Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (7 page)

Friday

Rob quickly walked over to us. "Penny, I'm so sorry. If
I had known I would have told you guys."

I didn't even know what to say.

James dropped my hand. "Can you take Penny into the main
room? I need to talk to our parents."

"James, please..." I said.

But he didn't seem to hear me. He had already started walking
toward his parents and Isabella.

My whole body felt cold. I couldn't do this. I didn't belong
here. I turned around so I could walk out the door, but Rob caught my hand.

"It's okay," he said. "Hey, it's okay. There's
a bunch of people in the other room that actually want to see you."

"I can't do this, Rob. They don't want me here."

"Well, I want you here." He linked his arm in mine.
"Come on, don't let my parents ruin tonight. Everyone is here to celebrate
you and James." He pulled me past them and through a long hallway.

I could hear James raising his voice. It echoed in the large
foyer, making it impossible to hear what he was saying. Rob picked up his pace,
trying to put distance between them and me.

I breathed in through my nose, not even trying to hide the
sniffling noise.

"Oh, geez." Rob looked down at me and stopped.
"Don't cry." He pulled me to his chest. "Don't show them that
they won. That's the last thing you want."

"They did win. They didn't even give me a chance."

He put his hands on my shoulders. "Part of being in this
family is learning how to ignore my parents. You have to have thick skin. You
can't let stuff like this bother you."

"They invited his ex wife to our engagement party."

"Yeah, my parents suck. That can't come as a surprise to
you. They're the fucking worst."

I laughed and wiped away a few tears that had fallen down my
cheeks.

"You're going to be my little sister. I'm going to help
watch out for you. But you can't let them get under your skin. Show them that
you don't care. That's what the three of us do."

I took a deep breath. Rob always joked around with me. It was
nice to hear that he truly cared.

"And they're not even doing this because of you. They're
mad at James. And trust me, not having their approval makes us all like you
even more. So cheer up." He lightly bumped my chin with his fist.

I laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm still focused on the fact
that you said I was going to be your little sister."

"Ugh. Don't hold that against me. I mean, if you're
looking for less drama, I don't have an ex wife." He winked at me.

"You can't take it back now. I always thought it would
be nice to have a brother."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head. I was
just being nice."

"Mhm."

He removed his hand from my shoulder. "So, are you
okay?"

"The brotherly pep talk definitely helped. Thanks,
Rob." I looked down the hallway toward foyer. I wanted James to walk into
the party with me. I didn't want him to be fighting with his parents. And I
definitely didn't want him to talk to Isabella. I just wanted him by my side.

"Come on," Rob said and held his arm back out for
me. "I'm supposed to be escorting you to the party. Not letting you mope
around in the hallway."

"I'd rather just hide somewhere and not see
anyone."

"Just bottle up all your emotions and try not to think
about them. That's what becoming a Hunter truly is. Why do you think we're all
so messed up?"

I laughed as he walked with me down the hallway.

"Welcome to the family, Penny." He winked at me
again as he turned the corner. We walked through a marble archway into a room
filled with at least a hundred people. And I didn't recognize any of them.

"Shouldn't we wait for James?"

"I don't know. He said to bring you in here." He
looked over his shoulder. "How about I go grab you a drink to calm your
nerves. What's your poison?"

"Don't leave me."

He laughed. "Jen's over there. I'm sure she'd love to
introduce you to some of the family."

I nodded. "Get me something strong."

"I'll do my worst." His arm fell from mine.

It felt like everyone was staring at me. I smiled awkwardly
and walked over to Jen.

"What took you two so long?" she said as she gave
me a quick hug. "Wait, where's James?"

"Talking to your parents." I didn't want to think
about what he was doing. "Rob said you might introduce me to some of your
family members. I thought this was going to be a small thing. Why are there so
many people here?"

"Well, your wedding is going to be so small that Mom and
Dad insisted that everyone come down to meet you now. They're all so excited to
meet you."

So this was basically everyone we hadn't invited to the
wedding?
Oh God.
I swallowed hard. They all probably hated me too.

"You okay?" Jen asked. "You look really
pale."

