20 Questions

Chapter 106

When Hunter comes rolling all nonchalantly into the bedroom, my head is spinning and green shit is about to spew from my mouth. I can't believe this is the first time I have heard about his dad, and at such an inopportune time at that. Go figure. I'm the only bride-to-be with wedding plans that include brother-in-law attempted rape and father-in-law death-by-revenge. Chain-smoking mother-in-law's and petty, meddling sister-in-law's are looking really mild about now. Who am I kidding? Hunter could have Ted fucking Bundy as a roommate and I would still worship the ground that he walks on.

Hunter, that is. Not Ted Bundy.

I am fluffing the pillows on the bed like they have personally offended me when I feel the heat of his body drawing closer.

"I'm gonna kill you," I mutter.

"Yeah, well, that makes three people now. You may have to stand in line behind my rapist brother and sociopath father, but I'll try to hold on so you can finish me off."

Of all the vile and hurtful things that could repel from my mouth, a deep and hearty laugh is what I choose instead. Laughter is the only appropriate response to the absurdity of our situation. I can't even be mad anymore because it's only going to rip us to shreds. I knew when I got involved with Hunter that his life was messy. I mean, I didn't realize it was Hurricane Katrina and nuclear war messy, but I knew it wasn't Little House on Prairie living. I can't blame him for the cards that he was dealt any more than I can blame Jansen for the disease of addiction that led to his demise. Hunter doesn't need one more person fighting against him or leaving him when he needs support the most. He's already faced enough disappointment and heartache for ten lifetimes. He didn't choose this life for himself, nobody would have chosen this life, but I can stand beside him and be the rock that I promised him I would be. In a matter of seconds, I make the decision to let the anger go. I let it go, not because I was giving up, but because I knew I would rather die at the hands of a rapist or a sociopath than live without this man in front of me.

I've reached a whole new level of crazy. My parents did an exquisite job raising me.

"Are you absolutely positive that you still want to marry me?" he asks, his eyes plagued with heart wrenching defeat and exhaustion.

"I have to be. You'll never be able to find another woman that could handle your level of fucked up and still love you," I say, giving him my most reassuring smile. "I can look past your felonious family, your psychotic ex-girlfriend and even your terrible taste in laundry detergent, but there's one thing I still can't deal with."

His face falls and his eyes glisten before I decide to put the poor bastard out of his misery.

"I can't stand the fact that you're still a Kentucky fan," I say with a huge shit-eating grin on my face.

If relief came in liquid form, we would be knocked to the ground by a ferocious tidal wave. He was convinced that I would run, I saw it in his eyes, but if he thinks that I will let a little danger stand in the way of true love, he obviously underestimated me. I told him before that when I love, I love fiercely and he's about to find out just how true that statement really is. He pulls me to him and holds on for dear life. I let him hold me for several minutes before I pull away and grab his hands, staring back at him with invincible determination.

"If your sad excuse for a sperm donor does happen to find us, he better come with everything he's got because he just pissed off the wrong woman. If he dares threaten the life that I have planned with you, we won't need a security team because I'll take his ass out myself. Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with my family. I am strong, I am protective, I have a wrath like no other and I'll be damned if I let him screw with the man that I waited my whole life to find."

Hunter straightens his shoulders, holds his head high and looks back at me with all the unyielding strength that I always knew he had in him. His eyes are darker, his jaw harder and he resonates a confidence that is second to none. The broken man with the troubled past dies today and before me stands a relentless warrior protecting what he so rightly deserves, eliminating the threat to his life and his happiness and doing so with his loyal companion by his side.

"He who walks in the eightfold noble path with unswerving determination is sure to reach Nirvana," I recite Buddha to him.

With a poised nod and a burst of willpower, Hunter and I devise our plan of attack. The timeline is unknown and the threat is unassessed but rest assured.... we will be ready.