11. I’m Off My Game

Chapter 11

I’m Off My Game

Hunter

“ Y ou handled that well,” I say once the room clears.

“Yes, well,” Megan sinks deeper into the chair across from me. “I feel like shit.”

“Why?”

She doesn’t meet my gaze, as she explains.

“The only reason Diana took this job was so that she could help pay her younger brother’s medical bills, and I’m pretty sure that this was the highest-paying job she’s ever had.”

I study the beautiful but complicated creature in front of me, wondering why it baffles me that despite everything she’s been through and still goes through, that she still manages to feel empathy for someone who was trying to ruin her. That kind of compassion is not part of my DNA.

“Kindness may just be your biggest weakness, Megan,” I tell her, hoping she comprehends what I’m saying as a warning.

She’s a part of my life now, and there’s no room for weakness in my world. I’ve learned that the hard way a million times over. Of course, look at me calling the damn kettle black.

Megan is my weakness.

“I know she doesn’t deserve it,” she mutters regretfully. “But I still feel bad.”

When I don’t say anything else in response, she looks up at me. The gleam in her doe-like eyes makes me narrow mine because I already know what she’s thinking.

“Absolutely not,” I say firmly.

“Oh, come on,” she pleads in a soft, beseeching voice that I’ve never heard her use before. “It’s not fair that nobody else has to pay the consequences of what they did today, but Diana does.”

Jesus, I’ve got to toughen this woman up.

“No.”

“Hunter.” She crosses the room toward me, and I give her a hard look.

Watching her limp over to me with bandages on her legs isn’t helping her case. All I can think about is the reason why she’s injured. Somebody pushed her through a goddamn table. If those brats had been anybody else, I would have gladly put at least one of them in the hospital and left another lying in the alleyway.

“Don’t even bother, Megan. It’s not happening. That server was complicit in a series of events designed to harm you tonight, and it looks like she succeeded,” I say, pointing to her injuries. “And what’s the deal? You were ready to knock her out fifteen minutes ago.”

“I know.” She locks the door and then seats herself carefully in my lap. My hands instinctively rise to steady her. “I wanted to hate her, but this isn’t about her. It’s about her little brother. I won’t be able to sleep at night if she can’t find another job.”

“Then you should sleep with me tonight,” I say seductively as my hand lowers to caress her ass. “I’m sure I can help with that.”

“Well, what about after tonight?” she adds flirtatiously. Her expression morphs into a pout. “Please, Hunter.”

It’s quite obvious that she’s trying to manipulate me, but I can’t help but enjoy the attempt.

“Stop it,” I tell her half-heartedly.

Her mouth settles on my cheek, close to my ear, and she presses a sweet kiss to it. “Stop what?”

I tighten my jaw, my voice holding a hint of warning, “Megan.”

“I know she can’t come back here, but I also know that you’re Hunter Middleton, and you have connections all over the city. You can find her another job.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Think about her poor brother. It’ll be a good deed.”

My dick swells as I allow her to continue to pepper my face with kisses. “I’m afraid that all the good deeds in the world won’t balance out my karma.”

“You don’t know that,” she whispers, stealing an arousing kiss from my lips, prompting me to actually consider her request. It’s stupid, I know, but clearly, Megan has been a bad influence on me.

“There is one place,” I finally relent. “There’s a chain of bars that I’ve recently invested in. The one I’m thinking about is kind of far from downtown, but I guess it would work.“

“That sounds perfect,” Megan says quickly.

“You think you’ve accomplished something,” I scowl at her, tightening my hold on her hips and pulling them forward. “But I don’t like this, Megan. I’m not pleased.”

“You seem pleased,” she teases as she motions her hips in circles on top of me.

“Don’t let my dick fool you,” I tell her. “I’m not happy.”

“Aww, but you’re doing it for me.” She presses another kiss to my mouth. “The woman you love , remember?”

“Oh, you heard when I said that, did you?” I smirk.

“Of course, I heard.”

“I wasn’t sure.”

“Well, you have to admit that I was a bit distracted. You were in between my legs doing what you do best.”

“That’s not all I do best.”

I lean into a second kiss, but she deftly slips out of my hold.

“What’s the name of the bar? I wonder if I can catch her before she leaves.”

