Surrender to Me (35 page)

Kata’s heart stuttered. She’d asked Hunter to keep their marriage quiet. Now wasn’t the time to rattle her mother. And really, why bother, when Kata wasn’t sure she’d remain his wife past Sunday?

“Is that you, Carlotta?” Gordon called over the blare of the TV, his feet hanging over the arm of the sofa.

Kata caught an unfortunate glimpse of the weasel lounging flat on the couch in a T-shirt and his boxers. His salt-and-pepper hair was askew, his pale blue eyes as washed out as the rest of his face.

“Yes, dear.” Her mother sounded breathy. Was she merely tired and winded, or actually anxious to see this bastard?

Gordon grunted. “You’re late.”

The man could crawl on Kata’s last nerve faster than anyone. “It’s not her fault. We had to wait for her discharge papers. Which you would know, if you’d bothered to pick up your wife.”

“Kata . . .
Mija,
don’t.” Her mother pleaded, meeting her stare around Hunter’s bulging biceps.

“Shut up, girl. I work hard to keep this roof over your mother’s head and food in her belly. All I ask for when I come home is a little peace and relaxation. I already called someone to do the yard work while she was laid up. Back off.”

As Hunter passed Gordon’s line of sight, her stepfather jackknifed into a sitting position and scowled. “Who the hell are you?”

Kata knew she should leave it alone. Knew it . . . but couldn’t. “Someone willing to help Mamá, since you’re too fucking lazy and self-absorbed to even put her to bed.”

“Bed? You’re treating her like an invalid.” Gordon stood, his brows drawn together in incredulity. “It’s nearly seven o’clock. I’ve been waiting for dinner.”

“Mr. Buckley, your wife is in no position to be out of bed for any reason. Kata, hand him the hospital’s instructions.”

With an angry shrug, she reached into her purse, then tossed them at her stepfather. “Here you go. It says in black and white that she should get as much rest as possible for the next week. Hunter found a nurse who will come in and take care of Mamá—”

“No strangers in my house. Carlotta doesn’t need coddling.” He turned to Hunter. “Put my wife down. She can limp to the kitchen from here.”

“She’s going to bed.” Hunter’s voice rang with steel. “You’re a capable man who has two arms and two legs. You should be the one cooking.”

Kata zinged a glance at Hunter. He sounded seriously pissed off. She had to repress a smile.

“You don’t tell me what to do in
my
house,” Gordon snarled at Hunter, then sneered in her direction. “Katalina, no nurse. You’ll stay and take care of your mother and me.”

“I can’t.” And she absolutely would not tell Gordon why. If he could write Mamá’s pneumonia off as a mere cold, Kata knew he’d never believe that someone was trying to kill her.

“Can’t?” He poked a thumb in Hunter’s direction. “Because you can’t stop spreading those fat thighs long enough to take care of your own mother?”

“Gordon!” her mother protested.

Beside Kata, Hunter’s entire body tensed. He sent Gordon a murderous glare. “You don’t
ever
talk to my wife that way again. I don’t usually bother threatening. But you’re part of Kata’s family, so I’ll give you one warning: Show her respect, or I will pound you into the ground until you whimper for mercy. Don’t expect me to have any.”

Suddenly, her stepfather apparently found his self-preservation instinct and stepped back.

Her mother gasped. “Wife? You got married,
Mija?”

Kata closed her eyes. So much for laying low and seeing how the relationship panned out.

“Mamá, let’s get you settled. We’ll talk later. This is too taxing for you right now.”

Hunter marched out of the room, into the long hall, her mother wrapped in his arms, then pushed open the first door on the left, entering the room that used to be hers.

“My room is at the end of the hall,” her mother reminded politely.

“Yes, ma’am. But perhaps you’d be more comfortable in a room of your own. And you wouldn’t disturb your husband in here.”

“Yes, I do cough loudly.” She patted his shoulder. “You married my Kata?”

“I did, ma’am. And I love her.”

Mamá turned her head to smile at Kata. “I do not know when this happened. I want all the details later, but he seems to care for you very much,
Mija.”

Yeah, her mother would say that.

“Mamá, you need to rest. I’ll tell you everything soon.”
Fat chance.

