Page 78 of Hawk
I answered honestly. “I want to make her my old lady but have no idea if she wants something like that. Especially since I . . . know things about her that she doesn’t need to relive.” I took a swallow of my beer and lowered my voice to ask, “How long did it take you and Sadie to . . . get past what she went through?”
He sighed deeply before he spoke. “There’re still times she deals with the demons, if that’s what you’re asking about.”
“So, they never get past the trauma?”
“Some women take longer to heal than others, but you have to make sure you don’t accidentally trigger her. I did one time with Sadie and her reaction broke my fucking heart. I never meant to do anything that would cause her pain, and through open conversation, we were able to move past it. You need to be patient and when the time comes, give her the reins.”
His statement had merit. Stella should have control over the situation until she became more comfortable with intimacy, but I figured we were months away from that hurdle.
A prospect walked out with a tray of meat and headed straight for the pavilion. Gunner lowered his voice and quickly said, “I can say this. Do something for her that she’s never experienced before and maybe you’ll be able to crack her shell.”
He stood from his seat and walked to the grill, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Knowing I needed to speak with Skid, I pulled my phone from my cut and dialed his number, hoping I wasn’t disturbing him or Grace.
“Hawk, how are you, brother? How’s Stella settling in at the compound?” he asked, and I took another swallow of my beer.
“She’s doing okay, I guess. Listen, I only have a few minutes and I need to know what you uncovered. Do I need to worry about him?”
I didn’t say Lucian’s name on purpose, just in case anyone was close enough to hear the conversation. Until I had more information, I didn’t need to ring any bells about the madman’s brother.
I heard Skid say to Grace, “Give me a minute, baby. I’ll be right back.” The sound of a door closing was audible before Skid spoke again. “I’m not sure what to do with this information, but I am going to tell Devlin. He may have some idea on how to handle the situation.”
“What situation?” I asked, watching as Jackal played kickball with the kids across the parking lot.
“I’ve uncovered some notes from the feds that were buried in a folder full of information about the various families. Apparently, they were transcribed from Sergey Lenkov’s sworn statement before all the trials started.”
“And what did he have to say?”
I had a bad feeling about this but waited to hear what Skid uncovered. I could’ve just been paranoid, but I knew Sergey and saw the path of destruction he’d been hellbent on starting. That’s what led me to Adrik and Stella, so knowing that he spoke on the record and it was all recorded somewhere was upsetting.
“It’s a sworn statement, not from Sergey but from a woman. She went to the feds and made a declaration against Lucian when she was seventeen years old, which was almost fifteen years ago. She stated Lucian kidnapped her and violently raped her for almost three months before she was left on the side of the road with a handful of cash and a bus ticket to the west coast.”
“Please tell me this is a fucking joke,” I nearly pleaded with anger in my voice.
“I wish I was. She went into detail about when, where, who witnessed it, and exactly what he did to her. It’s . . . fuck, man, it’s unsettling. I couldn’t read it all without feeling like I was gonna be sick,” Skid answered, and I closed my eyes, realizing Lucian had been playing us all.
It was going to devastate Hailey, and I feared how Devlin was going to handle it. If he came around, I knew how Stella would react, so I needed to let Gunnar know not to let him on the compound.
Running my hands through my hair, I shook my head in shock. “How did Devlin miss this?”
“I don’t think he knew where to look. I used some of the trial transcripts and worked backward. That’s when I found the file, but from all indications, the feds buried the information so their golden boy could continue to kill for them.”
“That’s seriously fucked up,” I said as I drained the last of my beer, wishing I had something stronger.
Gunnar kept glancing at me, and I knew he could tell something was wrong. Rubbing my eyes, I asked Skid, “Where’s the woman now?”
“Off the grid, much like Stella was. I’ve got the system looking for her, but from everything I’ve discovered, she gave her statement and vanished. I . . . I just hope he didn’t find out what she did and decided to take care of her before she became a problem for him,” Skid replied.
I looked at the clubhouse and saw the group of old ladies walk out the front door. Stella was linked arm-in-arm with Hailey as they made their way to the kids. She looked around for me, and I forced a smile on my face and offered her a wave. She smiled back and, for once, she seemed relaxed.
I spoke quickly and quietly to Skid. “Find her or find out what happened to her. And I need you to let Devlin know before he gets here for dinner. I don’t want to discuss this in front of Stella or Hailey until we have some more answers.”
“I’ll keep digging. Give my regards to Stella and let her know Grace and I will be there in the morning to welcome her to the family.”
“Can you bring some chocolate croissants for breakfast? I think she’d enjoy them,” I requested and heard him chuckle.
“Can do. And Hawk?” I made a grunting noise, and he continued. “Give her time and she’ll come around.”
“Thanks, brother. I’ll see you in the morning.”
