Ruthless hawke, p.21
Ruthless Hawke, page 21
Jack clears her throat and shifts uneasily. “Um, we met in Chicago, when he graduated from law school.”
That’s more than I would have told them, but it might appease the vultures circling for tidbits of juicy details. At least for a little while.
Nana makes a tsking sound from the end of the table where she sits with Viviana to her right, unwilling to let the girl get more than two feet away from her since we’ve arrived. “Leave the poor girl alone, everyone.”
Mom just smiles at me from her place on the other side of Viviana, not bothering to hide her amusement.
“Everyone?” Kennedy raises a thin blond brow. “What did I do?”
Astrid and Atlas both nod. “Yeah, what did we do?”
They say it almost in unison, then offer each other an annoyed look since they hate when they end up doing “twin” stuff.
Nana points at everyone around the massive table with a stern look. “You all might not have said anything, but you were thinking about doing it. So, zip it.”
Nana has spoken.
And once Antonia Hawke makes a declaration, it’s final.
No one would dare defy her—at least not within her earshot.
Coen grins and scans the table, covered with various dishes carefully and lovingly prepared, as well as dozens of glasses and plates, and snorts. “Nana, how are you going to fit everyone at the table anymore?”
Nana waves a dismissive hand. “We’ll make it work, dear.”
I scowl at his observation. While it isn’t a direct reference to Jack and Viviana’s appearances in our lives, it’s a roundabout way of questioning the two new family members.
The only reason there’s room for Viviana and Jack today without issue is that we’re missing a few people who have excused absences—Luca and Byron, who are still on vacation in Greece, and Saint and Caroline, who snuck away this weekend to Lake Charles to celebrate their anniversary without the Hawke clan. While Jude isn’t here, either, he hasn’t shown up in two years, so we gave up on his seat a long time ago.
But Alessandra’s absence and empty chair next to Angelina draws my eye. “Where’s Allie?”
Everyone continues to dig into their food, no one really answering my question. Which suggests no one knows what the hell is going on with our youngest cousin.
“Storm, is she okay? Angelina said she didn’t show up at work the other day.”
Storm sighs and rolls her eyes, glancing at Landon before she answers. “You know how Allie can be. My guess is she just has a new boyfriend she’s spending time with and doesn’t want anyone to know about him.”
I take a bite of my lasagna and chew a little too aggressively. “Gee, I wonder why, when you’ve given Jack such a warm reception.”
Everybody chuckles even though I wasn’t joking, and Savage leans back in his chair slightly, his plate already clean. “This is nothing compared to what Skye did to Dani the first time I brought her to Sunday dinner.”
I raise a brow and look at Aunt Skye. “What’d you do?”
She shrugs nonchalantly, casting a quick annoyed look at her sister-in-law. “I was just looking out for Savage.”
Dani scowls at her. “You were a total—” She stops herself and glances at Viviana, where she sits next to Nana. “C-U-N-T to me for no reason.”
Skye barks out a laugh. “Oh, I had a reason. I thought you were a total gold digger, and I didn’t want Savage hurt again.”
Everyone chuckles as Dani rolls her eyes and takes a drink of her wine. “Yeah, such a gold digger.”
Dani snorts and shakes her head. She has reason to laugh, considering her two Pulitzer Prizes hanging on the wall in her office. While she certainly isn’t making the kind of money Uncle Savage does, she’s doing just fine on her own as an investigative reporter, and even though she’s slowing down and getting close to retiring, something tells me she’s never really going to stop writing. She loves the rush too much. Although, I think it gives Uncle Savage a coronary every time she leaves town to sniff out a new story.
“You know”—Dani dangles her wine glass from her fingertips and points to Jack—“I would love to do an interview with you about your parents.”
I drop my knife to my plate with a clank. “Oh, hell no. That is not fucking happening.”
Jack tenses next to me and peeks my way. “Um, yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Dani’s brow furrows. “Why not?”
Gabe snorts. “Why not? I’ll give you a one-word answer—Cutter.”
Dad nods his agreement. “I have to agree with Gabe here. I think it’s best that we leave Jack’s family out of any future stories. We all know how that went with Luca.”
Dani leans back in her chair and takes a sip of her wine. “To be fair, that wasn’t my article. It was Caroline’s.”
