28. In Deep Shit

Chapter 28

In Deep Shit

Hunter

I make a mental note to myself to inform Dante not to be too lenient when he plans for the future for the three individuals I’ve sent him. Nobody deserves the kind of hell that Megan’s been through, so I want them to pay…even the sister.

“I understand why you feel that you’re responsible for your friend’s death.” I stroke her hair back from her forehead and press a kiss to her temple. “But none of this was your fault. I promise you. Unfortunately, your friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I don’t know how you can say that. I was the last one to stab him. I remember how it felt to pierce his flesh and then press the knife in deeper. I remember the look on his face.” She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes, her voice choking. “I know that Rachel started it, but I’m the one who finished it. Peter died in the hospital because of me. I’m sure of it.”

“No,” I say sternly. “He died because he thought he knew better than you. He died because he chose not to listen to you. He should’ve never started a secret dialogue with Rachel. If you tell a person not to stand in front of an oncoming train, and they still do it, their death isn’t on you.”

“But I’m not sure he understood that Rachel was as dangerous as an oncoming train. I never told him the truth about my family or my home life. He didn’t know how bad it was for me. How awful they were. Maybe if I had been more forthcoming, he would have stayed away.”

“That’s a lot of maybes and wishful thinking. The reality is you did what you had to do because you were in survival mode. You stabbed him because you weren't given a reasonable choice. It was either you or him. And I’m glad you picked yourself, Megan.”

“I guess.”

“Be honest with yourself. There was no way Samuel was going to let Rachel take the wrap for stabbing your friend.”

“You're right. Samuel despises me. They all do.” She sounds like a wounded bear, and I wonder to myself if she’ll ever recover from the evil she endured under that man’s roof.

“Turn around and face me, Megan,” I tell her. She’s finally been so forthright with me. It’s time I confess what I know to her. I've been holding onto it too long. “I want to share something with you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s no secret that once we began an intimate relationship, I felt the need to have you investigated. My life and business choices dictate a certain amount of control on my part. I need to know as much as I can about any of the variables in my life.”

“And I’m a variable?”

“Yes, baby. You are very much a variable.” I smile.

“And why are you admitting what I already suspected?”

“An investigation can only reveal a limited amount of information. There was no way for me to know everything you endured growing up in your house, especially because your abuse was never documented, but I did learn about the stabbing.”

“You knew?” Her eyes lock on mine in a hardened way.

“Okay, you’re wondering how I could hold on to a piece of important information like this, aren’t you?”

“Um, yeah, Hunter. We’re fucking.”

“Megan,” I warn, but she ignores me.

“Plus, I pay Samuel money so that no one will ever find out my part in Peter's murder. But you’re saying it’s information that can be easily found out?”

“I didn’t say it was easy.”

“You found out, didn’t you?”

“Listen to me, Megan. I’m telling you all this because what you clearly don’t know is that it wasn’t you who killed Peter, and I can’t have you walking around in agony about it any longer.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Hunter? I just told you the whole story. I was there. You weren’t.”

“Most of what I know is simply through a police report made after the incident that my investigators were able to get access to. There was information in the report about the break-in, possible gang activity, and the cause of death of the suspect. The cause of death in the report was not from the knife wounds.”

“What?”

“You didn’t kill him. His blood isn’t on your hands.”

Megan takes a few seconds to calm herself and then asks in a relatively quieter voice, “That’s what you read in the report?”

“Peter was recovering in the hospital. Neither you nor Rachel hit any major arteries or organs when you stabbed him. They were flesh wounds. He would have been fine.”

“Then what the hell happened? I don't understand.”

“There was a mix-up with his IV medication at the hospital, and he went into cardiac arrest.”

“A hospital error?” she says in disbelief.

“That’s why there wasn’t an additional investigation of the case and why you weren’t questioned again. The case was closed.”

“Why didn’t I know any of this?”

“Because Samuel didn’t want you to know. How could he hold those pictures over your head if you knew the truth?”

Megan lets out a shuddering breath. “I see.”

“I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about any of this anymore. You won’t ever have to see those people again, and you certainly don’t have to pay Samuel another red cent. Those days are behind you.”

“And the pictures?”

“Are either in their phones, their cloud drives, or their computers. Vaughn will find them and permanently delete them.”

She looks up at me, and I see the puffiness around her eyes. “Vaughn knows about this?”

She sounds defeated, and I hate it. I don’t think she’s fully comprehended what I’ve revealed to her about Peter’s death.

I gently pull her into my arms. “Yes, that’s what Vaughn does for a living. He knows all of my secrets and I trust him with my life. Do you trust me with yours?”

I see the tears well up in her eyes, and this time, I hold her to my chest, doing something I never imagined myself to be doing.

I comfort her.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Megan,” I tell her in hushed tones. “You never did anything wrong.”

It’s easy to be gentle around her, and as I run my fingers through her hair, I look down at her and see a reflection of myself in her eyes that I almost don’t recognize.

She’s changed me.

“Is this hell really over?” she asks.

“It’s definitely over and I’m glad they’re going to get what they deserve,” I murmur as I stroke her hair as she just rests her head on my chest.

She quietly snuggles into me, and I don’t mind this position as we lay there in silence. It’s only when I look down a half hour later that I realize she’s fallen asleep on me.

I slide my phone out of my pocket and try sending a text carefully so I won't wake her.

Me: I need you to do a clean digital sweep of Dante’s new guests. Everything. I want it to appear as if they never existed.

Vaughn: On it.

I could make Megan more comfortable and move, but I don’t want to. Her weight on top of me is soft, and I just want her to hold her like this for as long as I can.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me,” I whisper against her hair. “But I don’t want to let you go.”

Suddenly, I realize what Vaughn and Christian have been alluding to for weeks.

I'm in deep shit with this girl.