Hunter reawakened series, p.23
Hunter: Reawakened Series, page 23
“Identify him?!” she gasps in a pitched tone of voice, turning a sickly shade of green.
“No, no, no, they say he’ll be fine but he’s currently unconscious and all they have is his wallet to identify him, but he’s ok, dear,” Mary reassures her before resting her hand on top of Louisa’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take you; if that’s ok, Daniel?”
“Of course,” I reply tightly.
Louisa whips her gaze back to me and we look at one another for a while before I nod and turn away again. I can’t look at her falling apart anymore, especially when I’m breaking just as much as she is.
“Thank you,” she whispers and then I hear the click of the door. She’s gone and I have no idea if I’ll ever see her again.
Chapter 24
Louisa
I knew today would be a bad day, but I didn’t know things would get this kind of fucked up in the space of about twenty minutes. Daniel has every right to be angry, to hate me; I’ve betrayed him like Tony betrayed me all those years ago. It was so stupid and insensitive to kiss him back, especially right next to Daniel’s office. What kind of heartless bitch does that to someone?! Especially to someone who they are beginning to realize they love.
I can’t think about it right now, I have to get to my brother, to check he’s ok, then kick his ass for causing me so much worry. As I race up to the ward where he’s currently hooked up to an IV, machines, and goodness knows what else, I take in his huge body lying there in nothing but a hospital gown and his tattoos. His breathing is deep and slow; he almost looks peaceful. It’s only when I get closer to him that I see the usual deep-set frown between his eyes. Even in sleep, he’s always worrying, angry, and lost. His right eye is swollen into something that resembles a deep purple plum, his neck is sporting rope burns and bruising, and his lip is split. They tell me his body has taken a severe battering and that he’s lucky there isn’t more internal damage.
I reach inside of his hands, which are still so warm, and squeeze gently while slumping inside of the chair next to his bed. If there’s one thing you can guarantee about Phoenix, it’s that he’s always so warm, like a furnace. He’s also the most caring, loving, and troubled man I’ve ever known, and I love him so much. I sit there for a long time and just let myself cry over everything - my brother, my childhood friend, and Daniel.
I must have fallen asleep like that because when I lift my head back up, it’s dark outside. My hand is still clasped inside of his, too frightened to let go. After rubbing my eyes, I look around to find a nurse who’s taking his stats, and we smile at one another.
“You had a drink, honey?” she asks me with a friendly smile. I shake my head and she nods. “There’s a café on the floor below, open all night too.”
“Ask ‘em if they sell beer,” a familiar, croaky voice chuckles into the space in front of him. I gasp and get up to sit as close to him as I can, squeezing his hand even tighter. I desperately want to hug him, but I know I can’t, given the state of his body. “I feel like shit!”
“You kind of look it too,” I reply with a smile and tears in my eyes, which makes him laugh, then groan in pain. “Dammit, Phoenix, you are a giant asshole, you know that?”
“Everyone knows that, Lou, especially me!”
He winces when he tries to open his eyes, but only manages the left one because the right one is so swollen that it must be impossible to do anything with it. He squeezes my hand back, so I kiss the back of his and break down into whimpering all over it. He can’t do this to me anymore, this has to be the end of it, once and for all.
“Hey, Lou,” he sighs softly, “it’s ok, I’m fine. Just took a beating is all.”
“No, it’s not ok, Phoenix,” I snap with anger and fear in my voice, “you’re not immortal and I need my big brother. Please tell me you’ll stop, that you won’t do this ever again!”
“Lou, it’s ok-”
“Warren!” I shout, causing him to jump. He then closes his mouth and looks almost guilty, which only tells me he’s not going to stop. In fact, he’s only just started.
“You didn’t find them, did you?” I ask, but he doesn’t say anything, just shakes his head, so I begin crying all over again. It means he’s not going to stop until he finds the person who is responsible for our mother’s death.
“Come here, Lou,” he whispers.
