Page 48 of Hawk

“You’re the one that went looking for Snake.”

“I was, but he was long gone by the time I got there.”

“Thanks for trying anyway. As soon as he saw that I went inside the bank, he had to know I’d call for help, so he probably took off right away.”

He smiled at me. “You did good. Kat told us how you got away. That was good work.”

I felt my cheeks heat at his praise. “I just did what Hawk and Tuck taught us to do in the self-defense class.”

“Yeah, Hawk and Tuck are great.”

“Quit your gabbing, and let’s get this stuff upstairs,” Hawk grumbled again, and Axel winked at me again.

The four of us headed up the stairs. They all had their hands full, and I only had one flowerpot with a rose bush in it, so I pulled out my card for the elevator. I slipped it in the slot and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

Neither of them said anything about me having a card, but I noticed the brothers shared a look.

“Shut up, both of you,” Hawk grumbled again, and I wondered if he was always so testy with them or if I was missing something.

“Didn’t say a word,” Axel said.

“Nope, not a word,” Maddox agreed.

“I assume you two are brothers.”

“Twins, actually, but we’re easy to tell apart. I’m the good-looking one.” Axel grinned and then shoulder-bumped his brother.

Maddox rolled his eyes. “But I’m the smart one, and I’ll take brains over looks any day.”

I studied the two brothers. Axel’s nose was a little crooked, like it had been broken at some point and hadn’t healed back perfectly straight, and his hair was longer than Maddox’s. But honestly, other than that, they looked pretty much the same.

“Just ignore them.” Hawk shot them both a glare. “They think they’re funny.”

“Wearefunny,” one said, and the other added, “Hilarious even.”

The doors to the elevator opened, and we all stepped out. Hawk went straight to his door and pushed it open.

“You can just set everything in the foyer.”

Axel rolled his eyes but set down the bags he was carrying. Then he dropped his voice down low in what was supposed to be an imitation of Hawk and said, “Thank you so much for helping me carry all Mika’s stuff up to our love nest. Couldn’t have done it without you, Axel.” Then he went back to his regular voice. “No problem, Hawk, it was a pleasure to help.”

Then he turned to me. “All joking aside. I’m glad you’re here. These are some nasty characters, but Hawk will take care of you.”

Then the brothers both turned and left.

“Are they always like that?” I asked.

“Like what?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know… joking around and giving each other a hard time.”

“They are. But don’t let them fool you. They like to have fun, but the two of them are the best at what they do.”

“And what’s that, exactly?”

“Whatever they need to do to get the job done.”

Hawk had insisted that I unpack everything I’d brought. I didn’t know if it was because he wanted me to be comfortable or because he liked the idea of my stuff being in his place. I knew that I did. He’d cleared out space for my clothes in his bedroom and told me to put all my yarn and crafting supplies in the study because that was where he spent most of his time.

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