“My name is Hunter. It’s no trouble, ma’am.”

He glanced her way. Despite the tension between them, Kata couldn’t help but smile. “You won’t win this argument, Mamá. Trust me.”

The three of them made their way to the front door. Kata fished out her key, knowing that Gordon would only be more annoyed with them—and take it out on her mother—if they made him get off the sofa to let them in. He was a selfish prick who’d do anything to assure his own comfort. Her mother was a convenience for him, like an electric razor or a cell phone. And he behaved this way because Mamá was too lost to stand up to him.

Kata wondered if, after months or years of Hunter’s intensity, she’d be like her mother, resigned to taking the path of least resistance.

She pushed the front door open. Hunter followed her inside, her mother tight against his broad chest. She looked slightly gray, and it scared the hell out of Kata to think of leaving her here. What if Mamá didn’t recover because she didn’t get any rest? Hunter had hired a nurse, which was a relief, but Kata wished she could be here herself to oversee her mother’s recovery.

Not for the first time, Kata damned whoever was trying to kill her. The asshole had shoved her into Hunter’s arms and now away from the one place that duty and love dictated she be. It fucking pissed her off.

“Where is your bedroom, ma’am?” Hunter asked her mother.

“Through the living room and at the end of the hall.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Hunter nodded and made his way through the foyer, into the living room. “Your nurse’s name is Becka. She’ll be here in an hour. She’s picking up your prescriptions along the way. We’ll stay with you until she arrives.”

“That’s very sweet of you. You never said, how do you and Kata know each other?”

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

HUNTER 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.