GAGE
The elevator dings and the doors glide open, granting me access to the second floor of The Hawkeye Club.
I thought entering Cass and Kennedy’s house for that meeting last night was like being permitted into the holy of holies, but this is the true inner sanctum. This is where they run the entire Hawke Enterprises empire from. Where the decisions are made. Where their most guarded secrets are held.
Few people are privy to what happens up here.
For good reason.
This type of money and power brings with it lots of jealousy and creates enemies—like Satriano.
The information they provided during that meeting was mind-boggling.
All the threats, the harm that has come to them either at his hand or indirectly because of his actions.
It’s no wonder Bishop takes her job so seriously and is willing to go to such great lengths to do it. If she doesn’t, these people she loves so much might suffer the consequences. She would never be able to live with herself if anything happened to any of them on her watch, which is why she’s always on-guard, why she refuses to take time to care for herself or her own needs.
But now, it’s my job to help her ensure their safety.
And to ensure she doesn’t burn herself out in the process.
It all starts today.
I suck in a sharp breath and step out of the elevator, my boots moving almost silently across the polished floor. A practiced skill that has saved my life many times in the past. Voices carry down the hall, and I follow them, well aware that one of the owners of those might not be so happy to see me this morning.
She ran.
Waking up in the middle of the night to a cold, empty bed where her warm body should have been shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, given her history, but it still stung more than I’d like to admit.
For some reason, I had held out the stupid hope that she would be in my arms when I opened my eyes.
I thought I had finally broken down that wall and left it so shattered that she couldn’t rebuild it.
But apparently, I was wrong.
My chest still stings with that realization, and I rub at it absently as I advance down the corridor.
Saint’s deep voice reverberates down to me. “Where do you think we should put him?”
I freeze mid-step before I reach an open doorway on the right and press my back against the wall. A familiar annoyed sigh follows Saint’s question. I’ve heard that from Bishop so many times in the short period that we’ve known each other that I’d know it anywhere.
“I don’t know, Dad. He’s too skilled not to utilize, but…”
Bishop’s hesitation makes me hold my breath.
But?
Last night should have eradicated any buts from her mind. It should have cemented for her that I am here to help her. That I would do just about anything to make all of this easier on her.
“But what?”
Her father’s question hangs in the air, and my lungs burn waiting for her response.
“But I’m not sure we can trust him completely.”
A beat of silence lingers, then two, before the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor echoes out into the hallway and I use the noise to release my breath in a rush filled with more pain than I ever expected.
She still doesn’t trust me.