"I'm fine. Do I know anyone here?"

"I think the invites got a little confusing. Most of
your friends are arriving around seven I think. But come on, I'll introduce you
to everyone."

***

It was just a blur of faces and names. I gave up trying to
remember who everyone was. It seemed like hours before I felt James' hand on my
waist.

"Let's go. I've already made our excuses," he said.

"But I haven't even met your parents yet."

"And you're not going to. Let's go. Now."

I wasn't sure I had ever seen him this upset. All I wanted to
do was grab his hand and run out of there. But Rob's advice was stuck in my
head. I didn't want his parents to think they could scare me away. I wasn't
going anywhere. "Our friends are coming any minute. We can't leave
now."

"Oh, there you are, James," Jen said. The smile on
her face instantly disappeared. "What's wrong?"

"Did you know Isabella was going to be here?" James
said in a stern voice.

"Don't snap at her." I put my hand on his chest.
"This isn't her fault."

"Is she really?" Jen asked. Her voice sounded
small.

"Dad said you're the one that convinced them to throw
this thing. You must have known. You set us up."

"Of course I didn't," Jen said. She sounded like
her normal self again. "You know I wouldn't do that."

James ran his hand through his hair. "Please let me get
you out of here, Penny." There was so much pain in his eyes. And it killed
me.

"I have to meet them." I put my glass in his hand.
"Hold this for me, please."

I started to walk away before he had time to react.

"Penny!" he hissed.

I ignored him and walked over to the archway. His parents had
just entered the room with Isabella in tow. She smiled as I approached. She
probably thought that I was about to embarrass myself, but she was dead wrong.
I went straight up to them and smiled. "Hi, you must be Mr. and Mrs.
Hunter. I'm Penny Taylor, your son's fiancée. I'm so sorry that it took us this
long to meet. We had such conflicting schedules." I gave them as genuine
of a smile as I could. "But I'm glad we finally get a chance to meet now,
before the wedding. And thank you so much for throwing this wonderful party to
celebrate our engagement. It's been quite lovely. Your whole family has been so
kind."

James' mother raised her left eyebrow. The expression
reminded me of one that James made so often. Maybe the two of them had some
similarities after all.

Isabella made a weird noise with her throat, clearly
disapproving of what I had just said.

"Oh, and Isabella, it's so nice to see you again. I
wasn't sure I would get the pleasure. I'm so glad you could make it."

"Unfortunately we can't stay," James said and
wrapped his arm firmly around my waist, almost making me jump. "Something
has come up and we really must go."

"Don't be ridiculous, James," Isabella said with a
huge smile. "The party has only just begun. Let me get you a scotch.
That's your favorite, right?" Her voice was oozing with so much fake
sweetness that I wanted to throw up.

"Not anymore, no." His grip tightened on my waist.

"How about we go make a few phone calls?" I said
and smiled up at him. "I'm sure whatever urgent thing that has come up can
be handled by someone else. If you'll excuse us for just a moment." I
smiled politely at all three of them and grabbed James' arm.

He followed me into the hallway. I stopped right past the
archway, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me farther down the hall.

"James?"

He didn't say anything, he just kept walking.

"James, stop." I pulled my hand out of his grip.

"We're going. Now."

"We're not going anywhere. Your parents threw us this
party and I'm not going to make a bad first impression by leaving early."

"You're joking right? They invited..."

"No. I'm not joking. Would you calm down for one
second?"

He lowered his eyebrows.

"If I'm going to be a part of this family, then I need
to learn how to deal with them. And if that means I have to be civil around Isabella
too, so be it."

"I'm not asking you to do that."

"I know that you're not asking. I'm offering."

"And I'm rejecting your offer. I don't want to be here.
I'm never stepping foot in this fucking house again. I already told them as
much. I'm done. With all of them."

"You don't mean that."

"I do mean it. Don't you see what they're doing? They're
trying to force Isabella back on me. They don't want me to marry you. They
won't even give you a chance. They want me to be miserable. They don't care
about me."

"They do care. They think that's what's best for you.
But I'm going to wear them down. I'm going to make them see."

