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At Hadley’s insistent tone, my eyebrows pull down, and I analyze her more closely. “Why are you so determined that the three of us learn to get along?”
She doesn’t quite meet my eyes when she responds. “Because it’s been over four years now. It’s past the point of ridiculous. You’re my brother and Emilia is my best friend, and Wilder is… Wilder. No matter what, you will all be a part of each other’s lives, so you need to goddamn learn to get along. Besides, don’t tell me you aren’t enjoying having her around. I see the difference in you already, and it’s only been two weeks.”
I scoff. “What difference? I’m no different than I always am.”
She rolls her eyes like I’m being dense. “Sure. You tell yourself that, but I saw how you tracked her from across the room with your eyes on Sunday. And you’ve been less uptight—”
“I amnotuptight! And don’t change the subject. This is about more than you suddenly wanting us to be all buddy-buddy. We’ve been successfully ignoring one another for four years now, so why the sudden urge to upheave all our lives and force us to confront the past? What are you not telling me?”
Completely exasperated now, she pushes to her feet, looking furious as all hell as she stands in front of my desk, peering down at me.
“Because I’m getting married.” The words are a harsh snap, delivered with zero finesse, that leaves me staring open-mouthed at her. It takes a long moment for the meaning of her words to sink in.
“You’re what?”
Her shoulders drop, and her tone is softer when she repeats, “I’m getting married.”
“What… When… How…?” My gaze drops to her left hand, not seeing an engagement ring, and my confused frown deepens.
Sighing, she rubs at her temples. “The guys proposed right before Kai called to tell us about Emilia,” she explains. “We were going to tell you on Sunday, but after Wilder stormed off, it didn’t seem like the right time.” My forever fierce and headstrong sister shows me a rare moment of vulnerability as she ducks her head.
“You’re getting married.” Shock colors my words. A small but excited grin pulls up the corner of my lips, and she flicks her gaze up, scrutinizing me through her eyelashes.
“Not until after graduation, at the earliest, but… yeah.”
Her eyes jump all over my face before a matching grin lifts her lips.
Jumping out of my chair, I round the table. “You’re getting married!” I pull her in for a hug, and she wraps her arms around my waist. I rest my chin on her head. “I’m so happy for you, Hads. You deserve every moment of happiness.”
She returns my hug for a moment longer before pulling back, and when she looks up at me, happiness shines in her stormy gray depths, though there’s a seriousness in her tone when she says, “You deserve happiness too, Hawk. I wish you’d let yourself have it.”
I squeeze her arms before dropping my hold. “Don’t worry about me, Hadley. I’m happy so long as you are happy.”
A soft smile tilts her lips even as she shakes her head and pokes me in the chest. “You need to find your own happiness. What you’re building here is great, and you should be incredibly proud of everything you’ve achieved, but you’re only fooling yourself if you think all of this is enough.”
Hadley leaves my office not long after, and her words are still churning over in my mind at the end of the day as I log out of my computer and lock my office door. I’m not sure about finding my own happiness, but one thing is for sure, I’m more excited than I reasonably should be at the fact that I’m going back to the brownstone tonight… where a certain raven-haired hellcat awaits.
Chapter12
EMILIA
Dropping a slab of butter into the heated pan, it hisses as it starts to melt, and I move to chop up the vegetables for the salad. Since it seems that Hawk and Wilder are back to avoiding me and staying at the frat house, I thought I’d make Kai dinner as a ‘thank you’ for all the time and effort he’s put into tracking my stalker down. He’s been chasing down leads all week, not that he’s had any success. However, as he keeps reminding me, every person we rule out is one less person we need to spend time researching. I can see the sense in his logic, even if it is disheartening.
Once the vegetables are chopped, I grab the bottle of red wine I found in the cupboard and pop the cork, pouring myself a glass while I wait for Kai. He usually makes an appearance around six o’clock to sort out dinner before returning to his laptop and spending the rest of the night staring at it.
At the sound of the front door opening and closing, I stiffen in my chair, staring at the entrance into the kitchen with trepidation.So much for hoping for a quiet night. My features are set into an expressionless mask by the time Hawk appears in the doorway, wearing a suit, the top button undone and his tie hanging loosely around his neck.
His eyes bounce from me to the bottle of wine to the stove before once again settling on me, studying my guarded expression before holding up his hands. “I come in peace.”
I scoff, not buying his bullshit for a second, and my gaze darts behind him, half expecting Wilder to make an appearance and completely ruin my plans for tonight.
“Don’t worry, I’m alone.” At his words, my gaze snaps back to him, tracking his every move as he walks slowly into the room, almost as if approaching a wounded animal. “Wilder’s staying at the frat tonight.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“I work at Nocturnal Enterprises Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I usually stay here on those nights.”
“Oh.” My shoulders slump with disappointment. I just wanted an easy night without any hostility or angry glowers. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently so.
