Page 55 of Leading Conviction
Eagle took everything he could from the only night he’d ever be able to have the woman of his dreams. Hawk may have sacrificed everything to give her a safe life. But he’d also gotten to love her while Eagle had never gotten the chance.
If they ever made it back home after MF7, maybe Hawk could try with her again and they’d all continue on like normal. Eagle was taking the moment for what it was. His one shot. One night. That’s all he’d ever needed, all he’d ever wanted, to sate this craving for her he’d always had.
He hoped like hell he wouldn’t regret it.
CHAPTERTWENTY
Present Day
Hawk hoped like hell Hannah wouldn’t regret their moment in the sunset.
Afterward, he’d showered off in the gym bathroom since his room was taken. He changed into another black Henley and jeans from his locker before going to the war room to meet with Wes. It was getting late, but Hawk wanted to see if they’d made any headway with the information Hannah had given the women.
Hawk’s navy-haired friend sat before the wall of computer monitors, his head shaking in disappointment at whatever he saw on the security footage. When he seemed to register Hawk’s presence in the room, Wes faced him and raised his index finger with a dramatic flair before slamming it down onto the keyboard. One of the monitors went black with a white “DELETED”message stamped across the screen.
“Really? You too?” Wes glared at him through his black-framed glasses and waved his arms around. “I think everyone but Jason has gotten off in front of our cameras by this point.”
“Ah, give it time, Wes.” Jason’s laugh echoed in from the hallway. He walked into the room with red-rimmed eyes and clapped Hawk on the shoulder before finding a seat and smiling. “Congrats, man, didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Don’t forget who the first was,” Hawk teased Jason, referring to the guy’s sister, Ellie. Jason’s smile flipped into a scowl and Hawk laughed as he turned to Wes again. “Get over it, brother. It was practically PG.”
“Oh, I’m over it, alright,” Wes groaned as more of Hawk’s team filed in one by one. Hawk hadn’t formally called the meeting, but his teammates were just as invested as he was in taking down the General. “I’m this close to giving all of you the codes so you can delete the evidence yourself instead of forcing me to suffer through soft-core porn every damn day.”
“Hey, I deleted mine myself, thank you very much,” Nora boasted with a bow, spilling her purple curls over her shoulder. “You’ll never have to worry about Drake and me.”
The giant Viking in question grunted his assent as he pulled out her chair for her and sat beside her.
“Aw, poor Sna—Wes, getting paid to watch porn.” Phoenix came into the room laughing and miming wiping his tears before sitting in the chair on the other side of Nora. “Cry me a river, buddy. There are worse things about this job.”
“Don’t we fucking know it,” Callie muttered as she collapsed in the chair beside Phoenix.
Phoenix and Callie had been through the wringer to say the least. They would have a long road in therapy, but the way those two tackled everything head-on, Hawk had full faith in their recovery.
Devil walked in and glanced around the room. “Am I the last to show?” he muttered as he slid around Draco to sit at the opposite side of the table from the door.
“No Ellie tonight?” Hawk asked.
Devil shook his head. “She’s studying for her summer class on her shift at the clinic. Besides, I want her out of this shit as much as possible.”
“You know how much shelovesto be babied,” Nora scolded in a singsong voice, but Devil just shrugged in response.
“Okay, so this is everyone, I take it?” Hawk mentally counted everyone in the room.
Jason, Devil, Wes, Nora, Draco, Phoenix, Callie…
“Our two other frequent fliers, Marco and Jules, have court tomorrow,” Jason offered about the assistant district attorney they worked with and Jules, his fiancée. “Katie-Belle has her first day of day care tomorrow, so Jules’ll probably be crying in court. Poor thing’s upset about it.”
Phoenix poked Jason’s flush cheek, just below his red-rimmed eyes. “Looks like she’s not the only one upset. Someone else had a little tear here already.”
Jason swatted his hand away and crossed his arms. “Shut up.”
Laughter rolled through the room as Hawk sat in his normal spot at the oval table and propped his elbow on the wooden surface. Before he even began speaking, his fingers steepled in front of him, a gesture he’d learned from his pops.
“Alright. What have we got?” he asked.
Wes cleared his throat. “Well, speaking of ADA Aguilar. He texted me today. Apparently, Officer Henry Brown got a visitor in jail.”
“How is that fucker even allowed visitors?” Phoenix griped.
