Page 12 of Out of Reach

Jude nodded again, and Dex must have gotten the message that he didn’t want to talk about his relationship with Hawk, because the next thing he said was, “I used to work in a law firm in New York City. Prescott’s name would cross my desk every now and then.”

Jude raised a brow. “Yeah? Bad stuff?”

“Pretty bad,” Dex said. “But he could never be pinned with anything. Most of the time his name would just disappear. Payoffs, I’m sure.”

“Why is your boss so interested in Sam?” Jude asked. He knew what Hawk had said, but he wanted to hear what Dex said.

“Three reasons that I can figure. Slade’s a major do-gooder, for one. He gets off on nabbing the bad guys. He doesn’t like to lose, for two. I think it really bugs him that Prescott always gets away with stuff. And the third reason is that Slade and his husband have adopted a lot of kids out of the foster system. He suspects Prescott’s involved in trafficking kids in the system who get lost between the cracks. It’s become personal to him.”

“I was surprised he wanted to help me,” Jude said, staring out at the waves, which had become choppy when the wind picked up.

“You got on his radar when you started dating Prescott. Slade knew you didn’t know anything about Sam’s business. For a while, he watched to see what Prescott did with you—if he might ship you off somewhere. Then, you left, and he kept an eye on you. When we discovered there was a hit placed on your head, Slade wasn’t going to let you get killed.”

Jude didn’t know what to say to that. He still didn’t believe Sam had put a hit out on him. He wasn’t stupid—he knew Sam had power, that he might be dangerous. But other than leaving Sam, Jude had never done anything to get on his bad side, and if leaving him was enough to make Sam vengeful, he would have put a hit out on Jude six months ago instead of waiting until now.

“Food’s ready!” Logan called out.

“Thank fuck, I’m starved.” Dex got to his feet and lent a hand to Jude.

“Who’s Mr. Tall, Dark, and Angry?” Jude asked as they walked toward the others.

Looking in the direction Jude was, Dex laughed. “That’s just Seo-jun’s resting bitch face. He’s a good guy.”

Jude suppressed a smile when Seo-jun evidently heard Dex’s words and his dark brow dipped as they passed him.

Those two would be fun to watch if Jude were sticking around.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Hawk

The last thing Hawk had thought he’d be doing after getting Jude out of New York City was taking him back there a few days later, but that was exactly what he found himself doing. Their plane landed at LaGuardia Airport shortly after five p.m. Slade had sent someone to pick them up and take them to the apartment they’d be occupying.

Located in a quaint neighborhood in Queens, the place had only one bedroom and one bathroom and the kitchen was tiny, but wall-to-wall windows with a beautiful view of the East River made up for it.

“There must not have been a two-bedroom available. I’ll take the couch,” Hawk said after they’d looked around.

“No, I’ll take the couch. You have a bad back,” Jude said.

The fact that Jude remembered his old injury touched Hawk.

“I’ll be fine,” he said.

“What good will you be to me as a bodyguard if your back hurts so much you can’t move?”

“I thought you said you didn’t need guarding,” Hawk said. “Anyway, I can’t exactly protect you when you’re out here in the living room and I’m in the bedroom.”

“For God’s sake, the bed’s a queen. We can just share it.” The bathroom door shut behind him.

Hawk wasn’t sure if he was happy with that outcome. There had been a time when he would have given his left nut to sleep beside Jude again, but he was very aware that doing so now, innocent as it would be, was only going to make it hurt more when it had to end. Besides, was Hawk capable of being innocent lying next to Jude? It certainly didn’t seem to bother Jude, though. And if Jude could do it, so could Hawk.

When the bathroom door opened ten minutes later with a billow of steam, Hawk kept his eyes on the book he was reading. The last thing he needed to see was Jude half naked.

“Where are all your clothes?” he asked. He’d noticed how light Jude’s suitcase had been. Had he left them all at Sam’s?

“I’ve had to sell all my designer stuff at consignment shops. With that money plus what I made at the liquor store, I’ve been able to get by.”

Hawk absolutely hated thinking of Jude living that way.