Page 17

Chapter sixteen

Hawk

After a short nap, we took a shower together. I meticulously cleaned every inch of his body because I was nothing if not thorough. I’d waited for so long for my chance with Mika, and now that I had him here in my home with me, I didn’t want to let him go. I wanted to close the door, pull the curtains tight, and just stay here with him until we ran out of food. Of course, there was always grocery delivery.

“I sent Mary Ellen a message and let her know I got delayed. I can’t believe it was just this morning that she asked me to pick up that package. She said just to bring it to work with me tomorrow.”

“I thought we agreed it was safer if you took a little time off.”

“I will, but if there’s any way, I really do need to go tomorrow. She’s getting everything ready for her niece’s birthday party, and I need to be there just in case there are any problems with the caterers or the flower delivery.”

I studied him for a second. He looked so hopeful, and I had a lot of respect for his dedication to his employer. “We can work something out tomorrow. Either I or one of the guys will go with you and stay until you’re done. We know Snake knows where you spend your days, so I’m not comfortable with you being there by yourself.”

“I feel like I’m causing everyone so much trouble.”

I wrapped my arms around him. “You aren’t causing anyone trouble. That would all be on Butch.”

“But you wouldn’t be mixed up in this if I hadn’t been stupid enough to get involved with him in the first place,” he mumbled into my chest.

I pushed him back and looked him square in the eyes because I needed him to see how serious I was. This wasn’t the first time today I’d heard him call himself stupid, and I wasn’t having it.

“I’m not the kind of Daddy that sets a lot of rules. I need you to hear that before I say what comes next. Are you listening to me?” He nodded yes, so I continued. “You just earned yourself a rule, baby boy.”

“What is it?” He blinked up at me, and I could tell he had no idea what he’d done. He’d probably spent so much time beating himself up over past choices that it never even occurred to him not to.

“Was getting involved with Butch the best decision ever? Obviously not. But it was a mistake, and we all make them. You aren’t stupid, and I won’t stand here and listen to anyone call you names. Not even you. What you are is incredibly strong. You were in a bad situation, and you took steps to get yourself out of it. That takes courage, so no more calling yourself names. Got it?”

“Yes, I got it.”

“Good. Now let’s get you some food, and then we should go by your place and grab you some clothes.”

“My clothes? You want me to stay here?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s why I had Kat make you a card. I think this is the safest place for you right now. The security in the building is excellent.”

I watched as his face fell for a second before he caught himself and pasted on a fake smile. “You’re right, of course. I mean, the security is excellent, so it would be hard for Butch or his goons to get to me if I’m staying here.”

I was excellent at my job, and there was no one better at reading a room. But this thing with Mika wasn’t a job, and I was doing a shit job of reading him right now. I wanted to think his disappointment was because I said this was the safest place for him, not that I wanted him here, but I wasn’t sure. I blamed it on the fact that I’d been in so deep for so long where he was concerned that I expected him to know how serious I was about him. I had to remember that he had no idea that I was already all in, so I had to give him a chance to catch up.

“Listen to me, mouse. If it was up to me, we’d go get everything you own and bring it here to my place right now. Not because you’re in danger but because I want you with me. But I’m smart enough to know that probably sounds a little nuts since I haven’t even taken you out on a date yet.”

“You want to take me on a date?” His real smile was back, which made me really glad I’d laid that all out there.

“Of course I do, but that’ll have to wait until you’re safe. My point is, I want you here in my space. I want to wine and dine you and take you dancing. I want to take care of you in every way possible because you’re someone special, Mika, and you deserve to be treated like it.”

He let that sink in for a minute and then nodded. “Okay, let’s go get some of my stuff then.”

Mika

I had one goal: try to act normal. Because what I really wanted to do was a happy dance right here in the middle of Hawk’s living room. I didn’t know if this was a forever kind of thing or not, but no one had ever told me they wanted to take care of me and cherish me just because I deserved to be treated that way.

And yeah, it probably was a little nuts. But if Hawk wanted me here in his space for all the reasons he’d said—not just because I had a psycho ex trying to hunt me down—then I was there for it… because I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I want to run down and check in with Kat before we leave. Feel free to check the place out while I’m gone.”

“Okay. I should probably check in with Andy anyway. It wouldn’t make him happy if he finds out what happened from someone else.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips across mine. “Won’t take but a minute.”

I watched him walk out, and as soon as the door closed behind him, I ran my fingers across my lips. I hadn’t realized I wanted goodbye kisses in my life, but man, that was sweet. I wondered if that was something he’d do all the time. I sure hoped so.

I didn’t try to call Andy because I knew he was on shift today, so instead, I sent him a text.

Me

Hey, just wanted to let you know I ran into some trouble with one of Butch’s guys today. I’m fine. Hawk brought me to his condo just to be on the safe side. I didn’t want you to worry.

