the necklace and he handed both to Zoe. In return, Zoe gave Hunter a sheet of paper with another gun, it was just less fancy.
Hunter signed the paper, handed it back and they left without another word.
“Well, that was very ‘24’ like,” I muttered, standing up. Hunter smirked, glancing over at me before putting the gun back under the sofa where the other one had been kept before.
“We’re not done yet,” Hunter replied, smirking at me. The smirk and instinct told me that I wasn’t going to like what he had to say next.
“What have we got left?” I asked but he ignored me, grabbing his jacket.
“C’mon, we’re going,” he called over his shoulder. I frowned, grabbing my shoes.
“Where are we going?”
“To a strip club.”
Yeah, instinct was always right.
A/N: Sorry there wasn't an update yesterday, had a maths exam to revise for!:) Should be an upload tomorrow as usual :) Thanks for all the votes and comments, please do it again!:)Dedication to Sophie for the beautiful banner that reminds us both of the monkey bar scene a few chapters back!:) I am in the wattys with this so all votes and comments are greatly appreciated!
Question: Did Hunter make the right choice?
IMPORTANT: I came onto the laptop yesterday to accidently find about 8 people talking to me on meebo that had given up because I didn't see the notifcations. I felt awful! If you want to talk, I ALWAYS reply to my PMs so get hold of me there, I don't bite :P Thanks!