Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 80139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I close the door.
“What is it?” Hawk asks right away.
Daniela smacks his arm lightly. “Let her breathe first.”
He exhales, but his jaw is still tense. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I say.
Daniela sits on the sofa, and Hawk sits beside her, close enough that their knees touch. I stay standing. If I sit, I might not get back up.
“I need to tell you something.”
Hawk furrows his brow. “About Colombia?”
“Yes.”
He frowns. “About the guy.”
I swallow. “Yes.”
Daniela’s eyes soften.
Hawk leans forward, forearms on his knees. “Cruz? The guy who helped you?”
I nod.
“The guy who worked for Vega.”
“Yes.”
Hawk’s jaw flexes. “What about him?”
I wrap my arms around myself. “He wasn’t just guarding me,” I say. “He’s the one who took me from Texas.”
“He’s the one who fucking kidnapped you?” Hawk rises. “I’m going to kill him.”
“No.”
He turns on me. “No?”
“No.”
“He took you.”
“I know.”
He crosses his arms. “And you’re saying no?”
“I’m saying no because I’m not done.”
Daniela reaches for Hawk’s hand. He resists for half a second and then lets her pull him back onto the couch.
Good.
Anchor him, Daniela.
“There’s more,” I say.
“Of course there is,” Hawk mutters.
“He got me out. He didn’t have to. He could have left me there. He could have turned me over. He could have kept following orders, and instead he got me out, drove me through the night, took me to the only safe place he knew.”
“Where?” he asks.
“A brothel.”
Hawk goes rigid. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“It’s not like that,” I say. “The women there raised him. His mother was—”
“Of course she was.” Hawk shakes his head.
“Stop it, Hawk.” I rub my forehead. “They let us stay there. Risked their own lives. And one of them—I guess she was the madame—she—” I choke up.
“What happened?” Daniela asks softly.
“She was killed. Her name was Señora Valentina. One of Vega’s goons shot her.” I gulp. “Then Cruz killed him. To keep me safe.”
Hawk looks away, jaw working.
He doesn’t want to feel sympathy for Cruz.
I understand.
Neither do I.
I see Hawk’s mind working. I’ve dissected everything myself so many times, and I know exactly what’s going through his head.
A Vega man kills another Vega man. Bad man kills worse man. Captor rescues captive. Enemy saves sister.
Nothing fits.
I know the feeling.
“And then?” Hawk asks.
“And then Cruz told me something.”
The part I came in here to say.
The part I still don’t know how to say.
Daniela stands and walks to me. “Robin.”
I look at her.
Her dark eyes are gentle, and that nearly breaks me.
I take a breath. “Cruz was the one who drugged Eagle.”
Hawk rises again. “What?” he says through clenched teeth.
“He gave Eagle the drugs, made it look like he relapsed.”
Hawk stares at me.
Then his eyes change.
“Eagle,” he says.
I nod.
“Cruz did that.”
“Yes.”
Daniela covers her mouth.
Hawk turns away.
For one second, I think he might punch the wall.
He doesn’t.
Probably because this is my mother’s sitting room.
Maybe.
He faces me again. “Why?”
“Because Vega told him Eagle was close to figuring out something he didn’t want known.”
“About what?”
“Vega.” I swallow. “And Dad.”
Hawk’s expression darkens. Daniela looks between us.
“Of course,” Hawk says softly.
That scares me more than if he yelled. “What does that mean?”
“It means what I’ve known for a long time.” He drags a hand over his face. “Dad isn’t the man you think he is, Robbie. He never has been.”
I drop my jaw. Cruz hinted at something similar.
“What do you know?” I demand.
Hawk shakes his head. “You know Dad and I don’t mesh.”
I grab his shoulders. “What aren’t you telling me, Hawk?”
Daniela takes Hawk’s hand once more. “Please,” she says, bringing him back down to the sofa with her.
Hawk looks at her and then back at me. “Robin, I’m sorry. This isn’t about Dad and me right now. It’s about you and what you’ve been through.”
I draw in a breath. Exhale. Close my eyes. Count to ten. Hawk is keeping something from me, but I need to let it go for now. Not forever, but for now.
I open my eyes.
“I need you to understand that I know what Cruz did,” I say. “I’m not excusing it. I’m not romanticizing it. I’m not sitting here pretending he’s secretly innocent because he has a tragic backstory.” I start pacing. “When I was in Colombia, things happened fast. Too fast. He was dangerous, and he was kind. He was my captor, and then he was my escape. He lied, but he also told me the truth when he didn’t have to. He touched me like—”
Hawk’s off the couch again. “He fucking touched you?”
And Daniela’s trying to anchor him again. I’m not sure it’ll work this time, so I sigh. Best to rip the bandage off.
“We had sex. It was complicated, but it was consensual.”
This time Hawk does punch the wall. The plaster cracks beneath his knuckles.
Daniela goes to him. “Honey, please.”
But Hawk’s eyes are on fire. “With the man who helped kidnap you?”
I flinch.