The Past
Hunter age twenty-one
Isabel age twenty
“I have the tape,” Max says, his eyes flashing something fierce but controlled.
“Great. Where is it?” I ask, annoyed that he doesn’t seem like he wants me to see it.
“Safe. It’s on its way to the Chief’s office. He will take care of everything.”
Gritting my teeth, I force myself to breathe through my nose.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Doing this keeps everything in focus for me. Otherwise, my fist would be in Max’s face right now. “Well, we have to keep Isabel safe until your team handles it. Isabel is my first priority.”
Max’s dark brows furrow, his forehead creasing with skepticism contorting his features. “Is she, though?”
His words are like a blow to the chest.
It hurts everywhere.
How could he ask that?
How dare he ask that?
Clenching my fists, I pop my knuckles and breathe deeply. “Isabel comes first with everything I do. I love her. I love more than she knows. I love Isabel more than you ever could.”
His mouth twists with barely contained disgust. He knows Isabel would choose me over him any day. I win when it comes to her heart. “I have to go. Isabel is waiting for me.” He gives me a look, his lip curling back in anger. “And I would never keep Isabel waiting.” Max jumps into his SUV and drives off.
Exhaling, I allow my stiff fingers and tight jaw to relax. The double meaning in his sentence echoes numbly in my head.
Keeping Isabel waiting is a sacrifice I had to make.
Everything has been for her.
Everything will be for her.
Shaking off the dark guilt, I walk back inside my house and up to my room to finish getting dressed for the Winter Ball. Candy sits in front of the mirror, taking rollers out of her ruby-red hair. Her flaming curls fall down her shoulders in abundance. Just for the briefest of moments, I close my eyes and imagine Isabel in her place. Deep black curls cascading down her shoulders instead of red. Glittering smoky emerald eyes instead if pale green. My heart splits from sadness and longing.
Warm hands cup my face, stroking my cheeks. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” I squeeze from a constricted throat.
***
Candy and I skip the red carpet. We go straight into the side double glass doors of the hotel. My steps slow and then stop abruptly when we enter the ballroom. My eyes immediately dart to Isabel in her elegant white gown.
She fills my vision.
Her beauty blinds me.
She looks like a winter angel.
She looks like a fallen shimmering snowflake.
How badly I wish I could hold her.
She grips the back of her neck and suddenly looks back at me. We hold each other’s gaze for a brief eternity. I stare at her intently, as if I can translate how much I love her into my gaze alone. Isabel breaths deeply, gripping the edges of the table like she can feel me casting my steal cable cord lasso of love around her, drawing her to me, tying her to me forever. Our connection is undeniable. Isabel can feel me.
Candy nuzzles into me, smiling up at me.
Giving her my attention, I sweep her hair behind her ear. Throwing my arm around her, I lead her to the table on the other side of the room away from Isabel. Isabel clouds my mind. She doesn’t need me. I’m not good enough for her.
“Do you want to dance?” Candy asks, her tone light as if excepting rejection.
“Sure,” I say, holding out my hand to help her from her chair. “Let’s dance.”
We dance and dance to the live band. I spin her in circles. Candy giggles breathlessly, falling into my arms. It’s not fair to her that I wish Isabel was the one I was spinning until she’s giggling and falling into my arms like a helpless damsel.
Taylor in her pretty dress comes towards us. Her eyes are pained when she approaches me. “Can I talk to you alone, Hunter?”
“Yeah,” I say, frowning at her. “Candy, I have to go.”
She gives me an understanding nod. “Be safe.”
“You too,” I say, touching her cheek. “Call me when you get home.”
“Okay.”
“We have to hurry,” Taylor says, grabbing my arm and running down the halls. “I know you know everything. Tyler told me that he told you. I told Isabel about her sister, Naya and my mother Lily. She freaked out bad. But Rex has just told me that he thinks his father wants Isabel dead. You have to get her away from their dad. Max is clueless and Rex his frightened of Omar. Omar also altered the tape and made it seem like you pushed Tyler of The Suicide Bridge when he did. He murdered Tyler.” Taylor brings me to a small storage room and then unlocks it with a keycard. We step inside and Isabel in curled in the corner.
“Her mother left her two letters Tyler found. She left two letters. I don’t think Isabel is strong enough to read them.”
“Give them to me. I’ll give them to her when she’s ready.”
Taylor takes the letters from her silvery rainbow clutch and hands them to me. “Rex told me that Max has the tape. What are you going to do?”
“Let her make the decision.” I’ll leave it up to Isabel to make the next move, but it’s going to kill me if she thinks I’m capable of murdering Tyler.
Taylor shakes her head. “I think you should take her home with you. She doesn’t look good.”
“Where are you going?”
Her mobile vibrates. She glances down at it and frowns. “It’s Rex. We’re leaving town. I’ve had enough of Cherry Creek for a lifetime. I’m searching for my mother. I have clues and I’m going to follow them. Rex wants to help…he’s afraid of Him.”
“Okay…”─I take deep breath and accept what I have to do─“Right. Leave as soon as you can.”
“Keep her safe, Hunter. She’s the only family I have left.”
“I got her, Taylor. She’s going to be fine.”
