chapter thirty- five
Colton
Wren and Mr. Taylor disappear into his room. I watch her go before I see Hawk murmuring to a Sparrow. The woman nods and takes up a position standing next to Mr. Taylor’s bedroom. I quirk an eyebrow at Hawk, but he focuses on me. He jerks his head and I follow him. Nobody questions us as we walk through the crowded penthouse to the security room. People part around us instinctively as we pass by them.
Hawk brings me to his office and sits at his desk. “Close the door.”
I do as he demands and sit in one of the wooden chairs before his desk. It’s shockingly quiet now the din of the million and five people in the home has been cut off. My ears ring slightly in the silence.
“Are we increasing Mr. and Ms. Taylor’s personal security?”
“Ms. Taylor- shut the hell up, boy,” Hawk grumbles and roughly spins his computer monitor around so I can see it. Despite the wobbling of the screen from his push, the picture is clear. It’s me, ass naked, doing dishes. The angle is odd because the focus is on the side door to the patio where the grill is. But there I am, naked in front of Wren. She’s sitting at the island drinking her tea.
“I, uh, kept the mask on.” Those are the only words that come from my mouth. I know I’m in for it. I know I’m about to get my head handed back to me by Hawk. Served up in my own boot. My balls as a garnish.
Hawk stares at me. Only his eyes are visible, of course, but I can tell his entire face is stone. I try not to shift in my seat.
I didn’t even want this job to begin with . I try to remind myself. Unsuccessfully. My mouth dries out and I swallow roughly.
Hawk lets loose a long breath before he turns around and fiddles with the electric kettle on the shelf behind him. While he works, I stare at the picture on the screen. As much as I’m dreading getting fired, I objectively see this picture is hot as fuck. Wren’s posture is that straight-backed, graceful one she gets when she’s bossing me around. I’m practically drooling on instinct. My dick is half hard. I’m fucking Pavlov-ed for this woman already.
Hawk pours water from his kettle into two mugs and the scent of Earl Grey tea fills the room. He slides me a mug, and the licorice scented steam warms the mask on my face. I bounce the tea bag in the water just to have something to do with my hands.
“This smells like licorice,” I mumble.
“Licorice is anise. This is bergamot.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t ruin my tea.”
“I—I’m not. I’m just trying to make small talk.”
“There’s a picture of your ass on my computer screen and you’re trying to make small talk?”
“Yes, sir.”
Hawk huffs an annoyed sound and suddenly I feel like I’m being disciplined by a father. He gets up from his chair and pulls down a floral box, about the size of a shoe box, and gently places it on the desk in front of me. “Open that. And don’t get any tea on it.”
I slide the mug away and open the lid. There are cards, pictures, movie stubs, a few Lego, rocks, acorns, dried flowers, and a child’s drawings. It looks like a parents’ memento box. I pull out a few items after an encouraging nod from Hawk. The cards are Mother’s Day Cards, many clearly made in school.
“Whenever her class made cards for their mothers, she made one for me. It stopped when her schooling stopped doing this type of craft and she forgot. Then she did it again as a moody, angry, grieving teenager,” Hawk explains.
I snort a small laugh. Of course she did that. Next is a small photo album with a Disney Princess on the front. Inside are pictures of Wren as a small child. A dance recital, catching snowflakes on her tongue, swinging on swings, what looks like a spelling bee, a gangly sweet sixteen party, baking with Sparrows, and a graduation picture. And featured in almost every single picture is Hawk. Many with Mr. Taylor and many with who I presume to be the Blue Jay of the time.
“That little girl may not be my blood, but she has a place in my heart as if she were.”
I look up at Hawk, shocked. Is he about to murder me for touching her? Am I about to die right here? I survived serving and defending my country for over ten years in some of the most dangerous locations and missions to be taken out by an old fart defending his not-daughter’s honor?
“She is very special,” I say and gently place the photo album back into the box of mementos. I close the lid, so my blood splatter won’t taint little Wren’s memories. It’s the least I could do.
“I have unfortunately seen more from this encounter,” Hawk says with an audible scowl. “So I know this was a consensual… event.”
“Correct,” I blurt. “I would never—”
“I understand. Her father has not seen this, nor has he been informed of your involvement with his only daughter.”
“Thank you.”
“You can do it.”
“I’m not showing him this,” I say and gesture at the picture.
“No, God no. You idiot,” Hawk says and rubs a hand over his masked face.
