Trick and Treat - Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Hunter banged on Tamara’s front door in a small, rundown house in her not-so-great neighborhood. Not that Hunter was too concerned. He worked private security, so he could handle himself. Not to mention the two tours in Iraq, flying missions off Navy carriers, which that meant little scared him. After a second the door flew open and Vin stood on the other side, bleary-eyed and drunk. His arm was covered from shoulder to wrist in a gothic-looking tattoo, and he’d lost weight since the last time Hunter had seen him—at work at MacKay Security, right before Hunter had the great satisfaction of firing the man for showing up at work drunk.

“What are you doing shere?” he slurred. Drunk again, Hunter saw. Some things never changed.

“Tamara called me.”

“She ain’t your bitch anymore,” he growled, his fists balled at his sides. Right, not since she cheated on me with you. Not that Hunter cared at this point. Tamara was a tornado of trouble he’d rather not deal with anymore. And Vin…well, he’d been a problem since their days in the Navy. If she wanted Vin, she could have him. The man had a temper and a drinking problem, a combination he’d warned Tamara about, not that she listened.

“Tamara? You okay?” he called. He heard the bathroom lock click open, and then Tamara came out, mascara slightly smudged beneath her left eye, and her cheek looking swollen and red. She wore a low-cut halter one-piece, which was torn on the side.

“Did you hit her?” Hunter demanded of Vin.

“Sure did, the coward, thinking beating up on women will…” Tamara began, and then Vin flew into a rage, lunging for Tamara.

Hunter pivoted, grabbed Vin by the throat, and in a quick move, had him pinned against the wall. Vin never could focus when he’d been drinking.

“You won’t ever hit her or any other woman again. Do you understand me?” Hunter’s tone left no room for argument. Vin clutched at his throat, but the look in his eyes told Hunter he understood. “Now, you’re going to leave this house and never come back. Understand?”

He let Vin go, and the man dropped to the floor, clutching his throat and wheezing. “Bitch was never worth the trouble,” Vin muttered, and he picked himself up off the ground and stumbled out the front door. Hunter locked it after him.

Tamara rushed to Hunter. “Thank you,” she gushed, throwing her arms around him. “I knew you’d save me.” He stood stock-still. She pulled his lifeless arms around her, pushing them down to the slope of her firm ass. Then her hands went to the fabric at her neckline. “Let me repay you in just the way I know you’d like.”