Page 75 of Leading Conviction
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
“I’m not going,” Hawk repeated carefully to the stunned room.
“Cap’n, say what?” Nora asked in a high pitch.
Hannah closed her mouth, realizing when a cool breeze wafted over her tongue that her jaw had literally dropped.
“But Hawk… you’re our squad leader,” Jason reminded him slowly.
“I am. And as your leader, I’m bowing out this time. You’ve all done it before, for one valid reason or another. Now it’s my turn. I’ll help coordinate from here.”
“You’ve already diverted from the mission once for Hannah,” Wes pointed out. “This can’t wait.”
Hannah’s heart stilled in her chest as she silently pleaded with Hawk to look at her. “Is that true? You went after me instead of trying to find the General?”
Hawk’s gaze finally met hers. “I had to find you, dove. And now that I have, I’m not leaving.”
“Why?” Devil rumbled from the corner. His blond counterpart Draco frowned heavily, as if he wanted to ask the same question.
“It’s a realization I made after Phoenix escaped the General. My priorities have been out of whack for way too long. I’m changing that from now on.”
“Listen.” Nora held up her hand as she spoke. “I know I joke that you’re the Idris Elba version of James Bond the world always needed, but you don’t have to be dramatic. Spit it out. This team deserves to know why you’re leaving them high and dry.” Her gaze cut to the blond Viking, making Hannah realize the unusual edge in Nora’s voice came from protecting her man.
Hawk sighed. Ever since she’d known him, there’d never been a moment where he struggled to meet anyone’s eyes. But this was one of them.
Hannah sat up farther, hoping to catch his gaze because she had a feeling why he was saying no, and if she was right, she wanted no part in it. But before she could answer, Callie answered for her.
“If it’s about Hannah, I can stay. I’m a trained FBI agent and I know this place backward and forward now, including the security measures. I can protect her. Your team needs you.”
Hawk shook his head. “No. While it’s likely Vlad was moving the General into that abandoned warehouse, we’re not one-hundred-percent certain. I’m not leaving Hannah and Tommy vulnerable when there’s even a remote chance that her father is still out there. He’s a wild card. There’s no telling what he’s capable of and I don’t want to leave her here with just one person protecting her.”
“I thought BlackStone Securities was safe,” Hannah pointed out, proud of herself that her frustration only slightly slipped through.
“Itissafe, but that’s not good enough,” Hawk answered, meeting her eyes. “I need to be here.”
Anger welled inside her chest and she faced the rest of the room while trying to gain her composure. “Guys? Can we have the room, please?”
The team looked at each other with confusion before settling on Hawk. Logically, Hannah shouldn’t have felt annoyed that they would look to him first. He was their leader, after all. But the emotion already building in her chest was only compounded by the way they sought him for the answer.
Hawk nodded once and the team slowly left their seats. Nora was the last one out and she mouthed “good luck” to Hannah as she closed the door behind her. As soon as Hannah heard theclick, she whirled on Hawk.
“Hannah, listen, you don’t have to ask me to stay—”
“What in the hell was that?”
Hawk’s jaw dropped. “What in the hell was what?”
“That!” She pointed wildly out to the room, indicating the scene that’d just happened. “You telling the team you weren’t going to go with them to take down my father and end this once and for all!”
“I’m staying here with you. What’s wrong with that?” Hawk asked, his handsome face contorting with confusion.
“What’swrong? What’s wrong is you leaving your team in the dust when they need you most!”
Hawk shook his head. “Hannah, I’m confused. I thought you’d be glad I’m staying. I’m choosing you—” She opened her mouth to interrupt, but he held up his hand. “I’m choosing you because I want to, not because you’ve asked me to.”
It was her turn for her brows to furrow and he sighed before resting back in his chair. He propped his elbow up and tapped his lips as he obviously tried to think of ways to explain himself.
He’d always had little quirks like that, but they’d only gotten more pronounced over the decade. Those little idiosyncrasies were so human, so unique to him, a departure from the stoic, almost robotic way he commanded his team. But humans made mistakes, and this was definitely one of them.
