Hunter blew out a breath and shook her head. “That’s Coby. Always so trusting. She doesn’t really care about money anyway, so it may not have crossed her mind to care that much.”
“So what do you think?” I asked when Hunter fell quiet. “What is Coby’s hand in marriage worth?”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “There are some things you can’t put a price on, Ocean.”
“But if you could…” I urged.
“Three million,” Hunter blurted. “Per year.” When I raised a brow at the amount, Hunter shrugged, ready to go to bat for her friend. “I assume Coby will become accustomed to a different quality of life while you’re married, so think of it as alimony.”
Teasing her, I whistled. “Still, six million dollars a year for five years. That’s a lot of cheddar.”
Hunter frowned at me. “But I said three million.”
“Coby may have convinced me to sweeten the deal this morning.”
“How?”
“She wants me to pay you the same for every year you’re apart, and I also promised to forgive her brother’s debt and sign over my ownership of the club.”
“Why would Coby do that for Roshaun after he—” Hunter’s eyes widened, and she hopped up from the bed. “You haven’t told her yet?” she shouted.
“Would she believe me after last night?”
“Probably not, but that’s your problem, not mine,” Hunter said as she paced.
“I disagree. I think it’s our problem.”
Hunter paused and then faced me, planting her hands on those wide hips that got me hard every time. “Excuse me?”
“I recall you asking to help me kill him and deal with the Coby aftermath.”
“And I recall you saying you didn’t need my help.”
I folded my arms behind my head and grinned. “What if I promised you the honor of killing Roshaun yourself?”
“It sounds like a setup to make me take all the blame and have Coby hate me forever. I’m sure that would make your life much sweeter.”
“It’s definitely something I would do,” I admitted, more than a little impressed that she’d read me so easily. “But that’s not my intention, Hunter. And you have no idea of what I’m thinking will make my life sweeter.” I stared at her hard and meaningfully, and then quickly pushed past the subject when I saw her getting ready to dig. “We both have the same goal—to keep Coby safe and happy.” I paused, wondering if it was wise to admit this next part, but I decided I didn’t care. “But I also want the same for you.”
Hunter scoffed and began pacing again. “Roshaun doesn’t scare me.”
“He should,” I warned, though I chose not to elaborate. Roshaun had committed much bigger atrocities than just stealing from me. Things that would break Coby’s heart if she knew.
My mind wandered as I imagined all the ways I wanted to kill Roshaun slowly until I heard a sound, looked up, and saw that Hunter was hyperventilating.
I shot off the bed and across the room, but the moment my fingers grazed her arm, she whirled around and backed away with a clear warning in her eyes, so I forced myself to stay where I was and give her space.
“Tell me what just happened,” I gently demanded. “What did Roshaun do?” It didn’t take a whole lot of intuition to connect that Roshaun Perry was responsible for Hunter suddenly acting like cornered prey.
“It’s nothing.”
“That didn’t look like nothing to me.”
“Sorry. I meant it’snone of your business, Ocean.”
That wasn’t good enough for me. Every time I mentioned Roshaun, Hunter’s entire demeanor changed. She’d either shrink into herself or turn vicious and deflect.
“Coby wants you at the wedding,” I blurted, choosing to drop the subject. For now.
