Too Much to Lose (24 page)

Cindy takes a drag on the
cigarette. “You know he was fired right?”

Jess nods. “Yeah.”

“So what do you want with him?”

“Markus said you were seeing
him?” I interject, keen to get out of the stifling room, acrid with the scent
of sex and cigarette smoke.

“Yeah, bastard. Said he’d make
me big. Guess he says that to all the girls. He promised me a lot.”

Jess nods sympathetically.

“Not that us dating stopped him
from fucking other girls.” Cindy shrugs. “But I was meant to be special. I did
everything for that man.”

I don’t realize my fist is
curled at my side until Jess grabs it and wraps her slender fingers around it.

“Did he say what he was going
to do?” Jess prompts.

“He wanted to set up his own
company. Lone Star Productions or something. Don’t know if he did. Wanted me to
be his star but once he left, that was it, I never heard from him again.”

“He didn’t tell you anything
else?” I ask.

“He didn’t tell me anything,”
Cindy confirms. “Used me and threw me away. Not that I expected anything
different.” She taps her cigarette against an ash tray behind us and nods
toward Jess. “You’d know about that.”

I swipe a hand across my face.
“Do you have any way of contacting him?”

“’Fraid not. His mobile number
stopped working almost as soon as he left. What’s this about anyway? He screw
you over too?”

“Something like that,” Jess responds
calmly.

“Least you’ve got yourself a
sexy protector, eh?”

Jess smiles. “Yes, at least
I’ve got that.”

I stand and hand a card to
Cindy. “If you hear anything, give me a call.” Hand held out, I motion to Jess.
“Let’s get going.”

Nodding, Jess takes my hand.
“See you, Cindy.”

Cindy has turned back to the dressing
table and is busy pouring herself a glass of whisky. She mutters a goodbye and
throws the drink back. I catch her eye in the mirror and see everything there I
once saw in Jess’s eyes. But when I glance at Jess, I realize it’s gone.
Somewhere in this shitty process of investigations and lies and danger, that’s
changed.

I draw in a great gulp of air
when we step outside and don’t stop to speak to Jess until we’re in the car.

“I need a shower,” I grumble.

“I know.” Her voice is quiet.

“I had no idea.”

“I know.” A delicate hand curls
into mine.

I grip her fingers and pull her
hand to my lips. My lips flat against her palm, I relish her tiny intake of
breath and feel my sanity returning. No haze of despair or demons haunt her
expression. Only love and lust light her face. The coldness this visit created
around my heart splinters.

“Princess, I’ve got to ask… did
Lucas force himself on you?” I urge my voice to remain steady.

Colour stains her cheeks. “He
did but—” she holds up a hand before I can express my anger “—he didn’t
succeed. It’s what made me leave. He used his position to sleep with the girls.
Most did as he asked because they were scared of losing their jobs. When I
refused, he tried to hurt me but we were interrupted and I left. In a way, I
was glad. It woke me up to the world I was in. Gave me the incentive to leave.
I spent a while drifting after that, living on the streets and in hostels but I
never regretted leaving.”

An aching chasm sits in my
chest for the young Jess. I want to rage and fight and tear down the world that
makes a woman feel she has no other choice but sell herself. However, her
placid expression and gentle touch to my cheek calms the heat boiling inside. Whatever
doubts I had about the money are gone. Maybe she’ll tell me about it one day. I
don’t care. All that matters now is me and Jess—and her safety.

“I hate that you went through
all that,” I say gruffly.

“Me too. But it’s in the past
now.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Yeah, it is.
I’m your future now.”

A grin breaks across her face.
“Yes, you are.”

Hunter

Car parked outside the house, I hurry around the side and open
the door for Jess. She climbs out and offers me a smile. While I might have
work to do now I’ve got a lead on this production company of Lucas’s, the small
touches of her hand on my thigh and the sideways glances she kept giving me
have got me so worked up, I can’t think straight. I eye her ass as she
unlatches the front gate. I lock the car and scowl when she stills, a look of
frozen horror on her face.

Hastening to her side, my heart
shrinks when I spot what has caused such a reaction.

“Hunter!” Carl barks and
swivels from my front doorstep to stomp down the path.

Jess shrinks back from her uncle
and I step in front of her. She tucks herself into my side.

“What do you want?” I demand,
blood rushing in my ears. If I glance down, I suspect I’ll see the world
crumbling from beneath me. Whatever Carl wants, nothing good will come of Jess having
to face her abuser.

“My money.” He stops at the
other side of the gate and we face off like a Western show down. “I want to
know where the little bitch has hidden my money.”

“Get off my property and stay
the hell away from her.”

Carl laughs. “I should have
known not to hire a man but they said you were the best. Guess she got under
your skin too, huh?”

Behind me, Jess whimpers.
“What’s going on?”

He peers around my shoulder and
laughs again. “Don’t rely on this guy for protection, Jessica. He’s easily
bought. Just give me my money and I’ll leave you be.”

“I don’t have any money!” She
inches out from behind me.

“You took my money when you
left, you little bitch.” Carl’s heavily lined face reddens with rage and I
press Jess back a little, fearful of what the man might try to do to her. I’d
rather die than let her get hurt but it might be too late for that.

“Carl.” I give a warning growl.
“Get off my property. She doesn’t have your money. If you want to keep all your
teeth, I suggest you leave.”

“Not until I have my fifty
thousand. I paid you decent money to track it down and instead I find you’ve
fucking moved her in with you. Perhaps you decided to go halves with her, eh?”

“What?” Jess squeaks.