I hesitate at first, but when I look into his eyes, they’re begging me to give him comfort, so I do, because he’s my big brother and he needs me just as much as I need him. I curl up tightly on the bed beside him and that’s where we end up falling asleep for the night. The last time we lay like this together was after Dad died. It was traumatic, and we knew we only had each other. I pray to God I don’t end up curling up like this alone because I’ve lost the last member of my family. No matter what happens in my life, I know I will always need this man, my brother, my savior, my Phoenix.
_____
Louisa
I left Phoenix, only because I got chucked out and he was drifting in and out of consciousness anyway. I went back to the bar to get him some stuff for when he woke up. I also grabbed a little shut eye, before braving it and trying to call Daniel. He didn’t answer until the fifth attempt, and once I told him about Phoenix, he told me to take as much time off from work as possible, and that he would send my stuff to the bar by courier. His tone was polite but curt at the same time, which in itself, told me that what we had was more or less over. I thanked him, said goodbye, then sank down on the couch to cry, long, hard, and ugly.
Jake wandered in to find out about Phoenix and embarrassingly, caught me losing hold of my emotions. Give him his due, he didn’t tease me, or act awkward, he came straight over to comfort me. He was surprisingly good at it and extremely sensitive and caring. I always thought Jake was just a bit of an idiot, but he’s one of those rare men who know how to deal with a highly emotional woman.
I headed back to the hospital after that, put on my game face for Phoenix, and picked up his favorite chocolate before finding him. Actually, I heard him before I saw him. His low, dulcet tone which gives Chris Hemsworth a run for his money, was chuckling seductively with someone. I found myself rolling my eyes even before I walked in to see him taking a card from one of the pretty nurses who appeared to be taking extra good care of him. She blushed when she saw me and quickly scuttled off along the linoleum floors with a gentle screeching of her loafers. Folding my arms in mock judgment, I raised an eyebrow, to which he did the same, moments before giving me a cheeky smirk.
Knowing he is well on the mend, I walk slowly to the chair beside his bed, throw his bag of candy on top of him, then sit down with a smile I can’t help cracking when he maintains that ridiculous grin on his face.
“Lou,” he says with only a hint of seriousness.
“Brother,” I reply.
“You miss me?” He grins even wider because he knows I’m still pissed with him.
“What happened, Phoenix?” I ask seriously, effectively ending this little play session with him. He sighs heavily and looks to the ceiling as he lies back on his pillow.
“I found the guy Javier told me about,” he huffs, taking a look around to check no one is listening in. “He was a fat motherfucker, old too, so I figured this was going to be so easy, it almost took the fun out of it. Anyway, we got talking, him and ‘Warren’ that is, and he revealed that he knew Mia and Diesel, aka, Mom and Dad. Apparently, he got to be really friendly with them. They even had picnics and such when their kids were young. Just before you turned one, he relocated his family to Florida, where his wife and kids still live, all on his legitimate dime as a fucking realtor!”
He shakes his head as though he can’t believe what an epic waste of time and effort it all was.
“I don’t understand,” I reply with a frown, “Javier rarely gets things wrong, especially not that wrong.”
“I know,” he huffs, “so, I call Javier and give him hell for it, right outside of the bar where I’ve been drinking with ‘Stanley’.” He laughs over the guy’s name and how he was meant to be some shifty gang member, capable of murder and torture. “Anyway, just as I’m yelling at him, the barman comes outside to chat with me. Chat being code for calling his buddies and beating the living shit out of me. I was dragged back inside for their form of an interrogation.”
“What?!” This is so bizarre; I begin to wonder if Phoenix imagined all of this while in some sort of morphine-induced state.
“Yeah, turns out they’re a rival gang of Javier’s and didn’t like me being down in their territory, especially when they found out who I was. But,” he begins as he leans in closer so he can lower his voice, “the head honcho comes to visit me privately, personally, telling me he knows who the person is that I’m looking for. Says he knows exactly who killed the Ortegas, but that the person who had killed Mom was someone else entirely.”
“Holy shit!” We always assumed it was the same person or people, so this is shocking information for both of us. “Did he tell you who it was?”
He shakes his head, and I feel the disappointment already spreading through my body.