"They're not like your parents, Penny. I'm not having a
fight with them over something small and insignificant. This isn't just a
misunderstanding. They're torturing me. They're trying to break me.
Again."

It wasn't like I couldn't see the pain in his eyes. I knew. I
just never realized quite how bad it was. I wanted to think the whole thing was
a misunderstanding. No one's parents could act this way without an important
reason behind it. They had to be doing it because they thought Isabella was
what was best for him. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe they were torturing him on
purpose because he wasn't doing the things they wanted him to be doing. And
there was a huge difference between the two. It didn't seem like they wanted
him to be happy. I had been nice to them and they hadn't said a word.

"I just want to fix it," I whispered. I put my hand
on the side of his face. "Please let me try."

"You can't make them love me." His Adam's apple
rose and fell. He shook his head, making my hand fall from his face. "I
need some air."

Friday

I downed another glass of wine. This party was a complete
disaster. James was missing. His parents were always talking to someone, so I
couldn't catch them alone. And Isabella was walking around like she owned the
place. All of James' family members seemed to adore her. I should have just
left with James. I knew he needed me right now. But I wasn't calm enough to
console him. All I wanted to do was set the house on fire.

"You okay?" Melissa asked as she walked up to me.
"You look pissed."

"I'm fine." It was so nice to finally see someone I
recognized. I took a deep breath and set my glass down on the bar. I was trying
to calm my nerves before I potentially made a scene. I just wished I had the
courage to do it without alcohol.

"This place is almost as big as Tyler's apartment
building," she said.

I laughed. "Yeah, it's crazy." Maybe a distraction
was what I needed. And I could really use someone on my side right now.
"Actually, Melissa, I was hoping I could talk to you about Tyler. I just
want you to know that if you two are dating, I'm totally okay with it."

"I don't need your permission to date someone,
Penny."

"I know, that's not what I meant. I just thought that
maybe because of our history, you thought..."

Melissa laughed and placed her glass of wine down on the bar
beside mine. "Thought that it would be awkward because you've slept with
him? Yeah, well you have nothing to worry about. I would never date Tyler
Stevens. I'm sorry, I need to use the bathroom."

"Melissa?"

She was already quickly walking away.

What the hell was that?
I glanced over at Tyler. He
was staring at us, but he quickly looked away when he caught my gaze and
started walking after Melissa.

Not only was I in a room full of people that preferred James'
ex wife to me, but now two of my closest friends seemed to be mad at me.
Fuck
this.

I walked over to Rob who was playing some drinking game with Matt
and Mason. Hopefully they weren't taking shots whenever Isabella gave me a
death stare, because they'd be totally wasted. And I needed Rob's help.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to talk to
your parents. Could you go find James so we can leave when I'm done? He said he
was going to get some air, but he's not answering his phone. And I..."

"Say no more, gorgeous. I'll find him." Rob downed
his shot and stood up. "Don't play without me," he said and
disappeared into the crowd of people in the room.

"Are you okay, Penny?" Mason asked. He looked truly
concerned and it made me feel a little better. I just needed to remember that
James' friends were the true family I was gaining. If his parents weren't going
to accept me, then I wasn't going to keep pretending everything was alright.

"Besides for the fact that James' parents want him to
get back with Isabella? Yeah, I'm great." I looked over toward his
parents. They were talking to a group of people about their age. It didn't
really matter if I was rude and interrupted them. They deserved it.

Matt laughed. "You don't have anything to worry about.
James is completely addicted to you. You're like the only sustenance he needs.
Ow, fuck! What is wrong with you?"

I turned back to them.

Matt was grabbing his shin under the table and giving Mason a
dirty look. Had Mason just kicked him?

Mason cleared his throat. "Do you need help getting
James' parents alone to tell them off? I think we're both up to the
challenge."

"No. I'll do it myself. I'm kind of looking forward to
embarrassing them. Have fun with your game." I walked away from their
table toward Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. They were still talking to the same group of
people. "Excuse me," I said when I reached them. "I was hoping
to have a word alone with Mr. and Mrs. Hunter."