Inside what was now the guest room, Kata ran around Hunter and pulled down the bed. Once the sheets were smoothed and the pillows fluffed, he set Mamá down and tucked her in like a child. Her mother fell back with a sigh, head lolling back into an exhausted sleep.

Kata sent him a grateful look. Hunter might strip away every one of her emotional defenses mercilessly, but he’d been true to his word in helping her mother. He’d even put Gordon in his place. As soon as they left, her stepfather would berate her mother and refuse the nurse entrance; that had to be dealt with. But the moment Hunter had handed Gordon his ass had been so sweet.

“We should let her rest,” Hunter commented. “I have something to ask you.”

He grabbed Kata’s hand and led her out of the guest room, then down the hall to the master. The second he closed the door behind him, he clenched his jaw, obviously holding on to his temper by a thread. “Why is your mother still with this asshole?”

She closed her eyes. He saw the bastard her mother had married, but his question implied that he didn’t understand why Mamá hadn’t removed herself from the situation. Did he not see how dependent her mother had become, see everything Kata feared?

“I’ve tried to get her to leave. So has my sister. Trust me.” She sighed. “Now that Gordon has stripped her of any semblance of a real life, taking care of him is her only purpose. He’s robbed her of her job, her friends, and her independence. He’s taken her selfworth. I’ve tried to talk her into moving in with me. She won’t.”

“She’s a beautiful woman. Plenty young enough to have a full life.”

“I agree, but she doesn’t see it that way. And whenever I talk to her about it, she always says that she’s happy. I know it’s a lie. She’s afraid of being a burden to me. Besides, Gordon would only find her and drag her home. He’s not about to do without his personal maid, cook, and sex slave.”

“Then she needs to go elsewhere.”

Kata bit her lip. He was right. “I’ll call Joaquin again. Mari can’t keep Gordon away from my mom, but Joaquin can. Hell, Gordon would never find him. But I’m not sure I can, either.”

Hunter shook his head. “If he’s undercover, he may not be able to break free. If you want this asshole out of her life, I know a place where she’ll be waited on hand and foot. Gordon will never find her, so he won’t be able to coerce her back. Anything more permanent will be up to her, but I can at least give her the chance for a clean start.”

“Where will you take her?

“You leave that to me.”

That would require a lot of trust, but Hunter spent his life protecting people. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her mother. “I don’t know if she’ll accept a stranger’s help.”

“Let me worry about that. Pack her bag. If your prick of a stepfather is going to work her to death and fail to care for her, then I don’t want your mother here another three minutes.”

“Right now?” Kata gasped. “Gordon will give you twenty kinds of hell.”

Hunter snorted. “The little pissant can try.”

Kata hesitated. “She may not want to go. The one time I convinced her to leave him three years ago, I helped her save up enough money to buy her own car and a prepaid cell phone. We packed her bags ... and about three hours out of town, she was crying too hard to see the road and got in a car accident. It shattered most of the bones in her left shin and foot.” Kata swore she wouldn’t cry. Swore it, but hot tears stabbed her aching eyes anyway. God, how did she have any more tears to shed? “Her surgery and recovery lasted for months. I took care of her. Gordon all but refused. After all, she would never have been hurt if she hadn’t been trying to leave him. Mamá walks with a limp now. He constantly tells her that she’s lucky he’s benevolent enough to take care of damaged goods.”

Hunter clenched his fists. “Shit-sucking pond scum. Don’t worry about your mother. I’ll convince her that leaving temporarily for her recovery is in everyone’s best interest, even Gordon’s. By the time she’s better, she’ll have no interest in returning. Trust me.”

As tenacious as Hunter was, Kata knew exactly who would win that battle. Hope for her mother’s well-being filled her. With Hunter on her side, Gordon would have a fight on his hands. “You’d do that for my mamá?”

“And for you. Anything for you, honey.” He placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Looking into Hunter’s blue, blue eyes, she knew he meant every word he said. He might demand so much that she feared she’d give away her soul. But she knew with every cell in her body that he would help her mother begin a better life. If Kata hadn’t already suspected that some part of her was perilously close to being in love with Hunter, this sealed the deal.

Chapter Sixteen

H
UNTER drove down the highway, the Jeep sliding through the night as Kata’s mother slept in the backseat. After Kata packed a quick bag for Carlotta, and he threatened Gordon within an inch of his life, Hunter had called the nurse to cancel her services, assured Kata’s mother this was the best course of action until she recovered, then picked up her prescriptions and began down the road.

