Page 58 of Witness Protection

She narrowed her eyes, clearing not falling for his diversion. She’d come to him broken, and now she decided to be fearless?

He attempted to get past her to grab a shirt from his closet, but she pushed him in the chest. His body didn’t budge, but he stopped. “Stop lying to me, Hawk. Something happened. You’re different now.”

“I’m the same. What about you, Sophia? Have you changed?”

His thoughts kept drifting to Cayden and the way she said his name. He’d always kept her sheltered—her father’s orders. Maybe the freedom had been too much too soon.

Her fingers drifted down his chest to his abs. “I’m starting to think my father wasn’t the man I thought he was.”

“You were always upset with him,” he reminded. “You never put him on a pedestal.”

“I still had hope that he’d change, that he’d start loving me again. It’s like something clicked when I stopped being a kid. He only tolerated me after that. After everything I’ve learned, maybe he really was a monster.”

He kept still and quiet.

“What? You’re not defending him?”

“Maybe you were right all along, Sophia.”

****

What did that mean?

Sophia was tired of hearing Hawk sing her father’s praises. She always believed it was the reason he never behaved out of line, not even an inappropriate look. If he’d stopped trying to feed her bullshit about her father, what had changed? Something must have happened at the factory, but what?

“Can you stop treating me like a child, Hawk, and really talk to me?”

He sat on the edge of the bed, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. “I found out something about my past that didn’t sit well with me.”

“Your past?”

“Vlad decided to confess his sins before he died. Before I killed him.”

She swallowed hard, afraid of what he may say. Hawk had always been strong, fearless, never faltering. To see him broken shook her to the core.

Sophia sat next to him, resting her hand on his thigh.

“I shouldn’t be telling you any of this. You’ve been through enough.”

“I know what my father was. I’m not going to make excuses for him.”

He bolted back to his feet, pacing back and forth. She couldn’t help but admire his toned body and those strong arms covered in ink. His joggers fit deliciously over his hard ass.

He kept taking breaths, like getting pumped up for a run. Then he stopped and looked right at her. “Your father made me an orphan.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand. He took you in when you were ten.”

“Because he murdered my mother and father. For some reason he had pity on me. That’s why I’m alive.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I gave him everything, my entire fucking life, my complete loyalty. I kept my distance from you out of respect for Vasily. But it was all a lie.”

She was too shocked to reply. Sophia should be reassuring him, apologizing, saying something to comfort him. Her father had killed Cayden’s loved ones, and now this. She wished her father was alive just so she could tell him to go to hell.

“Oh, Hawk—”

“You don’t have to say anything, Sophia. It’s not your fault. He kept you in the dark about everything. I know that.”

She cautiously approached him. Never had she seen him so torn, so filled with emotion. He’d always been the level-headed one, the voice of reason, the man to turn her down again and again.

“He took that from you. It doesn’t matter if it’s not my fault, Hawk. I know how much family meant to you.” She touched his arm, and he shocked her when he lowered to her level and hugged her, his head on her shoulder as he sought comfort.

She held him, her hands on his bare back. He didn’t cry, but her father had hurt him, destroyed an integral part of who he was. His vulnerability only drew her closer. Hawk had been one of her father’s most loyal men, trained by him personally since he was much too young to be involved in violence. She saw how Hawk worshipped her father. It had rubbed her wrong on countless occasions. To find out his devotion had been to a monster would be a crushing blow.

And she knew what it felt like to never know her mother.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. She leaned back and cupped his face, his stubble pricking her fingers. “You’re the one shot. You’re the one dealing with this. All you’ve ever done is protect me. You don’t deserve this, Hawk.”

There was no chance for revenge. Hawk would have to live with this for the rest of his life. She thought of the scar and the tattoo he’d cherished. He’d cut it right off his body. That was something she wouldn’t have been able to do. The past week must have been a nightmare for Hawk. His hotel room was testament to his pain. She wished she could have been there for him when he’d needed her.

“You’re all I have,” he said.

How many times had she said the same thing to Hawk? She’d felt like a burden to him since the assassination. To hear him say those words brought her closer to him. She felt less lonely. Less afraid of what was to come.

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