"Of course, dear," said a woman who I recognized as
one of James' aunts who I had met earlier.

James' mother turned toward me reluctantly. "I didn't
realize you were still here."

Yeah, fuck you too.
"Can the three of us go talk
somewhere in private?"

"We're hosting a party. We can't just..."

Mrs. Hunter was cut off by her husband. "Of course, Miss
Taylor. We thought you might request a word. Let's discuss this in my
office."

I instantly liked Mr. Hunter a little more than Mrs. Hunter.
He didn't seem nearly as cold. They started walking away and I quickly caught
up to the them. It felt like I was about to be scolded as I followed them out
of the room and into the main hallway, though. I wondered what they thought I
was about to talk to them about as Mr. Hunter stopped in front of a door. He
pulled out a key from his pocket and put it into the door. He pushed it open,
letting Mrs. Hunter walk in first. He continued to hold the door open and
gestured for me to go in as well. Maybe he wasn't so bad.

I stepped in and turned around in a circle. The room looked
more like a small library than an office. I suddenly felt weird for not knowing
what his parents did. James never talked about them. So I really knew nothing
about them at all. Except that they were hurting James. That was all that I
needed to know.

His father cleared his throat and I turned toward him.
"Miss Taylor, let me apologize for inviting Isabella to this event."

James' mother crossed her arms in front of her chest and
didn't say a word.

"Thank you for saying that." I sighed with relief.
I had every intention of yelling at them as soon as we were alone, but I bit my
tongue. This whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding. I could still fix
this.

"We realize that option should have been presented to
James at a different time."

"A different time?"
You mean not at all?

"Yes. Once we settle this," he said.

"Settle what?" I asked.

James' mother shook her head. "There's no reason to be
formal, Jonathan. We all know why we're here." She stared at me for a
second like I was completely dense and walked over to the desk. She opened up a
drawer and pulled out a checkbook.

You've got to be kidding me.
"I don't want your
money. That's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the way
you've been treating your son."

She tore a check out of the booklet and stuck her hand out to
me.

I bit my lip, trying to prevent myself from crying. How could
they think that's why I was dating their son? "I'm in love with
James."

"Of course." She sounded disgusted as she pulled
out another check. She set them both down on the desk and slid them toward me.

I looked down. Both checks were already made out to me. And
they were each for one million dollars. They had already written them. They
never had any intention of getting to know me. This had been their plan the
whole time. "Don't you want him to be happy?" My voice sounded small
and sad.

"That's really no concern of yours," his mother
snapped.

"Yes it is. I'm his fiancée. All I care about is his
happiness."

"This charade has gone on long enough. I thought it
would sizzle out on its own, but now I see that we need to step in before it's
too late. So that's what we're doing. Because we do care about his happiness.
And we won't let him ruin his life over some girl. It's just a matter of time
before he comes to his senses. We're just helping it along. Now take the money
and disappear from his life. That's the offer."

"I don't want your money." I had clenched my hands
into fists. "You think this is showing him that you care? Instead of
accepting him how he is? Your son is sweet and caring and..."

"And he doesn't know what's best for him. You think
marrying a middle class girl is helping him? Pulling him down to your
level?" She made the same noise with her throat that Isabella had made
earlier. "He's a Hunter." She picked up the checks and threw them at
me.

Her words made me shiver. "He may be a Hunter, but he's
in love with me."

"He doesn't love you." She looked me up and down.
"He's attracted to you for some reason. And I don't even see why. You're
quite common. Isabella and him have a real bond. Our families are connected.
And they're going to work it out."

"There's nothing to work out. They're divorced."

"Which was a mistake. They both realize that. And they're
working on fixing it."

She made it seem like it was already happening. I wasn't
going to let her crawl under my skin. That was nonsense. "He doesn't love
her."

"Again, that is none of your business. You'll never be
one of us. Even if you have conned our son into living in sin with you for the
past two years. Enough is enough."

"I don't want to be one of you." I tried to keep my
head up high even though all her words seemed to cut through me like a knife.
"I'm glad I never will be." I leaned down and picked up the checks
off the floor.