A chuckle rumbles from Carl.
“Didn’t you know? This guy was trying to track down my money. Probably thought
sleeping with you would get you to tell him everything. I was going to give him
a nice big chunk of it as a reward too…”

Jess comes out fully from
behind me and swings her gaze from Carl to me. “Hunter?”

I scrape a hand through my
hair. “I quit, Jess. Before… the other night. I quit.”

Time stills as she stares at
me. Pain shatters my heart. Distrust enters her gaze, the quiet agony of
betrayal leeches into her features.

“Enough!” Carl interrupts and
shoves open the gate to step through. “Where’s my fucking money?” He snatches
her arm and I curl a fist, ready to slam it into his face.

“I don’t have it!” she cries.
“I never took your money! Why would I still be in London if I had stolen from
you? I didn’t even know you had some money.”

“It went missing when you left.
It was in the house for safekeeping and suddenly I’m down fifty K.”

She shakes her head vehemently.
“I don’t have it, I swear. If I did I’d give it back, but I don’t.”

The redness seeps from Carl’s
face and he studies her. “You always were crap at lying. That’s why I never
trusted you to keep—” He glances at me and falls quiet.

“Motherfucker,” I hiss before
slamming my ready-curled fist into his jaw. He stumbles back and releases Jess.
She presses herself flat against the car as if it will offer some kind of
protection. From Carl or from me?

Carl cradles his jaw and draws
himself to standing. “I want all my fucking money back from you.” He thrusts a
finger at me.

“You’re not getting anything
from me, you sick fuck. You should be in jail.”

He smirks. “Don’t think her
bitch of an aunt didn’t try before she left.”

The guy is just asking for it.
I throw another punch and strike his gut this time. He doubles over but the
throb in my fist does nothing to soothe the anger burning inside. I press him
to the ground with my foot and consider kicking his head in until Jess screams
at me.

Startled, I step back and she
snatches my arm. “He’s not worth it. Hunter, you’ll go to jail. Don’t do it.”

I consider the wheezing man.
“Come near Jess again and I will kill you. Touch anyone again and I will kill
you. Jail will be an easy price to pay.”

He nods and tries to utter
something but only a rasp comes out. I let Jess drag me to the house and I
unlock the door, push her in and slam it shut. There, in the shadowy hallway, she
props her hands on her hips and faces me. She’s shaking from head to toe.

“You thought I was a thief?”

I sigh and a knot of dread
tangles my windpipe, making my words hoarse. “I did.”

“And you were paid to find this
money I had supposedly taken?”

“Yes.”

“It was all a lie?” She doesn’t
cry but her voice is hushed as if she’s struggling to breathe almost as much as
me.

“Dammit, no. Princess, it
wasn’t a lie. I needed the money. My business is sinking. It was
meant
to
be a simple job.” I can’t resist a twisted smile. “Turns out it wasn’t so
simple.”

“So you were using me?”

“It wasn’t meant to be like
that. I just wanted to get close enough to find the money. I never intended to
fall for you. I know I’ve fucked up but I wouldn’t do anything different ‘cause
I wouldn’t have met you otherwise.” I reach for her and she leaps back.

“Don’t!” She draws in an
audible breath. “Don’t touch me,” she whispers. “Do you love me?”

My heart slams in painful thuds
against my ribs. “Yes.”

Jess thrusts both hands into
her hair. “But you continued to lie to me.”

“You’re in danger, Jessie, I
couldn’t let you be angry with me. I knew you’d try to send me away. Clean
start remember? That’s what we said. Can’t we have a clean start now?”

“Clean start!” she splutters.
“Yeah a clean start from my end. I told you everything and you told me
nothing!”

 “Princess—”

“Don’t call me that!” Her gaze
keeps flitting to the door as if looking for an escape.

I cross my arms and step fully
in front of it. “You know I’m not letting you go anywhere, not when you’re in
danger.”

“As far as I’m concerned you’re
the only one who is a danger to me.”

I take a risk. I step forward
and press a finger under her chin. She lets me. I don’t know if that’s good
though. I think it’s because I’ve made her so weak with pain that she can’t do
anything else.

“I never meant to hurt you. I’m
sorry. You were too much for me to resist. But I’m not going to lose you over
this.” She closes her eyes and I skim my mouth across hers. She jerks against
my touch. “I won’t lose you,” I assure her.

“I need to think.”

As she steps back, I note the
tremble in her body. I’m not sure I could hate myself any more right now, but what
else could I have done? I wrack my brains to figure out what I should have done
differently.

“Think if you want. Nothing
will change. I love you.”

As I say the words again, I
realise how true they are. I love her with an ache so deep that I don’t think
I’ll ever get rid of it. I can’t lose her over this. Somehow I’ll have to
convince her she loves me too.

“I don’t know.” A shaky hand
goes to her lips and she presses them. “You used me, you know. Just like all
those other men.”

“I never meant to…”

“I’m going to bed.” She presses
past me and storms upstairs. The spare room door closes and my heart sinks. My
legs judder and I have to get to the couch quickly before I collapse. The only
woman I loved and I treated her no better than any other man in her life has. I
pray to God I haven’t lost her. I can’t. She’s too much for me to lose.

***

Jess

For a moment, the floral wallpaper above my head
disorientates me. I automatically look to the side of me but the bed is empty.
An ache pounds through my skull and my eyes feel gritty. I don’t recall falling
asleep. I kept skipping between fits of tears and a weird empty kind of
anguish.

It was all a lie. Why did I
think I deserved anything more? The only reason Hunter was interested in me was
because he thought I’d stolen some money. I rub my eyes and sit. The spare room
is no different to the rest of the house. Full of lace and flowers and tiny
ornaments but it doesn’t have Hunter in it. Strange how such a dated house can
feel so different when Hunter is with me.