“So, you’re the pain in the ass hacking into my system,” Victor sneered.
12
Hawke’s grip on his gun was tight, slick with sweat. The evidence they’d found against Romano felt heavy in his pocket, the weight of what it represented sitting like a stone in his gut.
In front of him, Penny kept close, one hand drifting back to brush against him every few steps, as if to reassure herself he was still there.
They were so close to making it out with the evidence intact. So close to finally bringing Romano to justice. But until they stepped outside into the fresh night air, the knot in Hawke’s chest wouldn’t loosen.
He kept his breathing even, steady. Listening for any sound out of place among their soft footfalls.Almost there. Hawke repeated it like a mantra, the promise of freedom glowing brighter as they approached. A few more steps and it would all be over.
The tension was palpable as they moved silently through the dim hallway. Hawke’s senses were on high alert, attuned to any potential signs of danger. His grip on his gun tightened reflexively at each echo of their footsteps, the sound reverberating off the cold walls.
Without warning, the heavy silence exploded into chaos as Romano’s security burst from a room. Gunshots cracked through the air, muzzle flashes briefly illuminating the darkness. His ears rang from the deafening noise. “Run!” he shouted at Penny, pulse thundering, shoving her toward the stairs.
Penny was a blur of motion as she charged forward.
He dove behind a pillar as bullets peppered the walls around them. They were surrounded, but Hawke refused to go down without a fight. After coming this far, he would be damned if he let Romano stop them now.
Rage boiled up inside Hawke, hot and visceral. He started forward, heedless of the danger, consumed by the need to get to Penny and keep her safe. He took down one assailant in quick succession, and Archer the other, and they charged forward to the stairs.
Hawke’s heart hammered against his ribs as he sprinted out the door, spotting Jett and Ronan running from the west, three bodies lying moaning on the ground behind them. They rushed into the shadows and toward the truck. The stale air burned his lungs with each ragged breath, but he pushed his muscles to their limit. He had to get to Penny.
Each second that passed came with another spike of worry.
But nothing could have prepared him for arriving at the truck, finding it empty.
“They have her,” Jett said in the comms.
Hawke fought to spin around, but Archer shoved him into the van. “Going back there is a death sentence. The best way to help her is to get that evidence to Hunt and form a plan to get her out.”
Sitting in the passenger seat of the van ten minutes later, safely tucked away next to the historic town hall, Hawke could not stop replaying the mission in his mind, desperately searching for where he had gone wrong. He needed to find his mistake, the one that had led to Penny being captured.
Seated and with rage coursing through his veins, he knew this was why he yearned for a life free from danger. The sound of her laughter echoed in his mind, and he couldn’t help but recall the sensation of her soft, lush body against his. Her smile, brimming with intensity, consumed his thoughts. All he wanted was to shower her with love and create a new existence far from harm's way. Yet, here he was once again, thrust back into the midst of it all, with Penny now facing grave danger.
Cursing, he stared at his phone, after barking commands at Rhys to show him the surveillance feed of Romano’s reactivated cameras that Penny had set up back at Phoenix to allow Rhys and Hunt a bird’s eye into the mission.
His pulse roared in his ears as his eyes darted over the screens, desperately scanning for any sign of Penny.Where are you?
His gaze raked over every monitor. Most showed empty halls or deserted rooms. Others showed Romano’s security scrambling to secure the mansion. With each passing second, dread knotted his gut.
“You need to meet us,” Archer snapped. “No, Hunt, the situation has changed. They have Penny. We need reinforcements.”
Hawke heard nothing after that, because something caught his eye. A screen flickered. Steeling himself, he narrowed his eyes. The hazy image resolved into a stark holding cell. And there, tied to a chair, was Penny.
Hawke’s breath caught at the sight of her. Even through the grainy footage, he could see the fear in her piercing eyes. Her hair fell across her face in tangled strands as she struggled against the ropes binding her.
“Penny,” he whispered, his fingers barely grazing the screen. A mix of anger and protectiveness coursed through him. He had finally located her, but he couldn’t just rush in blindly. He had to come up with a plan that would ensure her safety.
Romano must have had something in mind for Penny. Otherwise, why would he have bound her to a chair?
This gave Hawke the one thing he needed most:time.
His mind raced, taking in details—the sparse room, the heavy door, the two armed guards stationed outside. The situation was precarious, but he had faced worse odds.
Hawke watched her, grappling with his swirling emotions. He had to trust her skills, her instincts. But if anything happened to her...
No.He shoved the thought away. She was a survivor. And he would do everything in his power to get her through this alive.