“Says his brother can tell me, but that I’ll have to earn that information; tit for tat, if you know what I mean.”
I roll my eyes, thinking, ‘Here we go again’. It’s neverending and always involves my brother risking his life. He takes hold of my hand as if reading my mind.
“Apparently, he’ll contact me when he’s good and ready. Anyway, the head honcho knocks me out with a clean shot to the head, and then I’m here!”
“Jeez, Phoenix, this is getting more and more complicated!” I slump back against the chair and sigh long and noisily. “I bet Mom wouldn’t have wanted you risking your life for all this. I know Dad wouldn’t have!”
“Well, who’s to say I would have been a good son? If she were still alive, I bet I’d have been keeping her up at night on a regular basis. Anyway, how’s domestic bliss? Engaged yet?”
“Huh, as if!” I scoff, already feeling the sting of tears behind my eyes.
“Why? What the hell did he do? Do I have to go and break some legs, Lou, because I’ll do it right now if the motherfucker hurt you!”
“Calm down,” I sigh as I begin to let the tears fall over my cheeks, “I hurt him, so please don’t go making threats that are only going to make me feel worse. He caught me kissing Tony.” I admit, feeling deeply ashamed under his hard-set frown.
“Dafuq?!” he says with true Phoenix sensitivity.
“Yesterday, just before I found out about you, Tony turned up at work. I thought he might have had some news on you, but all he wanted to do was make me take him back. He said things, things that reminded me of when he was a sweet boy, and we were just falling in love and being carefree, you know? So, we kissed; a sweet, goodbye-to-childhood, goodbye-to-our-relationship kiss, and then I pushed him away.”
“And Suit saw the tail end, but missed the push, yeah?” He almost laughs but holds back when he sees how heartbroken I am. I simply nod and brush my face to rid myself of my stupid tears.
“He’s got this weird idea that I want someone like you, like Tony, because that’s who I grew up with,” I try to explain, badly probably. “But the Tony I fell for was sweet and kind…innocent. No offence, Phoenix, but I don’t want to date my brother.”
“No offence taken, you’re my sister, that would be weird and gross,” he says matter of factly. “But I guess I can see Suit’s point of view. You two are from two different worlds.”
“So?!” I bite back a little too harshly. “I don’t have a problem with it, why should he?”
“I don’t know,” he rushes out, looking at me like he did when I told him I had my period and asked him what I was supposed to do about it. “Hey, I deal with shifty fuckers and hairy dudes that drink too much. I just said I could sort of see it from his point of view, doesn’t make Dear Diedre or anything!”
“Well, anyway, I think that’s it for us,” I sigh sadly. I don’t even feel the fresh bout of tears slipping over my cheeks until Phoenix gestures for me to go and lie with him, which I do straight away. “I miss him, Phoenix,” I sniff, “he was the kind of man I could have been with forever; you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” he sighs and kisses the top of my head.
_____
Daniel
It’s Friday, thank God, because working with no partner and no PA has been exhausting. I more than know I’ve been a punchy bastard to everyone, even Mary who reminds me of my grandmother. At this rate, Theo’s going to get back from his honeymoon to an office with no staff and one miserable partner who can barely function. All because he trusted his heart to someone who already gave theirs away years ago.
I had Lou’s stuff packed up and asked Charlotte to drive it over to the hospital earlier today before leaving to work at home. I’m just waiting for her to get back now, though, I’m also kind of dreading what she’s going to tell me about Lou. Part of me feels like telling her not to say anything, to keep it all to herself. This doesn’t bode well for our working relationship, but maybe this is the perfect excuse to get a new PA. Lou can work for Theo; everyone’s happy.
“You-hoo! Jerkface?”
Charlotte marches in through the front door and I close my eyes, bracing myself for her usual positive spin on everything. Right now, I want to wallow in my own self-pity and cement the fact that I’m destined to be alone. I hear the tip-tapping of her heels across my marble flooring, the sound echoing around the high ceilings and minimalist décor. I even started to imagine Lou moving in with me, making the place her own, as well as making it homier, like her little living room at the bar. Fat chance of that happening now.
