Page 14 of Tormented Hearts

Long after they got back on the road, she was rigid in her seat, still stewing over Hawk’s perception of her.

The miles back to the Black Heart Ranch sped by in a blur, but the words inside her were sharp and pointed.

“I’m more than you think I am,” she muttered, half to the window, not meaning to say it aloud.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” She straightened and composed her expression. “Just thinking.”

Luckily, Hawk let it go and returned to his vigilant watch over the road. Sinead let her mind drift back to her father.

Whatever was buried out there in the mountains, her father had trusted her—not the board, not the lawyers—to be the one who found it.

That had to count for something.

Hawk’s phone buzzed. He answered on speaker without slowing the truck. “Hawk.”

“It’s Gray. Facial recognition came back on your two guys from the ridge.”

She gripped the seat, heart slamming faster despite Gray’s brisk, businesslike tone.

“We’re a mile out from the ranch. We’ll meet you in the office.” Hawk swung his head to meet her stare.

Three heartbeats pulsed between them before he returned his attention to the road.

He hadn’t asked for the names, and she couldn’t shake the feeling he was shielding her from whatever waited until they reached the security office.

She watched the big metal gates rise up, the ones she’d driven through earlier with what she thought was a sick man in the back seat and a dead snake. Back then, she’d only felt relief.

Now, as Hawk guided them through the opening, she had the uneasy feeling this was the last calm moment before someone kicked the door in on her life.

Chapter Four

As Hawk walked away from Sinead, he felt her stare on his back.

Or rather, her glare.

He understood she was rattled from everything that happened. Hell, he wished this mission was going easier too—the muscle of his ass was balled into a knot that didn’t make walking without a limp easy.

He left her in the front office with Ayla and told her to wait there while he spoke to the team.

He managed to walk the length of the corridor between the front of the security office to the war room without giving away his discomfort.

Pausing at the door, he glanced back to see that Sinead was still seated with a magazine in her hands. She wasn’t reading it, though. She was watching him.

Instead of a glare, he saw the same look she wore on the ridge right before he shoved her behind him.

Worry.

He liked seeing her worry as much as he liked having that bullsnake take a chunk out of his ass, but he needed to speak to his team about the men he took out on the ridge.

When he stepped into the war room, Gray’s expression was carved from granite and Denver’s focus appeared riveted on the open laptop in front of him.

Hawk dropped into a chair, forgetting about his inconvenience and winced as pain shot through his glute. His jaw locked. “Talk to me.”

Gray tapped a tablet screen and two names appeared. “Those are the men you took down.”

Hawk studied the names and felt no spark of recognition or familiarity. “Known connection to Ms. Winthrop?”