Pope gapes at her. “So now you’re blaming Mom?”
Dani shrugs. “It was her article, her idea.”
Savage shakes his head and holds up his hands. “Let’s all just move away from that topic of conversation for the time being, shall we?” He forces a smile. “We have better things to discuss than old troubles, right?”
I sure as fuck hope he’s not going to talk about the new ones. The last thing we need to be discussing publicly at this dinner is what’s happening with Jack while Viviana is sitting right here.
Somehow, our little girl has managed to stay relatively even-keeled during all this, but it won’t last forever. She misses her grandparents and all her things back at their home in Chicago, and no matter how many toys her mother and I buy her, it can’t replace them or what she left behind.
I run a hand across Jack’s shoulders and lean toward her. “You okay?”
She nods, but her plate is barely touched.
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, no, the food’s delicious. I just lost my appetite.”
I brush my lips against her ear. “You’re going to need to build up your strength for what I have in mind for us later. Plus, when I finally do get you pregnant, you’re going to need all that energy to grow my baby.”
She gasps slightly, and her cheeks flush as she shifts uncomfortably next to me, glancing at me with reproach for making the comment at the table, though I’m sure worse things have been said here.
Bishop swallows whatever she’s eating and turns to Nana. “When do Byron and Luca get back?”
Nana tears her attention away from Viviana for a second. “I think next week, if I remember correctly.” She looks toward the empty seat we’ve reserved for Jude, even though he’s never here. “I wish Jude would’ve come. That boy is always so busy.”
She tsks and shakes her head as she takes a bite of her food that’s probably now cold. That woman hasn’t eaten a hot meal since I’ve been alive, and I would wager she didn’t when her kids were growing up, either. She’s always taking care of everyone else and ensuring they have everything they need before she even considers sitting down to have a bite of her own food. And with Viviana here, she has one giant distraction.
Angelina sighs. “Nana, you know we try to get him to come every week. I texted him this morning, but”—she shrugs—“there’s only so much we can do.”
Even when Allie does come, she can’t manage to drag him away from his place, so with her MIA, there wasn’t a chance in hell of getting him here.
Nana sighs. “I know, but I think Luca could get him here. He has ways of getting things accomplished.”
I practically choke on my wine and look toward her with my eyes narrowed.
Did Nana really just suggest that Luca physically force Jude to come to Sunday dinner? Because I would pay to see that.
Angelina shakes her head. “You all need to cut him some slack. He didn’t grow up like this.” She waves her hand around the overcrowded table, so long you can’t even talk to anybody on the other end of it without shouting. “It isn’t easy for him.”
Atlas and Astrid both nod, and she toys with her napkin and sets it on her empty plate.
“I agree. Last time I saw him, he was fine—dug in deep on whatever he’s working on right now. He just can’t handle all this, and I don’t blame him.”
Neither do I.
It’s hard enough for me to handle all of them as family, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who went through what he did as a child and then to get tossed into this sea of sharks at age ten.
Bishop finally finishes her plate and pushes it away. “I’m going to have to do an extra hour or two of training tomorrow to work that off. Thank you, Nana.”
Nana reaches over and pats her hand. “You’re welcome, dear, but you should take a break from all that kung fu nonsense.”
Bishop chuckles. “It isn’t kung fu, Nana; it’s jujitsu.”
“Whatever it is, you and Atlas work too hard at that stuff.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Atlas’ blue eyes harden to ice. “I know. And I should find a real job, right, Nana?”
He pushes away from the table in a huff and storms out of the dining room. Astrid gives everyone a look of reproach and goes after him.
Nana’s eyebrows raise. “What did I say?”
Oh, she knows exactly what she said.
The woman might be almost ninety years old, but she’s still smart as a whip. She sees everything, and that was a not-so-subtle jab at the profession none of us wanted for Atlas. Not after what happened to the grandfather none of us ever got to meet.
Viviana shovels pasta into her mouth, and Nana reaches over and wipes her face with a napkin.
“Isaac, dear”—she smiles at me—“are you going to be buying a house now?”
I practically choke for the second time today and manage to swallow my bite of lasagna and cough before I can grab a sip of water. “Excuse me?”
She glances from Viviana to Jack to me. “Well, I just assumed you’d buy a house now that you have a family.”
