Hawk (A Stepbrother Romance #3)(49)

Nodding, I let go of the window and dig my fingers into a strip of molding along the side of the house and start working my way over. I see where Hawk is going, now. The molding that runs along the corner is almost like a ladder. If I can lower myself down a bit at a time…

He pauses while I slip down, finally resting my feet on the roof of the porch overhang, but it's a steep slope and my shoes start to skid immediately. I have to grip the moldings until I can sit down and kick my heels into the shingles to stop from sliding right off. Hawk moves more deftly beside me, moving down the molding with practiced familiarity as I struggle to catch my breath quietly.

The door to the carriage house swings open. If Tom drives out with his headlights on, he'll have to see us. Hawk moves fast, swinging over and dropping to the ground next to the porch. I lean over the side, where he waits, beckoning me with his hands. I lay on the roof and swing my legs over, kicking for something to get some footing and climb down.

Hawk tugs my legs and I look back and him and suck in a breath, shimmy to the edge until my body sinks and I grasp at the shingles in a panic, but he rises up and grabs my waist and he's got me. My stomach does a backflip as I feel myself falling into space, but Hawk takes my whole body weight just in his hands and lowers me into a embrace and settles my feet on the ground.

I plow into him, gasping for breath. Hawk yanks me around the side of the house in time for the headlights of Tom's Mercedes to sweep over where we just stood, throwing long shadows into the night. As the car passes, he grabs my arm and we run, heading for my Honda.

I fumble with the keys, dive in and lean over to unlock his door. He rips it open and jumps in next to me.

"Hurry, we'll lose him. Easy."

The car chugs to life and I pull out behind Tom, my headlights off. I can see his tail lights turning the first corner. He's heading north. I push in the gas and Hawk puts his foot on my knee.

"Easy. Turn the lights on."

"We'll lose him."

"We've got this. Just drive. I'll watch him."

I nod, pull to a stop at the corner and turn to follow. The next five minutes is a tense game, spotting his headlights and brake lights, Hawk guiding me after him as I remain a turn or two behind.

"This is stupid, he'll see us."

"No, he won't. Just stay back and stay cool. He's not even paying attention to us."

"Are you sure? What if this is some kind of f*cked up test and he wants to see if I'm loyal to him or something?"

My hands squeeze the wheel so hard my arms tremble. Hawk puts his hand on my arm, and caresses my skin with his thumb.

"It's okay."

"It's not okay," I blurt out.

Easier to follow him now. His tail lights sway back and forth with the contours of the road, up and down with the hills as we leave town and head north, into the back country. The speed limit is forty five, so I stay just under that and pray he doesn't pay any attention to the car behind him, but why wouldn't he? He has to know.

"I don't know what he wants from me. I'm not sure if he wants me to be his daughter or he wants to f*ck me or just keep me like some kind of f*cked up doll."

"I'm not going to let him hurt you."

I glance over at him, trembling, then back at the road.

"I wanted you to come back so badly."

"I had to stay away, Alex. I had to keep away from you. It was the only way to keep you safe. My father made it clear that if I even looked you up to see what you were doing he'd hurt you. He killed my mother. I couldn't let him hurt you. I wanted you to be happy with somebody else, and safe."

"I don't want somebody else, God damn it, I want you."

I flinch at the words I just spit out. Hawk's hand slides over my shoulder and presses into the back of my neck.

"We're going to be okay. I think we should leave tonight. Let's turn around and get May and leave now, while he's gone."

"No. I have to help Jacob and Jennifer. I have to stop him. After what I heard today I know I can't leave. They're going to make him a senator or something, Hawk. He's sick, he's evil. Somebody has to stop him."

"Then let me do it. You can go to safety and-"

"And wait for you to come back? What if you don't come back this time? What if he decides you had your chance and this time you end up dead in a ditch somewhere? I won't let you leave me like that, you can't."

"Nobody’s going to kill me," he says, very softly.

"How do you know?"

"When I was assigned to corps school I had to do an extra four weeks of basic training. Basically, I did Navy boot camp, and then part of Marine boot camp. The Marine drill instructor taught us something very important. Saved my life a few times in heavy shit."

"What?"

"Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil."

"For the Lord is with me?"

He smirks. "For I am the baddest motherf*cker in the valley."

I can't help it, I laugh.

"You laugh at a drill instructor like that and see what happens to you."

Tom's brakes light up and I slow down, too.

"Keep driving," Hawk says. "He's pulling off. Look."

There are some lights off the road. Faint and yellowy, they look like gas lamps or something like that. As Tom's headlights head up a dirt track, we drive right past.