I moved to shove my phone in my pocket, but I must’ve caught him between runs because my phone pinged immediately.

Andy

What exactly do you mean by “trouble”?

Me

He was following me, but it’s all okay.

Andy

If it isn’t safe for you at your house, you know you can come stay with us.

Me

I know. But I’m okay here at Hawk’s.

Andy

Got a call for an auto accident. Gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and decided to take Hawk up on his offer to check the place out. I spent the next twenty minutes or so nosing around. It felt weird to be snooping around in Hawk’s condo, but he’d told me to feel free.

Other than the size of the place, nothing was surprising. The whole condo had that same generic style I’d noticed earlier. It was nice enough, and I was guessing he hadn’t spared any expense, but none of the rooms had any personality. It was almost like being in a luxury hotel. Everything was top quality and designed to be pleasing to everyone but not special to anyone.

The main thing I did find was that his fridge was basically empty. Not that I expected to find a lot—he’d already told me he mostly ate at the bistro downstairs—but still, a package of cheese, some orange juice, half a dozen eggs, and a box of leftover pizza was kind of sad.

The rest of the kitchen looked pretty good, though. It was well stocked with pots, pans, and utensils.

The kitchen was on the inside wall, so it didn’t have any windows, but all the other rooms had views of different parts of downtown. I couldn’t wait to see it at night. Vesper might not be a huge city, but it took great pride in its downtown area and had a pretty impressive skyline for its size.

The condo was a lot bigger than I’d expected, and I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen, so I didn’t even make it all the way through before the front door opened and Hawk stepped in.

“Are you ready to go?”

“I am.”

“Let’s go then.”

A couple hours later, we’d packed up enough of my things that I could stay for days. I thought about what he’d said about how if it was up to him, he would pack up all of my things. I didn’t actually have that much, so it wouldn’t take long. There was one other problem, though.

“You know I only moved in here after the new year, and I have a year lease.”

He shrugged. “And?”

I didn’t know if that meant he hadn’t been serious about wanting me with him, but before I could backtrack, he continued on. “Leases can be broken.”

“Sure they can, but it isn’t cheap. Mary Ellen pays me well, but not that well.”

“You don’t worry about that, mouse. When the time comes and you agree to move in with me, I’ll take care of all the details. That’s what Daddies do.”

I wanted to argue with him that my details weren’t his problem, but he’d said that’s what Daddies do. I thought about the way Samuel was with Mars and the way Jesse was with Andy. It wasn’t so much a deal with Caleb and Keith because Caleb didn’t have details to handle. He was super responsible and pretty much had his ducks all in a row. But the other two? Yeah, I could see it.

“I’ll need to come back and water my roses.” I gently touched the leaf of one of the plants I’d bought at the market. I couldn’t believe that was just a few days before.

“We could take them with us to my place if you want.”

“Okay, thanks. Just one more thing before we go.” I grabbed one of my reusable shopping bags and went to the fridge. “There’s no point in letting all this food go to waste.”

“We can stop at the grocery store on the way home if you need to, or we can have stuff delivered.”

I nodded. “We can, but like I said, no point in letting what’s here spoil. We don’t need to take it all, but the produce and the meat will go bad pretty quick.”

I could’ve just tossed it all in the freezer, but the truth was that I wanted to cook for him, and all this food would give me a reason he couldn’t argue with.

“I’ll take everything else out to the truck while you do that, but do not come outside until I come back to get you.”

That was a sobering reminder that I wasn’t going to stay with Hawk just because he wanted me to, and this wasn’t a fun adventure—this was serious business. I didn’t know what Butch’s intent was, but it wasn’t good.

“I won’t. I’ll stay inside until you say it’s safe.”

He brushed a kiss across my lips. “Thank you. I’ll be right back.”

I put as much stuff in that bag as would fit, and then I grabbed another bag and filled it up with stuff from the pantry. It wouldn’t spoil, but they were all things I’d need if I was going to cook for him.

I was ready to defend my choice when he came back in, but he didn’t even blink. He just picked up both bags. “Is this it? Did you get all your crochet stuff?”

I chuckled. “All my crochet stuff? No. All my crochet stuff would take a moving van. No one told me how addictive yarn is, or I might’ve second-guessed this as a hobby.”

“I take it you have a lot?”

I cringed and held up my fingers, indicating a tiny bit, and then spread them apart as far as they could go. “I may have a little problem.”

“Well, I can think of much worse problems to have. But did you at least get enough to keep you busy for a few days until we can come back for more?”

“I did. One of the bags you already carried out is full of yarn, hooks, and a couple of my pattern books.”

“Books? I figured you just grabbed stuff online.”

“Oh, I do. But Mary Ellen had some old pattern books, and she gave them to me. I’m trying out some of them just for fun to see how they turn out.”

