Page 66 of To Hunt A Wolf
And I want to let him, but I know instinctively that if I do, it’ll be like forgiving him. He’ll think it’s okay, that I’m not mad anymore. That he’s allowed to destroy me and then come crawling back. Maybe it would have been okay, but I know I won’t survive it twice.
It takes everything in me to turn my head.
To push him away.
He stumbles back even though I’ve used barely any force.
The way he looks at me… it’s exactly how I feel about him too.
“Mac,” he says, and my name is a plea.
He’s begging.
But I can’t pretend he didn’t break me once. And I’m too damn strong now, thanks to his cruelty, to ever let him do it again.
ChapterFifteen
Despite the late hour, my mother is sitting on top of a table surrounded by half a dozen soldiers when I finally enter the cafeteria. Even from across the room, I can tell she’s in the middle of some exaggerated story of one of her more dangerous takedowns. The sad part is she doesn’t have to exaggerate. My mom’s a badass. She’s the best bounty hunter I’ve ever met. She’s just not great at feelings.
When I get close, she smiles at me but doesn’t bother to pause her story. I’m not surprised, but that doesn’t stop me from being pissed.
I stop short of shoving a few of Levi’s guys out of my way. Instead, I cross my arms and glare at the woman in the spotlight.
“Can I talk to you?”
She stops her story and offers me a tight smile. “Sure, honey.” She hops off the table, and the guys part ranks to give her space to pass.
A couple of them groan at the interruption. She winks back at them. “I’ll finish later, boys. I always do.”
A couple of them laugh.
My jaw drops, and nausea rolls in my stomach. “Mom, if you could wait until I’m gone to hit on the younger ones, that would be great.”
“Relax, they’re all at least old enough to buy me alcohol.”
I grit my teeth. This was a mistake.
“You know what,” I begin as we pass into the hallway, but she grabs my shoulder and steers me into the room across the hall.
“Come on, we can talk in here.”
She flicks on a light to reveal a small conference room complete with a table and half a dozen rolling chairs. A whiteboard is mounted to the far wall, filled with a bunch of scribbles and acronyms. This is some sort of planning space for them. I eye the board, but none of it makes sense.
The click of the door behind me makes me whirl, and I start in immediately.
“I cannot believe—”
I don’t get far before she interrupts me. “Mac, I owe you an apology.”
“You do?” I can’t help the suspicion. Years of experience.
“Of course. I know it must hurt to find out I’ve been in contact with Levi when he wouldn’t so much as send you a Christmas card.”
I stare at her.
This is her idea of an apology?
“The truth is, I stumbled upon his operation purely by chance about eighteen months ago while hunting down a mark. Once I realized what he was doing here, I knew it was smart to hedge my bets and offer what value I could.”