Kata stared out the window into the nothingness of the night, looking bleak and exhausted and lost.

He held in a curse. She’d had a tough day, and he hadn’t made it easy on her. In fact, he realized that he’d fucked up. After watching Carlotta allow Gordon to treat her as if her wants and wishes were of no consequence, Hunter understood Kata’s fears a whole lot more. Before today, he’d comprehended on a theoretical level that her stepfather was a controlling dirtbag, but it hadn’t really clicked that Carlotta simply let it happen—and that’s what Kata feared becoming.

Kata’s tart, sexy vivacity had intrigued him. Coupled with her natural submissiveness, she’d drawn him in like no other. Though she’d tried repeatedly to explain, he’d stopped thinking with the head above his shoulders. Wasn’t that biting him in the ass now? The confidence he’d felt in their relationship after making love to her this morning was gone now that he’d seen her mother and Gordon in action.

“Are you sure your father won’t mind the company?” his wife asked into the inky silence.

Hunter glanced at Carlotta sleeping in the rearview mirror. “Now that he’s home from his latest mission, he’ll welcome the company, honey.”

In fact, they might be good for one another. At the very least, they would make steadfast friends, and no one could ever have too many of those.

“I hate to spring this on him. I’m sure he has better things to do than babysit.”

“The Colonel needs to slow down, and this will give him a reason. He has plenty of operatives willing to do his work for him, and he continues to globetrot to the shitholes of the world, chasing an adrenaline rush.” He had nothing else to come home to—and hadn’t since he’d let his wife walk out the door.

“Thank you.” Kata finally turned to him, grabbed his hand, and squeezed. “For . . . back there. For putting Gordon in his place. I really appreciate it.”

Hunter wished he could do more. “He deserved it. I wanted to pound his face into the ground, but he’s the kind of weasel who would only call the police. And the entire incident would upset your mother, I suspect.”

“Very much. I can tell the restraint cost you.” A faint smile lifted her grim face. “Thanks.”

Sliding his thumb across her soft hand, Hunter gathered his thoughts, then sent her a solemn stare. “I hope you know I’d never treat you like Gordon.”

Kata swallowed, looked away. “I know you’d never purposely demean me or want me to feel weak. But, like Gordon, you want me all to yourself. Eventually, I fear that I’d . . . let you have your way.”

Just as he’d suspected. “I’m possessive, honey. I don’t deny it. But I’d never want you isolated and unhappy. And if I ever had so little respect for you, I’d end the marriage. But I suspect you’d do that long before matters became that bad.”

She blinked and pressed her lips together, fighting tears. “You’re not understanding. I’m not afraid of you; I’m afraid of
me
. A part of me would love giving myself over to you totally, the way my mother seems to enjoy at times. I won’t lie, I love having your attention. You make me feel special. But your intensity terrifies me. And after sex . . . I’m always afraid of how much I’ve given you. I couldn’t live with myself if I lost my spine for good.”

Kata knew that he wasn’t like Gordon, but Hunter had no fucking idea how to assure her that she wasn’t like her mother.

He didn’t have a lot of time left with her; what they had was ticking down quickly. As much as he wanted to give her the full-court press and totally make her his in every way, she wasn’t ready. As afraid as she was—clearly with cause—he wondered if she ever would be.

But he couldn’t give up.

“What happens between us sexually has no reflection on the rest of our life. I have at least another six months on this contract. Another eight years in the navy if I want to retire with benefits. The reality is, I’d be leaving you in charge of our lives when I’m overseas. I couldn’t do that unless I know you’re strong and capable, which you are. You’d never, ever let me take away your job, your friends, your car, your phone, your free will . . . And I would never ask you to give those up. Would I like you to have a safer job? Yes. Would I like you to avoid Ben? Yes. Would I force you to do without either for the rest of your life? Never.”

“But I have this insane urge to please you that I’ve never felt. I don’t want to give up either right now, but eventually . . .” She shrugged.

The shame in her voice made him ache. He didn’t see her ever giving up what she needed in life. But she had to learn that. He had to help her. Hunter gripped the wheel, his mind racing. He’d have to think on that. Maybe more information would help him know which way to turn.