Poisoned Rose (Dark Roses #1) (8 page)

II

              Fae laughed as she looked down to find four year old Aurora with her arms wrapped around her legs.  She bent down to pick her up and a bead on her ball gown got caught on Aurora’s dress, but she didn’t care.  The dress was expensive but it was heavy and she couldn’t wait to get out of it.  Aurora put her head on Fae’s shoulder.  Fae whispered to Mario that she would be back and excused herself from the group, making her way to the ballroom’s doors.  When she passed Tony and Santina she let them know she was taking Aurora upstairs and would put her to bed.  It was almost ten and the little girl had done well to stay awake as long as she had.

              She walked out of the ballroom and towards the grand staircase.  She noticed she was being followed and looked down to find Hawk walking behind her in his tuxedo.  She smiled, shifted Aurora so she could carry all her weight on one arm and took Hawk’s hand. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, Hawk offered to let go of her hand so she could pick up her dress but Aurora reached down and Fae let the little girl hold her dress up for her.

              She took the children into one of the guest rooms and helped Aurora out of her dress and into her pajamas as Hawk changed out of his suit.  She was surprised that her son wanted to go to bed, the other children were still playing and she thought he would want to stay with them.  But then she remembered that Hawk knew she would be telling Aurora her bedtime fairytale.  Once they were tucked into bed, she lay down beside them and Aurora snuggled up to her while Hawk got comfortable on the other side.  Aurora waited for Hawk to settle in before asking Fae to tell her the story, and she smiled, moving Aurora’s hair away from her face and reaching over to Hawk so she could hold his hand.

              ‘Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a beautiful princess, with hair as dark as ebony and eyes as green as emeralds.  She was the only daughter of the powerful king and queen, who were loved by all the land.  On the day she was born, the kingdom celebrated and a party was held.  The king and queen of a neighboring land came to give the princess gifts, and with them they bought their son.  The little prince was five years old, and when he looked into the princess’s basinet, he told his parents that one day he would marry her.

              As she grew, her beauty became legendary, but with it came great jealousy.  Between the two kingdoms lived three families of trolls, whose fathers all wished to be king.  They believed that if they kidnapped the princess, her father would hand over the throne, but you should never trust a troll.  The trolls did not plan on returning the princess to her family, they wanted to keep her locked in their dungeons, as a warning to everyone of the price you paid for beauty.

              On her sixteenth birthday, a great celebration was held and invites sent to all the lands.  When the trolls heard of the party, they cast a spell over themselves, and the magic cloaked them with grace and beauty.  And so, when the night of the party arrived, the trolls snuck in with stolen invitations, dressed as lords and ladies.  Throughout the night, their jealousy grew until their ugliness started breaking through the spell.  Some of the trolls had to escape before they were found out.  But the three fathers were sneakier, and when the time came for the princess to dance with her father, they kidnapped her and fled the palace.

              But they didn’t get far.  As they ran, a great eagle the size of a dragon took flight, the betrothed prince flying to save his future bride.  The eagle’s talons wrapped around two of the trolls, pulling them into the air and throwing them far away, so far that they would never find their way back.  But the third troll threw himself and the princess into a river and the eagle wasn’t able to catch them.  The prince landed, took out his sword and confronted the troll.  They fought while the princess struggled to stay afloat, the jewels that covered her dress threatening to pull her under.

              Finally, the prince slayed the troll and ran to the princess, who’s head had dropped below the water.  With his mighty strength he pulled her out and lay her on the grass…’

              Fae smiled as Aurora’s breathing steadied. The little girl fell asleep before the end of the story every time.  She looked at Hawk and ran a hand through his hair, kissing her fingers and placing them on his forehead as her son waited for the end of the story, his favorite part.

              ‘… then, as the prince looked into her eyes with his own, beautiful eyes, one an emerald and one a sapphire, he leant forward and kissed her.  When they married, the two kingdoms were united and the trolls banished, and the prince and the princess lived happily ever after.’

Fourteen

              Aurora shot up in bed to find her room lit and Vince standing in her doorway rapping his knuckles against the door.

              ‘We’ve got someone!’

              She stumbled out of bed and asked if Johnny and Cross were back from their business trip to Africa.

              ‘Their jet landed an hour ago.’

              Vince left and she rushed into her walk-in-robe still half asleep, pulling out the first items she found.  She picked out a pair of dark denim jeans, sneakers and a white tank top, and made her way down to the foyer.  Her brothers were waiting for her and she wished she’d paid attention to what Vince was wearing.  They were dressed in all black, wearing cargo pants, boots and tight t-shirts.  They had on leather jackets that were bulging in different places and she realized they were packing a lot more than usual.  It was the real deal.  Johnny looked at her and turned to Vince, muttering something that she couldn’t hear.