“Megan!” I growl. “Get your little ass back here!”

But she just winks at me and rushes out the door, leaving me with a perpetual hard-on.

I let out a frustrated groan.

Megan heard me tell her that I loved her, but she craftily avoided giving me a response.

With all that’s going on, I’m starting to question why I’ve let this woman distract me from everything that’s supposed to matter to me.

I have feelings for her.

Deep feelings.

But this has got to stop.

I call Parker’s cell to let him know that Megan is on some sort of misguided mission to save Diana and to keep an eye on her while I catch up on some work. But after an hour of mindlessly shuffling files across my desk, I decide to get a change of scenery and walk the club floor. I’ve got a lot of things to think about.

My earlier meeting before Megan’s incident proved to be fruitless. While I did have to cut it short, the man showed me pictures of a few young women but none of them had been Lena. It had been easy to identify their lack of common characteristics with my sister. It was the small things: the shape of their noses, their eyes, their lips. It’s been years since I’ve seen her face, but I’d be able to spot it in a crowd of a million.

But I’m off my game.

Distracted.

And I’m starting to wonder if I’ve thrown myself into a wild goose chase of Jonathan’s making. The violent hit on me at my apartment is not how I thought he would come at me. It was well executed, and if it hadn’t been for Megan, I’d be dead. I don’t think that’s his style. If indeed he’s coming for me, I think he’d try to play with my head. Like a cat batting around a mouse before the kill.

Weeks have passed, and even with all the feelers I’ve thrown out, I’m coming up empty-handed. Vaughn’s information network runs deep, and I’m getting daily reports from his team, but it’s almost as if Johnathan doesn’t exist and my sister didn’t survive. I’m coming up short on leads for both of them, and it’s beyond frustrating.

What if Jonathan laid a trail of breadcrumbs that lead to nowhere? What if he used Steve to get into my head to distract me from whatever his real goal is? Perhaps he did hire the shooter to come to my apartment that night, but only to scare me, not kill me. What assassin shoots that many rounds and misses?

We actually tracked down the shooter a few days later, but he managed to kill himself before the interrogation (torture) could begin. On a street level, I have to respect someone who wanted to leave this earth on his own terms. However, the few clues he left behind are enough to tell me that the person behind this attempt on my life is a new player in my world who’s been hiding in the shadows.

I still don’t know yet if this new player and Jonathon are working together or whether both of them have their own individual goals to steal what’s mine. Whoever they are, ultimately, they are both rivals who must be eliminated. And the hope that has slowly begun to build up inside of me at possibly finding Lena alive must take a backseat. It would be a happy accident if I find her, but I can’t forget that my number one priority is staying alive and staying on top.

Everything else, even Megan, is secondary.

Speaking of Megan, I don’t see her on the club floor observing servers or by the bartender’s station yapping with Gage, so I assume she’s in her office. I find myself hoping that she didn’t catch up with Diana and has rethought her attempt at being a Good Samaritan.

Still contemplating everything I need to handle, I open the door to Megan’s office and see that she’s not alone.

Another young woman stands across from her with a cup of water in her hands as she inspects something on the desktop.

“This is just for the initial two-week training period. I’ll talk to Mr. Middleton about–“ Megan looks up when I enter. “Oh, you’re here.”

“I wanted to discuss something with you, but I see you’re busy. I can come back.”

“Actually, this is great timing. Lacy, this is Mr. Middleton.”

The woman turns around, and I blink. There’s a dullness to her eyes, but there’s something vaguely familiar about her features.

“Mr. Middleton, Lacy is the new kitchen hire I told you about–Billy’s referral. Today was her trial run in the kitchen. I tried some of the food earlier before all of the drama, but I have to say, I think it’s quite good. I was hoping you’d agree if we signed her on for a two-week probationary period and, if all goes well, a full hire.”

I nod at Megan as the woman doesn’t make direct eye contact with me but at least extends her hand. “Hi, sir; thank you for the chance.”

I look down at her hand, and as I grasp it, I see something on the edge of her inner wrist. Without thinking, I turn her hand over, and suddenly, it feels like I’ve been punched, and all the air has left my body.

Holy hell.

There’s a faded leaf-shaped mark on her wrist.