Page 42 of Hawk

“Here you go.” Kat turned around in her chair and handed me a card. “If you misplace your card, let me know right away so I can disable it, okay?”

I nodded. “I will. Thanks, Kat.”

A few minutes later, we were back in the elevator on our way up to the top floor. This time, the doors opened up into a large open space with a couch and a couple of chairs. It reminded me of a hotel lobby.

Hawk pointed at a door straight ahead. “That’s where Wolfe lives, and that over there is Gator’s place.” He motioned to the right. “Which means this is my place right here.”

I followed him to a door on our left, and he typed in a code. The lock on the door clicked open. Apparently, they didn’t use keys for anything around here.

We went on into the condo, and I looked around. The place was huge, but it was nothing like I would’ve expected for Hawk. My guess was he’d hired a decorator or something because everything was nice, but it had no personality. Everything was white and black and soulless.

“It’s really nice.” What else was I supposed to say?Oh wow, this looks nothing like you.That wouldn’t have been very polite, even if I thought it.

He laughed and shook his head. “I keep thinking I should redecorate, but it just hasn’t been a priority.”

“Was it like this when you moved in?”

“No, this floor was all office space when we bought it. We had everything redone. But Reggie was the one who decorated the condo.”

“Reggie?” I asked.

“My ex.”

My brow furrowed, and I looked around again. “Did he even know you at all, or did he just not care what you liked?” I slapped my hand over my mouth and mumbled sorry behind my fingers.

“No apologies needed. He’s a professional decorator. He lived in Austin before he came here, and I think he was trying to recapture a bit of that vibe here.”

“So he lived here with you?” I asked. We’d talked about my past with Butch, but the truth was, I knew nothing about his history.

“He did, for about six months. I met him at a club in Austin. He was looking for a Daddy, and I was looking for a boy. But in the end, he found life with me to be a little too… let’s say, confining. He missed the big city and the parties and the nightlife.”

“So he went back to Austin, then?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know for sure. Last I heard, he was in Dallas, but I think he had dreams of going to New York. I really didn’t keep up with him once he left.”

“Well, you should definitely redecorate. This is a beautiful home. It wouldn’t take much to make it feel like yours.”

Hawk

Mika wandered over to the wall of windows in my living room. “I bet the view from this window is amazing at night.”

I stepped up behind him and looked out over downtown Vesper. “It really is. Do you see that over there?” I pointed off to the right. “That’s the zoo. They set off fireworks from there multiple times a year.”

Mika stood there, still looking out the window like he was deep in thought.

“So, Reggie was your boy then?”

“He was, but that was a while ago.”

“I figured… I mean, I’d seen you at the club on Daddy Night, so I assumed that was what you were looking for.”

“And I’ve seen you at the club, so I assumed that was what you were looking for as well. Was I wrong?”

He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Mika, look at me.” He turned to face me but didn’t speak. “Was I wrong?”

“I wasn’t really looking for anything. After Butch, I don’t really trust my own judgment. I should’ve known. I mean, he’s in a biker gang, and he’s obviously a bad guy, but he wasn’t when I met him. He was rough around the edges, sure, but he was sweet to me no matter how he was with anyone else. And after that, I just thought… I don’t know… that maybe I was better off alone.”

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