“I need your help.”

They were four words that set my soul at unease. I’d never seen this side of Hawk. He was tired. Worried. And above all else, scared shitless.

And I didn’t blame him.

We sat in Slate’s bedroom with the door closed, and I allowed him to confide in me. There were a lot of unanswered questions, and to be honest, Hawk was in a lot of shit.

I listened as he started from the beginning.

Celeste.

“She was only a fling that lasted a few nights. And she only became a fling because I knew she was flying out.” Hawk looked me dead in the eyes. “I don’t love her, Britta. I never will. This baby...” he exhaled heavily, “... it was the last thing I expected. What I expected was to have children with you.”

“Hawk, I never knew you felt like that. I thought we were just ‘friends with benefits.’”

“I said that so I didn’t scare you off. You were still scarred from Roman, I didn’t want to rush you into anything. But just know... it was always all or nothing for me.”

I nodded, biting my lip because if I didn’t, the tears would spill once more.

“When I found out Celeste was pregnant with my child, the first thing I knew I had to do was provide a safe and loving home for the baby. And in my head, I thought that entailed having to marry Celeste. I wasn’t thinking straight. Just because I marry Celeste doesn’t mean it would be a happy union. I guess I also feared you wouldn’t want anything else to do with me if I had a child with some other woman, so it was more like a defense mechanism.” Hawk took my hand in his and worked gentle circles with his thumb. “I see how I hurt you, and these last few days I’ve done nothing but think about you. Above all this shit, you were always my number one thought.”

“Me too,” I confessed. “Do you still think Celeste is telling the truth?”

He shook his head. “I’m starting to have my doubts.”

“Why?”

“She won’t let me come for the scans. She won’t allow me to see the paperwork from the doctor. Basically, whenever I ask her, she changes the subject.”

“She’s using you?”

“There’s a high chance.”

“Leave it with me.”

Hawk frowned, bemused. “Britta Valentino, what do you have up your sleeve?”

I smiled back as I considered my ingenious plan.

“What about the other problem with this.... um... Rita?”

Hawk dragged a hand over his exhausted face. “I have no idea where this one has sprung from. I should have given more thought to all those appearances she made. People are turning on me, Britta. People I once considered friends. Those who saw us at the party are saying it had to be true because they saw us kissing. It’s almost like she...” he paused, “... staged everything, and made sure there were witnesses.”

A thought struck me. “What if she did?”

“For what benefit?”

“I don’t know what her motive would be. Maybe she has something to do with Roman or someone who wants something from you, or is holding a grudge?”

Hawks stood up and started to pace. “Plenty of those people.” I could understand his annoyance over it. Hawk Carnage was a wealthy man, and his fortune continued to grow every day.

“Anyone recently?”

He stopped pacing and faced me head on, his expression a mixture of revelation and fury.

“David Renshaw.”

We left Ricky’s under the promise we’d both return and face my brothers’ questioning over our relationship. Ricky still seemed bamboozled by it, Harry was irritated and Slate, my know-it-all brother, sat back with a smirk on his face and watched the drama unfold.

Once we arrived back at Hawk’s penthouse, we sat in his office eating the Chinese takeout we’d grabbed on the way here and drinking whiskey. It was Hawk who had introduced me to it, and the flavor had grown on me.

“Why are you helping me, Britta?” Hawk asked, watching me intently. “I hurt you so much, so why help me?”

“Someone handsome and intelligent once told me that we had each other’s back. Always. So here I am, watching his back.”

He wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled to his lips. “You’re fucking too good for me.”

“If we keep believing in each other, we can beat the people who are trying to destroy you. One by one, we’ll take them down.”

With only the light of the computer and desk lamp illuminating the otherwise dark room, we theorized a few possible scenarios until we narrowed it down to one.

Rita Waltsworth was connected to David Renshaw.

It made sense.

A few weeks ago, Hawk had been receiving a constant stream of emails and phone calls from the Renshaw’s propositioning him.

They wanted to buy Carnage Lingerie.

That was no secret.

Hawk, however, wasn’t interested in listening to any negotiations or takeovers. In response to the constant pestering, Hawk threatened to pull his line from the Renshaw department stores. This incensed David Renshaw who began retaliating with threats of his own unless Hawk attended a meeting in San Antonio.

Then Celeste happened.

Hawk got distracted and he sent me to be a buffer.

“I’m sorry that happened, Britta. There were a few reasons why I did what I did. To give you time away from me so you could see what kind of scumbag asshole I was for hurting you, and to show Renshaw I don’t give two fucks about his business proposition. Was he mad?”

“Livid.”

“Good.” 

But Renshaw had obviously sent his hounds out to do his dirty work quite earlier on, in case negotiations fell flat on their face.

The biggest, most vicious hound of all? Rita Waltsworth.

What better way to ruin a lingerie magnate’s reputation than by filing sexual assault claims against him. Customers would retreat. They’d shy away from wearing intimate apparel seemingly marred by rape. It was perfect slander. And the worst.

“How do we prove she has anything to do with it?” I asked, feeling this was in a league of its own.

“Leave it with me,” Hawk said with a wink.

“Hawk Carnage... what tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

He leaned forward, gently kissing my lips. The fire within me reignited. Hawk lingered, dragging me back into his world. I was more than happy to go.

When he pulled away, he said, “Carnage, baby. I’m about to cause some carnage.”