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“Don’t you need to get that?” I ask.
He steps closer. “It’s not important right now. You are,” he says as he gently grabs me by my shoulders. I’d love nothing more than to believe him and sink into his waiting arms, but self-preservation takes the wheel.
“Don’t, Hawk. You and I both know this ends with us both getting hurt. You said so yourself. You’re keeping your promises to the Rossis. I talked to Tate when he came in the other day, and even he said you’d told him you didn’t know when or if you’d be coming back. I’m not a good-time girl…the kind you can call when you roll through town. I don’t want part of you. I want it all because I’m in love with you,” I admit before I lose my nerve.
He cups my face and starts to speak when his phone vibrates again. He huffs out a frustrated sigh as he checks it again. He glances at the display with furrowed brows and back at me before silencing it for a second time.
I use the opportunity to unlock my car and throw my stuff in the passenger seat before shutting the door. Hawk’s on my heels. He tips my chin up so I’m forced to stare into his green eyes.
“I’m back for you. I made you promise to let me fight for us, for a second chance. But I let you down,” he says as he cups both sides of my face. “I never should’ve doubted you. You’re the best person I know…you always have been. Which means I should’ve known you wouldn’t skirt around behind my back. I shouldn’t have let you walk out the door either. I froze. And I’m sorry. But I’m here to fix it,” he says, searching my eyes with his.
“I don’t fit in with your family, Hawk. Only Wren. I’m not going to try and come between you. I want a family one day of my own, and since my family is all but absent from my life, it’s important to me to have some kind of relationship with my man’s family,” I tell him.
He chuckles. “I should’ve known,” he says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, feeling my hackles rise.
“I should’ve known you’d only care about them and not what they may or may not be involved with. I initially thought I’d lose you because I’d never chain you to me with whatever responsibilities I’ll have to them. I wanted you to be free to live your life the way you wanted. When you left, I tried to tell myself it was for the best. But then I decided I wasn’t going to lose you again. Not without a fight. And it wasn’t my place to make the decision for you. I’ve done too much of that under the guise of protecting those I care about. I’m here now to lay all my cards out,” he says softly.
“Here are all the facts. I have family in Nashville who may require my attention, but Greendale Valley is home. I love working on Valley B with Tate. I won’t hide anything about my family from you, but at the same time, I won’t ever let anything from that part of my life hurt you. If your dream is to sing, I’m behind you each step of the way. I love that you have the biggest and most giving heart even if it’s been broken. You see the best in people, and I hope you still see that in me. Because I’m in love with you, Brittney,” he tells me as he swipes the tears from under my eyes with his thumbs.
“There is no fight more worthy of winning than the one for your heart…to be your last and forever,” he adds with a hopeful smile.
I let out a sob or a laugh, to be honest, I’m not sure which. I grab his face on each side and pull his lips to mine. He drops his hands to my legs and hoists me up, so they wrap around his waist.
The same moment we found each other was the same moment we were knocked to the ground…literally.
A shot splits through the night air, and someone falls on the pavement with blood blooming beneath them. When we both get our bearings and realize we aren’t hit, Hawk glances at the figure on the ground to find his dad, chest heaving as blood oozes beneath him.
“Dad!” he shouts before kneeling by his side. “Who did this? Why are you here?”
He grabs his chest with one hand and points with the other as an angry woman stalks closer with her gun still trained on us.
“Angel, what are you doing?” Hawk asks in exasperation as he applies pressure to Kieran’s wound.
“If I can’t have you, she can’t either,” she says coldly with blank eyes.
This can’t be happening. I came for Brittney…to make things right and win her back…for keeps this time. And almost in the same moment I may have done exactly that, my dad pushed us out of the way and took a bullet meant for me and Brittney both. Now he lies on the pavement bleeding out as I try to apply pressure to his chest and somehow get us all out of this.
“Angel, don’t do this. You have a son to think about. He needs you,” I try.
“No, he has his nanny. And you took him from me and gave him to his father, remember? I didn’t want him to belong to Rocco. He was yours. He was supposed to be yours,” she says as the gun bounces in her trembling hand.
“We don’t get to pick our families. I’m not his father, but I have every intention of being in his life,” I tell her, because it’s true. Matteo and I have put the past behind us, and Leo has always been a good guy. We’ve all been checking in on Rocco and Ethan. Even Rocco seems to have softened around the edges in his new role as a dad in a short period of time.
If all the lies and wars between our families can be put to rest…or at least a mutual respect between all of us is possible because of Ethan, we’re all for it. She should be too. But all she sees is revenge and not getting what she wants for once. She truly is a monster of Aldo’s making; one I didn’t know existed.
She trains her gun on Brittney and she holds up both hands. “No, put the gun back on me, Angel,” I say as I still apply pressure to my dad’s chest and watch helplessly as the light starts to fade from his eyes.
It seems like an eternity has passed since she fired the shot that hit my dad, but in reality, it’s only been a few minutes. The sirens tear through the night, and my heart beats erratically because I know things are about to get a lot worse when the cops arrive. I’m sure someone in High Road called 9-1-1.
But that’s when I catch sight of Hart stalking closer on silent feet with his gun drawn. While he gets into position, I try to distract Angel. “Your brother loves you. Don’t do something you can’t take back for both Ethan and him,” I say.
Her eyes flash with anger. “Don’t bring up Matty. He chose her too,” she says angrily and trains the pistol on Brittney again.
“Angelica, life isn’t fair. But you need to focus on what you do have. Families can be complicated, but you have two people who I know love you. Your son and your brother. This would break their hearts. Is that what you want? They may be upset now, but you have a chance to make things right,” Brittney says as I watch Hart close in.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You got the man I love. Without him, nothing else matters. But if you’re out of the way permanently, he’ll come back to me,” Angel says in a rage and her finger on the trigger.
