Page 120 of Hawk
Chapter 38
Hawk
After picking Matthewup and carrying him inside, I looked at Gunner and mouthed, ‘I need someone to take him to Sadie’.
He nodded and stepped into the other room. I heard him speaking low to someone on the phone, and he returned a minute later and walked next to me. Placing his hand on Matthew’s back, he spoke softly as he said, “Ms. Sadie’s coming to get you and Anna, so you can go back to the compound.”
Matthew lifted his head from my shoulder and brought his red eyes to me. “I’m not going anywhere without Momma.”
“I need for you to be brave and stay with Ms. Sadie, and I promise, I’ll bring your momma home to you.” He shook his head, and I asked, “Do you trust me?” He nodded with tears streaming down his face, so I said, “I’ve never broken a promise to you, and I don’t plan to start now. Okay?”
“Please bring Momma home,” he cried, and with great reluctance, I handed him over to Claw.
Jackal had Anna in his arms and was standing in the kitchen, speaking low to her as he bounced her gently. He was great with kids, and I knew he was whispering reassuring words to her. Lucian was standing near the front door, speaking with Skid, and when I approached them, they turned in unison to speak with me.
“Has anyone let Devlin know what’s going on?” I asked, and Skid closed his eyes briefly.
“I just spoke with James. Devlin and Elise are at the hospital.” My eyes grew wide, worried something was wrong. “Elise is in labor, and James has DJ at his apartment. He’s getting Callahan Security to watch the building, then he’s leaving DJ with Amaya so he can be here to help.”
“Did he say how long?” Lucian asked, and Skid shook his head. He turned to me and said, “We have to find her. Do we have any leads?”
“They’ll need to review the security footage, but I don’t know where to start looking,” I admitted, feeling powerless.
“I’m going to ask a tough question, and you need to be honest with me,” Lucian said, and I brought my eyes to meet his. “Is it possible this has something to do with who took her all those years ago, or possibly someone from your past who’s looking for revenge?”
“Fuck you,” I said lowly as I got closer to him.
“This isn’t the time or the place for you two to rekindle your fight. Right now, we need to put our heads together and find Stella,” Skid said. “And he’s right to ask, even if he’s an asshole about it.”
“I have no enemies from the past, and anyone who could hurt her is dead already,” I replied as the sound of a car pulling up out front sounded through the open door.
“Sadie’s here,” someone said, and I exhaled before turning to get the kids.
Jackal and Claw were soothing them, but little would make things better until Stella was back with us. I walked up to my brothers who were embracing my kids and said, “Ms. Sadie’s here to take you to the compound.”
Anna cried against Jackal’s shoulder as he walked her through the sea of leather in my living room and outside to the car. Claw passed Matthew to me, and I hoisted my son onto my hip as I spoke softly to him. “I promise, your momma will be home soon and she’s gonna be so proud of you for protecting your sister. Zeus is gonna go with you, so Momma knows your safe.”
He nodded against my shoulder as I took him outside and placed him in the car. He and Anna lifted their red-rimmed eyes to me, and I reached inside the backseat and took a hand from each of them. They looked expectantly at me, and I simply said, “I love you.”
“We love you too, Daddy,” Matthew said for both of them and took his sister’s hand into his, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.
Closing the door, I let Zeus into the front seat before I stepped to Sadie, who was speaking with Gunner. She turned to me, and I spoke quickly and quietly. “Thank you for taking care of them for me.”
“It’s what we do. Has . . . has anyone told Hailey what’s going on?” Sadie asked, and I shook my head. “She deserves to know what’s happening.”
