Page 74 of Leading Conviction
For good measure, he double-checked with his men for confirmation. Every single one of them nodded their heads. At one point, they might’ve felt differently, but after finding their soul mates, they all understood Eagle’s decision.
“He loved us,” Hawk continued. “He loved you. He loved Tommy. It’s plain to see in the video that he was in a hard spot and did what he thought he had to at the time. And in the end, after everything, I can’t hate the man who sacrificed himself to save me.”
Hannah swore in Spanish and her hand squeezed the life out of Hawk’s as tears streamed freely down her face. “He should’ve told me. He should’ve toldyou.Somebody. Instead he played along and… anddiedin the end.”
Hawk swallowed. “He did. That was his choice, one I would’ve made myself. I don’t fault him for it.”
Hannah shook her head. “I just… I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he would do that.”
“To be fair,” Wes piped up. “The General’s terms were that Eagle would tip off the locals so the target could run away. It sounds like we were supposed to eliminate a proxy. The target had probably made a deal with the General that the women would go to the CTI facility before we got to him since it was so close by.”
“Only the target must’ve gone rogue.” Jason sat up as he spoke. “The proxy had a bomb attached to him and killed everyone in there and the friendlies we trained turned on us.”
“The proxy went rogue… or the General was trying to wipe us off the map,” Wes muttered.
“Loose ends,” Hannah whispered and collapsed back into her chair, shaking her head. “You were all loose ends. That’s why the friendlies turned on you. That’s why the so-called proxy blew himself up. It was all part of his plan. Trick Eagle into playing along and kill everyone in the process,” Hannah summed up. “Then he trickedmeinto thinking you guys were dead by sending me that KIA letter along with a dead bird.”
“The fuck?” Phoenix blurted out.
Hannah nodded. “A dead hawk. It was right next to the unofficial KIA letter that said your team was dead. It was my father’s way of showing me he knew where I was, he was in control, and it was his way of torturing me. He tortured all of us.”
Hannah covered her face with her free hand, trying to take the other out of Hawk’s, but he refused to let go, instead bringing her in for a hug.
“Guys, I’m so sorry for everything my father—”
“Hannah, if you apologize for your piece-of-shit father, I will slap you,” Callie threatened, making Hannah’s lips clamp shut.
“She’s kidding.” Nora laughed nervously. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t know. She might,” Phoenix muttered under his breath.
The back-and-forth had the whole room chuckling, including Hannah, still in Hawk’s arms. He couldn’t have been more thankful for his team. Hannah was going through a lot of shit, but they were, too. And yet, their dynamic made it so they could deal with it together. Anything that put a smile on Hannah’s face, even if it was dark humor, gave Hawk relief.
This woman was everything to him. He’d given her a ring, asked her to marry him, and then broken her heart. And here she was, finding solace in his embrace. He couldn’t fuck this up again.
Hannah pulled away with a small grin on her lips and peered up at Hawk beneath thick, wet lashes, as if she felt the same connection he did.
I’ll always love you, dove.
The words were on the tip of his tongue. They had been for as long as he could remember. He couldn’t let her go. Not again.
When Hannah finally sat back in her seat, Hawk turned to address the team.
“We finally have answers. Ones we had a feeling about. Ones we were afraid to hear. And ones we knew we would hate. But they are answers all the same. We’ve got a solid lead. I’ll be here for the planning to help you do what you need to do.”
Hawk tapped his fingers on the wooden table before glancing at Hannah. Her gaze was on the team as they all waited for him to finish. He took a deep breath and exhaled before making his declaration, not an ounce of regret in his decision.
“But I’m not going.”
“What?” the entire room asked in unison.
He could feel Hannah’s eyes stare hard at the side of his face, begging him to turn. But he didn’t.
This was his decision, and he didn’t want her to think he was making it because she’d somehow implied she wanted it. She asked him to stay once, but there was no guarantee she wanted that again.
That didn’t matter though, his own conscience wouldn’t let him.
He wouldn’t leave her again.
