Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Before Falcon had a chance to relax, Bella tapped his palm. “Who is making your hands heat up right now? Who needs you?”

He tensed. “I don’t know. There are a lot of people around.”

Bella raised her brows. “Look around. See.”

“Bella—”

She leaned forward. “If you really can heal people, and you’re refusing to do it, then you’re betraying yourself, the world, and everyone who was like us as kids, needing help, with nowhere to turn. If you can help one person avoid the kind of suffering we both lived with, and you refuse to even try, how can you live with that?”

He stared at her, anger rising from deep inside of him. “I’ve fucking spent my life trying to make a difference.”

“No. You spent your life on a revenge quest, which is now over, and now you get the chance to maybe be to someone what Brody was to us. Safety. Love. A chance at life.”

He fisted his hands. “I’m not that man.”

“Maybe not.” She tapped his balled-up hand. “Look around. Tell me who it is. You know that. I know you do.”

He stared at her. “Bella?—”

“Is it her?” She pointed at a woman walking past on the boardwalk.

He couldn’t keep himself from glancing over. “No.”

“What about that man on the beach with the red towel?”

His gaze slid out across the sand. “No.”

“The little girl in the yellow hat putting sunscreen on her legs?”

Unable to stop himself, he sought out the yellow hat girl on the beach. She was sitting with what appeared to be her parents and sister. “No—” He paused as his gaze went behind the family to a boy with brown skin. He was alone, building a sandcastle. Maybe seven years old.

The moment he saw the boy, he knew. “Fuck.”

“Him?” Bella followed his gaze. “He looks fine.”

“He’s not.” Falcon’s hands were on fucking fire.

“Let’s go talk to him.” She pushed back her seat, but he grabbed her arm.

“Any man who walks up to a kid on a beach and starts talking to him is going to get arrested,” he said. “Especially one who looks like me.”

“Tall, dark, and handsome?”

“Ragged, haunted, and big.”

Her face softened. “I see beauty when I look at you, Falcon.”

Something turned over at her words, and suddenly all he wanted to do was sweep her up in his arms and get out of there with her. “I’m glad to hear that, Bella, but that’s not how that kid’s mom will see me.”

Bella looked at him, then sighed. “You’re right. And you’re burning my arm.”

He released her. “Sorry.” He pulled out his wallet. “I’m done here. Let’s hit the road?—"

“However, I’m an adorable woman. I won’t get arrested.” She moved fast, ducking out of his reach before he realized she was moving.

He swore. “Bella?—”

But she was already gone, hopping over the deck railing and landing on the boardwalk, like a woman who lived on a ranch and was used to climbing fences all day. He swore as she ran over to a little cart of beach gear, bought a set of toys, and a towel, and then headed across the sand.

He almost started laughing as she spread out the towel a few feet from the boy, sat down, and pulled out her sandcastle building equipment. He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest as he watched her hurry to the shore with a big bucket, fill it, and then return, carrying that bucket as if it were nothing.

She sat down on her towel and started building, not even looking at the boy, but the boy was watching her. It took only a minute for Bella to start chatting with the boy, and another minute or two after that until the boy was beside her, and they were building a sandcastle together.

The sight of Bella and the little boy made something inside Falcon tighten. She was so beautiful with the little boy. A natural. She knew how to make kids feel at ease, because she, like the rest of the Harts, knew how fucking painful childhood could be. Like the others, she wanted to do whatever she could to help other at-risk kids avoid what they experienced.

She would make such a difference to kids, if she decided to be a mom.

He respected that she didn’t want to be, but hell, she was beautiful to watch with the boy.

As he watched her, Falcon became aware of a man nearby who was also watching Bella. Too closely. He bolted upright, his adrenaline igniting. A random admirer, or danger?

He couldn’t tell.

Swearing, he tossed cash on the table, then followed Bella’s path over the railing. The minute his feet hit the ground, he was in motion, sprinting across the boardwalk and the beach until he was beside the man, just behind his right shoulder.

The man didn’t notice him, so caught up in watching Bella.

Falcon’s hands were tingling, and his entire body was coiled for action.

He saw Bella look up. Her gaze went back and forth between Falcon and the man. Then understanding dawned. She immediately moved, putting herself between the man and the boy.

Son of a bitch. That was his job to move into the line of fire. Not hers.

He took a breath, opened his senses, and then put his hand on the man’s shoulder. The instant he made contact, the man’s energy hit him hard. It was a lot of crap, but nowhere in there was an intent to harm.

The man spun toward him, a look of surprise on his face. “What?”

Falcon pulled his hand back. “Nothing. My mistake.”

He wanted to claim Bella as his woman, but he knew she wouldn’t like that. Just as how he had wanted to belong to no one back when he was younger, Bella would never want to be claimed by a man.

But he did decide to go over and sit with her.

Because she’d want him to. Not to be a possessive male or anything like that.

Or to be exactly that.

He strode past the man, and then crouched down beside Bella. “The man is fine,” he said softly. “No problem with him.”

