Page 2 of Out of Reach

You know how,his mind responded.

When Hawk had seen the name Jude English on the dossier back at Falcon Security, he’d thought it was a coincidence. Last he’d heard, Jude was on the fast track to fame at Utopia, one of the top modeling agencies in the city. The Jude English on the paper Hawk was reading lived in a dump and had a hit man after him.

But then Hawk had pulled out the picture, and his heart had dropped.It was his Jude.

That was the moment when Hawk should have confessed to his bosses that he and Jude had been lovers, living together back in Michigan for nearly three years. But he’d known if he’d told them, they wouldn’t have let him take the case. And there was no way Hawk was going to let someone else protect Jude from the reputedly dangerous crime boss he’d somehow gotten himself mixed up with.

“Don’t call mebabe,” Jude said, hands still planted on his slim hips.

“Have you even been eating?” Hawk couldn’t stop the words from falling out of his mouth when he noted the carved cheekbones that showed so prominently in magazines weren’t the work of a makeup artist and contour brush.

“Fuck you, and what do you mean, you’re hereto save my ass?” Jude demanded, dark eyes flashing.

Seeing him so angry probably shouldn’t turn Hawk on, but some things never changed.

Hawk answered Jude’s question with a question—one that had been burning in his brain since he’d read the dossier. “How exactly did you manage to get one of the most dangerous men in New York City on your bad side?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jude frowned. “Are you talking about Sam?”

A derisive laugh escaped Hawk’s lips. “Yeah,Sam Prescott—suspected money launderer, drug lord, and human trafficker with connections to the mob. My boss has dozens of files on him, which is how he came to find out that Prescott’s been asking all over the city about youandhas now put out a hit. Did you even know that?”

“I knew he was looking,” Jude said. “I don’t know about the hit part. Who, exactly, is your boss?”

“Slade Falcon.”

From the look on his face, Jude had heard of Falcon, but, then again, most people had. Well-known for his charities and good deeds—as well as for his marriage to ex-NFL quarterback Derrick Richmond and all the kids they’d adopted from the foster system over the years—the man was almost always in the news for something. Plus, a building with his name on it in downtown Manhattan was kind of hard to miss.

“I answered your question, now you answer mine,” Hawk pressed.

“I eat plenty,” Jude said. He was being purposely obtuse.

“Jude—” he said warningly, a part of his brain noting how easily they fell into their old habits.

“We dated for almost a year. I moved out of his penthouse six months ago,” Jude said.

Hawk sighed. “I know that part from the dossier my boss gave me. What I want to know is, how did it happen? I mean, I know you like it rough, but going for adepravedmobsteris a bit much, don’t you think?”

Hawk knew he’d gone too far as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Jude was really angry now, and that wasn’t going to help Hawk get him out of there.

“Sorry. That was out of line. I’m just worried about you.”

Jude relaxed slightly, but still said, “At least Sam never spoke to me the way you are right now.”

Turning away, Hawk stared out the window at the dirty brick wall across the alley and counted to twenty-five before taking a deep breath and letting it out.

“I said I was sorry.” He faced Jude again only to find him frowning at him reproachfully. “Look, what’s important is that your life’s in danger. You’ve got to come with me. Pack whatever you’ve got, and let’s go. You can tell me what a bastard I am when I’ve got you somewhere safe.”

CHAPTER THREE

Jude

“You’re wrong about the hit,” Jude said, shaking his head. He’d had time to think about it while he’d packed and come downstairs with Hawk, and it didn’t add up. “Sure, Sam’s looking for me, but not to killme. When I broke things off six months ago, he made sure my modeling career crashed and burned.Thatwas his revenge. Why would he suddenly want me dead? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Who knows why a crazy guy like that does what he does? Come on. The rental car’s this way.”

Having Hawk there, telling him what to do so soon after Sam, rubbed Jude the wrong way. He knew he was being childish, but he said it anyway. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

Well, he guessed it was better thanYou’re not the boss of me!

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