Chapter 11 – Hawk
Chapter Eleven
Hawk
Vanessa finds something that fits in the second batch of clothes from Francesca, but she says she wants to change into her own outfit while we’re at her family’s home. Hell, it might be an excuse to kick me out of her room.
I’m not going to call her on it.
She’s lived in this house for her entire life, and she deserves some time to say goodbye. With how tense things are between her father and Moretti, I’m guessing it’ll be a long time before she’s able to visit—if she even wants to.
I’m not sure what’s going through Emory’s head, but we’re going to have a shitstorm headed our way.
If Julian doesn’t already know that it was our doing that the doctor never showed up for Vanessa’s appointment, I would be shocked.
That’s not even taking into account what Grigoryan will do in retribution for his building.
Not much rattles me, but I’ve never had such an important assignment. When I’m watching Moretti’s back, there’s the assurance that he can protect himself in most situations.
I’m not supposed to let Vanessa out of my sight, but I stay just outside the door to her bedroom. If Moretti doesn’t like it, he’ll get over it. There’s only one way in and out of her bedroom.
Once she’s done changing, she calls me in, and we pack everything she wants to take into plastic bins that we brought with us.
I was worried they might really try to show their ass and refuse to let her take any of the bigger stuff, so I grabbed the bins from the garage before we left, and I think it was a good call.
While we haven’t seen Julian, her brothers follow us up and down the stairs for every load of packing up the SUV. They’re not outright confrontational, but they don’t go out of their way to talk to their sister. She tries to hide it, and it’s still plain to see that it gets under her skin.
We make our final trip out through the front door. I have two stacks of tote bins, while Vanessa has her pillows piled in her arms with a quilt tossed over one shoulder and a duffel bag on the other.
We brought one of the standard vehicles, so we just have Mario up front as our driver, and Vanessa and I will be in the next row. I debated which vehicle to bring, but we needed the extra space from being able to put the back row of seats down.
“Vanessa, a moment,” Julian calls out from behind us.
I stop, spinning around to eye Vanessa’s father.
She frowns, glancing between the two of us. Her shoulders slump, and she asks, “Can you fit the pillows and quilt on top of those bins?”
I grunt, nodding my agreement, but I don’t want to leave her with her old man. Not even long enough for me to load up this small trip.
I cross the distance, and Vanessa piles her items on top of the bins. Moving fast, I head back to the SUV, shoving everything inside. By the time I close the back hatch and make it around to the front of the SUV, she walks toward me.
Her lips push together as her eyebrows rise. “My father would like my phone, as well as my house and car keys. I let him know I don’t have them, so they’ll have to be returned at a later date.” Her eyes clench shut as her head shakes, but she quickly rights herself, striding closer.
“Vanessa,” Julian growls, taking several steps toward us. “I wasn’t done speaking with you.”
“You’re done for now. Call Moretti if you have anything else to say.” I meet Vanessa in the middle, take the bag from her, wrap my arm around her back, and lead her to the back door of the SUV.
The bag ends up on the floor between us, and once we’re settled in, Mario takes off.
“I didn’t know if I was supposed to mention that Moretti gave me a new phone. So I told him I left mine at the house since it was dead, and I didn’t have a charger,” Vanessa says, peeking at me like she’s looking for confirmation that she handled that properly.
“That was perfect.”
“I wasn’t even going to ask about keeping my car,” Vanessa says, staring out the window. “He’s just making sure I know I have nothing.”
“Yeah, well, fuck him,” I say before I can stop myself. “You don’t have to deal with their shit anymore, and you got the important things that you couldn’t replace.”
“Right.” Her head bobs in agreement, but she continues staring out the window.
This isn’t good.
I’m starting to feel protective over her in a way that’s beyond what’s necessary to do my job. That’s why it’s dangerous for unbonded alphas to spend time in close proximity to compatible unbonded omegas.
It probably doesn’t help that I’m not used to being around women, at least outside of when we’re at one of Moretti’s clubs. I never get too close to any of them, though.
Seeing Vanessa hurting claws at my insides like I’m about to Hulk out if I can’t figure out how to make her feel better. Something tells me she needs time and some distance from her family before she’ll start to come around, but in the meantime, maybe I can help a little.
“Are you still up for going shopping?” I ask. “Last time I was at the mall, there was an ice cream shop in the food court.”
She finally abandons her window view to spin in her seat to look at me. “It’s winter in Boston, and you want ice cream?”
Do I?
Not at all.
I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but omegas do.
I shrug. “I could go for a cone, if I had company.”
Shit.
Did that sound flirtatious?
Do I care if it did?
I’m not the type of person to kick someone when they’re down. Well, if it’s someone Moretti sent me to fuck up, I’d absolutely kick a motherfucker when they’re down. That doesn’t apply to women, though, so it’s irrelevant.