Fucking hell.
So much for not stirring up shit at the table, Nana.
“Um, that’s to be determined, Nana.”
Dad looks to her. “Mom, cut them a little slack. This is all pretty new, and there are other extenuating circumstances.”
She tsks and waves a hand. “Extenuating circumstances, my ass. He has a beautiful daughter here and a beautiful woman next to him, and they deserve a beautiful house to go home to instead of that cold, sterile condo.”
Savage snorts. “You didn’t hate it when I lived there.”
She points her fork at him. “You were single when you started living there, and as soon as Kennedy was old enough, you guys moved out of there and got a proper house.”
“True…” he nods slowly and looks to me. “She has a point.”
I push my plate away and throw up my hands. “Oh, now you’re going to pile on, too?”
He grins at me. “What did you expect bringing them here?”
“I know.”
I should have known better, but it would’ve ended up like this no matter when I finally pulled the trigger and threw them into the fray.
Now, I just hope I won’t have to pull another one in order to protect what I finally have.
17
JACK
I wake without the normal hard wall of heat behind me and turn onto my back, spreading my hand across Isaac’s side of the bed. It hasn’t even been a week—a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things—but already, waking without him, something feels off.
Something is missing, and instinctively, my body rolls to his side, and I bury my face in his pillow. I inhale his masculine scent, which instantly stirs something deep in my core.
The bathroom door opens, and he steps out, buttoning his cufflinks on his pale-blue, striped dress shirt, his black dress slacks hanging sinfully perfectly from his hips. He raises a brow, and now that his mom has removed the stitches from above his eye, the move looks a lot less painful.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
I shake my head and nestle back down into the warm covers. “No, I just woke up, and you weren’t here.”
He approaches the bed slowly, looking every bit the powerful attorney heading off to decimate someone in court that I know he is. It shouldn’t be legal to look that good this early in the morning. All I want to do is grab him and drag him back into bed with me to continue what we did last night.
Because Isaac fulfilled the promise he made and utterly destroyed me.
In the best damn way.
Everything aches, each muscle and part of my body remembering his touch and craving it again.
He leans over and kisses me, the sharp, minty taste on his tongue tangling with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him to me, groaning needily against his lips.
His low chuckle vibrates his entire body, and he pulls back slightly. “As much as I would love to fall back into bed with you today and stay here as long as Viviana allows it, I have to go. The zoning meeting is today.”
“Oh, shit.” I release him and push up onto my elbow. “I forgot about that.”
While he’s done his best to keep the family business private, the hotel project and problems they’ve run into became the topic of conversation at dinner once everyone moved on from giving me shit. There are definitely things he’s not telling me that none of them would mention in front of Nana, but I understood enough to know the meeting is essential to move forward on the project.
It’s the future of the Hawkes—the brand of opulent boutique hotels all over the city and, eventually, the region. This first step has to go flawlessly, or they may never recover from the setback.
The pressure of that fact creates deep worry lines on Isaac’s forehead.
I reach up and brush my fingers across the healing cut. “Do you think everything will be okay with the new head of the board?”
After Broussard’s resignation press conference last night, it seemed as though Isaac had relaxed slightly, but this morning, that tension has returned, almost like he’s anticipating a fight today.
He rises to his full height, disappears into his closet, and comes back, slipping on his suit coat, his jaw locked hard as he tugs down his sleeves slightly. “It should go well. We paid enough for it to.”
“Oh, I see.”
I settle back into bed, the infinite possibilities of what his words could mean racing through my head.
Did they pay Broussard to resign?
Threaten him?
Pay off his replacement to ensure this goes through?
All the damn above?
None of that was on the menu for discussion at the dinner table, nor would I have expected them to reveal their business dealings openly.
He approaches the bed again, his eyes narrowed on me. “What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
“The look you just gave me.”
Shit.
I hadn’t meant to give him a look. “Nothing.” I shake my head.
“Bullshit, Jack. We may not have spent a great deal of time together, but I can read you like a fucking book.” He sits on the edge of the bed and turns my face to his with a gentle hand on my chin. “What?”
“Is that how you got all this?” I spread my hands out wide. “Your family buying people off, back door deals?”