“She sounds really nice.”

“She is.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll take these out, then I’ll come back for you. This’ll be the opposite of when we arrived. I’ll open your car door and then motion for you to come. I want you to head straight for the car, no hesitation. Get in, and I’ll close the door behind you. You immediately lock the car door. Got it?”

“I do.”

When we’d arrived here, he’d made me sit in the car with the doors locked while he checked the house, and then once he knew it was clear, he motioned for me to hurry inside. I hated this, and I hated Butch. I just wanted all this to be over with so Hawk and I could figure out if what we had was something real. I thought it could be, and I knew he believed it was, but as long as he had no choice but to spend time with me, how could I be sure?

I stood inside, watched as he finished loading up the car, and then checked the area for any threats. When he motioned for me to come, I did exactly as he said and hurried to the car.

A couple of guys I hadn’t met—but that I’d seen around during self-defense class—met us in the parking garage of his building. I couldn’t say for sure, but I was guessing they were brothers—they looked so much alike.

“Mika, this is Axel and Maddox. They work for Three Bears.”

“Hey, Mika, nice to finally meet the man who has Hawk all tied up in knots,” one of them said.

“Maddox, I asked you to help carry stuff upstairs. That doesn’t require you to open your big mouth,” Hawk grumbled.

Maddox winked at me and grabbed some of my stuff out of the back. That name sounded familiar, and it took me a second to put it together.

“You’re the one that went looking for Snake.”

“I was, but he was long gone by the time I got there.”

“Thanks for trying anyway. As soon as he saw that I went inside the bank, he had to know I’d call for help, so he probably took off right away.”

He smiled at me. “You did good. Kat told us how you got away. That was good work.”

I felt my cheeks heat at his praise. “I just did what Hawk and Tuck taught us to do in the self-defense class.”

“Yeah, Hawk and Tuck are great.”

“Quit your gabbing, and let’s get this stuff upstairs,” Hawk grumbled again, and Axel winked at me again.

The four of us headed up the stairs. They all had their hands full, and I only had one flowerpot with a rose bush in it, so I pulled out my card for the elevator. I slipped it in the slot and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

Neither of them said anything about me having a card, but I noticed the brothers shared a look.

“Shut up, both of you,” Hawk grumbled again, and I wondered if he was always so testy with them or if I was missing something.

“Didn’t say a word,” Axel said.

“Nope, not a word,” Maddox agreed.

“I assume you two are brothers.”

“Twins, actually, but we’re easy to tell apart. I’m the good-looking one.” Axel grinned and then shoulder-bumped his brother.

Maddox rolled his eyes. “But I’m the smart one, and I’ll take brains over looks any day.”

I studied the two brothers. Axel’s nose was a little crooked, like it had been broken at some point and hadn’t healed back perfectly straight, and his hair was longer than Maddox’s. But honestly, other than that, they looked pretty much the same.

“Just ignore them.” Hawk shot them both a glare. “They think they’re funny.”

“We are funny,” one said, and the other added, “Hilarious even.”

The doors to the elevator opened, and we all stepped out. Hawk went straight to his door and pushed it open.

“You can just set everything in the foyer.”

Axel rolled his eyes but set down the bags he was carrying. Then he dropped his voice down low in what was supposed to be an imitation of Hawk and said, “Thank you so much for helping me carry all Mika’s stuff up to our love nest. Couldn’t have done it without you, Axel.” Then he went back to his regular voice. “No problem, Hawk, it was a pleasure to help.”

Then he turned to me. “All joking aside. I’m glad you’re here. These are some nasty characters, but Hawk will take care of you.”

Then the brothers both turned and left.

“Are they always like that?” I asked.

“Like what?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know… joking around and giving each other a hard time.”

“They are. But don’t let them fool you. They like to have fun, but the two of them are the best at what they do.”

“And what’s that, exactly?”

“Whatever they need to do to get the job done.”

Hawk had insisted that I unpack everything I’d brought. I didn’t know if it was because he wanted me to be comfortable or because he liked the idea of my stuff being in his place. I knew that I did. He’d cleared out space for my clothes in his bedroom and told me to put all my yarn and crafting supplies in the study because that was where he spent most of his time.

By the time we got everything situated, I was beat. That short nap we’d had earlier hadn’t been anywhere near enough after the crazy morning I’d had. When I’d been packing up my food, I’d planned to cook him something nice for dinner as a thank-you for… well, just for being him, but I didn’t get the chance. He picked up on how tired I was and insisted on ordering us something to eat from downstairs so I could eat and then get some rest.

“Baby boy, I can tell how tired you are.”

“But—”

“Nope, no buts. You had a close call this morning and then went and packed up half your stuff. This has turned your life upside down, so just let me take care of you. You’ll have plenty of time to cook for me.”

And how was I supposed to argue with that?