Page 78 of Hawk

From there, I went to Wolfe’s office and sat down.

“Have you heard from Gator?” I asked.

“Yeah, they wanted to keep him overnight, but he charmed his way out of it. Knox is there to pick him up.”

I wasn’t at all surprised he didn’t stay. All of that business about how his gunshot wound was just a scratch was only partially about male bravado and making Mika feel better. Truth was, Gator would do just about anything to avoid hospitals. He really hated them.

“I’m glad he’s okay. It could’ve been so much worse.”

He nodded his head and let out a sigh. “How’s Mika?”

“He’s okay. He went on up to the condo while I stopped down here to check in.”

“And how are you? It’s never easy when you have to pull that trigger.”

“He was holding a gun to Mika’s head, Wolfe. The son of a bitch is lucky all I did was kill him.”

There was no way for me to describe the way I felt when I came around that corner to find him holding that gun to Mika’s temple. The only thing that kept me from losing my shit was the knowledge that Mika needed me. Here at Three Bears, we required mandatory counseling for anyone involved in a shooting that resulted in a fatality. I didn’t have any issues with how I handled the situation, and I didn’t feel the need to talk to anyone about ending Butch. However, that image of my boy in danger was going to haunt me. So when Wolfe set things up for me to talk to someone, I wouldn’t put up a fuss.

“I hear you, but you took care of the problem. Now, why don’t you get on upstairs to Mika? He may seem okay, but it had to be terrifying for him.”

I stood up, ready to get to my boy. “It was. I’ll talk to you later. If you need anything, come bang on my door. I’m turning my phone off for the night.”

“That sounds like a good plan. As a matter of fact, why don’t you take a couple of days off? If we need you, we know where to find you.”

“I’ll take you up on that. Thanks, Jason.”

When I opened the door to the condo, I wasn’t at all surprised to be greeted by the heavenly smell of chocolate and vanilla. I’d already figured out that baking was relaxing for Mika, and today had been nothing if not stressful.

“I’m home, mouse.”

“In the kitchen, Daddy,” he called back.

I walked in just as he was pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. I grabbed one off a plate and took a bite, and fuck, that was good. It might’ve been the best chocolate chip cookie I’d ever eaten.

“Damn, baby boy. These are good.”

“Better than the brownies?” he asked.

“Don’t get me wrong, your brownies are great, but these cookies are next level.” I grabbed another cookie, but off the cooling rack this time. I thought they’d be even better still hot.

“It’s the extra vanilla. It makes them taste extra cravable. I made brownies for Gator. I thought maybe we could take them to him at that hospital. I could put in some cookies for him, as well.

“He’ll love that, but we don’t have to take them to the hospital. He’s on his way home right now. Knox is picking him up.”

Mika’s eyes lit up, and his smile widened. “Really? So it really was just a scratch after all.”

“Maybe a bit more than a scratch, but he’s fine.” I wouldn’t mention to him that they’d wanted to keep him overnight. He was already baking the man brownies and would probably fuss over him to no end. I sighed inside just thinking about it. Gator would eat that shit up.

I rounded the island, pulling him into a hug. He let out a sigh and relaxed against me. I placed a kiss on top of his head. “Are you okay, mouse?”

He nodded against my chest before looking up at me. “I’m fine, but how are you?”

“I’m fine. You’re safe, and that’s what matters to me.”

“I just can’t believe this is over. I’ve been so scared for so long. Even when I thought I’d moved past it, subconsciously, I was still living in a hyper-alert state. I’m not even sure how to live without that fear, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”

“That’s what I wanted for you, baby boy. To be able to live without fear.”

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