Page 32 of Hawk

I put my hand up, stopping her. I know she’s going to give me excuses and I’m not in the mood to hear them. “You don’t need to explain.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “What I was going to stay is that I can’t stick around. I need to get home.”

“To Sam.”

She bites the inside of her cheek. “I was thinking, maybe in a few hours, you can come by. Once he’s in bed for the night.”

I can feel my shoulders lift at her words. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll text you.”

She steps past me, but I reach out and grab her arm. Her body stiffens again. It takes everything in me not to drop my hold. “Tessa, it’s me.” I keep my voice calm. “Listen to my voice.” I watch as she closes her eyes. “Hear me.” I can feel the tension leave her body. “No more running, Tessa. You say you’re going to text, you better damn well text. I’m not going back home without you and me sharing a few words. You hear me?”

Her head swivels in my direction, her deep coffee eyes study me. “I hear you, Hawk.”

Without warning, I tug on her arm until her body is flush against mine. My nose runs up her jawline, and she sucks in a breath. I press my lips into her temple. The feel of her silken hair against my face almost has me undone. “I’ll be seeing you, Tessa,” I speak into her hair.

I take a step away from her, and without another look, I leave my mother’s facility and head to my truck.

Tessa

The hardwood beneath my feet doesn’t help the ache I feel as I continue to pace back and forth in front of the couch in my living room. The silence is deafening but having the television on right now will make my skin crawl. I sent Hawk a text an hour ago, and there’s been no response. I’ve never been good with confrontation, which is kinda comical growing up with not only two brothers, but all the boys that hung out at Sienna’s. My heart drops thinking of my friend, and how her life was stolen from her. The ache I felt when I woke up in the hospital with my mother hovering over me with a look I’ve never seen before…

“If you had only listened to me. If you had only made the decision not to befriend her, then none of this would be happening.”

“Mama…” My throat feels like sandpaper as I try to swallow. The lighting in the room has dimmed, but I blink trying to make out my mother who’s leaning over me.

“Por el Amor de Cristo, for Christ’s sake. Drink.” She shoves the plastic cup and straw into my hand.

With every swallow I manage, the liquid begins to soothe my throat. The room suddenly becomes too bright, causing my eyes to wince closed.

“Ow, Mama.” I bring my hand up to cover my eyes. “It’s bright,” I whine.

She ignores me. “So many choices I’ve made in my life. So many regrets when you make those choices out of love and not out of common sense. My life went down the wrong path so many years ago, and because of you, I’ve had to stay on that path. To keep my family in tact, I’ve had to stay there. But no more.”

She’s not making sense, and I’m not sure because of my mental state or hers. “What are you talking about?”

“Just you wait, Tessa. One day you’re going to have to live a life based on things you have to do, and not on things you want to do. You’ll understand.” She takes the cup from my hand and sets it on the table next to my bed.

“Mama?” I squint, my eyes finally adjust, and I take her in. Her makeup is smeared beneath her eyes. Dark smudges are on her always pristine skin. There are stray hairs around her face, falling this way and that. She looks undone, and that’s one thing that Gloria Reese never is.

She leans over me, getting closer to my face. “Sienna is dead, Tessa. Devin and that Hound fell right along with her.”

“What?” I don’t understand that she’s saying. My heart slams into my chest. Images race to the surface of my mind.

The parking lot.

The men.

Fists slamming into my face.

Hands grabbing at my throat cutting off my oxygen.

Sienna kicking and fighting as they hauled her away.

Screaming, as I feel them tear through me, one after another.

“That club killed your friend,” she sneers, “and I’ll be damned if I see it kill you, too. Devin is dead, and I no longer have to continue on with this lie.”