Page 26 of Tag (The Golden Team #9)

I stood on the front steps of the shelter, my hands sweating inside my gloves, heart hammering like I’d run ten blocks instead of driving five.

Tag stood to my right.

Faron pulled up in a black SUV, stepped out, and stalked toward me like a storm ready to break.

His face was unreadable. But his eyes—they were fire and pain and disbelief all wrapped into one.

“You said she died from cancer.”

“I lied.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, voice gravel-low.

I nodded. “Malik said her real name. Said she changed it. But it’s her.”

Faron’s jaw flexed. “Why the hell would she leave me first and then you?”

“I don’t know,” I said, my throat tight. “But we’re going to find out.”

He looked at me for a long second.

Then pulled me into a hug so fierce it nearly broke me.

“I’ve got your back, Little Hawk,” he whispered.

I gripped his shirt and nodded against his chest.

We walked up the steps together—me, my brother, and the man I hadn’t let myself love until now.

The shelter’s front door buzzed open.

The woman behind the desk smiled. “You here to see Ms. Hartman?”

The last name hit me like a slap.

She’d taken her maiden name back. The same one I’d gotten rid of after everything.

“Yes,” I said, stepping forward. “Tell her that her daughter and son are here.”