Page 33 of Leading Conviction

But any reality other than the one she’d lived meant she wouldn’t have the Tommy she had today. Andthatreality was unacceptable.

“Tommyhawk, huh?”

Hannah’s gaze snapped to Phoenix’s, prepared to go to battle if the man said one bad word about her kid. But the smile he had on his face was genuine.

Tommy nodded as he watched Phoenix somehow balance on two of his rolling chair’s four legs. She saw the gears turning in her mischievous son’s head and read his mind when he slowly pushed back from the table to try to do the same. Before he could tip back, Hannah grabbed his hand and shook her head. He frowned back at her and crossed his arms with a slouch, but when Phoenix spoke again, the silent reprimand was forgotten.

“I like it, kid.” He jutted his chin up. “It suits ya. Your dad would’ve liked it, too.”

Tommy beamed. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hawk replied, his voice hoarse. “Like I said, your dad was my best friend. He would’ve loved that his son was named after both of us.” Hawk raised his eyes to Hannah’s. “Just like I do.”

Relief flooded her body and the breath she’d been holding released from her chest. She’d never thought Tommy would meet his namesakes after she’d received her father’s taunting KIA letter. Knowing Hawk approved of Tommy’s full name made it all the better.

A throat cleared and Hawk’s hold on her broke as she searched for the owner. Wes pushed up his glasses.

“You, uh… you were talking about Vlad?”

“Oh, yeah… right.” She shook her head. “Sorry about that. Anyway, Vlad told me to follow him into a room designated for scholarship donors. But once I got there—”

A loud childish shriek broke the tension in the room as a small, redheaded girl in a green princess dress sprinted inside, followed by a woman who was clearly her mother.

“Wes!” The girl giggled and leapt into Wes’s open arms. “Wes! You’re it!”

Wes’s shoulders shook with laughter. “I’m ‘it,’ huh? What’re we playing?”

“Hideandseektagcuzthefloorislava. It’s a game I made up. Hey, Wes, why is everyone in the bad room?” The little girl suddenly stopped and looked around like she was just now realizing where she was. “It’s different than before.”

Wes’s face clouded. “You’re right, Thea. The roomisdifferent. We fixed it and it’s all better now. What happened last time won’t ever happen again. You’re safe here, understand?”

What are they talking about?

Thea nodded slowly before throwing herself around him and hugging him tightly.

“Thea, baby,” her mother murmured. “Let’s go back upstairs. Wes isn’t playin’. He’s in a meetin’ right now.”

“I thought this was a secure facility,” Draco grumbled. “How is a child able to sneak up on us?”

“It only guards against people five feet or higher.” Phoenix snickered. “That’s why Nora can break in all the time.”

“Hey!” Nora frowned before seemingly thinking it over and shrugging. “But, you know what? Fair, actually. You kinda have a point. Especially now that we’ve set up more tech and defenses since the bombing.”

The hair on the back of Hannah’s neck rose even as the rest of the room broke into unworried chatter. She rested her left hand on Tommy’s shoulder and leaned to the right to quietly question Hawk.

“Bombing? What does that mean? Was this place bombed? Are we not safe here?”

“You’re safe, dove. I wouldn’t have you here if it wasn’t,” Hawk murmured low, just for her. “I’ll explain later.”

His hand spanned her jean-clad thigh underneath the table and his strong squeeze gave her comfort while the endearment gave her butterflies. It’d been nearly a decade since she’d heard it and he’d been slipping it in freely ever since he crashed back into her life the day before. Despite everything, her chest tightened at the sentiment.

She wanted to forget him. She’d tried to, at least. For years. Then she’d thought she’d lost him forever. Was forgetting him still what she wanted?

Her attention was tugged away from her thoughts by the little girl’s high-pitched voice.

“Where’d you come from?” Thea asked Tommy.

“Mérida,” he replied, his voice cut with a defensive edge to it. “Where’dyoucome from?”