Page 126 of Rebel Hawke

“Jesus Christ.” A weird, icy coolness settles over me like I’m stepping through a cold fog. “That can’t be.” I shake my head and squeeze my eyes closed. “No, Jenkins would never do that. He wouldn’t.”

“He would…for his wife and child.”

I open my eyes to meet hers, and I see the truth there in her gaze.

Because I know I would do anything for her and our baby.

Anything foranymember of the family.

Taking that bullet so the girls could get to safety already proved that what Jenkins said he did was the truth.

Wren releases another sob and pulls from my hold, shaking her head. “It seemed like he had to tell me, that he hung on so he could get the truth out. He didn’t even say goodbye, just confessed like it was the only thing keeping him here.”

Jesus.

The man took his last moments on this planet with his granddaughter to confess something likethatto her.

“I’m so sorry, Little Bird.”

I tug her against me, letting her sob as the strange truth he revealed rattles around my head, replacing the pain in my chest with a fury that can’t be released because the fucking man responsible is already dead.

Dominic Abello’s sinister stain has tainted the Hawkes since before I was even born. He destroyed so many of us in so many ways we didn’t even realize. And now, to find out he was responsible for what happened to Grandfather…

“Please don’t be mad at him, Atlas. Please don’t. I can’t bear it if you hate him.”

I tunnel my hands in her hair and tug her head back. “Who?”

“Gramps. I can’t lose him…and then have you hating him and me.”

“Oh, Little Bird.” I lower my lips to her forehead and leave them there, smelling her tears and that almond and cherry scent that seems to have grown sweeter since she got pregnant. “I could never hate him or hold anything he did against you.”

The door to Nora’s office swings open, and Pope steps in. His jaw set hard, the sympathetic gaze in his eyes tells me Nora filled him in when he arrived. “Hey, you two okay?”

I gave him a sharp nod. “As much as we can be.”

He steps in and closes the door, ensuring we retain our privacy. “Aunt Nora’s taking care of all the paperwork.”

Something I’m sure Wren wouldn’t even be able to contemplate right now. His words draw a strong sob from her, and she clings to me tighter, fingers tugging at my T-shirt.

I incline my head toward him. “Thank you.”

One of his dark brows rises as he watches Wren fall apart in my arms. “Can I get you anything?”

Maybe a fucking lobotomy because right now I feel like the world’s gone mad and everything has been flipped upside down.

We lost Jenkins.

And gained one massive, ugly secret that will shatter the Hawkes.

I shake my head. “No.”

He nods, steps in, and squeezes my shoulder before returning to the door. “Everyone’s downstairs if you need anything.”

“You can all go.” I glance down at Wren, who is certainly not in any shape to talk with anyone else at the moment. “There’s no reason for everyone to be here now. Not when he’s already gone.”

Not when all that’s left is the unsettling truth he dumped on Wren before he left us, and the pure rage building inside me.

19

---