Anger flashes in his eyes for a moment before he shakes his head to clear it. “No. A lot of hard work built this, and occasionally, some things have to be done that aren’t necessarily on the up and up to protect it. But believe me, we’ve all worked very fucking hard to get where we are.”
“I don’t doubt that.” I’ve seen how hard he works, how hard everyone in his family does. “It’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
I release a sigh, trying to gather my thoughts that always seem so jumbled every time I think about the current situation. “You know, I grew up in a house where doors were always closed. My parents were always working on something, talking about something, doing something that they didn’t want me to know about.”
He runs his fingers through my hair and brushes it back from my face. “I know, and you hated it.”
I nod. “I did. I know they thought it was for the best to keep me out of the business. My mother is one of the very few women who’ve actually succeeded in that role, and they didn’t want me to have anything to do with it, not only because of that but because the stress of what goes on could trigger my seizures.”
“They’re naïve if they thought they could keep you out completely, that you wouldn’t hear and see things and figure out what was going on.”
“I told you I wanted to get away from it all, that I tried to leave.”
“Yes, you did. And you said they wouldn’t let you.”
“They wouldn’t. Every time I’d pack a bag and get ready, they’d intervene. They’d stop me. They’d double the security on me to ensure I couldn’t leave the compound. It was a constant battle for even a few hours to myself without the cameras or someone physically watching me. And I hated always being in the dark about what was happening.”
“Did you want to be involved? Did you really want to take over your mother’s empire and become her heir?”
“No one’s ever actually asked me that question before…”
And the answer doesn’t come as easily as I thought it would.
I twist my lips. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. Part of me says that if they had given me that chance, if they had included me in the business when I was old enough to understand, I probably would want it, but they didn’t. And instead, I became bitter at them for what they did to me.”
“And now you are with us, too? With me?”
The pain in his words stabs at my chest. “If I’m being honest…”
“Of course, I want you to be honest with me, Jack. I always have been with you.”
I swallow and look at him, trying to see past that pale Caribbean blue that makes me want to get lost in him. “I feel like if I stay here with you, I would just be trading one version of that situation for another. I’d be going from their world of crime and deception and violence to yours.”
“We’re not criminals, Jack. It isn’t the same thing at all.”
That’s more than I would have told them, but it might appease the vultures circling for tidbits of juicy details. At least for a little while.
Nana makes a tsking sound from the end of the table where she sits with Viviana to her right, unwilling to let the girl get more than two feet away from her since we’ve arrived. “Leave the poor girl alone, everyone.”
Mom just smiles at me from her place on the other side of Viviana, not bothering to hide her amusement.
“Everyone?” Kennedy raises a thin blond brow. “What did I do?”
Astrid and Atlas both nod. “Yeah, what did we do?”
They say it almost in unison, then offer each other an annoyed look since they hate when they end up doing “twin” stuff.
Nana points at everyone around the massive table with a stern look. “You all might not have said anything, but you were thinking about doing it. So, zip it.”
Nana has spoken.
And once Antonia Hawke makes a declaration, it’s final.
No one would dare defy her—at least not within her earshot.
Coen grins and scans the table, covered with various dishes carefully and lovingly prepared, as well as dozens of glasses and plates, and snorts. “Nana, how are you going to fit everyone at the table anymore?”
Nana waves a dismissive hand. “We’ll make it work, dear.”
I scowl at his observation. While it isn’t a direct reference to Jack and Viviana’s appearances in our lives, it’s a roundabout way of questioning the two new family members.
The only reason there’s room for Viviana and Jack today without issue is that we’re missing a few people who have excused absences—Luca and Byron, who are still on vacation in Greece, and Saint and Caroline, who snuck away this weekend to Lake Charles to celebrate their anniversary without the Hawke clan. While Jude isn’t here, either, he hasn’t shown up in two years, so we gave up on his seat a long time ago.
But Alessandra’s absence and empty chair next to Angelina draws my eye. “Where’s Allie?”
Everyone continues to dig into their food, no one really answering my question. Which suggests no one knows what the hell is going on with our youngest cousin.
“Storm, is she okay? Angelina said she didn’t show up at work the other day.”
Storm sighs and rolls her eyes, glancing at Landon before she answers. “You know how Allie can be. My guess is she just has a new boyfriend she’s spending time with and doesn’t want anyone to know about him.”
