Hawk shook his head, his gaze locked on her. “It’s been a long time coming. Right, Lucky?”
She nodded, a tear slipping from her watery eyes.
“Hey.” Hawk stood and leaned over her. “What’s this? Are you in pain? Want me to call for the nurse to get you more meds?”
“No.” She grabbed his shirt and held on to him. “I’m happy. And a little overwhelmed.”
“Me, too. But don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay. You’ll see.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, wiping her tears.
She wanted to believe him, but some instinct inside her told her this incident was different from the others. She’d nearly died. Was this just the beginning? It scared her to think they’d try again and this was just the beginning of the end.
Desiree’s heavy stare made her look up. “What?”
“I never thought this would actually be a thing, but you did it. You actually got the guy. You must be really happy.” Desiree sounded anything but excited for her.
She didn’t seem jealous. More like annoyed, even though her voice remained neutral.
Maybe the pain meds were muddling her head and she was reading things wrong.
“I’m…” She didn’t know what to say under the circumstances. “I’m trying to catch up to everything that’s happened.” Everything with Hawk seemed so new and fragile, but also absolute. Like he’d said, this felt like something a long time coming.
“You got the guy. What more do you want?”
“To know who hurt me and why?”To stop them from doing it again. And succeeding.
“Seems to me you might owe them a thank you for getting the two of you together.”
What an odd thing to say.
Stunned, Lucky shook her head in disbelief, then glanced over to Hawk, who wore a similar expression. “I don’t think I’ll be thanking someone who tried to kill me.”
Desiree seemed to catch herself. “Oh. Right. I’m just saying there’s a silver lining here, that’s all.”
Lucky sank deeper into the covers. “I’m tired. I think I’ll try to get some rest.”
Hawk brushed his hand over her hair. “Close your eyes. I’ll be right here the whole time, waiting for you to wake up.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Um. Don’t you have work or something?”
He bent close and looked her in the eyes. “I’m not leaving here without you. Especially when I don’t know if you’re safe.”
“Looks like you’ve got everything you need.” Desiree started for the door.
“Don’t go. You just got here.” She had questions for Desiree about that night.
“I have to run an errand before I pick up Krystal. I’ll call you later and check on you. Your phone is in the bag.” With that, Desiree opened the door, only to find Lincoln on his way back in. “Hey, if you change your mind about that date,” she purred, “we could double.” Desiree grinned at her and Hawk, then looked back to Lincoln, who looked flustered.
“Uh, I’ll think about it.” Lincoln’s voice held little conviction.
Desiree knew he was just pacifying her, but kept her smile in place. “You know how to get in touch with me, since my bestie is your brother’s new flame.” Desiree sauntered out, leaving Lucky with the guys.
Lincoln handed a container to Hawk, along with a can of soda. “I don’t know if you’re allowed to eat anything yet, or I’d have brought you something, too.”
The smell of pasta and garlic hit her nose and her stomach growled.
Hawk laughed. “I bet the nurse will bring you something soon.”
Lincoln pulled a brownie out of his Gunn Brothers Distillery hoodie pocket and set it on the table beside her bed. “For later. You deserve a hell of lot more than dessert after what happened.”
