Chapter 19
Hawk
The kids were fed,dressed, and dropped off at school before the first bell, and I was on my way home when my phone rang. At the next stoplight, I opened the phone and saw a missed call from James, Devlin’s brother. Worried something was wrong since he never called me, I pulled into a parking lot and returned his call.
“Good morning, Hawk. How are you on this lovely day?” James asked, and I pulled the phone from my ear and gave it a confused look.
Not sure what was going on, and eager to get home for Stella’s arrival, I cut right to the chase. “What can I do for you, James?”
“For once, it’s what I can do for you. I wanted to let you know a visitor showed up this morning.”
It felt like a lead weight was dropped into my stomach as I asked, “Who?”
“Stella,” he replied, and I instantly worried.
“What happened?” I asked as I put the call on speaker and pulled out of the parking lot, headed toward Pierce Bluff.
James laughed into the phone as he explained, “She found a way around our security system and let herself in. She’s at Devlin’s now, and I’m on my way back with breakfast. I thought you might want to join them.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t let the madman cause her any problems, or I swear to God—”
“Relax, Hawkins. From every indication, they’ve worked through some of their issues. I just thought she could use the emotional support.”
“How . . . how does she seem?” I asked, fearful she was thinking with her gut instead of her head or heart.
He lowered his voice and said, “She seems a little overwhelmed, but I think that’s to be expected. I’m assuming she’s got trust issues.”
“Wouldn’t you after everything she went through?” I barked and felt bad for taking my frustration out on James.
He was an asshole like Devlin, but he was a good man. It was James who was able to smooth Devlin’s and Lucian’s feathers when they wanted to kill each other, and throughout the years, James seemed to be the level-headed one of the duo.
“What did she go through?” he asked without sounding judgmental.
“More than most, And that’s all I’ll say. Keep her there. I’ll be at the building in around twenty minutes.” I was about to hang up when a thought hit me. “You might want to keep Lucian away from her. She’s . . . not forgiving of some things, and the chip on her shoulder where he’s concerned is massive.”
“Noted. I’ll send him on a wild goose chase for a few hours until she and Hailey have a chance to talk.”