I take a bite of my lasagna and chew a little too aggressively. “Gee, I wonder why, when you’ve given Jack such a warm reception.”
Everybody chuckles even though I wasn’t joking, and Savage leans back in his chair slightly, his plate already clean. “This is nothing compared to what Skye did to Dani the first time I brought her to Sunday dinner.”
I raise a brow and look at Aunt Skye. “What’d you do?”
She shrugs nonchalantly, casting a quick annoyed look at her sister-in-law. “I was just looking out for Savage.”
Dani scowls at her. “You were a total—” She stops herself and glances at Viviana, where she sits next to Nana. “C-U-N-T to me for no reason.”
Skye barks out a laugh. “Oh, I had a reason. I thought you were a total gold digger, and I didn’t want Savage hurt again.”
Everyone chuckles as Dani rolls her eyes and takes a drink of her wine. “Yeah, such a gold digger.”
Dani snorts and shakes her head. She has reason to laugh, considering her two Pulitzer Prizes hanging on the wall in her office. While she certainly isn’t making the kind of money Uncle Savage does, she’s doing just fine on her own as an investigative reporter, and even though she’s slowing down and getting close to retiring, something tells me she’s never really going to stop writing. She loves the rush too much. Although, I think it gives Uncle Savage a coronary every time she leaves town to sniff out a new story.
“You know”—Dani dangles her wine glass from her fingertips and points to Jack—“I would love to do an interview with you about your parents.”
I drop my knife to my plate with a clank. “Oh, hell no. That is not fucking happening.”
Jack tenses next to me and peeks my way. “Um, yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Dani’s brow furrows. “Why not?”
Gabe snorts. “Why not? I’ll give you a one-word answer—Cutter.”
Dad nods his agreement. “I have to agree with Gabe here. I think it’s best that we leave Jack’s family out of any future stories. We all know how that went with Luca.”
Dani leans back in her chair and takes a sip of her wine. “To be fair, that wasn’t my article. It was Caroline’s.”
Pope gapes at her. “So now you’re blaming Mom?”
Dani shrugs. “It was her article, her idea.”
Savage shakes his head and holds up his hands. “Let’s all just move away from that topic of conversation for the time being, shall we?” He forces a smile. “We have better things to discuss than old troubles, right?”
I sure as fuck hope he’s not going to talk about the new ones. The last thing we need to be discussing publicly at this dinner is what’s happening with Jack while Viviana is sitting right here.
Somehow, our little girl has managed to stay relatively even-keeled during all this, but it won’t last forever. She misses her grandparents and all her things back at their home in Chicago, and no matter how many toys her mother and I buy her, it can’t replace them or what she left behind.
I run a hand across Jack’s shoulders and lean toward her. “You okay?”
She nods, but her plate is barely touched.
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, no, the food’s delicious. I just lost my appetite.”
I brush my lips against her ear. “You’re going to need to build up your strength for what I have in mind for us later. Plus, when I finally do get you pregnant, you’re going to need all that energy to grow my baby.”
She gasps slightly, and her cheeks flush as she shifts uncomfortably next to me, glancing at me with reproach for making the comment at the table, though I’m sure worse things have been said here.
Bishop swallows whatever she’s eating and turns to Nana. “When do Byron and Luca get back?”
Nana tears her attention away from Viviana for a second. “I think next week, if I remember correctly.” She looks toward the empty seat we’ve reserved for Jude, even though he’s never here. “I wish Jude would’ve come. That boy is always so busy.”
She tsks and shakes her head as she takes a bite of her food that’s probably now cold. That woman hasn’t eaten a hot meal since I’ve been alive, and I would wager she didn’t when her kids were growing up, either. She’s always taking care of everyone else and ensuring they have everything they need before she even considers sitting down to have a bite of her own food. And with Viviana here, she has one giant distraction.
Angelina sighs. “Nana, you know we try to get him to come every week. I texted him this morning, but”—she shrugs—“there’s only so much we can do.”
Even when Allie does come, she can’t manage to drag him away from his place, so with her MIA, there wasn’t a chance in hell of getting him here.
Nana sighs. “I know, but I think Luca could get him here. He has ways of getting things accomplished.”
