Page 44 of Condor’s Vow

“Hey.”

Hattie looked up, surprised to see Reid leaning in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come up but guessed that was part of his training. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. Callie let Mr. Chester back in. Is that okay?”

Hattie stood and pulled herself together. “Yes, of course.”

“It’s not your fault. What happened at the hospital; it isn’t on you.”

“How did you know?” Hattie cocked her head at the man she hardly knew wondering how he could read her guilt.

“I recognized the look. When Callie’s friend and housekeeper was killed, she blamed herself too. Plus, Clay called me and told me you were beating yourself up and asked me to keep an eye on you.” His grin made the fearsome man look almost cute.

“He did?”

“He loves you, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” Reid moved in and sat on the bed beside her, keeping a respectable distance. “Clay is my best friend. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. Well, except stay away from his baby sister.”

Hattie grinned. “That seems to have worked out.”

“Yeah, thank fuck.”

“I love him too. I just don’t think I could cope if he got hurt protecting me.”

“It’s a funny thing, finding the person you’re meant to spend your life with. I wasn’t looking for Callie, but when we met it was instant. I knew in my heart she was it, and I’m sure it was the same for Clay. Being who he is, the kind of man who needs to save those who can’t save themselves, is in his DNA. That doesn’t mean he thinks you can’t save yourself because it’s clear to anyone who meets you that you can, but the need for him to protect you is as instinctive as a mother’s is to protect her young.” He ran his hand through the hair on the top of his head, which was long and brushed back. “I’m explaining this wrong. Fuck. Callie should have done this.”

“You’re doing fine, Reid. Clay would lay down his life for me, and you think I should let him.”

“Yes and no. You should let him do his job. He’s good, the best agent I know, and he’ll figure this out. Just don’t let guilt and fear for him drive you to do something you’ll both regret. Have faith in him and trust him to protect you because he will.”

Her words were soft. “At what cost?”

“I’ll be around to watch his back for a while, and his team is good. They’ll have his back too. When you do the jobs we do, the people we work with aren’t colleagues, they become family, and family always protects family.”

“How did you get so wise?”

Reid laughed. “Ha. Wait until you meet my mom tomorrow night. She’d probably argue with that, but she’s the reason I’m the man I am today.”

“Can’t wait to meet her.”

Hattie and Reid moved single file downstairs. “My ma believes the best thing I ever did was make Callie fall in love with me.”

They stepped through the door and saw Callie on her knees rubbing Mr. Chester’s belly. Callie, obviously having heard Reid’s last words, waved her hand at Reid’s body. “Oh, please. Like I had a choice with all that to contend with.”

Hattie smirked. She didn’t know Reid and Callie well, but she trusted them and so she’d do as Reid had said and trust Clay. Although she knew in her heart trusting him wasn’t the issue, it was loving him so much she couldn’t face losing him.

They spent the rest of the evening chatting about her plans, cooking a light dinner, and then watching TV. Reid and Callie would stay in her spare room tonight, and she was glad of it. Clay checked in around ten that night to say he’d be late, and she should go to bed.

Hattie turned in feeling exhausted by the emotion of the day and wanting nothing more than Clay’s arms around her. Wrapping her arms around the pillow, she drifted off to sleep.