“Hawk, I’m okay, really.”Shewas actually comfortinghim. “And just think, I’ll have a great story to go with my new scar.”
Hawk tilted her away from the cabinet and carefully wrapped her in his arms.
“I’m going to get blood on your shirt.” She tried to pull back.
“I don’t care.” He closed his eyes and held her.That was too fucking close.“Jesus, when I saw that gun—”
“I’m okay. I promise.” She squeezed him, then lifted her head from his shoulder to look him in the eyes. “I know this is probably the absolute worst time to say this, but I’m going to anyway. I love you, Hawk. So much.”
“God, Charlotte, I love you, too.” Hawk gave her a gentle kiss. “I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Me, too,” Charlotte said.
“From now on, I’m going to tell you so often, you’ll get sick of hearing it.” Hawk dabbed the tissues near her wound.
She curved her fingers around the back of his neck. “Trust me, I willneverget tired of hearing you say you love me.”
He tossed the wad of bloody tissues into the nearby garbage can.
“Please tell me we got all of that on camera,” she said. “I want to make sure it didn’t cut out when I fell.”
“We got what we needed.” Hawk was not ready to let her go just yet but had to call Cole with an update.
“Wait … you … you’re wearing a … a camera?” Pennington twisted his neck and struggled to look over at them.
“I sure am.” Charlotte tapped her shirt, near the button camera. “And this is going to make for great TV.”
Pennington started quietly crying behind them.
Leonard swallowed the last of his Bloody Mary and stepped out of the shower. He set the glass on the counter, reached for his towel, and started drying himself off.
The hot shower helped reduce the throbbing in his head, and the Bloody Mary helped the rumbling in his gut.
He had his towel on his head and was drying his hair when he thought he heard someone pounding on his front door. He stopped, waited, and the pounding started again.
He wrapped the towel around his waist, raked his hair back from his face with his fingers and walked into his bedroom. He checked the clock on his nightstand.
“That was fast.” Knowing it was Vince there to tell him about last night, he dropped the towel on the floor and grabbed his bathrobe.
The pounding became louder.
“Christ almighty.” He started down the hall, wrestling his damp arms through the sleeves, then pulled the front together and tied the belt in a knot.
“What the fuck, Vince?” He swung the door open and was nose to nose with the business end of two semiautomatic rifles. The men holding them were dressed in black tactical gear and dark glasses, and their faces were covered.
“Leonard Everett, you are under arrest.” One guy forced him to shuffle backward into the house.
The second guy followed them in, and he was so fucking tall, he had to duck to get through the doorway before he slammed it shut behind him.
“What do you mean, I’m under arrest?”
What the hell is going on?
“Your good buddy Vince told us everything.” The first guy spun him to face away from them and zip-tied Leonard’s wrists together.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”They’re full of shit.
Vince would die before ratting him out.