I practically choke on my wine and look toward her with my eyes narrowed.
Did Nana really just suggest that Luca physically force Jude to come to Sunday dinner? Because I would pay to see that.
Angelina shakes her head. “You all need to cut him some slack. He didn’t grow up like this.” She waves her hand around the overcrowded table, so long you can’t even talk to anybody on the other end of it without shouting. “It isn’t easy for him.”
Atlas and Astrid both nod, and she toys with her napkin and sets it on her empty plate.
“I agree. Last time I saw him, he was fine—dug in deep on whatever he’s working on right now. He just can’t handle all this, and I don’t blame him.”
Neither do I.
It’s hard enough for me to handle all of them as family, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who went through what he did as a child and then to get tossed into this sea of sharks at age ten.
Bishop finally finishes her plate and pushes it away. “I’m going to have to do an extra hour or two of training tomorrow to work that off. Thank you, Nana.”
Nana reaches over and pats her hand. “You’re welcome, dear, but you should take a break from all that kung fu nonsense.”
Bishop chuckles. “It isn’t kung fu, Nana; it’s jujitsu.”
“Whatever it is, you and Atlas work too hard at that stuff.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Atlas’ blue eyes harden to ice. “I know. And I should find a real job, right, Nana?”
He pushes away from the table in a huff and storms out of the dining room. Astrid gives everyone a look of reproach and goes after him.
Nana’s eyebrows raise. “What did I say?”
Oh, she knows exactly what she said.
The woman might be almost ninety years old, but she’s still smart as a whip. She sees everything, and that was a not-so-subtle jab at the profession none of us wanted for Atlas. Not after what happened to the grandfather none of us ever got to meet.
Viviana shovels pasta into her mouth, and Nana reaches over and wipes her face with a napkin.
“Isaac, dear”—she smiles at me—“are you going to be buying a house now?”
I practically choke for the second time today and manage to swallow my bite of lasagna and cough before I can grab a sip of water. “Excuse me?”
She glances from Viviana to Jack to me. “Well, I just assumed you’d buy a house now that you have a family.”
Fucking hell.
So much for not stirring up shit at the table, Nana.
“Um, that’s to be determined, Nana.”
Dad looks to her. “Mom, cut them a little slack. This is all pretty new, and there are other extenuating circumstances.”
She tsks and waves a hand. “Extenuating circumstances, my ass. He has a beautiful daughter here and a beautiful woman next to him, and they deserve a beautiful house to go home to instead of that cold, sterile condo.”
Savage snorts. “You didn’t hate it when I lived there.”
She points her fork at him. “You were single when you started living there, and as soon as Kennedy was old enough, you guys moved out of there and got a proper house.”
“True…” he nods slowly and looks to me. “She has a point.”
I push my plate away and throw up my hands. “Oh, now you’re going to pile on, too?”
He grins at me. “What did you expect bringing them here?”
“I know.”
I should have known better, but it would’ve ended up like this no matter when I finally pulled the trigger and threw them into the fray.
Now, I just hope I won’t have to pull another one in order to protect what I finally have.
17
JACK
I wake without the normal hard wall of heat behind me and turn onto my back, spreading my hand across Isaac’s side of the bed. It hasn’t even been a week—a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things—but already, waking without him, something feels off.
Something is missing, and instinctively, my body rolls to his side, and I bury my face in his pillow. I inhale his masculine scent, which instantly stirs something deep in my core.
The bathroom door opens, and he steps out, buttoning his cufflinks on his pale-blue, striped dress shirt, his black dress slacks hanging sinfully perfectly from his hips. He raises a brow, and now that his mom has removed the stitches from above his eye, the move looks a lot less painful.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
I shake my head and nestle back down into the warm covers. “No, I just woke up, and you weren’t here.”
He approaches the bed slowly, looking every bit the powerful attorney heading off to decimate someone in court that I know he is. It shouldn’t be legal to look that good this early in the morning. All I want to do is grab him and drag him back into bed with me to continue what we did last night.
Because Isaac fulfilled the promise he made and utterly destroyed me.
In the best damn way.
Everything aches, each muscle and part of my body remembering his touch and craving it again.
He leans over and kisses me, the sharp, minty taste on his tongue tangling with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him to me, groaning needily against his lips.
