Chapter 27

Iwake up to the steady thump of Hunter's heartbeat in my ear and the warmth of his body pressed underneath me. I wrinkle my nose when one of the coarse hairs on his chest tickles me.

"Good morning, beautiful."

I smile and tilt my head back to see his eyes. "Morning."

"How are you feeling today?"

My smile slips when I remember what happened yesterday. What I thought was going to be my world ending with me catching Hunter in the act of cheating on me, turned into something way different. It still changed my life, but not in the way I could have expected.

I'm still not sure if I truly believe him, but the alternative—which is him cheating on me—isn't something I want to believe.

Three different people.

The mere thought causes my chest muscles to spasm.

If I'm being truthful with myself, it's easier to believe what Hunter told me. Sometimes I hear them whispering to me. Way in the back of my mind, from a place I've kept hidden for years and discounted as fictional characters begging for their story to be told, I hear their voices talking to me. They aren't fictional. They're real, my own flesh and blood.

While Hunter insists I'm not crazy, I know many people would disagree. I mean, how could someone be one person one moment, then be someone else entirely in the next, and not be crazy? At the very least, it makes me unstable, which seems almost as bad.

"Hey." I slide my eyes back to Hunter. "Talk to me," he says, running his finger between my eyes where I'm sure there's a frown line. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"Will you… tell me about them?" I ask hesitantly. "These other… people."

Using the arm he has wrapped around my waist, he runs his hand gently up and down my side. He's quiet for a moment, as if he's gathering his thoughts and figuring out what he wants to say.

"Athena made an appearance first," he begins, his voice deep, but quiet. "She's the broken part of you. The part that feels she doesn't deserve love, so she hides herself away at The Grove. She doesn't let anyone close enough to touch her, except me, and she only lets me hold her hand. Anything else, you become agitated."

"And the facility just lets me walk in whenever I want?"

I know there are facilities that let people check themselves in, but it seems strange for them to allow it over and over again.

"They have no choice, since I own the place and demand it. Besides, they all know of your unique situation and have come to care for you. Only the most qualified staff are employed there."

"You own The Grove?" I ask incredulously, sitting up and facing him on my knees. I know the place and its stellar reputation. "Hunter, that's insane!"

He grabs me by the waist and slides me across the bed until I'm sitting on his lap. "Yes. I bought it the second time you showed up there. I wanted to have control of who worked there. Dr. Armani was already on staff. I offered an amount the owner couldn't refuse. I had each staff member vetted. If I didn't like what I saw, I replaced them." His hand moves to the side of my thigh, his fingers barely slipping beneath the edge of my shorts. "I wanted you to have the best care while you were there."

I sit there with my mouth open, not quite processing what he's saying. He bought a freaking medical facility because he wanted to make sure I was taken care of properly. How could any woman be so lucky to have a man so committed to the well-being of his wife that he'd buy a medical facility to ensure it?

I lick my lips and ask, "How often do I go there?"

"It varies. Sometimes once a week, sometimes a couple of times a month."

I nod, taking his word for it.

"Wait." My brows pucker. "Am I the reason Ginger works there?"

"Yes. I didn't want you to show up without someone who truly knows you. Sometimes I get warnings that Athena will appear soon, but sometimes it's random. I trust the medical staff, but I felt better knowing Ginger was there. She mostly stays in the background when you admit yourself. We don't want to cause a trigger for you, but she's there just in case I can't get to you right away."

"Wow." I let out a slow breath, unable to imagine being around my sister and not recognize her as such. Of course, I can't imagine the same with Hunter either.

"What about Presley?" I ask, eager to know more.

His lips curve into a soft smile. "Presley was the last person to make herself known. She's this sweet, but feisty, young girl who likes to try to steal coffee."

I can't help but laugh at that.

"It's weird." I tilt my head and close my eyes. "I can see her in my mind, but I don't see her as me. She's… separate," I say, finding it difficult to explain. "It's like I have her thoughts and memories, but they aren't mine, they're hers." I open my eyes. "How can that be?"

"Because to you, they are separate people. You just share the same body. Each of these people have their own personality, their own minds. Presley's thoughts may reside in your head, but they aren't your thoughts and actions. They're hers."

I shake my head. "It's still strange."

He grabs the front of my shirt and tugs me down until our lips are pressed together. My hair floats around us like a curtain. "It's you," he says against my lips. "And it makes you unique."

"I think I'd rather be unique in a different way. Like being able to lick my nose or have webbed toes or something."

Hunter chuckles and nips my lips playfully. "I happen to like you just the way you are."

Putting my hands against his chest, I push away from him to sit back on my heels. "Tell me about Scarlett," I demand. I'm most anxious to hear about her since she nearly broke my heart.

He doesn't reply right away. After pushing down on the bed, he sits up and leans against the headboard before positioning me so my legs straddle him. He stares over my shoulder, brows pinched together.

The lost look in his eyes makes me nervous. Scarlett has obviously affected him more than the others.

"Scarlett showed up at Slate. It was a night I happened to be there. I think she chose that night because subconsciously you knew I would be there. It seems like you always seek me out, no matter who you are." His eyes slide back to me. "Knowing that, even when you aren't yourself, you still feel connected to me has helped me deal with all of this."

His hands slide up my thighs until they meet the junction of my legs.

"Scarlett likes pain," he continues quietly. "Like Athena feels like she deserves to be alone, Scarlett feels like she deserves pain. It's what helps her deal with past traumas. Your past traumas."

I let those words slide past me, not willing to look further into them.