“Okay, I’ll tell him, but maybe not today.”
Hawk nods in agreement and is silent for a moment while he sips his tea. I mirror him, hating the flavor of the tea. I hadn’t realized how accustomed to the sweet, creamy coffees I’d become until I was trying to drink tea.
“Is this relationship purely sexual?”
“No, it’s more,” I insist. “She’s… amazing.”
“I knew being allowed to talk to her would change things. Truly, this is almost the exact thing I spoke to Geoffrey about.”
“You thought I’d fall in love with her?”
“Love?”
“Yes, sir.”
Hawk’s eyes crinkle and he laughs. Loud and hearty. I don’t think I’ve even heard so much as a chuckle from him. Not one giggle. And here he is guffawing, tipped back in his chair, hands on his belly.
I wait patiently for his mirth to subside. The idea of being killed right here right now has not settled enough for me to laugh with him. It’s true though. I’m in love with Wren. It’s possible I’ve been in love with her since the first time she tried to embarrass me. It’s possible I’ve been in love with her from the start. She’s kind, giving, tenacious, intelligent, an outstanding balance of humble and proud of herself. And she’s beautiful. So damn beautiful. All day, every day. From the moment she wakes up, bleary-eyed and desperate for coffee, to elbow deep in garden dirt, to drenched with rain while pulling in the outdoor furniture cushions, to laughing with Angelica, to falling asleep on the couch while I play video games, to coming on my cock. She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, inside and out.
If I’m being fired, then my sadness only comes from the shame of having to tell her father what I did behind his back as his employee. I’m not leaving Wren’s side for a second. She’s it for me.
“You better treat that girl right, boy,” Hawk says finally.
“Absolutely. I intend to.”
“Some things will need to change in terms of security. But I believe things are already about to change with her exposure,” Hawk says, settling back into business mode.
“Of course.”
“Do you have an idea of who leaked her identity?” Hawk asks.
“Where was it leaked first? That might help me.”
“Business News and Gossip Rag simultaneously,” Hawk replies.
I sit back in my chair and think of Wren’s recent dates. “She had two unsuccessful dates in recent months.”
“Dates? I thought you and her were involved.”
“Yes, they happened before she and I became romantically involved. They were both men approved by her father and are documented by our security. Levi Rodrieguez and Grey Potter,” I explain. “Neither date ended well.”
“In what ways? Our records only list that there were no other contacts,” Hawk says as he types on his now righted computer.
“Potter wanted a business connection with Mr. Taylor. A place on the board, if I remember correctly. And Rodriquez wanted a connection to Gemma Cox.”
“None of these sound any different from her other dates, unfortunately,” Hawk says with a sigh.
“Well, uh, I need to share some highly personal and sensitive information to make context be known,” I say.
Hawk’s eyes settle on mine narrowly.
“I wouldn’t ever tell you or anyone this information. But seeing as I believe it pertains to the leaking of her private information and identity, it is important.”
“Understood, proceed.”
“She enjoys a, uh, less than gentle sexual experience and Potter knew about it from her relationship with that Maxwell guy.”
Hawk stiffens in his chair. “How rough? Did they hurt her?”
“No, she, uh, likes a dominant and submissive relationship. That Maxwell guy was not interested in the dynamic and used it as a source of shame for her. He was not nice about it. And apparently he told Potter. Potter offered to beat her around during sex in exchange for a position on Mr. Taylor’s board.”
“And I assume Wren did not take this well?” Hawk says, his voice is void of any emotion.
“No, she exited the date before its natural end. Very much like her break up with Maxwell,” I continue.
“Documentation states ‘sudden end to excursion facilitated by Ms. Taylor,’” Hawk reads my note.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know how much to keep private for her and how much of it pertained to her safety,” I say and shift in my seat.
“No, you documented correctly. Even with this information, we would not have foreseen the actions by whichever one may have done this,” Hawk dismisses.
Relief floods through me at his statement. I’m not in trouble. Well, for this.
“We will consider all three men as suspects from now on. I will continue to keep the information that is sexual private. And I will not share with Mr. Taylor. Especially since you are now involved with his daughter. It will be enough of a shock and knowing his sweet daughter is involved in kink and fetish activities would send the man into an early grave.”
“Thank you, sir,” I say as we both stand to go back to our position outside the Taylors’ rooms.
“Wait, when I marry Wren, will that make you my mother-in-law?” I ask with a grin.
Hawk smacks the back of my head. I laugh as we exit the security room.