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Chapter Twelve
Hawk
I pullthe bike in front of the large staircase leading up to the oversized double doors and kick the stand to park it. This isn’t going to be easy. Then again, I knew that coming back, knew this would always be the end game.
Today, Mr. Grimm loses both his top enforcer and the woman he’s raised as his daughter for coming up on a decade. When I told Betty I was going to take her to places far from this grim existence, she gave me conditions. Me. Conditions. I don’t do well with anyone placing conditions on my work. But, like the love punched idiot I am, I agreed to them—because of Betty.
And now, as I ascend the stairs, I prepare myself to deliver the second piece of unpleasant news in a week to the man I consider more of a father than my own. After greeting the men at the door and going through the pat down, I take the elevator to the top floor of the estate where Mr. Grimm is waiting for me.
I walk into the office and steal a glance at the unoccupied desk, the one Betty would’ve launched across and jumped into my arms less than ten days ago had we met at the Grimm estate instead of his downtown property. How much had changed in under two-weeks’ time.
Mr. Grimm is in his private office today, no doubt mourning the loss of his son, and I draw a deep breath before making my way across the reception area and stopping at the threshold. It’s rude to enter a man’s space without an invitation, so I pause and knock on the door jam.
He glances up, his expression solid, his eyes cool as ice. It’s at that moment I know, without a doubt, he’s already aware of my news. I decide my announcement can wait and enter the room when he waves me in. Right now, I’m more interested in how he’s dealing with the loss of his son. I don’t know if Lewis Grimm is dead. I don’t know if he’s still alive. I don’t need to know. I only need to know he’ll never be a threat to my Betty ever again.
I’ve been assured he won’t.
“Hawk.” The man’s voice sounds like he’s been gargling with shards of glass. “Have a seat.”
“Yes, sir.” I follow orders, always have, and take a seat as instructed. Mr. Grimm, as always, takes his time formulating his thoughts by making notes, giving me time to reflect on the events since I returned to Seattle. The way my honeybee greeted me. The plea to take her from here, keep her safe, and find the leak. The fact the mole was family—and not just any family, but the boss’s fucking son.
I release a long, long sigh and lower my head. Am I sorry I returned? No, it’s what brought me back to Betty. I’m just sorry it happened under these circumstances, and I’m sorry for the toll it’s taken on the man before me. The lines on his face are deeper, his eyes sunken into his sockets. He looks like he’s aged ten years in ten days.
After several bloated seconds, Mr. Grimm finally regards me as he speaks. “You returned to do a job.”
When he doesn’t say more, I nod. “Yes, sir. I completed that job.”
“No.” He gives a terse shake of his head and goes back to making notes. “You haven’t.”
I stiffen in the chair. “Excuse me?”
“I was very specific in my instructions,” he says. After another long silence, he regards me once again. “Was I not?”
I’m not one to miss the signs or any sort of hidden meaning in a conversation. Yet, right now, I’m fucking lost. “Sir?”
“I told you to take Betty from here. I told you to keep her safe. You’ve failed on both fronts.”
Jesus, why not take a gun and shoot me through the fucking heart?
“Because of that,” Grimm pauses and stands, buttoning his blazer, “I’m going to have to terminate your employment.”
My jaw drops. “You’re firing me?” Granted, it results in the same outcome as the one I came to deliver, but I wanted to do it on my terms, not Grimm’s. I rise to my feet, not wanting—nor willing—to remain seated and look up into anyone’s eyes. Hawk Majors looks up to no one.
“I’m firing you both,” Mr. Grimm finally answers. “It’s for the best, Hawk. I need to distance myself from all this. You’ll both receive handsome severance packages, and your retirement is secure.” He eyes me, and I finally catch the slight twinkle in the old man’s eye.
“My retirement,” I repeat, trying not to sound shocked, even though I am. Enforcers don’t typically make it to retirement, let alone have one funded by their employer.
“You’ve been with the Grimm family for twenty years, son. Betty has been here for half that. Between the two of you, you have thirty years’ service. That earns you bonus retirement.”
I chuckle and shake my head. Of course, he’d find some way to turn this into a reward for me. “We don’t need your—” I stop when he lifts his hand.
“Consider it an early wedding present then,” he offers and, finally, flashes a grin. “Travel is good for you, and I’m following my own advice. I’m taking a trip down to Mexico for an old friend’s birthday party and flying commercial for the first time in, well, a long time.”
“Why aren’t you taking the personal jet?” I don’t question his assumption that Betty and I will be married. That’s a given. As soon as I can take her away from this city, I’ll make her my wife.
“It’s going to be occupied.” He approaches me and pulls me into a bear hug, slapping my back. “It’s all fueled up and ready to take you wherever Betty wants you to go.”
“I…” I don’t know what to say, so I stop there.
Mr. Grimm steps back and pats me on the cheek. “Hawk, let me give you a piece of advice. When your former employer gives you a large sum of money and free use of his personal jet, you don’t question it. You take it.”
I grin and nod gratefully. “Yes, sir.” I can’t wait to see the look on my sweet honeybee’s face when I tell her.
Right after I ask her to marry me.