              As Vince sniggered and gave her a devilish grin, she realized he had avoided instructing her to wear black for Johnny’s amusement.  When he tossed a duffel bag in her direction, she knew his intention had been to diffuse Johnny’s anger before it arose.  Still, that didn’t mean she wasn’t annoyed.

              ‘Here, and tie your hair up.’

              She spun on her heels and made her way back upstairs.  In her room she opened the duffel bag and pulled out a pair of tight cargo pants, a tank top and a leather jacket.  She got dressed then frowned as she pulled out a pair of heavy boots.  It took strength to unlace them and when she looked inside she realized why.  Strapped to the insides were two knives with the Hannam Family crest detailed on the gold handles.  Only the highest ranking Family members were presented with them and she was honored.  She wanted to take them out and examine them but it was a quarter past one and she didn’t want to hold her brothers up any more than she already had.  She pulled on the boots and tied her hair up in a ponytail, then rushed back down to the foyer.  Johnny gave her a cursory glance then stalked out the front door. Vince smiled before grabbing her right hand.

              ‘It’s calibrated to respond to your palm print.’

              Then he turned and followed Johnny out the front door, leaving her gawking at the beautiful Beretta 92 steel in her palm.  In her mind’s eye, she saw Dante running down the staircase and shoving his gun into the small of his back.  She followed suit and hurried out the front door.   Johnny had the Hummer moving before she had slammed the door shut.  Even though she had been trained on how to behave at an interrogation, Johnny and Vince still lectured her.  Ten minutes later they pulled up at the warehouse and entered to find a light coming from the office.  She could hear that the interrogation had begun.

              ‘We’re late…’

              Johnny mumbled as he started up the stairs.  She swallowed as she and Vince followed him.  No amount of training could have prepared her for the scene inside the office.  In the middle of the room, a man was tied to a wooden chair.  His left eye was so swollen he could no longer open it, his nose was broken and his lip was split.  Blood and urine pooled on the floorboards and the air was saturated with a sickening, metallic scent.  His hair was matted with blood and she couldn’t tell what color it was.  His good eye stole a glance in their direction before his gaze turned to the man who was stalking towards him.

              Hawk stepped out of the shadows and into the light, so focused on the task at hand that he didn’t acknowledge his new audience.  She felt a tingle run through her body and it was as if he were moving in slow motion.  He was shirtless and while she couldn’t see his face, she would know that body anywhere, and with every flex of the muscles in his back she could feel her body twitch in response.  Taut muscles covered his broad shoulders and rippled down his back and arms, narrowing into a defined V at his lower back.  His skin was hairless and golden, a fine sheen of sweat creating a glow under the light fixture, his black hair curled at the nape of his neck.  A sleek silver Beretta was tucked into the back of his cargo pants, the tight muscles of his ass accentuated as he tensed in anticipation and broadened his stance.  She concentrated on the way he moved and everything else drifted away.  She was hypnotized by him, left speechless by his presence.  She knew she should be focusing on the interrogation but she couldn’t bring herself to look away.  As he had for years, Hawk controlled her.

              ‘I’m gonna ask you one more time cause my patience has really run out now that you’ve bloodied my tee.  Who organized the hit on Tony Hannam?’

              His voice was a deep, husky growl and even though there was a lethal menace in his tone that she didn’t recognize, she wanted his voice to be the sound she woke up to every morning for the rest of her life.

              ‘How many times do you want me to tell you… I don’t know who gave the orders… He never gave his name…’

              A quick punch in the face and the guy was spitting blood.  When Hawk pulled his arm back, she noticed a chain threaded through his knuckles.  A whistle from her right had her turning to find Bo straddling a chair with his arms folded in front of him.  He grinned and cocked his head.  From his relaxed demeanor she would have thought he was watching a movie.  And was that gum in his mouth? Johnny, Vince and Cross were standing with their backs against the wall, arms folded, engrossed in the interrogation.  She moved towards Bo and took the seat he offered.

              ‘Not what you expected right?’

              It was the first time she’d heard Bo speak without his usual bravado and she gave him a pained smile.

              ‘Is it that obvious?’

              She hoped that he thought it was the interrogation that had stunned her, not the fact that Hawk was half naked and less than eight feet away.  Bo raised an eyebrow then pointed at himself.

              ‘Captain remember? Anyway it’s always uncomfortable the first time, but you get used to it.’

              The bravado was back.  Captivated by Hawk as he landed another punch to his victim’s jaw, she chose to ignore the sexual innuendo, but when she didn’t respond, a knowing grin spread across Bo’s face and he shook his head.

              ‘Ah yes, I forgot about your history with Hawk.’

              She turned to face him.  What did he mean? Hawk had never felt for her the way she felt for him.  She refused to admit to Bo that she ached to be Hawk, had refused to admit it to anybody ever, but she knew anyone who saw her look at him would know.  She couldn’t control it.  She would want him forever, and deep down she had always wondered… Was there any chance the fairytale his mother used to tell her held a deeper meaning?

