The Accountant

Chapter 15

Hunter surveyed the expanse of the Adams family property. The Adams ancestral home stood in the middle of almost six acres of land. Within that land is a man-made lake, a maze garden, an orchard, a flower garden, a man-made pond, and a driveway that started from the edge of the property and winded directly to the front steps of the Adams ancestral mansion as it circled a huge fountain with an angel statue. The driveway itself is lined on both sides with palms and various ornamental flowers. The front yard is dotted here and there with oaks and other hardwood trees. Those trees had been decorated with lamps and lanterns tonight, casting an array of colorful lights, adding to the elegant and magical feel of the party.

Every year, on Edmund Adams' birthday, he invites nearly everyone in Aspen, but most especially his family and employees, to celebrate with him. The Adams had been known throughout the years for taking good care of their employees, regardless of ranks or positions. These fostered loyalty among the many people employed by Hunter's father.

Especially during this occasion, it is imperative for the Adams sons to be by their father's side. Sam and Cody - Hunter's older brothers - are busy entertaining guests. The party has started just a few minutes ago, but a lot of people have already arrived. But no matter how much Hunter would like to deny it, he is waiting for only one person to come - Selena.

Mrs. Boon has asked earlier today if she and Selena could take the afternoon off to prepare for tonight's event. He had said yes. He's been around different types of women to know that women takes a lot of time to prepare themselves.

With a glass of whiskey on hand, his mind drifted off to the time when he and Selena had spent the night at the farm house. He can still remember the surprised look on Selena's face when he kissed her. Ahh, that kiss. It has kept him awake for so many nights. He ached for her. He longed to be with her, to see her smile, to see the happiness on her face when she's around his horses. But he knew Selena and him could never be happy together. He has other responsibilities to attend to, thus he could never give himself fully to her. Because of that, he had to stay away. Selena deserve a better man than him.

He had avoided her, but he watched her from afar. She often came to the farm to visit the horses. He had spent countless of hours watching her pet and walked the horses.

When he learned that she has been getting close with Dr. Carter Dawson at Lizzy's dinner party, it literally took all the willpower he had not to storm into Dave and Lizzy's house and remove Selena from there. He burned with jealousy, knowing that she sometimes go out to dinner with the doctor. He had to drown himself in alcohol to forget how miserable he is.

The only consolation Hunter had is that Selena still lives in his house. Every time he comes home close to midnight to make sure that Selena is already asleep, he would stand at her door. He would stand there for minutes, reveling in the fact that she is just behind the door, peacefully sleeping. In order for him to keep her in his house, he had called everyone in Aspen who rented out houses or apartments, and 'requested' that they refuse or make up excuses when Selena came to them. Hunter hated to use his family name or his connections to ask for 'favors' but in Selena's case, he had to make an exception.

When Edwin told him about what Hans Devlin did, Hunter was murderous. He wasted no time to confront Hans. He wanted to choke the sonofabitch. He warned him that if he ever set foot on his property or harass Selena again, Hunter would kill him. It wasn't a threat, and that Devlin knew it. He knew better than to cross Hunter Adams, or any member of the Adams clan, for that matter. Still, Hunter instructed Edwin to stay at the house until Hunter comes home at night, just to be safe. From that day as well, he always come home so Selena wouldn't be alone in the house, he would stay in the car until around midnight. When he is sure that Selena is asleep, that was the time he would go up to the house.