Page 51 of Wilde In His Arms

Hawk nodded, a frown on his face, though he never really smiled.“That had to be hard.”

“I want a life with him.”She stared at Nick’s gorgeous face.“I almost lost him twice before we could make our dreams a reality.”

“He’s tough.It’s going to take more than a couple of bullets and some psycho with a knife to take him down.”

Aria looked over her shoulder at the kids.“Since he goes up against people willing to try to kill him all the time, it’s not that reassuring.”

Hawk acknowledged that with a tilted frown and nod.“He’s going to be really happy to see you.”

“I’ve missed him so much.I hope this case is over and we can finally be together.”

“It won’t be over until Nick has his man in custody.”

Aria sighed, knowing Hawk was right.She briefly glanced at the four kids trying to be quiet while they whispered between them.“I just hope those kids are safe now.”

She wondered if the reason they weren’t asleep was because they were too afraid to let their guard down.

Hawk narrowed his gaze on all of them.“They’ve probably been through more than their fair share of misery.”

“I’m bored,” one of the girls whined.“Can we watch TV?”

The oldest girl shook her head.“Agent Nick needs his rest.”

Hawk stood, drawing the attention of every child.“I’ll go see if they’ve got something in the gift shop downstairs for you to do.”

Aria picked up her bag and pulled out some cash.“Raid the snack machine for them, too.”

Hawk stared at the stack of bills.“That’s a lot of ones.”

“Tips from the bar,” she whispered back with a smirk.

Hawk approached the kids to ask for their candy order, then he walked out.

The room remained quiet until he returned with a pack of cards, a checkers set, and enough candy to fill a Halloween bucket.The kids were all smiles, making her wonder how, after everything they’d been through—being taken from their home and family, being at the mercy of monsters—they still trusted a stranger, who handed them candy and sat down to play a game with them.

Resilience.Courage.Strength.Heart.

Those were the things monsters couldn’t touch or take or crush, because a hero found them and restored their faith that good people do good things, and they recognized the difference between a good man and a monster.

They recognized anyone associated with Nick was a good guy.

“What are your names?”Hawk asked, keeping his distance, letting the kids get used to him.

The oldest spoke for all of them.“I’m Nicole.That’s Emma and Stacy.”She notched her chin up toward the boy with the cast on his arm.“Toby can’t wait for Nick to wake up.”

Aria smiled at the little boy.“Me, too.”She wanted to ask how he’d broken his arm, but was afraid of the answer and reminding him of what he’d gone through.

“Is there really an agent outside the door?”Toby asked.“Is it because Agent Nick thinkshe'scoming back to get us?”

Hawk stood and left little Emma’s bed and headed over to Toby.He stood at the end of the bed and looked the little boy in the face.“There are two agents outside that door.They will protect you with their lives.But they aren’t there because the FBI thinks someone is coming for you.They’re there to makeyoufeel safe until your family comes to pick you up.”

Stacy’s bottom lip trembled.“What’s going to happen when we go home and there are no agents?”

Hawk turned to her.“Nick and every agent on his team are going to find the people who hurt you and they’re going to lock them up and never let them out again.”Hawk took a couple of steps closer to Stacy, then sat on the edge of her bed.“I know you’re scared.I would be, too, if I was you.I was in the military.I fought in the war overseas.I know what it feels like to be really scared.And when you go home, you may feel that way a lot.But you’ll have people there who care about you, who will help you learn to feel safe again.It will take time.But one day you’ll catch yourself laughing or smiling or just having fun.And it will feel weird, because you’ve been through what no one else has been through exactly the way you’ve been through it.You might even think you don’t deserve to be happy.Or you’ll think, finally, you do get to be happy.Whatever you feel, however you feel, just keep telling yourself you do deserve to be happy.”

Aria appreciated that Hawk spoke plain and didn’t make promises that everything would magically be better.He simply told the kids the truth.

She wondered what Hawk’s long-sleeve shirt was hiding.What was beneath his skin?What lingered in his mind?What tormented his sleep?What was he holding on to that kept him quiet and on the fringe of the family?

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