Page 131 of Restless Hawke

I can’t.

Not until I tell him what I came here to do.

When he finally stops a few feet from me, the tension and animosity filling the space between us overpowers the din of the casino and makes everything else disappear.

No loud machines.

No louder gamblers.

It’s only the two of us.

“I told you I never wanted to see you again, Allegra. What the fuck are you doing here?”

Gabe and Savage stop on either side of him, waiting to hear my response.

Either they know exactly what happened between Coen and me, or at least they think they do. But evenhedoesn’t truly understand it or how complicated things got.

He couldn’t when he wouldn’t let me fully explain.

“I came to warn you about what Satriano is going to do.”

He raises a dark brow and glances between his uncles. “Why would you do that?”

I swallow thickly and step closer. “Can we go somewhere more private?”

If anyone overhears this, it could be very bad for the Hawkes and this place.

He shakes his head. “If you think I’m going to be in a room alone with you, Allegra, you’re fucking nuts.”

Shit, I guess we’re doing this here, and with an audience.

Gabe and Savage keep keen eyes on the people moving around us, ensuring no one is paying attention to our conversation.

I guess there’s nothing left to do but give Coen the warning I came here to relay. “He is going to ask you?—”

Coen holds up a hand. “He already has.”

Shit.

As soon as I knew what Satriano was planning, my first inclination was to call and warn Coen. But I knew he wouldn’t take my calls. None of the Hawkes would. And even if I managed to leave a message, as soon as he heard my voice, he would have deleted it.

This could only come from me in person.

But maybe I’m too late.

“And what did you tell him?” I glance at the two men on either side of him, who don’t seem surprised by the conversation, so he really must have told them everything. “Did you agree?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice, did I?”

“Don’t do it.”

I step forward and wrap my hand around his wrist. That same crackle of electricity that seems to pass between us every time we touch jolts through me, and he flinches as if he felt it, too.

His eyes slowly lower to my hand. “I don’t think you have any say in this, Allegra.”

I plead with him with my eyes the best that I can. “There are things you don’t know, that you don’t understand. I canhelp.”

His brows fly up. “Youhelpus?”