Bella relaxed and flashed him a smile. “Great.” She immediately moved aside. “Gordy, this is my friend Falcon. Can he build with us?”

Gordy glanced at Falcon, and the minute Falcon locked eyes with the boy, he couldn’t breathe. Extreme fear, pain, and sadness slammed him, locking up his lungs and freezing him in place.

It was the boy’s pain, not his, and Falcon could feel it in every cell of his body.

He felt like he was Gordy, a seven-year-old kid carrying more pain than any human should ever have, let alone a kid.

His hands burned like an inferno, and he shoved them into the bucket of seawater.

Bella frowned. “Are you okay, Falcon?”

He took a breath, trying to center himself. He’d never felt such an extreme reaction to someone before, one which enabled him to feel their pain so intensely. His extremities felt cold, but he could feel the heat in his hands. He felt shaky and weak.

What. The. Hell.

“Shake his hand,” Bella whispered. “Introduce yourself.”

No way was he touching Gordy. He’d fry the kid’s hand right off. Instead, he shot the kid a smile that he hoped was friendly, because he didn’t have a lot of experience trying to make kids feel at ease. “Yeah, I’m Falcon.”

Gordy stared at him. “Are you a monster?”

A monster. A fucking monster. Why yes, yes he was.

Bella’s eyes widened and she hit Falcon’s thigh. “Falcon just got back from the jungle. He’s an adventurer. He didn’t take a bath for three months.”

Falcon almost started laughing at the surprise on Gordy’s face. “Three months?”

“Yeah, when you’re a grown up, you can do that.” His hands were burning so much he felt like they were going to catch fire. “Good to meet you, Gordy, but Bella and I need to go.”

“What? No.” Bella sat more firmly in the sand. “Gordy, how are you feeling? Okay?”

Gordy’s gaze swiveled to Bella. “Fine.”

“Are you? Really?” she pressed.

Falcon saw Gordy’s confused look, and he swore under his breath. “Bella, let it go.”

“But you said?—”

“I know what I said, but that’s not how this works.”

“You don’t know how it works,” she snapped. “Gordy, Falcon is---”

“Leaving.” Falcon stood up and dragged Bella to her feet. “Let’s go.”

She pulled her arm away from him. “You don’t get to tell me?—”

“This is my life, Bella. Not yours. You don’t get to run it for me.” He kept his voice low, but he couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice. “And Gordy’s life belongs to him. He’s too young to give me permission even if I could help him, which I can’t.”

Bella scowled at him. “You have a gift?—”

“No. Some guy in Arizona told me I have a gift. It’s not the same thing.” And to think he’d been afraid Bella would think he was crazy. He clearly should have been prepared for the opposite reaction.

“How would you know?—”

“Gordy!” A woman hurried up. “I’m so sorry if he’s bothering you. Gordy, you’re supposed to stay with the group.”

Falcon shoved Bella behind him and moved his body between the woman and Bella. “He’s not bothering us,” Falcon said.

Bella leaned around him. “He was helping me build my sandcastle.”

“He’s supposed to stay with the group. I can’t keep track of them if they run off.” The woman took Gordy’s hand. “Come on, honey. Let’s go back with the others.”

She smiled at Falcon and Bella, and then headed off with Gordy. Falcon watched as the woman took him toward a group of eleven kids. They were all wearing matching turquoise tee shirts, he realized. “Field trip?”

“Maybe.” Bella stood beside him, watching as closely as he was.

Because they both had the same instinct. “Foster kids?” he asked finally.

“Or underprivileged kids,” Bella said. “I can feel it. Can’t you? They’re like us. Like we were.”

“Yeah, they are.” He wanted to go ask questions. He wanted to find out more. But today wasn’t about those kids. Today was about keeping Bella alive.

The kids would have to wait.

“Do you want to go over there and talk to them?” Bella asked.

Yes. But no. If Gordy thought he was a monster, so would the others. There was no way he was throwing more trauma in their direction. “Nope. I’m good.” He quickly surveyed the beach to see if there were any threats, saw about a hundred people who were all within shooting range of Bella, and decided to get them the hell off the sand. “Let’s go. Back to the house.”

“To the house?” She frowned at him. “But?—”

“Did you forget that someone was hunting you last night?”

She blinked. “Hunting me?”

“Yeah.” He put his hand on her lower back and guided her toward the boardwalk.

She looked over at him. “Your hand is burning my back.”

“I know.”

“Don’t you want to help Gordy?”

“He thinks I’m a monster.”

Her face softened. “You’re not a monster.”

“No?” He was rethinking fast and hard his desire to be a foster parent. If Gordy had thought he was a monster, would he be doing more harm than good if he tossed his scarred ass into the lives of traumatized kids?

Fuck. He would, wouldn’t he? He looked back over at the group of kids Gordy was with and his jaw hardened. Those kids need something he couldn’t provide them: a feeling of being safe.

They would be safe with him, but if they didn’t believe it…

And maybe they wouldn’t be safe with him.

Maybe they’d become hunted just like Bella.

Which meant he wasn’t good for any of them.

For anyone.