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Nerves spike through me, my heart going cold.
I move hesitantly to the door, pausing for a moment to catch my breath. Then I peer out, scanning the backyard grounds.
He’s in the distance, walking purposefully toward the gardens.
“What’s he doing in the gardens in the dead of night?” I murmur under my breath. Pushing doubts aside, I step into the night and follow him, determined to find out what’s going on.
Unsure of what I’ll find, I follow him and can’t deny the beauty of the night. The garden under the moon’s blue haze, the small lights amid the flowers switching on every time Hawk walks past them. The garden’s filled with dahlias in every color under the sun. They are beautiful and well-maintained.
And yet, my skin is crawling.
As I near the garden’s entrance, Hawk’s voice from up ahead reaches my ears.
“Why are you out at this time?”
Stepping past the gate, I hurry behind him.
“Why are you?”
He chuckles, a deep sound that eases some of my tension.
“I can’t sleep.”
I catch up to him, inhaling the blooming scent of dahlias that fill the garden beds. Our steps are synchronized as we wander deeper, and more lights blink awake at our arrival.
“Is everything okay?” I ask. “Are you worried about Drake?”
He gives a shake of his head, his gaze fixed on the path ahead.
“I’ve always struggled with insomnia, and most nights, I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, and eventually drift off. But sometimes, the restlessness is so overpowering that it feels as though the night pulses in my skull. I have to get up and do something. Walking usually helps.”
“Sounds tough,” I say, imagining the endless night of enduring no sleep. I can barely walk straight if I don’t get a solid night’s rest.
He shrugs. “I’ve learned to live with it.”
“You know, a hot bath and soothing cup of tea before bed might help. I’ll even wash your hair.”
His grin is addictive, and every time he smiles at me, I feel myself falling that bit more for him. I shouldn’t, I know this, but everything about him is irresistible.
“So, what you’re saying is that you’ll scrub my body, then let me go to bed without jumping my bones?”
I eye him. “Says you, Mr. Horny, who won’t let me come into bed until I’m naked.”
He shrugs. “Those are universal rules. I don’t control them.”
I nudge him. I like this side of Hawk. When he’s subdued, and it’s just the two of us, he’s almost dorky, and I adore that about him.
We keep strolling through the enormous gardens when he says, “My past has always stayed with me, no matter what I do.”
“Isn’t the past what shapes us?”
“Yeah, but there’s good and bad history that can ruin a person.”
His words linger in the silence between us.
“My father wasn’t exactly what one would call a loving man,” he explains, breaking the quiet. “He was a fucking bastard who used to beat my mom and me. To the point that he once sold me to an opposing company to ensure he won the deal. That man treated me as slave labor, and I couldn’t do fuck all, as it was in a contract. And if I left, I knew he’d take it out on my mother. So, I sucked it up for two long, fucking years. I was only thirteen at the time.”
“Oh, shit.” Reaching over, I take his hand in mine, our fingers interlacing. “How did you get out?”
