Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“They were bad men,” Matty announced as he pulled back from me.
“They were,” I said. “But they can’t hurt you ever again, okay?”
Matty nodded and then looked over my shoulder. I followed his gaze to see Hawke walking towards us. His shirt was covered in blood, but I knew it wasn’t his. I was stunned to see Mav walking behind him. And I knew instantly where the knife that had hit Buck in the wrist had come from.
Hawke dropped to his knees beside me. His face was drawn tight with emotion as he dragged Matty into his arms and buried his face in his shoulder.
“I read your mind,” Matty announced when Hawke released him.
“Oh yeah?” Hawke said, his voice thick and uneven. He shifted his gaze to me and I nearly lost it when his hand went around my neck and he just held me like that. I didn’t need words to know what he was thinking. I pressed up against his side as I focused on my son.
Our son.
“You were thinking about saving me and Daddy.”
Hawke lifted his other hand to stroke Matty’s cheek. “That’s exactly right,” he said.
“And you know what else?” Matty announced as he wiped at his tear stained face.
“What else?”
“You were thinking that Daddy and I should stay with you forever.”
I felt my own throat tighten as Hawke and I exchanged another look. Hawke nodded slowly and then he was pulling Matty into his arms. His free arm dragged me closer and he held us both as he said, “Forever and ever.”
Epilogue
Hawke
One month later
I took my eyes off the sight in front of me only when Ronan tapped my shoulder with the bottle of beer. “Thanks,” I said as I took it from him. He settled down onto the concrete step next to me and took a sip of his beer.
“So when were you planning on telling me you’re out?” Ronan asked.
We were sitting on the steps that led from the patio to the office at Seth and Ronan’s Whidbey Island house and while the back of the house sported an amazing view of the water and surrounding mountains, I had eyes only for what was happening on the expansive grass in front of us. But it wasn’t just Tate and Matty I was focused on as they played soccer with Seth and the two dogs. Of course, the puppy, Storm, wasn’t really interested in the ball because all she did was chase after Bullet as Bullet tried to steal the ball from the players. No, it was the fourth participant in the game I had my attention on. His name was Magnus DuCane and he’d turned out to be nothing like I’d expected.
From the second I’d walked into my house a month earlier, I’d known something was off, but before I’d been able to even call out to Tate in warning, two men had jumped me. My fear for Matty and Tate had consumed me as I’d fought the men, but they hadn’t been just any lackeys and I’d only managed to snap the neck of one of them when the other had managed to put his gun to my head. I’d had a moment where my life had flashed before my eyes as I’d waited for the bullet to pierce my brain and it had turned out to be a really great moment. Because it had been filled with memories of Revay and Tate and Matty and there hadn’t been even one regret or doubt. But I’d felt nothing as the first gunshot rang out and by the time I’d opened my eyes, Mav was already standing over the guy who’d been about to shoot me and he’d put a second bullet in his head.
There’d been no time for explanations as to how Mav had known what was happening, but I’d found out later that Daisy had been tracking the men in Ricardo Davos’s circle and one of them had used a credit card to buy gas in a town just twenty miles from Rocky Point. Ronan had tried to call both me and Tate to warn us, but since my phone’s battery had died just after we’d left Yellowstone and Tate had forgotten his, we’d been sitting ducks. Although Mav had already left town, he’d managed to make it out to my house in time. Ronan had called the police as well, but they hadn’t arrived until well after the whole thing had ended.
Mav and I’d had only precious seconds to come up with a plan as we’d hurried from the house to the barn where we’d heard gunshots and my heart had been in my throat the entire time as I’d run the short distance. My relief at seeing both Tate and Matty unharmed had been almost crippling, but I’d been able to keep my wits about me as I’d waited for Mav to get into position. He’d managed to climb up the rusted out machine that had once been used to move hay bales from the ground into the hayloft and as I’d done my part to make sure Matty didn’t move so Mav wouldn’t inadvertently hit him with the knife, Mav had taken aim. The second I’d seen the knife hit Buck, I’d done my best to take him down without hurting Matty and then I’d plunged the knife into his thick neck before he’d even had a chance to try and take another shot at me. And it wasn’t just Revay’s image that had flashed through my mind as I’d taken his life; Tate’s and Matty’s had been there too.