              She opened her mouth to ask Bo what he’d meant when a shot exploded.  Their suspect had been capped in the knee and blood was pouring out.  Cursing out loud, she snapped her mouth shut but it was too late.  Hawk spun around.  She felt the breath knocked out of her as his eyes locked on hers.  One blue, one green, and both filled with rage.

              ‘What the fuck is she doing here?’

              She felt the urge to retreat as Hawk glared at her.  There was an emotion in his eyes that shattered her; it wasn’t hatred but it was close enough.  Hawk was furious with her presence and she felt rejected.  Somewhere along the road he had become the tortured soul that stood before her, and it was as though the child he had once been had never existed. Without dropping eye contact, he smashed their suspect in the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him out cold.  Then he turned his mismatched glare to Johnny, who stepped into the light and lifted his jaw.

              ‘She’s here because I want her here.  Do we have a problem?’

              Hawk stuck his finger against Johnny’s chest.

              ‘Yeah, we have a problem.  What the fuck are you doing bringing her to an interrogation? She doesn’t belong here.’

              ‘She belongs here if I say she does.  She’s a Rose.’

              ‘Your dad’s dead five minutes and you’ve already made your sister the first Hannam Rose? John, are you kidding me?’

              She could feel the testosterone in the room reach a whole new level and she began to sweat, feeling it make a slow trail from between her shoulder blades to the small of her back.  Bo nudged her with his elbow but she couldn’t look away.

              ‘Watch your tone Hawk and get your finger off me before I break it. It’s my Family and I’ll induct whoever I want.’

              Hawk snarled but dropped his hand and cracked his thick neck.

              ‘Whatever John, your Family, your problems.’

              Johnny crossed his arms, the confrontation forgotten.

              ‘What do we know?’

              As Hawk explained what they had discovered, Aurora could tell that his interest in finding information was more than for the sake of business.  Hawk cared about finding Dante.  Maybe he didn’t care about her, but her brothers and father meant something to him, and she loved him for it.

              Their suspect’s head lolled forward, drool dripping out the side of his mouth and blood trickling down his forehead.  She knew she should feel shock or pity, maybe even disgust at Hawk for what he had done, but she didn’t.  She was proud of him and her Family for having the power to seek revenge and uncover the truth.  The man who was sitting in that chair had been involved in Mike and her father’s murder, as well as Dante’s disappearance.  He deserved whatever Hawk gave him.

              When Hawk came to the part about Mike’s death, he hesitated, his eyes flicking towards her so briefly that she thought she had imagined it.

              ‘Your boy wasn’t supposed to die.  The guy that shot him was a soldier who was getting restless waiting for the hit on your dad.’

              ‘You think one of the other Families is behind this?’

              Johnny asked the question and while she tried to comprehend that Mike was collateral damage, Hawk looked to Bo.  As a sign of respect, he wanted Bo to be the one to explain what they had discovered.  Bo cleared his throat, moving his gum to the side of his mouth.

              ‘We don’t, that’s the thing.  We already knew the hit on Mike wasn’t condoned by any of the other Families.  Since his death is linked with your father’s and Dante’s disappearance, if the guy that killed him was a soldier, and assuming the other Families are telling the truth, that can only mean one thing…’

              Johnny cursed and looked back at Vince, the two of them communicating without words.  As Vince covered his eyes, Johnny let out a harsh breath.

              ‘We’re dealing with rogue soldiers.’

              Hawk ran a hand through his hair and shrugged his shoulders, the muscles down his side flexing as he moved.  Between the possible impacts of Johnny’s statement and Hawk’s shirtless presence, she was struggling to control her reactions, shifting in her seat and sitting on her hands.

              ‘Well shit.’

              Cross spoke for the first time from the corner of the room.  Everyone was silent and Johnny rubbed his skull trim before making a decision.

              ‘Let him go.  Let’s put a tail on him and see who he goes to.’

              ‘You’re grasping at straws John, we both know this guy’s been written off.’

              Johnny considered the statement.  Then he nodded in agreement and Hawk slapped their unconscious suspect.  The man stirred and opened one eye.

              ‘Please… I’ve told you everything I know…’

              ‘Yeah I believe you man, don’t worry, we’re done here.’

              Relief followed by pure terror flashed across the man’s face before the back of his head was blown apart by Hawk’s Beretta.  Aurora jumped in her seat, then sat numb trying to register that the mess on the floorboards was the man’s brains.  A blood splattered Hawk was looking her in the eye as he tucked his gun back into his pants, challenging her to say something.  Instead she doubled over and threw up.  The last thing she registered was Bo yanking back her ponytail while Hawk raised an eyebrow and shook his head at Johnny.