Yeah, Mari had made that crystal clear. “Why won’t she divorce him? I know she’s unhappy and thinks she has no other options, but damn, she’s still young and bright and kind.”
“And thoroughly stripped of her self-esteem. He’s left her dependent on him financially and emotionally. Until she figures out her options, we’re just making a bad situation worse.”
Kata gnawed on her lip. “You’re always so logical, and I know you’re right, but . . . it just breaks my heart. I wish I could do something.”
Mari hummed noncommittally, then reached into her briefcase to extract some papers. “I’m worried about you, as well.”
“Me?”
Spearing her with that older sister look, Mari nodded. “When you disappeared after the shooting, I called Ben. To say I was shocked that you’d married Hunter was an understatement. I didn’t tell Mamá, but . . .” She sighed in exasperation. “What were you thinking? You know almost nothing about him, and what Ben has told me—that Hunter is dominant and controlling—doesn’t give me a good feeling.”
“He’s dominant sexually.” Kata winced at the blush crawling up her face but forged on. “He’s not an asshole like Gordon,” she defended.
“Are you sure?” Mari, ever the level-headed attorney, got right to the heart of all of Kata’s concerns.
How could she convince her sister that it might walk and quack like a duck—but this time, it really wasn’t a duck? She wasn’t completely convinced herself. Hunter wasn’t mean-spirited like Gordon—but he possessed a ruthless streak. She had no idea what sort of husband that would make him.
Mari went on with her cross-examination. “Why couldn’t I find you after that shooting? I had no idea where you’d gone until you stopped to call.”
“Well, it’s partially my fault. There wasn’t a lot of time, but I also didn’t want you to fuss over me.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Would Hunter have let you tell us where he’d taken you?”
Kata winced. “Probably not.”
“Yet you’re assigning yourself the blame?” her sister asked incredulously. “Who does that sound like?”
Mamá, but . . . “After the shooting, Hunter didn’t want anyone knowing where I was, for safety’s sake. Since I was fine and you knew it, I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
Mari raised a dark brow, looking decidedly skeptical.
“Look, I admit Hunter can be overbearing, but he’s not all bad. He makes me feel really special. Sometimes ... he says just the right thing.” She sighed. “And I melt all over.”
One thing Kata knew for sure, if she’d suffered her mother’s illness, Hunter would never leave her hospital room to watch CSI. He’d probably never leave her side, period.
Mari slanted a hard glance at Kata. “If you’ll remember, we liked Gordon once, too.”
That knocked Kata back in her chair. Mari was right. Years and years ago when her mother and Gordon had been dating, he’d been a peach. Once, he’d taken her, Mari, and Joaquin to an amusement park, then for ice cream later that night. He’d always brought candies and toys when picking up Mamá. He’d done magic tricks and sang karaoke, played Super Mario Brothers . . . And after Gordon and her mother had married, he’d slowly morphed into the asshole they all knew and hated.
“Kata, think about it. You don’t know anything about this guy except that he’s a Navy SEAL and good in bed.”
Great in bed, but Kata understood her sister’s point. She so wanted to believe that Mari was wrong that it was like a physical ache. But the warning dredged up all her own uncertainties and magnified them. Mari could be dead-on. Kata really didn’t know.
“He’s just . . . really protective,” she said, oddly determined to make her sister understand that Hunter had good qualities.
“He claims that he’s protecting you, but don’t you think that cutting off communication from all your loved ones and making you take a leave from your job is awfully extreme?”
“A professional assassin was after me.” Kata defended Hunter—even as Mari’s words sank in. Hadn’t Kata told him just yesterday that the marriage had been a rash mistake? So why was she trying to sway her sister?
“How do you know that isn’t what he told you so he could lock you away for himself?”
“Hunter wouldn’t lie about that. Besides, the shooter pushed his gun to the base of my skull.” Kata shivered just thinking about it.
“I’m not saying that you weren’t in danger. But how do you know it wasn’t one of Villarreal’s street punks or someone else you pissed off along the way, rather than an assassin? How does Hunter know?”
“The gunman told me that he’d been hired to kill me.”
Mari pressed her lips together. “Would a professional assassin bother to announce that? I’m concerned about your safety; don’t get me wrong. I panicked when I heard you’d nearly been shot. But Hunter’s behavior concerns me, too. I could be way off base here . . .” Her voice said she didn’t think so for a minute. “But you should think seriously of getting out of this marriage before he smothers you.”
Her sister’s words made Kata go numb from the gravity of the situation. Her own confusion weighed her down even more.
Mari finally held the sheaf of papers out to her. “I took the liberty of drawing these up earlier today.”
Kata took the papers with cold fingers and opened them. Petition for Divorce. Even though she’d talked to Hunter about ending it, seeing this document . . . Her knees buckled.
“All you have to do is sign them and get Hunter to do the same; then it’ll be over. If he really cares about you, he can always call you, date you like a normal guy, make the effort to get to know you. If he doesn’t, if he fights this like I know Gordon would fight Mamá, then ...”
Then she’d know. Thing was, she couldn’t picture Hunter just dating her. The way he’d immersed himself in her, tied them together almost immediately . . . he wouldn’t have bothered if he’d merely wanted to date. Besides, Kata had mentioned ending the marriage earlier, and Hunter had flatly refused. But Mari had a point, though Kata wished her sister didn’t. In fact, everything inside her resisted it. Then she looked at Mamá, pale and drained, lying frail in the hospital bed. A woman so unlike the vivacious mother she’d grown up with.
If she stayed with Hunter . . . could this be her in twenty years?