Page 20 of Hawk

“Yeah.” Deviant nodded. “Already figured that out. I’m lookin’ more for something that wouldn’t be common knowledge.”

I hesitated, sifting through my memory for anything that stood out to me. “She was nervous, but that’s not unusual. A lot of women are at first. I do this whole routine to help break the ice—silly questions, stuff like ‘are you the type who clears all your notifications, or do you have thousands of unread emails?’”

Deviant’s fingers froze on the keyboard. “What did she say?”

“That she doesn’t just clear them, she deletes messages constantly.” I bit my bottom lip as I remembered exactly what she’d said. “And she also mumbled something about how that hadn’t done much good in the past.”

“Did you notice if her phone was rooted?” he asked.

I blinked. “I’m sorry—what?”

“Modified. Jailbroken. Anything off about it?”

“No idea,” I admitted. “I barely saw it. She kept it in her bag for the whole shoot.”

Deviant nodded and resumed typing at lightning speed. “Still helpful. Could mean she was paranoid about someone seeing something on her phone. Or that she was trying to hide her tracks.”

I offered him a grateful smile. “I hope it helps.”

“It does.” Callum squeezed my shoulder before asking, “Need anything else?”

Deviant shook his head. “Not unless Gemma has more info for me.”

“Nothing I can think of.” I heaved a deep sigh. “But I’ll let Callum know if anything else comes to mind.”

“That’d be good,” Deviant murmured before his focus returned to his computer screen.

Callum tugged me gently to my feet, and I followed, the weight of Ellen’s absence still pressing on my chest. The rest of the day passed in a blur. By the time we got back to his room, my head was heavy, and my nerves were frayed. But at least my belly was full of delicious food, and my heart was warmed by the welcome I’d received from everyone.

The door clicked softly behind us, and I kicked off my shoes before flopping onto the bed. I heard the low rumble of Callum locking the door, then his footsteps crossing the room. When I looked up, he was setting something down on the nightstand.My phone charger, which I hadn’t even realized he’d grabbed from my bag.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

He let out a quiet grunt and sat on the edge of the bed beside me, his weight barely shifting the mattress.

The silence stretched, thick but not uncomfortable. It was strange how being near Callum eased something inside me. Like the frayed ends of my nerves were slowly stitching back together just because he was close.

“I’ve never stayed somewhere like this before,” I said, my voice soft. “The clubhouse, I mean.”

He shrugged. “Most people haven’t.”

“I thought it would feel…chaotic. Uncomfortable, even.” I rolled onto my side so I could see his face better. “But it doesn’t.”

“No woman needs to worry when they’re here.” He stretched out next to me and interlaced our fingers. “Sure as fuck not you.”

I rolled partway toward him. “Because of you?”

“Yeah, baby.” He stroked his thumb against my palm. “It’s safe to say that.”

My breath caught, but before I could ask what that meant, he was moving. He turned toward me slowly, bracing one hand beside my hip and leaning in, giving me time to stop him if I wanted to. But I didn’t. I wanted this.

“Say no if you’re not ready after everything that happened today,” he murmured, his words a hot puff of air against my lips.

I shook my head, barely whispering, “Please.”

His mouth found mine in the next breath. He didn’t rush the kiss. Instead, he devoured me with slow, unrelenting heat, like he had all the time in the world.

His lips moved with purpose, coaxing instead of taking, until I was clinging to his shirt. The room faded. The ache in my chest, the worry in my gut, the fear I’d carried for days—they all fellaway. There was only Callum, and the way he kissed me like he’d been waiting for this moment for longer than he’d ever admit.

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