28. Reid
CHAPTER 28
reid
The frantic tapping on the door of Rogue pulls me from the art tablet in front of me. Pulling off my glasses, I drop them onto my workstation and head toward the door. Sliding the blinds out of the way, I see a bleary-eyed Hannah and rush to get the door unlocked, letting her inside and relocking it.
“Are you alright?”
“I just need a moment to think, to breathe, it’s so much pressure, Reid.”
I pull her into a big hug, bounding my arms around her shoulders.
“Whatever it is, it’s not the end. You’ll see the other side, you’re so strong, Hannah. How many people do you know who can sit through a nine-hour tattoo session with no breaks?”
She laughs a little at that and starts to pull away from me. I place my hand in the center of her upper back, guiding her to my office and handing her the box of tissues.
“Do you want an ear to listen, advice, or just someplace quiet for a little while? I got all three in spades.”
“Mother above, Reid. I don’t even know where to start. Everything is a mess, and I think I just hurt both Liam’s family and mine. Liam married me to help me get Bean Haven from my parents, but then they didn’t even have the right to hold it over my head to begin with, so it was all pointless, Liam’s in love with me and has been for years, my sister found out it was fake, and just told everyone at dinner. I love Liam but I haven’t told him yet and it’s just all so messy and complicated.” She unloads everything on me, and I sit back and listen, giving her the space she so clearly needs to get everything off of her chest. Those goddamn Hayes men love their women fiercely but damn if they don’t each share the possessive, obsessive gene.
Knocking at the front door echoes through my shop and Hannah’s eyes go wide, knowing it could only be one person.
“What would you like me to tell him?” I ask, putting it all in her court, prepared to lie to him if I need to. She comes first.
“You can let him know I’m here, but that I’m not ready to talk. I need space.”
I nod at her before rising and opening the front door, keeping my foot on the outside of it so that he can’t push his way through, not that he could strong-arm me.
“Hey, man.”
“Is she here?” Liam says, eyes frantically looking behind me.
“Yeah, but she said she just needs a little space.”
“If you so much as touch her, Reid, I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Go find your dumbass brothers. I thought you were smarter than those two, but you’re clearly not. I wouldn’t touch something unless it’s wholly mine. She’ll be okay, just give her a beat to process what’s going on.”
Liam looks distraught and my heart hurts for him, but I’ve got no doubt he’ll be able to figure it out. It’s clear he loves her more than anything. We’ve all seen it .
Liam nods, running his hands through his hair. “Just tell her that I love her, please.”
“I will. She’ll be okay.”
Returning to Hannah, I find her standing in the doorway of my office, facing where I just came from.
“You hear all that?”
“Yeah . . .”
“You love him, Hannah. Just tell him. Everything else be damned. You never know when you won’t wake up tomorrow, so go love on your loved ones for me, yeah?”
“You’re a good one, Reid Knight. You’re gonna get your happily ever after someday, too.”
Not knowing what to say to that, knowing that’s not in the cards for me, I rub the back of my neck uncomfortably. She gives me one last hug before slipping out the back door of Rogue to figure her shit out. Glad I could give her a tiny reprieve, I fall back into my office chair and open my desk drawer, pulling out a small Polaroid photo and running my thumb over the young brunette smiling back at me, wishing like hell I could hug her one last time.