‘What’s on your mind?’
‘What makes you think there’s something on my mind?’
‘You weren’t yourself out there. You were distracted.’
‘Nah man, you beat me fair and square.’
Ty shrugged and turned to head to the showers.
‘I’ve done something… and I don’t know if it was the right thing to do.’
‘Can’t help you if I don’t know what it is.’
He took a deep breath and admitted that he had told Aurora they would never be together. Ty slumped down next to him.
‘I know you think you’re doing her a favor by staying away, but Aurora is a Rose, whether you like it or not, and you’re not gonna be able to make her step down so you have to do the next best thing. Protect her. Make amends with her Hawk, even if you’re not with her, because you can’t protect her from a distance.’
Ty stood up and made for the showers a second time but Hawk called after him.
‘Is that how you feel about Honor?’
Hawk had known that Ty was in love with Honor long before Ty had denied having anyone, and Hawk was more than ok with that. He couldn’t have asked for a better brother-in-law than the man who may as well have been his blood brother.
‘Like I said, stay close to her. But I hate to break this to you man, one way or another, you’re going to have to tell her that you could have saved her fiancé.’
As Ty walked away, Hawk stood up and made his way to the showers. He let Ty’s words sink in, and by the time he had finished, he’d decided to go to the Hannam compound and apologize. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, didn’t even know if Aurora would agree to see him, but he knew he had to try. He couldn’t leave things the way they were between them and Ty was right, he couldn’t keep trying to make her step down. He had to respect her decision. He also had to admit to his role in Mike’s murder.
As he neared the compound, he pulled into the motor court and found Aurora slamming her car door shut and stalking up the front steps. He took off his helmet and called out. When she didn’t turn around, he went after her, taking the steps two at a time. She got to the top and threw the door open. He was about to walk into a boss’s house uninvited, and even though he would call them friends, he knew he was crossing the line. But he did it anyway and found Aurora standing in the middle of the foyer, yelling out to her brothers, her voice ricocheting off the walls and filling the open the space. He didn’t know what she was doing but he knew if he didn’t stop her, things were about to get ugly.
‘Aurora, you need to stop, you can’t behave this way. Whatever it is that’s got you this angry, it’s not worth losing your standing.’
She ignored him and when he grabbed her arm, she ripped it away and shoved his chest so hard that he took a step back.
‘What do you care about my standing? You want me to step down, maybe now you’ll get your wish.’
She turned back but he took her hand.
‘Don’t do this.’
She looked down but he didn’t let go. Then she looked him in the eye.
‘Why are you here?’
‘To say sorry. You’re an amazing Rose and I had no right to ask you to give that up. I don’t want to change you. You’re perfect the way you are.’
Wow. The whole way to the compound he’d been worried about what he was going to say, but as soon as she was standing in front of him, the words flowed out. She shook her head.
‘What does that mean? Where does it leave us?’
Shit.
‘Actually, you know what, before you answer that, tell me something. Why didn’t you stop me from marrying Mike? I had a right to know the truth about our fairytale, even if it was some childhood phase and you didn’t have feelings for me anymore, I had the right to know.’
He hadn’t seen that one coming. He wasn’t sure what to say but was saved by Vince, who had just walked up the stairs and was standing in front of them, arms crossed. Aurora turned to glare at her brother and Hawk knew he had to stop her from confronting him. He hissed in her ear.
‘Don’t do it.’
Vince gave her a questioning look.
‘Were you calling me?’
It was her chance to say something. But she didn’t. Instead she told Vince that they were thinking of ordering pizza and asked if he was hungry.
‘Thanks but I’ve already eaten. Is there something going on between you two?’
Aurora answered first.
‘We’re talking.’
‘Ok… I don’t know what that means, but you might want to keep ‘talking’ in the upstairs living room. Johnny’s going to be home any minute so unless you want to explain your status to him, I suggest you take this upstairs.’
Hawk felt his heart rate speed up as she took his hand and led him upstairs. He followed her into the living room, where she closed the doors behind them and blocked it with her body.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
He decided he wouldn’t hide from her anymore. Ty had told him that even if he didn’t want to be with her, he needed to be close enough to her to protect her. But he had been miserable for years, staying away from her because he thought it was the right thing. Forget what his father had told him. He wanted to be with her, and he would keep her safe.
‘I didn’t tell you because I thought you could do better than me.’
‘So you thought Mike was better than you?’
‘Mike wasn’t damaged.’
‘But you are? Didn’t I have the right to decide that?’
‘It’s not a decision, it’s a fact.’
‘Even the most damaged person can be saved. Did you believe I couldn’t save you?’
Hawk rubbed his forehead and shook his head.
‘You’re the only one who can save me. I’ve known that from the start.’
‘Then why won’t you let me?’
She walked towards him and took his hands.
‘You’ve stayed away from me because you’ve been worried that you’ll hurt me but you won’t. You’re not like your father. Your mom might have died but she still lives inside you. You’re more like her than you know.’
He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.
‘You were in love with Mike.’
She sat beside him and turned his face towards her.
