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The responsibilities.
The pressure.
That was a hard thing to hand over to someone else. For so long, I had shouldered my own stresses, my own problems, knowing I was the only one I could trust to hold them up. I’d tried to share the load before, and those people had let me down. They let it all fall, and I was the one who ended up crushed underneath, trying to pick up the pieces and get back on my feet.
And because Kadey was under that weight with me, I was more determined than ever to never let it fall.
There were days when it was hard, when it seemed almost impossible.
But since I met Hawk, it was starting to feel a little lighter, and I was beginning to stand a little straighter and breathe a whole lot deeper.
It started with the money for Kadey’s EpiPen.
Then the new job.
The way we were welcomed in the club.
And on top of it all, watching him become Kadey’s favorite person in the world—a person she ran to when she had a story to tell and also when she was scared and needed to feel secure—that had been the biggest weight of them all.
Knowing there’s someone else protecting the thing I loved the most.
Being able to trust him with my world.
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and he and Bishop ducked inside.
I wasn’t sure how long it took.
Seconds.
Minutes.
More.
But it felt like an eternity before Hawk and Bishop stepped back outside—without Kadey. Sirens began to whirl in the distance, growing closer and closer, but I just stood there, shaking my head. “No. Where is she?”
Hawk tucked his gun away, taking my face in his hands and holding my gaze. “We will find her. I fucking promise.”
I believed him.
We’d find her.
But it didn’t stop my heart from trying to pound out of my chest. Where was she? What if she was alone? What if she was scared?
Hawk took my face in his hands. “Baby, we will find her.”
I licked my lips and nodded. “Any sign of Jared?”
His jaw clenched, and he glanced at Bishop, a silent question passing between them before Bishop nodded. “Jared was killed. Shot.”
My knees crumbled, but Hawk caught me around the waist before I hit the ground.
Jared was dead.
Kadey was missing.
Blue and red lights suddenly lit up the darkness as Hawk eased me down onto the concrete steps. “Don’t mention your apartment,” he whispered as I curled into his chest. “Just tell them that Kadey is meant to be here. You’d rung Jared and couldn’t get an answer, so we came to check.”I was suddenly grateful that we had delayed long enough to change clothes before coming over here. Even though the delay had been excruciating.
