Page 147 of Restless Hawke

Everyone in the room tenses, including me.

It was the one thing we’ve been waiting for, to determine his ultimate goal. After all this time, all the moves, all the threats, the man and his motivations are still as much of a mystery as they were the first time we ever met him.

Savage raises a brow. “I think we would all be very interested in hearing it.”

She releases a heavy sigh, filled with her frustration, her reservation, her pain. “You guys think all he cares about is money and power. And I can understand why you believe that. Those are two of his favorite things.” Her lips curl into a half-smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “But ultimately, I don’t think that’s what matters most to him.”

I rub my hand up and down her back gently. “Then what does?”

Her gaze meets mine. “This.” She spreads her hands out. “Family. Having people you can count on, who have your back.”

Everyone stares at her, including me, and when it’s clear we’re not following, she throws her hands up.

“Look at how he was raised. His father was a fucking monster, and he turned Leonardo and my father into mini versions of himself. Leonardo tried to kill his own brother to take control. If my father hadn’t been smart enough to actually fake his death, Leonardo would have tried again after his first failure. My dad never had the kind of unconditional love and support that you guys give each other. He’s never hadthis.”

The gears start turning in my head, and I finally start to see where she’s going with this. “Until he had you…”

“Exactly.” She nods. “He’s a different person with me. I can see…”

She trails off, and I can see the battle waging in the swirling gray of her eyes, not wanting to say what she really feels.

“It’s okay, Allegra.” I tighten my grip on her. “Just tell us.”

Her bottom lip disappears under her teeth, and she considers for a second before finally nodding. “I can see who he would have been if he hadn’t been raised like that, if he’d had a normal childhood withnormalrole models and morals taught to him. I can see that there’s good in him.”

Luca lets out a low, dark chuckle. “It’s very sweet that you think that, but I promise you, that man’s soul was born pitch black and lacking.”

She glares at him. “Why is it you think you know him so well?”

“Because Iwashim.” He sits in his chair, looking like the king, when in this room, that honor belongs to Savage. Even after all these years, even after giving up his title and his role, there’s no shaking that aura that permeates the air around Luca Abello. “My father had an empire like yours does, and he had a family, but in the end, all he cared about was the money and the power. We were easily discarded. And I had it, too—that wealth and power. It’s intoxicating. Addictive. It’s a high you can’t get anywhere else?—”

She shakes her head. “That’s not my father. That’s not him.”

Luca presses his lips into a thin line.

Allegra shifts on my lap to fully face Luca. “My father is doing this because he thinks he’s creating something forme.BecauseIam the most important thing to him. And if you gave him the chance, I think he would embrace the Hawkes the same way…”

Savage, Gabe, and Dad all recoil slightly while Luca smirks.

Of course, it sounds nuts to them.

This man has been a thorn in our side for years, and he isn’t going away.

All of our previous conversations with Satriano—all the threats, the promises, the vague statements—come back in a wild rush that threatens to drown me as I sort through them.

Bits and pieces take shape.

Starting to form an idea.

“He has asked us to partner with him several times…”

Dad gapes at me. “You can’t be seriously saying we consider it.”

I hold up a hand. “Just let me think.”

Because even I know how unhinged this all sounds.

But there’s a thread of something there that my mind keeps wanting to latch onto.