"My relationship with her is purely sexual. Or at least, it is on her part. I know she feels something more for me, or rather, I believe it's your own feelings trying to break through, but she won't let them out. Scarlett wants me to hurt her… while we have sex."

I barely refrain from flinching. It's difficult hearing my husband talking about sex with a woman whose name is not mine.

His eyes turn haunted, as if the thought of causing me pain causes him pain.

"I gave her what she wanted, what she needed." His eyes lift, and the color transforms from a sea green to a hunter green. I swallow at the intense look. "Because I would do anything to ease your pain. There's not a single fucking thing, Cat, that I wouldn't do for you, even if it tears me up inside while I do it."

"Hunter," I whisper his name, my voice turning hoarse from holding back tears. "I'm sorry I put you through all this."

He cups my cheeks, sliding his fingers through my hair and leaving his thumbs on my cheeks. The muscles in his jaw work as his eyes bore into me.

"If I never hear those words leave your lips again, it'll be too soon. I would deal with a thousand personalities for you, baby. I love Scarlett, Athena, and Presley just as strongly as I love you, because they are a part of you. They're now a part of me."

My head falls forward and my forehead thumps against his shoulder. I sniff, trying to hold back the tears, wanting to be strong for him. Lord knows this whole thing couldn't have been easy. I can't imagine being in his position. Being with him and him not knowing who I was. It would break me in ways I'm not sure I could ever recover from.

"Hey." He lifts my head until I'm looking at him. "I love you."

I smile and my heart turns to mush at the tender way he says it. "I love you."

Pulling my head toward him, he presses the softest of kisses against my lips. As I close my eyes, an image of him looming over me in the dark flashes behind my eyelids. It's so brief, I'm not sure if I actually saw it or if the vision was even real. However, something whispers in the back of my mind that says it was real. But it wasn't a moment Hunter and I shared. Technically, it was, but I wasn't myself. I was Scarlett.

The searing heat of jealousy flares inside me, which is stupid. It's not like Scarlett is a different person. It was my body that felt the pleasure she sought. I just didn't have control at the time and have no memories of it.

Even knowing this doesn't take away the green evilness of envy. Scarlett's experienced a part of Hunter that I never have. He's given her something he's never given me. I thought I knew all sides of Hunter, and while under normal circumstances he may not like that dark part of himself, he still had to have enjoyed it in some way.

Pulling my lips from his, I keep my head lowered so I can only see him through my eyelashes. I'm not sure I can look at him directly when I ask my next question.

"Did you like it?" My voice is small. "I mean, the things you did to Scarlett. Did you enjoy it?"

The muscle in his temple pulses and his lips form a straight line. He doesn't like the question any more than I liked asking it. But it's something I need to know.

He's so quiet that I worry he won't answer.

"You have to understand, Cat. All I saw when I looked at Scarlett was you. I only have to think of your name and my body reacts. You may have acted differently than my sweet Cat, but you were still the same. I knew you were hurting, and I understood what you needed to help with that pain. I hated every moment of it, because you had already suffered enough, and I hated adding to it." He pauses for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he continues, his voice like gravel. "But there were some parts I did enjoy. Not because it hurt you, but because it felt physically good."

I tug my bottom lip between my teeth. "Tell me some of the things you did."

"Baby, I don't think—"

I cut him off by pressing a finger against his lips. "I want to know. Please?"

Again, he's so quiet that I fear he won't tell me.

He blows out a sharp breath before he starts. "She liked to be taken hard in the ass," he says, and something tells me that's one of the things he said felt physically good. Hunter and I have had sex in many different ways, in many different positions, and in almost all of the rooms in the house. We've experimented, tested our limits, but anal is something we haven't done yet. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because Hunter has never shown interest. Based on the brief flash of pleasure I just saw, it's something he has definitely been interested in. I store that knowledge away.

I stay quiet so he can continue.

"She wouldn't let me use any lube. She wanted me to take her brutally and raw so it would hurt. Most of the time, I gave her no choice but to let me inside her pussy first." This time I can't hold back my flinch. He grabs my hand and lays it flat on his chest. His heart beats steadily beneath my palm, calming my nerves like usual. "I needed to take her that way to coat me before I took her the way she wanted. She didn't like it, but I gave her no choice."

"What else?"

It's torture to hear this, but I'm fascinated and curious to learn more. I need to know all aspects of Hunter's relationship with Scarlett.

Before he continues, he grabs my waist and pulls me further up his lap. I sit right over his cock, and if I am not mistaken, he's somewhat hard. To be honest, I'd be lying if I said a tiny part of me wasn't turned on myself.

He blows out a frustrated breath. "I'd use a whip on her," he says quietly, and I suck in a breath. "She liked to bleed."

I'm sure my expression shifts to horror. It's evident from his expression that this part of their relationship is one he did not enjoy.

"That can't have been easy for you."

He nods jerkily. "It isn't, but it's what you need. My own feelings don't factor in."

"Whose house were we at yesterday? I assume that's where you always meet Scarlett?"

"It's ours. When I found you at Slate, I needed a place to take you that wasn't home because I wasn't sure how you would react. The house belonged to Silas, but he was in the process of selling it. After that first night, you always went back there. When I realized the house was sort of a safe haven for you, I bought it from Silas."

As my body drains of energy from the overload of information, I slump forward, lying against his chest. His hand smooths up and down my back, and I soak up the comfort. I hate myself for putting Hunter through what I have. I hate that I don't have control of my own body and mind.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I vow to do better in the future. I may have three different people living inside me, but I'll be damned if they continue to control me. It's time I regain control over my life.

I send up a silent prayer, hoping that thought is something I can actually follow through on.