Page 32 of Leading Conviction
Over the years before she finally ran away, her father had no problem throwing it in her face that Hawk had chosen him and the military life over her. Of course, Hawk hadn’t known the depth of the complicated relationship she had with her father. The fact that Hawk had no idea was her fault, not his.
She’d never been able to open up to him about the things in her past that she’d only recently come to grips with as abuse. Her head was in the sand about it back then. Over the past two years, though, she’d had no choice but to confront her demons—mentally, at least. Physically, she’d run like hell.
Hawk had said he was choosing her life and safety by staying in MF7 and leaving her behind. He’d claimed then that the shooting at the Braves game was caused by local traffickers his team had taken down. Later, the bastards who were caught had records a mile long, including trafficking, so the story had checked out.
But what would Hawk do when he found out that leaving her had been exactly what her father had wanted? And with her father in the picture, she’d never been safe.
She blew out a breath but felt no less stressed as she finally began, “I’ll start at the party.”
The pretty blonde with tan skin, Ellie, and the woman who looked creepily similar to Hannah, Callie, both piped up in unison.
“The Scholarship Fundraiser?”
“The party?”
Hannah nodded slowly. “Um, yeah. The Ashland County Scholarship Fundraiser. I am—was—an art teacher. Around two years ago, I got an invitation to go to a fundraiser that gave scholarships to bright and promising art students across the southeast. I received Teacher of the Year that year…”
As she mentioned her award, she didn’t miss how Hawk’s lips curved upward in a smile. The pride on his face made her chest light, giving her the courage to walk through the rest of the details.
“The invite was from some company—”
“Charitable Technologies International?” Wes asked.
“That’s the one. I’d never heard of them before then, but I sure as hell know them now.”
“Same here,” Nora, the woman with purple curls and rose gold–framed glasses, mumbled across the table.
“Well, they invited me under the guise that I would present the award for an art scholarship. I was excited to go. Got a sitter and drove all the way from Atlanta to Ashland County. But once I arrived, I quickly realized something…weirdwas going on.”
“How so?” Jules asked down the table, not looking up from her legal pad as she took notes.
“Well, for starters, when I got there and asked for instructions, no one knew about the scholarship I was asking about.” Hannah chuckled wryly. “I stayed, thinking I must’ve gotten something wrong. But when I was about to leave, a big bald man called me into a room. I found out later his name was Vlad—”
“Motherfucker,” Draco muttered behind Nora.
“Draco, the kid’srightthere.” The one with the scar right above his left ear, Jason, pointed to Tommy.
Tommy shrugged. “I’ve said worse.”
Hannah felt her eyes bug out as she turned on her hellion of a son. “¡Ay! ¡Dios mio!Oh my god, Tomás Hawkins! I know you didn’t just say that.” She narrowed her eyes into slits until the boy had the good sense to look chagrined. “You make it sound like I’m okay with you cursing like a sailor.”
“Sorry, mom,” he grumbled. The bright red in his tan cheeks almost made her smirk, but she returned her attention back to the rest of the room.
“I swear, he doesn’t go around cursing everywhere. It’s just a harmless way we blow off steam whenmierdahits the fan…” She trailed off at the stark silence and shock on every face staring back at her. “Did I, um, say something wrong?”
She glanced around self-consciously until her gaze finally landed on Hawk. A flurry of emotions passed over his usually carefully blank expression.
“Tomás… Hawkins?” Hawk’s voice broke at the end of his own name.
The air in her chest seized and she felt her cheeks heat.
“Yes,” she answered simply, even though they both knew he wasn’t really asking a question.
She held his gaze, her heartbeat thrumming in her veins. The regret was a palpable thickness in the air between them, and she wondered which questions he hated to dwell on the most.
Early on for her, the worst ruminations centered around that one night. What if Hawk had stayed? What if she hadn’t opened the door when his best friend came to console her?
When she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d prayed it was Hawk’s so she could have something to remember him by. Logistically, Tommy could have just as easily been his. If he had known, would he have stayed?