I don’t revel in watching anyone suffer emotionally, certainly not her. Watching her from afar, I always thought she was the one purposely causing chaos. Now I’m wondering if she’s just been trying to survive in the aftermath of her family’s decisions.
I’ve been close to her for less than a day, but it’s impossible to miss how lonely she is.
A sly smile breaks out on Vanessa’s face, and she nods. “I like ice cream.”
She’s too damn pretty to be grinning at me like that.
I’m an ugly motherfucker, and I know it. Women legitimately trip over my boots when trying to get to Moretti. I’m a giant, so fuck if I know how they miss me, but it must speak to how badly they want to get close to him.
She really must want that ice cream.
Vanessa might be used to doing a lot on her own, but her instincts give away that she’s an omega. There are some things a person can’t fight, no matter how hard they try. Just like I can’t shake the overwhelming urge to protect her, she sticks close to my side, letting me.
Alpha and omega dynamics are complicated. I’ve heard it for my entire life. I just never expected the energy buzz that comes from having her so close and looking to me for safety.
I stand at the front of the store, giving her a little space as she pays for the bras and underwear she picked out. Thank fuck she didn’t try those on to ask for opinions.
The lingerie pieces she selected and tried on in the last store were enough to have me praying for strength from a god I don’t even believe in. If she’s planning to torment Moretti with those sexy little numbers, I’m interested to see how long it’ll take before he cracks.
She’s stacked with curves, and they only seem to get more pronounced with the less she has on.
Fuck my life.
How long has it been since I’ve slipped inside a woman?
Too fucking long if I can’t remember.
That’s an even worse sign when being faced with temptation at every turn.
Vanessa peeks back over her shoulder at me, smiling as the cashier packages up the rest of her items.
I nod, letting her know I’m watching, and my fucking chest feels weird. Bringing a hand up, I rub at the ache over my heart.
“I’d be careful with that.” Mario chuckles, nodding at Vanessa. “She seems attached to you. You know how that shit goes. Moretti will eventually get his head out of his ass, and then it’s your head on the chopping block.”
“Yeah,” I grunt, shoving my hands into my pockets.
He’s not wrong.
Then again, he doesn’t know that Moretti essentially told me to take care of her. Whatever she needs. Fuck if I know if that extends past keeping her alive, but I’m not interested in getting in the middle of their marital squabbles.
Mario fetches the SUV while Vanessa and I grab ice cream. She opts for some awful combination of sour green apple, cotton candy, and vanilla.
It might be boring, but I go for what I know I’ll like—half chocolate and half vanilla.
I’m loaded down with the majority of her shopping while she has a few small bags, but that makes sense with the size difference between us. We make our way toward the exit, and Vanessa barely licks at her ice cream.
“How is it?” I ask, trying not to laugh.
“I remember liking those flavors when I was little, but this is awful,” she admits, stepping over and tossing it into one of the trash cans we pass.
“Want to go back and try again?”
“Nah, that’s okay.” She eyes my cone, which I’ve barely touched.
I chuckle. “Take mine. It’s good.”
“I don’t want to steal yours…”
“We can share.” I shove the ice cream at her and give it a little shake.
She takes it. With her horrendous flavors, she barely flicked her tongue over the ice cream, but with mine, she swirls around the entire top scoop. “Mmm. Damn, it is good.”
“They’re classics for a reason.”
“I guess so.” She takes another lick and offers it back to me. “Here. I don’t want to eat your entire treat.”
“You keep it. I’m not big on sweets.” I’ll get more enjoyment from watching her eat it than I would have from eating it myself.
“Thanks, Hawk. You spoil me.”
If she thinks giving up the dessert that I only got because I didn’t want her to have to eat alone is spoiling her, then she really needs to up her standards.
I help Vanessa unload and carry up all of her things, and Moretti finds me on my way down to check the SUV to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
“How did it go?” he asks, unbuttoning the cuff on his button-down shirt.
“Vanessa’s brothers are still as spineless as ever. They watched and didn’t say a word.”
“And Julian?”
“He’s still a prick,” I mutter, shaking my head. “He wants Vanessa’s keys and phone returned.”
“He’ll get the phone back once it’s been wiped.” He rolls his sleeve up and moves to the next. “Did he attempt to touch her?”
“No.”
“Good.” Moretti nods. “I wonder how long it’ll take him to realize I paid his doctor thirty grand to take the day off.”
“Not a clue.” I shrug, eyeing the door to the garage. I’m anxious to get back to Vanessa so she doesn’t think I abandoned her once everything was carried inside. “There’s no way he doesn’t already suspect you.”
“That is also true.” He chuckles, but his face quickly sobers. “We all need to be on high alert until Grigoryan retaliates for his building.”
“Maybe he’ll decide he’s not interested in starting a war.”
“In his eyes, I did that when I stole Vanessa.”
I grimace.
Yeah, it’s probably going to get ugly in Boston.