Page 44 of The Maverick

Vanessa didn’t blink. “You think someone sold me out?”

“I think someone made it too easy for Brenner to stay one step ahead.”

She drew a breath and blew it out slowly, then nodded once. “You need me here?”

“No,” he said. “I need you safe.”

“I’m in a panic room,” she muttered. “Short of a bomb, I’m safer than the President.”

He walked to her. “You’re safer because I say you are.”

She lifted her chin. “You say that like it’s the end of the argument.”

“It is.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes, but it was for show. He could see the worry beneath it, the way her hands tightened slightly at her sides. She wasn’t a woman used to standing still. Not while someone else hunted her.

“I want to escalate,” she said.

Hawke paused. “No.”

“You said it yourself—this isn’t about hurting me. It’s about owning me. So let’s push back.”

“I’m not using you as bait.”

“You already did.”

“That was different,” he growled. “That was well within my control.”

“And this won’t be?”

He stepped into her space, letting his hand settle on her jaw. “Not until I plug the leak. Not until I know the next move won’t cost me you.”

Her throat worked, but she didn’t look away. “So what? We just wait here while he rewrites the story again?”

“No,” he said. “We control the next chapter. Just not from this room.”

He turned to Roxie and Keely. “You stay with her. No one in or out unless Gavin, Reed or I approve it. No contact with the club. No open comms. Devices stay on SpurNet—the company’s private network, hard-wired. Understood?”

“Got it,” Roxie said.

Keely rose. “Vanessa’s not going anywhere.”

Hawke nodded, then looked back at her. “I’ll be back in six hours.”

“Where are you going?”

“Home,” he said simply. “To see what Brenner might’ve left behind.”

She tilted her head. “You think he’s been to your cabin?”

“I think he’s been everywhere we’ve been.” He let that hang between them. “But if he touched anything, I’ll know.”

Vanessa reached out, fingers curling around his wrist. “You’ll call if anything changes?”

“You’ll be the first.”

She hesitated, then leaned in, brushing her lips against his. Not soft. Not shy. Just a kiss that told him she was still with him—heart, mind, fight.

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