She bites her lip, unsure. “I just don’t want to leave her here like this. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Go, Taylor. You don’t have a choice.”
Taylor crouches and holds Isabel’s hand. “Isabel, stay strong. Breathe, even when you feel like it’s impossible. We will see each other again.” She kisses Isabel on the cheek. My heart hurts for both of them as I watch Taylor run off.
I look at Isabel on the floor, balled tight within herself and get furious. “Isabel, I’m getting you out of here.” Picking her up, I cradle her close to my chest and carry her out the room, exiting the hotel.
I’m three feet away from my truck when she whispers, “Put me down.”
“No.”
My ears ring when her screeching voice shouts, “PUT ME DOWN!”
I freeze instantly because I recognize the sheer terror in her trembling tone. She wobbles when I drop her to her feet. Reaching out I try to balance her, but she shoves me away and leans against my truck door. I feel her eyes burning holes into my skull, but I can’t focus on her anger at this moment. My gaze goes beyond her. Max is coming out the hotel, heading straight for us. I have to get Isabel away from him. Max’s cluelessness can get Isabel killed.
“We have to get out of here, Isabel.”
“Max has the tape.”
I squint into the distance as Max whispers something to an officer on standby. “Yeah, we have to leave. Now.”
“No,” she says firmly.
My gaze drifts down to her panicked eyes. The horror in Isabel’s eyes pisses me off. She doesn’t get that I’m trying to help her. I need to get her inside my truck and far from Cherry Creek and Omar. She’s being stubborn. “No?”
“Yes. No. I’m not going anywhere until I see that tape.”
The frustration is boiling inside of me. “Look,”─I clench my jaw unable to cool my temper─“we are leaving right now, even if I have to drag you by your damn hair.”
“I’ll scream,” she warns quietly.
Suddenly, I’m in her face, my shadow large enough to eclipse the sun and swallow her little frame. Isabel trembles in my menacing presence. How badly I want to tell her that I wouldn’t harm her for anything in the world, but it’s much too late for that.
“I don’t care. I’m fast.”
Her entire face frowns, the glittering tears brimming her eyes. “Why are you doing this, Hunter? Max has the tape. Why can’t I just see it?”
“Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be,” I say, opening the passenger door and grab her upper arm, physically moving her into the vehicle. I need her in my truck, so we can leave. I need to get her into safety.
Isabel narrows her eyes on my face, scrutinizing my impassive expression. “Why can’t I see the tape, Hunter? What’s on the video?”
I pull on her arm, giving it a sharp yank.
“Ow. You’re hurting me, Hunter. Stop!”
A river of tears floods her face. I’ll take her tears if I can get her to a safe place and out of sight. She doesn’t move, so I give her a harsh jerk. As much as it rips my heart apart to be cruel to her, it is necessary. I’ve been cruel to her for many years now and at least she’s still breathing. My cruelty may have spared her life in the past, but I highly doubt it will work this time.
Isabel’s hurting.
I hurt too.
I’ve been suffering for so long now. Only when she’s smiling do I feel any relief. My heart gets heavy. “FUCK! Why are you making this so fucking difficult?
She pales and then screams, “HELP ME! HE’S HURTING ME! HELP ME! PLEASE! MAX! MAX!”
Her high-pitched screams pierce my eardrums and my heart stops. She’s calling for Max. Max of all people. Max never sacrificed a third of the things I have for Isabel. Max will never have to sacrifice what I did.
A group of men slam me to the ground. They have my hands wrenched behind my back and my face is smashed to the pavement. The wet asphalt is scrapping my cheek. I gaze up at Isabel. My heart plummets to my stomach. This is the point of no retreat for us. I’ve overstepped my boundaries for the last time with Isabel. I can tell with the satisfied but miserable look in her watery eyes.
I don’t care if she thinks I’ve gone too far.
In fact, I have gone too far to give up on us now.
“It’s an illusion, Isabel. Everything is an illusion,” I say, attempting to salvage any emotion Isabel has left for me.
“Illusion: a false mental image produced by misinterpretation of things that actually exist. I don’t think I’m misinterpreting anything, Hunter. I see everything.”
How wrong she is.
Everything has been an illusion.
My hate for her is an illusion.
Pretending that I’ve moved on is an illusion.
Pretending I can let her go is an illusion.
Isabel sees nothing.
“That’s it: you don’t think much. You don’t see much. Blinded first by the beauty that killed her. Invisible. Someday you’ll fall in love with me. I need you to see with your heart, Isabel. What does your heart tell you?”
She takes an unsteady step back as if I struck her. She doesn’t fully recognize her own confession. But she understands faintly that those words resonate within her soul that I’m trying to touch. Max holds her steady. My pain is reflected in her eyes. And that’s how I know we’ll forever be connected, that our bond is truly unbreakable. As much as Isabel dislikes our attachment to each other, our link is eternal.
Isabel stares at me and I feel our link tighten right before she loosens it a lifetime length.
What does your heart tell you, Isabel?
We belong together.
“That I love you enough to finally let you go. Goodbye, Hunter Knight.” She turns sharply, moving in the direction of Max’s SUV.
The most important part of me walks away.