James' mother smiled. "What a relief."

"Because James and I want nothing to do with you."
I tore up the checks and let the pieces flutter to the ground. "I was
hoping that we could come to an understanding, but it's clear that you're not
interested in listening to me. Or your son. So you're officially uninvited to
the wedding. Not that you ever accepted the invitation in the first place. And
you're uninvited to be a part of the rest of our lives as well. You won't even
get to hold your grandchildren. So congratulations to both of you. You've lost
your eldest son. I hope you're happy."

James' father cleared his throat. "Miss Taylor, you seem
like a smart girl. We hope that you'll make the right decision. Please let
yourself out when you've calmed down." He took a step toward the door.

"I'm not done. I came here trying to give you both the
benefit of the doubt. But do you have any idea how much you've hurt him?
Forcing him to marry Isabella even though he didn't love her? He would have
done anything to make you happy. Don't you see that? He's tried so hard to
please both of you. But you're impossible. Do you even know what he's been
through? He was depressed. And it's your fault. You made him an addict."

"Enough!" yelled his dad. "Our son's
shortcomings are no one's fault but his own. He's never known what's best for
him. He chose to find solace in vices because he's weak. He's always been
weak." His father's words made tears come to my eyes.

"James is the strongest person I know. Strong enough to
walk away from his own parents. And thank goodness, because the thought of ever
being in the same room as either of you again makes me feel sick to my stomach.
You're both pretentious snobs. And you don't deserve his love."

"Is that quite all?" his father asked. "Are
you done insulting us in our own house?"

"If you give me more time, I'm sure I can think of
something else to say." I glared back at him. I knew I was being childish.
But it was better than punching him in the face, which is what I really wanted
to do.

"There is one more check in the check book. We're
willing to pay you five million dollars total to walk away from our family. I
suggest you take it."

"Or what?"

"You may think that we don't love our son, but we're
willing to do anything to protect him."

"He doesn't need your protection. What he needs is your
love. What is wrong with you?"

His father frowned. "We need to get back to our
guests." He walked out of the room without another word. James' mother
stared at me for a second before following her husband out of the office.

I sunk into one of the chairs in front of the desk and put my
face in my hands, finally letting my tears free. Why hadn't I just left with
James when he told me to? I hadn't believed him. I didn't think there was any
way that his parents were as bad as he said. But he was right. They were
absolutely horrid. And now James was out somewhere alone. I thought about
earlier in the week when his mother called. He had seemed so happy that they
were finally willing to meet me. He let himself get his hopes up, just to be
crushed by them again. And I had put him in that situation. He was probably
furious with me. The thought just made me cry even harder.

"Oh my. I'm guessing your little conversation didn't go
so well?"

My whole body felt cold. I quickly wiped my tears away and
looked up at Isabella. "Please, Isabella. Not right now."

She walked into the room, closing the door behind her.
"I have a few things to say myself."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have already filled me in on their
plans to get you two back together. I don't want to hear about it."

"You poor thing. You really had no idea why Jonathan and
Susan invited you here?" She looked down at the scattered pieces of the
checks on the ground.

If she thought that her being on a first name basis with them
bothered me, she was dead wrong. I never wanted to be that close to them. Not
now that I knew what they were like.

"I believe James was thrilled to see me. It's been much
too long since we were close. And I'm excited to change that."

"Why can't you just leave him alone?"

"I let him have his fling. I gave him the distance he
needed. It's time for us to work things out."

"You loathe each other. What on earth are you talking
about?"

"Just because he's not addicted to me doesn't mean he
doesn't love me. It's a sickness. If you want what's best for him, you'll let
him go. I'm the only one who knows what he needs. I can help him."

"He doesn't need your help." I stood up. "And
he's not addicted to me. He loves me."

"It's a fine line. And I'm afraid it's a little blurry
for him."

"All he needs from you is to be left alone. Please, just
leave us both alone."

"I'm trying to help you. I'm giving you the chance to
walk away from all of this. You still have your whole life ahead of you. You
don't want to spend time taking care of..."