Page 22 of Leading Conviction
It was barren.
No color, no memorabilia, no art. Nothing.
“Youlivehere?” She couldn’t help the confusion in her voice. Other than Hawk’s faint scent, she’d never guess this was his room. It was nothing like the vibrant life he’d left behind nearly a decade ago.
“I won’t stay here,” he reassured her, obviously misunderstanding the basis for her shock. He turned to place their bags next to the small dining table, but Hannah caught the hurt wrinkling his brow before it was out of sight. “It’ll be just you two.”
“Where will you stay?”
“Don’t worry about that right now. And I’m sorry it’s not much.” He pointed around the studio apartment that was bigger than the entire home she and Tommy had lived in for months. “But the bed is big enough for the two of you, or there’s a couch if that suits better. The bathroom’s there, closet there. I’ll ask one of the women to bring you more clothes from their store.”
Hannah paused from looking around his room. “Their store?”
“My men have all found their perfect matches and a few of them have a store they use as a front for a women’s crisis center. Jules, Nora, Ellie, and Naomi run it and can get you anything you need.”
“Right… well, I have my bag. It’ll do for now. It’s been enough for years.” She picked up her duffel bag and left Tommy’s side and laid it near the bedside table. “Tommy, go ahead and get ready for bed. Anddon’tforget to brush your teeth.”
“Fine.” Tommy dropped his duffel bag to the ground and sighed heavily, like she’d told him to use his toothbrush to scrub the floors instead of his teeth.
Hannah ruffled his hair with a laugh before he disappeared into the bathroom, dragging his bag behind him. It wasn’t until the door was closed that she realized it was only her and Hawk left in the room.
She shifted her gaze to his and her chest tightened at the concern marring his handsome features.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with a frown.
“When we got discharged from MF7, I looked you up and saw you’d won teacher of the year. I didn’t check back in because I didn’t want to draw attention to you or put you in any danger. I only found out two and a half months ago that you were missing. But you… you’ve been on the run foryears?” He shook his head and swiped his hand down his face. She could swear there was guilt mixed with the worry now.
Good.
Let him feel bad for abandoning her. It was literally the least he could do.
She didn’t answer and instead waited for him to continue.
“What the hell happened, Han?”
His question annoyed her, but she shrugged her shoulders, feeling protective over the difficult decisions she’d had to make for way too damn long.
“How are you so shocked that I’ve been running? You haven’t explained everything to me yet, but if my father is as bad as you’re implying, why wouldn’t I have run?”
“I’ve been looking for you for weeks, ever since I realized you’d gone missing. But I only just found out your father was behind everything we’re investigating. He’d been watching you and finding a photo with your coordinates on the back was the first break I’d had about your location. That’s why I went to find you first. I had to make sure you were safe.”
“No! For the past two years,Idid what I had to do to stay safe. I did.Me.Not you.”
“I’m not trying to fight, I just want to know what happened.” His brows furrowed in the center. “Talk to me. You were safe when I left with my team—”
Anger suddenly surged through her, lunging her forward until she stopped within a foot from him. She pointed at his chest, not daring to touch him, unsure of what her body would do if she made contact in her rage.
“That’s right, Hawkins,youleftme. That meansyoudon’t get the right to knowmeanymore. You can find out the details with the rest of your belovedteamtomorrow.”
Her fingers itched to rip him to shreds, but the sincere pain in his gaze made her traitorous heart want to hold him instead.
“I’m sorry, Han. At the time… at the time I thought it was the right move. I never wanted to leave.” His deep voice cracked on the last word.
Sympathy pricked behind her eyes and she took a tentative step back, forcing much-needed space between them.
“Forget it. What time do I need to be ready in the morning?”
Hawkins blinked, obviously trying to catch up to her dismissal. “I, uh, I’ll tell the team oh-eight hundred hours—I mean—eight in the morning.”
