Kyle sighed. “Hunter, are you sure you want to do this? Bella seems to be doing well, she’s moving on. Maybe you need to let this go.”
I let out a cold laugh. “Let it go? Let me ask you something. If this was Greer we were talking about, would you let it go? The fucker is walking around free, and God knows if he’s done this to someone else.”
Kyle remained quiet for a few moments, then said, “I’ll check the weather, make sure it’s clear all the way up to Maine. What’s our reason for leaving?”
“We can say we’re going ice fishing.”
He sighed. “Fuck, I hate ice fishing.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “We’re not really fishing, you dipshit. Besides, when we come back empty-handed, it won’t be a surprise since we’ve never had any luck with ice fishing.”
Kyle snorted. “When do you want to leave?”
“We’re off the next two days, so first thing tomorrow morning. Just in case we need to stay the night.”
“You bringing Jack?”
“Fuck yeah, I’m bringing Jack,” I said, reaching down and giving Jack a good scratch behind the ears.
“I’ll pick you up at six a.m.”
Nodding, I replied, “Sounds good. I want to get to Maine as soon as possible. But…you know you don’t have to go, Kyle.”
This time, he let out a humorless laugh. “And let you kill the motherfucker? Bella just got you back; I don’t think she wants to see you behind bars.”
“I have no intention of killing him. I just want to make him feel a little of the pain Bella’s had to feel over the last decade.”
“And I’ll be there to make sure you don’t go too far. See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you then.”
I hit End and let out a long breath. I was finally going to see this fucker face to face.
“What excuse are you giving Arabella?”
I nearly let out a girly scream at the sound of Aiden’s voice. I turned around and stared at him. Ciara was no longer strapped to his chest, and I assumed Willa had her now. “How the fuck did you get in here without Jack alerting me?”
Aiden’s eyes went to the now-sleeping dog at my feet. “I don’t think I’m a threat to Jack, and he knows I’m not one to you. Now—what excuse are you giving Arabella about leaving to go track down Colby?”
I continued to stare at Aiden in shock for a moment.
“You’re not the only one who knows his name. I also know you have a tail on him.”
I slowly shook my head. “Are you still secretly working for the Navy? How did you know that’s what we were talking about?”
Aiden smirked. “Only needed to hear a few bits of the conversation with Kyle to know what you were up to. I’m going. So, what’s our plan?”
I opened and closed my mouth at least three times before I said, “What do you mean, you’re going?”
“Just what I said. There’s no fucking way I’m letting you confront that asshole with just Kyle. You need all of us there with you, Hunter.”
Swallowing hard, I asked, “All of us?”
“Bishop’s going to want to come, so we need to come up with a believable story, because we all have women in our lives who can smell bullshit from a mile away.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Except Kyle,” Aiden and I both said at the same time. Clearing my throat, I added, “Ice fishing.”
He nodded. “That’ll work. We can tell the girls we just planned it.”
“Aiden, I…” My voice cracked, and I tried to keep talking, but he walked up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“You’d do it for any of us, and you wouldn’t think twice. I’m always going to be here for you, brother. Always.”
I pulled him in and hugged him. “I love you, man.”
He gave me a good smack on the back. “I love you, too, bro.”
Arabella
I stared at the stick in my hand and tried to focus through my tears. Two pink lines were in the small window—and every time I looked at them, I cried harder.
Hunter had left early this morning to go on a last-minute fishing trip with the guys. For some reason, I found myself staring at the home pregnancy test I’d bought the other day, the one I hadn’t mentioned to him. After sitting in the bathroom for what felt like forever, I finally peed on the damn thing.
The sound of the front door closing had me calling out, “Bree! I’m in the bedroom.”
Loud thuds grew closer before she burst into the room. “Okay, I got every kind of test I could find.”
I nodded and set the test down on the side table. I had taken it over two hours ago, shortly after Hunter left. I wasn’t sure why I’d waited for him to leave. No—I did know. I wanted this baby so badly, and I knew Hunter did as well. If it had been negative, the last thing I wanted to see was sadness in his eyes.