“Char,” I mutter before swigging back something brown and bitter. Could be beer, could be liquor, could be stale old tea for all I know, or care, for that matter. Everything tastes bland and cold.
“Well, I saw her,” she huffs before helping herself to a cola from the fridge. She then walks over to sit on the chair next to me. “She looks-”
“I don’t think I need to know how she looks, Charlotte,” I grumble, “in fact, I don’t need to know anything about her.”
“Jeez, bitter much?” she replies with a frown of disapproval. “I was going to say, she looks awful! I’m talking, haven’t eaten, haven’t slept, and cried way too much, awful.”
She then smiles like she’s proud of bringing me what she thinks is good news.
“Well, considering her brother, her only surviving family member, is in hospital, I’m not overly surprised. What’s your point?”
“Her brother is absolutely fine.” She leans in closer with a wicked look in her eyes and a mischievous grin on her face. “And I mean, fine! If I wasn’t already married…” She looks off into the distance as though she’s imagining doing obscene things with him.
“You see?” I point at her in frustration. “Even you want a Neanderthal like Phoenix, and so does she! Her playing tonsil tennis with someone like Tony proved that.”
“Ok, I’ll admit, kissing her ex the other day wasn’t a very well-thought-out move on her part.” When I look at her, giving her a ‘case in point’ expression, she rolls her eyes and continues to talk over me. “But you said so yourself, she pushed him away afterward. Maybe it was a kiss to end all kisses if you get what I mean.”
“She wouldn’t be kissing anyone if she had any genuine feelings for me.” I slam my fist on the table, feeling both irritated and justified over it all. “Would you forgive Callum if you caught him kissing one of his exes?”
“Oh, hell, no, but then he’s not had the same traumatic background as her,” she says as though pondering on that thought. “I would like to think I would at least hear him out.”
“I don’t know if I can, it just seems easier to let it all go to shit,” I laugh sadly. “It was a bad move anyway; she’s my PA.”
“Well, then, maybe it wasn’t love after all,” she says with a shrug, “if it were, you wouldn’t be giving up so easily. Just because she wants someone who isn’t all caveman and all, doesn’t mean she doesn’t want someone who would fight for her.”
I huff out a long stream of air, trying to think about how much I’m willing to put myself out there for a girl who’s already betrayed me. Charlotte places her hand over mine and I squeeze it tightly, silently thanking her for her support but also telling her that I’m done with the conversation, at least for now.
_____
Daniel
I spent Saturday at my folks’ place, helping Dad with the house, then spending time sulking with Mom. She spoiled me with all my favorite things to eat, including carrot cake and homemade sandwiches - good, old-fashioned comfort food. I didn’t say a thing about my broken heart, and neither did they, which was why I chose to go there; I knew they wouldn’t. Sunday came around quickly and I chose to honor my tradition of taking a bottle of JD with me to the cemetery where my brother is buried. The last time I came here I had seen Lou and Phoenix visiting their father’s grave; I guess it’s where our relationship began. All the more reason to drink this early on the Sabbath.
His grave is a mess of overgrown foliage and dead flowers, so I spend a good twenty minutes or so tidying it all up, trying to make it look semi-reasonable again. I then break open the bottle and salute him before swigging it back with a delicious burn down my throat.
“Well, well, well, not even I come and get drunk in a cemetery!”
A familiar gruff voice laughs from behind me. I don’t even turn around because I can’t be bothered to deal with the asshole right now; I just want to come and have a drink with my brother. Course, Kevin’s not really here, Daniel.
“Morning, Phoenix,” I eventually huff when I don’t hear him leave, “I trust you’re well now?”
“Very,” he replies with a smirk, taking this as some sort of invitation to come and join me. He kneels down beside me, wearing his ripped jeans, worn leather jacket, a motorcyclist scarf wrapped around his neck, and a collection of tattoos laced around his arms. It all adds up to the same badass look that Lou’s ex shares with him. The guy is built like Fort Knox, and woe betide anyone who crosses him.
