An Exceptional Twist (24 page)

Caleb frowned, “Yes, I am,
but apparently
you
are not. Your dad told me what was really going on with those
threats. They had nothing to do with a jealous guy. Why didn't you
stay longer? Or better yet, why didn't you just move? I’ve been
asking you for years.” Caleb crossed his arms over his
chest.

Stefen shook his head.
“Can you imagine me living in Santa Barbara
permanently
? I would be so bored,
I'd want to kick my own ass out of town.” He chuckled before pain
radiated everywhere, reminding him to remain still. “Ouch...shit
that hurts.”

Caleb tapped Stefen’s
calf. “Well you may not have a choice,
brother
. You’ve got a long road
ahead, and you can’t do it alone. I've already talked to your dad
about having you move in with us until you’re better.” A smug smile
appeared on his lips.

Stefen grimaced. From the
pain and the idea of going back there. “Thanks man, but you know my
life is here. I can recover at my apartment and still work from
there.”
Move there and be around Leah all
the time? No way in hell.

Caleb gave him one of his famous ‘stop being
such a dumbshit’ glares. “You mean the apartment that was broken
into, and where you were left for dead?”

Suddenly alarmed at the thought of those
fuckers coming back to finish what they’d started, Stefen’s plan
changed. “I can stay at my parent's until I recuperate. Hey, by the
way, who found me? I blacked out before I could call anyone.”

Leaning his elbow on the bedside food tray,
Caleb explained. “One of your neighbors noticed your front door
wide open, so he went inside and found you, then called
nine-one-one.”

That made sense. Nobody was planning on
visiting him when he got back. Except for Lisa, of course. He
wrinkled his face at that thought, causing further pain.

He nodded to himself. It
was still so hard to believe. He almost died—
died.

Abby came back in, speaking softly, “Since
it’s already after midnight, your mom said they’ll be here tomorrow
during visiting hours.” She tried to put a smile on her face, but
Stefen could tell it was forced.

Caleb saw it, too.

Neither of the guys were taken aback by this
news. Both of their parents were very hands-off when it came to
family.

Caleb turned and whispered to Abby, “Call
Leah, too.”

“I already did,” she quietly replied,
avoiding Stefen’s gaze.

“Leah?” Stefen asked, a little too
enthusiastically. He tried to sit up, but failed when he felt the
pain shooting up his arm.

Caleb grabbed the remote
on Stefen’s lap and put him into a more upright position. He was
giving Stefen the ugliest look. “Yeah, for
whatever
reason, she was also
concerned about you.”

Oh shit. Caleb knows.

“You can imagine how pissed I was after I
thought I was pretty damn clear, but…” A bit of that earlier
concern returned. “For now, you need your rest. We’ll talk later.”
There was no question that talk would happen, and soon.

Stefen gulped. That talk wouldn’t be fun,
that’s for damn sure.

He thought about the fact that Abby and
Caleb traveled all this way and slept in uncomfortable hospital
chairs, just to make sure he was okay. “You guys rest, too. You
don’t have to stay. I'm really tired.” He could already feel his
one good eyelid slowly lowering, and his mind drifting away.

Abby glanced at her husband, looking for
direction.

Caleb sighed. “We don't want to leave you
alone, but Abby could really use the sleep. She’s been awake more
than me. We’ve got a room already, but we’ll be back first thing in
the morning. Call my cell if you need me, no matter what time. Let
me know if you want us to bring you anything tomorrow.”

“Okay. I'll call if I think of anything.
Thanks, brother.”

Abby and Caleb took turns gingerly hugging
him, then left him for the night.

There was no way Stefen was going to get a
good night’s sleep in this hospital. He was out of it because of
the pain meds but couldn’t manage to actually fall asleep. It was
so difficult to move and whenever he drifted off, someone came in
to examine, poke, prod, take his blood pressure or change his
IV.

The little sleep he did manage to get was
filled with nightmares, memories of him being beaten to a bloody
pulp. The last one really disturbed him because Leah was in it, and
she was the one that got attacked.

Breakfast came, but it was a disgusting blob
of goo, so he decided to pass. He wasn't really hungry, which
surprised him. After not eating for two days, he thought he’d be
starving. Even with all the medication pumping into his IV, all he
felt was non-stop agony.

It wasn't until he was
fully awake that a thought hit him.
Do
those guys know they didn’t kill me?
They
were still out there. As much as he didn’t want to, Stefen realized
that he may have to take Caleb up on his offer. He’d try his own
plan first, though.

Closing his right eye, he removed the eye
patch to test the sight, tensing when there was no change. They’d
already operated, but he couldn't see a thing out of that eye.
There was only complete darkness. He started to panic when he heard
the familiar sound of his parents bickering all the way down the
hall. Opening his good eye, he set the eye patch in place, and
looked at his immaculately dressed mother and father, Sheila and
Alec Hunter.

“You made us worry, Stefen Alexander,” his
mother accused, as though this was his fault. She also knew he
hated being called by his middle name. “You look awful.” She fisted
her hip. “They didn't even have the courtesy to give you a
shave.”

His mother’s greeting was not a surprise, so
he paid her no attention as he turned to his father.

Patting Stefen’s healthy arm, his dad asked,
“How are you feeling, son?” Although caught in the same
ostentatious, self-absorbed world, Stefen’s father was much more
compassionate than his mother, uncle, or aunt.

“Not so good, Pop. Hey where’s Bri?” He
hadn't spoken to his sister since she’d left Santa Barbara last
weekend. But now that he thought of it, he was surprised she wasn’t
here.

