Page 76 of Hannah and the Hitman

“How is this going to stop it?” Her voice was breathless, and she wiggled her hips to help me get her pants down. I dropped to my knees to work them down to her ankles.

“I have a feeling if you wanted to, you could do it again. But I doubt you’re going to want to end up somewhere naked.”

She’d kicked one sandal off and stalled, the other one dangling from her toes. Stared at me, as if the idea never occurred to her.

She nodded. “You’re right.”

“Joey Brains tried to kill you.” I stated it as fact, not a question. I believed her and I was telling her as much. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I threw scissors at him. Got him good enough he might have needed a few stitches in his chest.”

“That’s a good girl.”

She took a shaky breath. “That… that made him mad, and he started to strangle me.”

Then she burst into tears.

He. Was. A. Dead. Man.

50

JACK

I pulled her down, so she was in my lap, holding her close as she cried.

Fuck, what a day she had. Hell, what a year.

I whispered how proud I was of her, how brave she’d been, how strong, as I stroked her bare back. It wasn’t only for today’s events, but her brain tumor and recovery, too. She’d been stripped of so much, not just a setback with her bookstore dream, but her confidence. Her own power. She might not see it, but she was getting it back.

Minutes went by as she clung and cried, but eventually, the jag ended.

“It’s tough being tough,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head.

She lifted her face to look at me and I wiped her tears with my thumb.

“Sometimes you don’t have a choice,” she said, her voice soft.

“Sometimes you don’t,” I agreed. “But you don’t have to go it alone.”

“I had Brittany, and my family a little bit.”

She meant the diagnosis and treatment.

“You have me now, too. I was wrong, Hannah. I’m so fucking sorry. I should have believed you. You surprised me with your strength, and I shouldn’t have been. I think… I think I didn’t understand how you would do that for me.”

I saw now why Dax thought I was such a dumbass, how he’d been shaking his head at me as I spewed total fucking nonsense.

Hannah had tried to protect me. Toprotectme. To protectme.

Dax had my back like that, but he was like a brother. No one else had. Until now.

“Do what?” she asked, her little frown showing her confusion.

“Step in front of me and protect me from Eyebrows. Big Mike, Dax’s dad, always said love hurt too much to be worth it. That’s probably one of the reasons why Dax and I never do relationships.”

I hadn’t really thought about it before now, but it made sense when it was shoved in my face.

“But I think Big Mike was wrong. It is worth it. The right person. Because going through life like I have… empty, hurts even more.”