Page 72 of Betrayal

Nick’s note said he’d had his hands on Anna.More than his hands!

Reeling, Hunter grabbed the note and photos, jamming them back into the envelope, before slumping into his chair.The express post envelope sat in the middle of his desk, innocuous looking considering it had blown Hunter’s life apart.

Think.Don’t feel.It hurts too much.

But he was numb, unable to act.

Seconds, minutes, a lifetime later, Hunter pushed himself upright.

Nick had the kind of twisted mind that grew mentally sleek and fat on the despair of his victims, and he’d always demanded a particular sort of slavish obedience from his son.

Never going to happen, but Hunter needed to regroup.Fast.Work out why Nick hadn’t lost interest in him or banished him as he had so many times before.More importantly, he had to work out how to keep Anna safe.

Stop seeing her?

That was one option.He’d always told himself it was the only option long term.

He scrubbed his hands over his face.

Nick’s goal with every girl or woman Hunter had dated was to imply Hunter was second best.Hunter had let Nick count his separation from Gina as a victory because it meant Nick lost interest in Gina.Nick didn’t need to know Hunter had been about to break up with Gina anyway.

Anna is not Gina.

Anna will never be like Gina.

Thank all the gods in the universe Anna had said she’d be out of town at a work function tonight.

Get your head together, Thompson.Make a frigging plan.

Would ending their relationship be better for Anna?The million-dollar question he’d known the answer to from the beginning.

* * *

The empty parking atfive o’clock lot gave Hunter’s offices a desolate feel.Anna pushed the front door open and shivered.At first glance, the office was empty.Hoisting her laptop bag with its incriminating evidence over her shoulder, she took a few steps into the office.Eerie, to find it deserted so early in the evening.Her pulse picked up, a sense of foreboding roiling her stomach.

On her regular cruise past the childcare centre yesterday, she’d assumed the crew were needed on another job.Today, she could see no work had been done in days.The final fit outs for the centre should be complete to meet their deadlines for opening.Had Hunter overcommitted staff and money?Had she pushed too hard for her starting date?He hadn’t told her.

Although something more poisonous had driven her here.

“Hunter,” she called, taking a few tentative steps.

“Back here.”He moved into the doorway of the small office at the back, the one he’d claimed as his, yet rarely used.Tonight he’d drawn the blinds on the small internal space.Hiding?

Her sense of foreboding grew stronger.Work on the centre was at a standstill, and she’d received an express delivery envelope.

She crossed the room toward him, each step making her heart pound harder in her chest.“What’s wrong?”She lifted a hand to touch his face.

“Nothing.”He twisted away, and her hand dropped.“I thought you had a work function.”

“I cancelled.”She wasn’t sure he heard her.

“Sit down,” he growled.

“I don’t take orders from my lover.”Instinct to throw up her barricades in response to his, but his voice was dead, coming at her from a distance, leaving her even more confused.

“Suit yourself.”He shrugged, resuming his seat behind the desk, shuffling papers and pushing a large express post envelope to the bottom of the pile.

“I have a few things on my mind, but let’s start with this.”Dragging a chair to the front of the desk, Anna set her laptop bag in front of her, unzipped it, and extracted a large envelope.“I got these photos today.”

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