His father sighed before his mom gave her
two cents. “We didn't want to unnecessarily bother Brianna. She
just left for Paris with Kaiden, and we need to give her an
opportunity with him. Who knows, he may actually settle for
her.”

It pissed Stefen off when his mother talked
about Bri that way, as if she was such a disappointment. Sheila
Hunter had done that their whole lives.

His dad seemed bothered by that statement as
well, but he’d never stood up for either of his kids. Turning to
Stefen, he spoke with true concern, “I talked to Caleb, and we
think you should move out of this area. At least for a while. We’re
working on finding out what happened. We have private detectives
investigating, along with the police department. You and I both
know that Delgado is behind this, but we have to build a case
against him before we proceed with anything. The apartment's
security camera caught three of them entering and exiting.”

Stefen shook his head. “I don't want to run
away, Pop. Can't I just stay with you guys until this all blows
over? I'll even move out of my apartment and get a new one
later.”

Moving in with Caleb meant
being close to Leah once more, and he couldn’t do that to her. He’d
already inflicted enough pain on her
. Plus
I’ll lose my damn mind if I ever saw her with another
guy.

His father looked at him, disapproving. “I
don't think that’s a good idea. You’re vulnerable here in Chicago.
You would be safer in Santa Barbara with your cousin.”

“Can I think about it, at
least?” It sounded like his parents had already made this decision
without him.
I’m an adult. I make my own
fucking decisions.
But he had to at least
heed his father’s advice.

“Mr. Hunter?” A uniformed officer appeared
from behind the privacy curtain.

“Yes,” both Stefen and his dad answered.

The officer addressed Stefen as he flipped
open a small pad of paper. “I'm Officer Nichols and need to take a
statement. What exactly occurred at your apartment? Please give me
everything you know, every aspect is important.”

Although difficult, Stefen explained the
events that he could remember. Caleb and Abby entered in the middle
of his story. Sucking in a sob, Abby was visibly upset by the
details. Caleb lovingly wrapped his arm around her waist to comfort
her.

“Did you see anyone else that evening?”
Officer Nichols inquired.

He didn’t want to answer, but also
understood that now was not the time to withhold information.

Caleb was glowering at him, like he knew
what Stefen was about to say.

Stefen turned away from
him. “Yeah, my, um...”
What the hell
should he call her?
“Ex-girlfriend, Lisa,
was there when I got home.” They were never officially a couple, so
it felt weird calling her his ex-anything.

Intrigued, the officer pushed for more
information. “Ex-girlfriend?” Stefen nodded. “Tell me more. Did she
leave on good terms? Did you argue at all?”

“Yeah, well, sort of. She was in my
apartment when I got home. I asked her to leave, but she didn’t
have anything to do with this. My dad and I have a theory.” Stefen
risked a glance at Caleb and Abby who seemed surprised.

Alec Hunter spoke up, “We’re certain that
Jose Delgado ordered this. He’s currently serving a life sentence
and blames Stefen for losing his case in court. Our firm defended
him on several occasions and we were unable to win his murder
trial. He made threats which were reported to the police. He’s the
top-ranking member of his gang and has plenty of people that would
willingly do his bidding.”

Sheila Hunter looked down at her perfectly
manicured fingernails, completely bored by the entire thing. As
though she didn’t have time for this whole ordeal, and it was
cutting into her personal schedule.

Officer Nichols nodded. “I'm familiar with
Delgado and his group. I did read something about it in the first
report.” He closed the notebook and pocketed his pen. “Okay, I
think I have everything I need for now. Please take my card and let
me know if you think of anything else.” He started to hand the card
to Stefen, when his dad snatched it.

“We will, Officer Nichols. Thank you for
your time.” His dad shook the officer's hand before he left.

Focusing on Stefen, his father smoothed down
his suit jacket. “I need to get into the office. This has become a
top priority for everyone, and I have to see where we are with it.”
This was how his father showed that he cared. Neither of his
parents were touchy feely, but his father would do anything in his
power to protect Bri and Stefen.

His mom only said, “Drop me off at New Moon
Cafe. I'm meeting Tess for breakfast to talk about our new
fundraising campaign.” She waved at Stefen on her way to the door.
“Goodbye, son, hope you feel better.” She smiled like she’d just
had a brilliant idea. “Oh, and I'll stop by the nurse’s station to
tell them you need a shave.”

Shrugging, his dad apologized with his eyes,
muttering his goodbyes on the way out.

Abby's expression was priceless.

Stefen laughed, then winced. “Ow.” He
adjusted a little, nodding to Abby. “Welcome to the family.”

She looked at him, confused.

Stefen smirked.
Damn, even that hurts.
“I'm assuming that was your first experience with my mother's
loving touch?”

Placing her hand on her chest, Abby looked
as though she couldn’t believe what had just happened. “Sorry, she
was here the other day, but I thought she was just in shock. Her
behavior just threw me for a loop.”

“No worries. Caleb and I are used to the way
our parents approach things.” He grinned at his cousin. Caleb
wasn’t looking too thrilled at the reality of it all.

Stefen had a thought. “Hey, where’s my
little squirt anyway?”

“She’s with Leah since her grandparents just
left town with Abby’s parents.”

Images of the girls and the day the three of
them spent together flooded his mind. If only he could go back in
time and undo the shitty things he’d done.

“I can give you a shave if you’d like,
Stefen.” Abby looked at Caleb, checking to make sure she wasn't
stepping over any ‘Hunter men’ boundaries.

“I actually wasn't aware of the fact that I
needed one, until my mom so graciously pointed it out. I'm okay for
now. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.” Trailing his fingers
along his jawline, he added, “Besides, the scruffy look is in.”