‘I loved Mike, but I was never in love with him, and do you want to know why I know that? Because I’ve always been in love with you.’
He swallowed the lump that was in his throat. He had to tell her about his involvement in Mike’s death. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Everything she was saying was what he had always wanted to hear. He’d been ready to let her walk down the aisle, all because he didn’t believe he could give her what she needed, and it had killed him. If she only knew the number of times he’d driven halfway to the compound ready to tell her everything.
But after all that, the years of silent torture he’d lived through, she was sitting beside him, telling him she was in love with him. She was offering him a new path, one that led to happiness, maybe a family of his own, a life lived hand in hand with his other half. He sat back and cupped her cheek, urging himself to be honest, to tell her what he was hiding from her. Hadn’t she just yelled at him for keeping his feelings a secret? But he knew that when the truth came out, she would never be able to forgive him. She would walk away and then he would no longer be damaged, he would be broken. As soon as she found out, she would hate him, and he wasn’t ready for that. She wrapped her arms around his waist and curled her legs beneath her. He knew he was delaying the inevitable, but if sitting on that couch with her head on his shoulder was all he was going to get, then he would take it, and that memory alone would keep him going for the rest of his miserable life.
‘Let me save you.’
He kissed the top of her head and urged himself to tell her how he felt. His mouth had gone dry and he rested his head on hers. It was three words, voicing an emoti
on he’d always felt. He cleared his throat but was interrupted by his cell. Shit, that was Ty’s ringtone. He moved fast, reaching in to his pocket as she sat up. Ty’s grin came through the phone.
‘You’re not going to believe what I just found.’
Aurora was watching him and he knew as he listened to Ty that his expression told her everything she needed to know. Ty told him he would drop a pin with his location and to get there as fast as possible. He also told him to bring everyone. Hawk looked to Aurora.
‘We found ‘em.’
They both jumped off the couch. She threw open the doors and ran into the corridor, standing at the banister to the ground floor and yelling out to Vince. She ran to her bedroom and Hawk bolted down the steps to meet Vince in the foyer, murmuring under his breath as they waited for his cell to give them what they wanted. Then he put it back up to his ear.
‘I’ve got your location, we’ll be there in twenty. Stay with the one in the suit. If that son of a bitch so much as breathes in the wrong direction I want you on him.’
Vince grabbed a set of keys off the table, calling out behind him as he went.
‘Get your stuff and we’ll take the Hummer. I’ll meet you out the front in two.’
Hawk moved to follow, but then he turned to face Aurora, who had joined them. He took three steps, grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard on the mouth. Then he followed Vince out the front door. He needed her to know that they would finish their conversation. He wasn’t going anywhere. Minutes later they were racing towards Ty’s location, Hawk barking the details to Honor on his cell and Vince telling Bo where to meet them on his. The Hummer flew over speed humps like they were rubble and the tires screeched in protest as Vince turned corners without slowing down.
‘How’d your boy find them?’
Vince had to raise his voice as the Hummer rocketed through the streets.
‘Ty’s stalker showed up drunk at The Den. He took her home and she’d left a window open. He saw three guys having a smoke in front of the house next door. One of them said that Dallas was going to kill him if he got loose and that he couldn’t believe the shit Dante was giving them.’
Vince took a hard turn and Hawk braced himself against the door.
‘Well, I never thought I’d say this but thank God for crazy women.’
Aurora rolled her eyes but smiled. It took them fifteen minutes to reach their target, a double storey home in Sherman Oaks. Vince slowed the Hummer to a crawl, turned off the lights and parked three houses down. Ty had left and was tailing the man who had looked like the leader. Hawk’s knee was bouncing, and he could hear Vince and Aurora drumming their fingers against their thighs. They didn’t have to wait long for the others. Johnny’s Hummer turned the corner minutes after they’d parked, Honor’s Escalade hot on his tail. They both turned their headlights off, Johnny taking the car spot in front of them while Honor parked one house up. They gathered in the shadows cast by the SUVs and each prepared in their own way.
Vince tweaked earpieces so that they would all be connected. Cross and Honor were crouched down beside him, checking their guns with a practiced ease and ensuring their knives were strapped. Bo and Johnny surveyed the street, the unmistakable air of leadership surrounding Johnny as he waited for everyone to assemble themselves. Vivienne clashed her Sais against one another, as if she could make them any sharper than they already were, and Aurora took the safety off her guns. He hid his surprise as his sisters nodded to Aurora and Johnny began to speak.
‘I’ve called Jackson, Jamie’s on his way but we’re not waiting. If Dante and Dallas are in there, we’ll have them out by the time he gets here, then he can take them home while we hunt down the son of a bitch who took ‘em. Hawk, is your boy on his tail?’
‘Hell yes.’
‘Then let’s roll. Hawk, you and Honor circle round and smash through the back. Vince, you and Vivienne back them up. Bo, you and I are going in first through the front. Cross, you and Aurora go in after us.’
