Page 34 of Savage Protector

“Hawkeye is a nickname given to me by my mother.”

Uh oh. I might have thought too soon since I didn’t know I was opening yet another can of worms.

“She always said I had knack for seeing the impossible. First, with my perfect vision as a little kid on the town’s archery team and then later when it became a tool that came in handy for the club. Being able to see remarkably well at greater than usual long distances translated into making me the perfect weapon.”

“I’m sure that isn’t what she meant when she named you that.”

“Probably not. But my dad was a first class asshole too and it stuck. For a long time I almost forgot it wasn’t my real name.”

“And now?”

“I don’t know how I feel about it. For ten years in the Corps I became known simply as Reed. It wasn’t until I returned to Sultan and ran into Axel I heard the name again. It brought back a lot of memories.”

“Not all of them bad I hope.”

“Nah. Not all of them bad. My mom was pretty damned awesome. In her quiet way, she seemed to understand so much. She also had a fire in her. She didn’t let it out too often, but when she did, phew—watch out.” He stroked my hair as he spoke. “You remind me a little of her.”

I don’t know if the high I was feeling was from the marijuana, but my whole body warmed at his words. I wanted to hear more. “How so?”

“My mother was shy, almost timid at times. Until she wasn’t. Then she’d show you just how brave she could be. There’s also the color of your hair, the shade of your skin, even the darkness of your eyes. Although hers came from her Native American family and I’d venture a guess yours comes from an Italian family.”

I laughed. “How’d you know?”

“Call it a hunch. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more protective father than an Italian father.”

“That is true. Although that doesn’t explain the retched mean that lives inside him. I don’t know where that came from, but it’s truly bone chilling. He’s also unforgiving, cruel and possibly evil.”

“And that is why you are afraid he will catch you?”

I nodded against his chest. “I should have left already. The longer I stay with you the more at risk you become.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me tight. “You’ve seen where I come from. I can take care of myself.”

His rumbling reassurance didn’t actually give me comfort. It was one thing for me to be running for my life and another for me to involve anyone else.

“I wish it were that simple, but it isn’t. If he catches us together, I won’t survive that outcome again.”

“Again? What does that mean?”

Memories rushed through my mind against my will as I recalled that fateful night with my friend Tony. I didn’t want to tell the story, but he’d given me so much. And it was only fair he knew the danger that existed.

“When my mother was ill, she often spent weeks in bed while my father used all of his time on business, often away from home. She refused to talk about her illness, but I knew it was getting worse. With depression and loneliness stealing over me I was in need of something to take my mind off it all. I should have turned to someone else. Anyone else.

But I was forbidden from talking about anything that had to do with my family or our business with anyone. Especially anyone outside the mansion.

Tony on the other hand, he knew what went on there because he lived there with his father in the little tiny guest house tucked into a corner of our backyard. They both worked in our house. It would be impossible for them not to see and know things.

Plus, Tony was my friend. He’d arrived in our home on his eighteenth birthday for a visit and never left. It was impossible for us not to see each other.

At first, he wouldn’t look at me let alone speak to me. But as the months dragged on, we’d begun to talk.

We really were just friends until I got angry and the bright idea I didn’t want to be a virgin anymore. So I hatched a plan and asked for Tony’s help.”

That admission was met by a growl at my back. “Normally, I would not want to hear the details of you with any other man, but I feel like this needs to be said. Once.”

I agreed. He needed to hear the truth as much as I needed to say it. “When my father came home suddenly and caught Tony and I together in bed, we did not look like friends. My insistence that it was all my fault and how I’d practically forced Tony into helping me fell on deaf ears. My father didn’t care about teenage hormones or stupid ideas. He dealt in fear and intimidation. He dragged Tony out of our house that night and I was terrified over what he would do to him. I went to my mother and begged for help. She reassured me that she could handle my father. That I had nothing to worry about.” I wiped a lone tear from my face and pressed on. “Those were the last words I heard from my mother. Her sickness stole her from me that night.”

“Oh God, Izzy. I’m so—”

---