His low chuckle vibrates his entire body, and he pulls back slightly. “As much as I would love to fall back into bed with you today and stay here as long as Viviana allows it, I have to go. The zoning meeting is today.”
“Oh, shit.” I release him and push up onto my elbow. “I forgot about that.”
While he’s done his best to keep the family business private, the hotel project and problems they’ve run into became the topic of conversation at dinner once everyone moved on from giving me shit. There are definitely things he’s not telling me that none of them would mention in front of Nana, but I understood enough to know the meeting is essential to move forward on the project.
It’s the future of the Hawkes—the brand of opulent boutique hotels all over the city and, eventually, the region. This first step has to go flawlessly, or they may never recover from the setback.
The pressure of that fact creates deep worry lines on Isaac’s forehead.
I reach up and brush my fingers across the healing cut. “Do you think everything will be okay with the new head of the board?”
After Broussard’s resignation press conference last night, it seemed as though Isaac had relaxed slightly, but this morning, that tension has returned, almost like he’s anticipating a fight today.
He rises to his full height, disappears into his closet, and comes back, slipping on his suit coat, his jaw locked hard as he tugs down his sleeves slightly. “It should go well. We paid enough for it to.”
“Oh, I see.”
I settle back into bed, the infinite possibilities of what his words could mean racing through my head.
Did they pay Broussard to resign?
Threaten him?
Pay off his replacement to ensure this goes through?
All the damn above?
None of that was on the menu for discussion at the dinner table, nor would I have expected them to reveal their business dealings openly.
He approaches the bed again, his eyes narrowed on me. “What’s that look for?”
“What look?”
“The look you just gave me.”
Shit.
I hadn’t meant to give him a look. “Nothing.” I shake my head.
“Bullshit, Jack. We may not have spent a great deal of time together, but I can read you like a fucking book.” He sits on the edge of the bed and turns my face to his with a gentle hand on my chin. “What?”
“Is that how you got all this?” I spread my hands out wide. “Your family buying people off, back door deals?”
Anger flashes in his eyes for a moment before he shakes his head to clear it. “No. A lot of hard work built this, and occasionally, some things have to be done that aren’t necessarily on the up and up to protect it. But believe me, we’ve all worked very fucking hard to get where we are.”
“I don’t doubt that.” I’ve seen how hard he works, how hard everyone in his family does. “It’s just…”
“It’s just what?”
I release a sigh, trying to gather my thoughts that always seem so jumbled every time I think about the current situation. “You know, I grew up in a house where doors were always closed. My parents were always working on something, talking about something, doing something that they didn’t want me to know about.”
He runs his fingers through my hair and brushes it back from my face. “I know, and you hated it.”
I nod. “I did. I know they thought it was for the best to keep me out of the business. My mother is one of the very few women who’ve actually succeeded in that role, and they didn’t want me to have anything to do with it, not only because of that but because the stress of what goes on could trigger my seizures.”
“They’re naïve if they thought they could keep you out completely, that you wouldn’t hear and see things and figure out what was going on.”
“I told you I wanted to get away from it all, that I tried to leave.”
“Yes, you did. And you said they wouldn’t let you.”
“They wouldn’t. Every time I’d pack a bag and get ready, they’d intervene. They’d stop me. They’d double the security on me to ensure I couldn’t leave the compound. It was a constant battle for even a few hours to myself without the cameras or someone physically watching me. And I hated always being in the dark about what was happening.”
“Did you want to be involved? Did you really want to take over your mother’s empire and become her heir?”
“No one’s ever actually asked me that question before…”
And the answer doesn’t come as easily as I thought it would.
I twist my lips. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. Part of me says that if they had given me that chance, if they had included me in the business when I was old enough to understand, I probably would want it, but they didn’t. And instead, I became bitter at them for what they did to me.”
“And now you are with us, too? With me?”
The pain in his words stabs at my chest. “If I’m being honest…”
“Of course, I want you to be honest with me, Jack. I always have been with you.”
I swallow and look at him, trying to see past that pale Caribbean blue that makes me want to get lost in him. “I feel like if I stay here with you, I would just be trading one version of that situation for another. I’d be going from their world of crime and deception and violence to yours.”
“We’re not criminals, Jack. It isn’t the same thing at all.”