Everyone pushed their earpieces into place. Hawk was the first to move, snaking around the Hummer towards the house, Vince behind him as Honor and Vivienne crept around the other side. As he took his place on the right side of the backdoor, an unwelcome thought jumped out at him. What if Dante was in fact involved? What if they rushed into the house only to have a shoot out with him? Johnny’s voice came through his earpiece.
‘Three… Two…One…’
Twenty Seven
When Johnny got to one, Honor kicked down the back door. They burst into the kitchen to find two men seated at a wooden table and another two standing by the sink. Hawk fired at the two that were seated but they turned over the table and sent food flying, using it as a shield. He pumped bullets into the table, tearing the wood apart, knowing that they would be getting their own weapons out and preparing to fight back.
Vince had thrown two knives on entry, catching one of the men by the sink in the wrist and forearm and forcing his gun out of his hand. As the man cried out and grabbed for the blades, Vivienne launched herself over the kitchen counter and stabbed her Sais into his gut. She yanked them up through his torso, ripping apart his insides until she reached the centre of his chest. Pulling each three-pronged weapon to either side, she twisted them and yanked them out before pounding her fists into his chest and shattering his rib cage. It was her signature move when she killed in combat, the cracked bones that pierced her victim’s heart the final insult.
Hawk reloaded his clips as Vince fought with the other man by the sink, their knives clashing against each other as the man blocked Vince’s strikes and countered back with his own. Vince jumped back, avoiding a strike to his mid section, and his opponent took the opportunity to reach for his gun. Vince was faster, stepping across so that his back was against the man’s front, and flipping him over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground. No sooner had his back hit the tiles than Vince plunged one knife into the man’s chest and slit his throat with the other. He grunted as he wiped the blades on his cargo pants, but as his eyes met Hawk’s, Hawk knew that they were thinking the same thing. The men knew what they were doing. They were rogues.
He felt Honor step up behind him. He took two steps then flew towards the overturned table, his sidekick cracking through the middle of the wood just as the men moved to shoot at Honor. The table split in two and knocked both men in the backs as he dropped to the floor in a seamless move, crouching down and bracing one hand on the ground. Still on their knees the men dropped their guns, stumbling forward to keep from getting knocked over. He lifted his head to watch as they both realized their weapons were out of reach. It was a reaction that he’d seen countless times before, their eyes darting to their guns, calculating the distance and registering that they wouldn’t have time to reach them. Their eyes moved to stare at Honor, who was still standing where he had been, a Glock aimed at each man. She smirked as her guns exploded, a single bullet flying from each, sending the men careening back as the shots went through their foreheads and out the backs of their skulls, their brains decorating the walls behind them. He stood up and wiped the blood splatters off his cheeks and forearms. Honor put her hand up to her earpiece.
‘Kitchen’s clear.’
He heard footsteps overhead, and he and Honor rushed through the kitchen door into the corridor as three armed men came running down the stairs. The men were headed for Johnny’s unit, who were shooting it out with more rogues at the door to the living room. Honor fired three shots at the men as Bo spun around and fired three of his own, his bullets going through each of their foreheads as hers went through the back of their skulls. The shootout ended and Hawk saw a pool of bullet cases littering the floor of the foyer.
‘Six down in the living room. The other rooms are clear. How many are in there?’
Johnny’s finger was still on the trigger of his semi automatic SIG Pro.
‘Four down, not including these three.’
Honor kicked the body of the man closes
t to her. Cross and Bo were reloading their Berettas, and as Aurora pushed the clips in on her Glock, she looked at him and cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised in challenge and a smirk on her lips. In response he winked at her and took a second to bask in her smile before surveying their surroundings.
In the living room six men lay dead in pools of their own blood, two bullet riddled bodies slumped against the back wall, four face down on the floor. The bodies were surrounded by shattered glass, blood stained playing cards, a splintered wooden table and four shredded upholstered chairs. On the other side of the room was a set of black leather couches and a sixty five inch LED, the only thing left undamaged on its wall bracket. Whoever the rogues were, they had a shitload of money. He frowned, a feeling of foreboding settling into his gut. He shot at the plasma just because he could, shards of the screen falling like a waterfall. He turned to find Vince and Vivienne coming out of the kitchen, Vince still holding his knives and Vivienne wiping her Sais on her leather pants. Vince spoke first.
‘We frisked them. Two rogue Romanovs, one rogue De Matteo and…’
Vince paused, his eyes meeting Johnny’s. Johnny marched into the kitchen, Bo following, and seconds later they heard yelling and swearing, backed up by the sounds of a body being pummeled. In the entryway, the bodies of the three men lay at the bottom of the steps. Honor grabbed them one by one, turning them over to see their faces. She scrunched up her nose in disgust.
‘I don’t know these two but this traitor is one of ours.’
She yanked the head of her rogue soldier back and dug two fingers into the bullet hole in his forehead, twisting her hand and pulling it back out, a piece of metal between her fingers. Hawk crossed his arms and flicked his gaze towards Vivienne, whose face was still splattered in her victim’s blood and whose clothing was dripping red.
‘One day you two are gonna get some sick bastard’s blood all over you and then we’re all screwed.’
Poisoned Rose (Dark Roses #1) Page 14