Page 61 of Shattered King

“Jesus,” Hunter said, and carried me from the living room.

Hunter

I was barely hanging on to my shit.

I’d just checked Josh for the hundredth time. He’d been out cold when I’d looked in a few minutes ago. His little body looked so damn tiny in that big bed. And even though I’d been able to see his chest rising and falling, I’d rested my hand lightly against him so I could feel it.

I’d been the target today; I knew that much. Lulu was right—Pierce wanted me out of the way. Instead, he’d accidently hit Lulu. Thank fuck it was only a graze, it could have been so much worse.

One thing I knew for sure—he wasn’t going to stop. It was a dumb move for Pierce to come after her now. His shit had been blown wide open, but then the guy was a sick fuck. The kind of man who would blackmail and rape his own stepdaughter, a kid he’d had under his care since she was twelve years old. The guy was unpredictable at best. As far as I was concerned, the fucker needed to be put down, and I wanted to be the one to do it.

I’d do anything to keep Lulu and Josh safe. Anything.

Lulu tucked herself in close, wrapped her arms around my neck, and I held her back, as tight as I could without hurting her any more than she already was. How much more could she take before she broke completely?

I carried her into my bedroom and sat her on the bed. She started to protest, but I slid my hand from the side of her throat into her hair and made her look at me. “Let me take care of you.”

I needed her to understand, needed her to let me do this.

“You don’t need to. I can take care of it.”

“Fuck.” I shook my head. “Let me do this for you.”

Lulu being Lulu, she got it. Eyes wide, she stared up at me and nodded. “Okay.”

Fuck. So fucking strong, so determined to take it all on alone. She trusted me with her body, to protect her, but she was guarding her heart. She’d locked it away and thrown away the fucking key.

Her shirt was torn from the bullet. The doc had cleaned around the wound, but dried blood covered the rest of her arm. “I’m gonna need to cut this off.” Lifting it over her head would just cause her more pain. I pulled my blade from my boot and flicked it open.

Cutting through the fabric carefully, I bunched it up and threw it in the trash by the bed. There was blood on her side as well, and the sight of it fired up the rage still hammering me.

I was so focused, trying to get myself back under control, I didn’t see her hands lifting to my face. But then she cupped my jaw, rubbed her thumb across my five-o’clock shadow, trying to comfort me. “I’m fine, Hunter.”

I hadn’t even realized I was clenching my teeth until she touched me. “You’re not, Lulu. You’re so far from fucking fine it’s not funny.” I grabbed her hand and held it in mine, even when she tried to pull away. She sat there, holding it together, like nothing had happened. So fucking closed off, so deep in denial. I snapped. “Someone shot at us. You or Josh could have been seriously injured . . . or worse.”

She flinched, but there was no chance of keeping this in, acting like everything was fucking fine. I released her hand and curled my fingers around either side of her neck, thumbs under her chin to make her look at me. “That’s not fine. You are hurting yourself, babe. You’re hurting yourself and I won’t let you, not anymore.” I hissed out a pained breath. “Let me in, Lulu.”

She reared back, but I held her in place.

“Let. Me. In.”

She shook her head. “You . . . you don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I do.” I gentled my hold. “I spent time locked up for something I didn’t do. Lost three fucking years. I’m not okay with that, I’m not fine.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

I gave her a gentle shake. “No, Lulu . . . fuck.” I held her agonized gaze. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Shit, baby, you didn’t put me behind bars, Pierce did. He took from both of us. I’ve had to deal with that, learn to live with it, but what I didn’t do was bottle that shit up, do you understand?”

She nodded.

She wasn’t getting it; my words weren’t sinking in. She wouldn’t let them. The woman was giving me the right answers, the answers she knew I wanted to hear, but she was full of shit. “Babe, until you let that toxic shit out, I don’t get my Lulu back, and I want her back.” I rested my forehead against hers and willed her to let me in. “I want her back.”

Her lids quivered and the fucking shades slammed shut. She was gone. Locked down and buried under a mountain of pain. It was there in her eyes. She wasn’t letting me in. Not yet, maybe not ever. That thought nearly killed me. Releasing her before I started fucking begging, I went to grab a damp cloth.

She took off her bra and I cleaned her up, wiping the blood from her beautiful skin. Removing her jeans, I threw them in the hamper. I grabbed one of my button downs and slid it on, covering her tempting body, and folded back the sleeves.

“You wanna sleep here, or with Josh?”