Chapter 36
The phone vibratedin Hunter's pocket.He pulled out the cell and gazed at the screen.Annie's name lit up.
For a moment, he couldn't move.Couldn't breathe.She had reached out.She wasn't gone.
The silence around him pressed in, but this time it wasn't empty—it was filled with her.The thought of her fingers typing those words, of her choosing him, cut through the loneliness that surrounded him.
Hunter's hand trembled as he held the phone.He felt the weight of it, the weight of her message, and the weight of everything he wasn't.
Would he be enough for her?
Could he keep her safe?
Would she want to be part of Royalla, to live in the shadows of the club, to carry the burden of his world?That was a lot to ask anyone.She'd need to make a lot of sacrifices for him, and that was unfair to ask of her.
But with the club, he could assure her that she'd be protected.As his old lady, she would have the protection of his MC brothers.
The doubts clawed at him.God damnit.It was too much to ask of her.
He was deaf.He couldn't hear danger coming.He couldn't hear her voice when she whispered his name.He couldn't tell if she hesitated, was scared, or was lying to him.
But, fuck, he would bend over backward to give her everything she wanted.He would do anything to make sure she was happy.
But as the questions circled, one truth cut through them all.
He loved her.
He didn't want to live without her.
And if she was willing to step into his silence, he needed to give her the chance to know what that life would be.To understand that belonging to a deaf man wasn't the same as belonging to someone who could hear.But he could make it sweet for her.He could make it real.
Hunter typed slowly.His fingers were heavy and clumsy on the screen.
I want to see you.
The reply came fast, her words glowing against the dark.
I'll be at the clubhouse in an hour.
Hunter's heart slammed against his ribs.He set the phone down, his jaw tight, his hands shaking even more now.
An hour.
