Page 55 of Witness Protection

She stood near the far wall, alone, her long, blonde hair all natural again. As he got closer, he saw her face was blotchy from crying.

Once she noticed him in front of her, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. He draped his arms over her. “Thank God I have you back. Tell me what’s wrong, Sophia. Tell me what happened.”

She peered up at him, fresh tears slipping from the corners of her eyes. “He’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

“Cayden. He just dropped me off here with a room number. He wouldn’t even come in.”

“I thought he wanted his fucking cat.”

She cried again, deep sobs as her tears soaked into his shirt. What had Cayden done to her? She should hate him. She did hate him at one point.

Hawk was finding it difficult to pull up the same murderous passion now that he knew what kind of man Vasily was. Vasily Morenov had taken all their families. Made them all orphans.

“Let’s go upstairs. I have a room.” He kept his arm around her shoulder and led her to the elevator. It was surreal having her back. So much had happened. He’d nearly gotten her back last week, but then Vlad showed his true colors and he’d lost her again.

He couldn’t let her out of his sight now. Hawk needed her as much as she needed him at this point.

Hawk ushered her inside his room and closed the door. He led Sophia to the sofa and sat her down, then moved to the open kitchen.

“Can I get you something? Water, pop, tea?”

“Hawk…”

She looked at him, her face tearstained, her lower lip trembling. He didn’t want to fuck this up. His feelings for Sophia were a blur. He wanted to be her protector, the man her father expected him to be. But that asshole was a memory he wanted to wipe from his mind. He had no one to be loyal to at this point—except her.

Sophia had been through hell, and if he added his real feelings into the mix, it would break her. He had to be her rock. Had to put her first.

He reluctantly came and sat on the sofa. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. He was good to me. And he doesn’t deserve to have a hit on his head. Please, call it off.”

He nodded. “You’re safe now. There’s no reason for Antonio to go after him. I’ll call him and tell him to stop looking.”

“Thank you.”

They were both quiet. He didn’t know where to start.

“You’ve had a change of heart about him. About Cayden.”

“My father killed people he loved. He’s not a monster.”

He tilted his head, thinking, wondering. The way she spoke of Cayden now was a lot different than before. He wanted to know everything that had gone on between them but was too afraid to ask. He remembered the rumpled comforters in the basement of the factory.

“Are you still a virgin, Sophia?”

She swallowed hard, her lips parting. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Answer me.”

“We didn’t have sex, Hawk, so yes, I’m still a virgin. In fact, he was a perfect gentleman.”

Every bone in his body felt like jelly for a moment as the huge weight eased off his shoulders. He exhaled, one hurdle crossed.

“Good. You’ve been through too much. You’re probably not thinking right.”

“I’m thinking fine,” she said. “What happened with Vlad?”

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