Chapter 27

TWENTY-SEVEN

Falcon was still sitting at the kitchen counter when the front door opened.

He looked over his shoulder, then turned when he saw it was Dylan and Brody. “Hey.”

Both men nodded their greetings.

“Thanks for letting us know Bella took off,” Brody said. “We tracked her and she’s safe. The women are with her, and some of my brothers are hanging out, keeping watch.”

Falcon nodded. Bella said he couldn’t follow her, but he wasn’t about to let her go out there unprotected. “I’m cancelling her request for you guys to take over the situation with the guy who attacked me on the Cape.”

Dylan parked himself on the couch and put his feet up on a footrest. “No can do, buddy. You didn’t hire me, so you can’t fire me.”

Falcon wasn’t surprised by the response, but he tried again. “I’m not having someone endangered because of my shit. It’s my job and I’ll take care of it.”

“How? By getting stabbed again?” Dylan grinned. “You did good. That guy was well-trained. He has a history. I’ll have no trouble tracking down his connection to you and Bella. It’ll be over soon.”

Falcon ground his jaw. “Dylan?—”

“You realize that this shit you went through for twenty years could have been over a long time ago if you’d let us help?” Dylan leaned forward. “I know you decided not to be a Hart, but you’re still one of us. No more of this crap of going alone, Falcon. It’s bullshit, and it’s over.”

Falcon stared at him, surprised by the vehemence of his words.

Brody cleared his throat. “Here’s the thing, Falcon. Man to man, I respect your need to live your life. But I heard the fear and pain in my sister’s voice when you were passed out next to her, and she thought you were dying. Damn near broke my own heart. We’ve all been through too much to take on any pain we don’t need. She deserves to be whole and loved. You say you love her, but you’re going to ditch her and go get yourself killed?”

Guilt settled in Falcon’s gut. “I didn’t mean to scare her.”

“But you did,” Brody said. “And when Bella hired Dylan, it was to keep you alive, because she loves you. She knew you’d be pissed, and she said it would probably end the relationship, but she was doing it anyway.”

“Yeah,” Dylan added. “She said she’d rather have you alive and hating her than dead and loving her. That’s love, my friend.”

Those words settled deep in Falcon’s gut.

Brody sat down on the end chair. “You broke through her defenses, Falcon, and that means you forfeited certain rights. You don’t need to love her, but you don’t get to be a dumbass who chases death because he has commitment issues.”

Falcon blinked. “I don’t have commitment issues.” But as soon as he said it, he stopped. “Bella said I do,” he admitted.

Brody smiled. “We all do, Falcon. When we come from such a fucked-up childhood, the shadows stay with us, until we decide to shine the light on them and make them dissolve. This is your chance. Shine the light or keep living in their grasp.”

Falcon let out his breath and leaned back in his seat, clasping his hands on top of his head. “I don’t think I’m good for her,” he finally admitted.

“Why not?” Brody asked.

“We want different things. I don’t want to trap her. She deserves her freedom.”

Dylan snorted. “Are you so sure you’d be a trap?”

“Yeah, I want marriage and kids, and she doesn’t—” He stopped himself as he said that. “Except she proposed to me. To test me.”

The men exchanged glances. “You failed the test, I assume?” Dylan said. “That’s why she left?”

“Yeah.”

Silence fell in the house for a few minutes while the men let Falcon stew in his own thoughts.

“Bella wants you alive so much that she was willing to have you hate her forever. That’s love,” Brody finally said. “And you would rather get yourself killed than take away her dreams? That feels very similar. Deep love on both sides.”

“Sure does,” Dylan said. “Almost identical. Couple of idiots refusing to see what matters, you think?”

“There’s a good chance of that,” Brody said.

Falcon swiveled on the chair, suddenly restless. “Do you think,” he asked slowly, choosing his words, “that I could be good for her? Be honest.”

Brody grinned. “She loves you, and you love her. You’re a good man, Falcon. You get us, and Bella, and our history, and you’re so protective of her that it makes my big brother heart happy.”

Falcon looked at Brody. “Do you think I’d make her happy?” He just wanted her happy. Whatever it took.

Brody looked at Dylan, then back at Falcon. “You two are the ones who have to answer that. But answer it honestly, not influenced by the past that you both carry with you.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It’s not. You just have to shine your light brighter than the shadows to get started.” Brody stood up. “Decide that you both have a right to be truly happy, and then see where that takes you.” His hand knocked a notepad on the counter, and he glanced down at it, then smiled. “Read this note. She told us about you. And we support you fully.”

“She told you what?”

But Brody was already headed toward the door.

Dylan launched himself to his feet. “The case isn’t yours anymore, Falcon. Find something else to do with your life.”

Then the two men let themselves out of the house, slamming the door behind them.

Falcon swore and leaned back in his seat. What the hell?

Find something else to do with his life.

Like what?

At that moment, his gaze fell upon the notepad. He recognized Bella’s handwriting, and he saw the word “healer” jotted down. He grabbed the pad and pulled it over, scanning her notes with rising disbelief.

She had written down the names and phone numbers of three energy healers, and written a note to him.

Falcon, these are three top energy healers. I talked to each of them. They sound amazing. I pre-paid for a two-hour consult with each one. All you need to do is call them and set it up. You have a gift, and the world needs you. Love, Me.

Falcon’s hands started shaking, and sudden emotion overtook him.

She truly believed in him and accepted him. And she’d told her family, and they felt the same.

He didn’t have to hide it. Not from them.

Tears threatened, and he shoved them away.

He stood up and walked to the window, hands in his pockets as he gazed across the vast ranch that had called to him for so long. His people were here. His love was here.

This was where he wanted to be, not chasing some psycho across the globe for another twenty years.

Find something to do with your life.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and looked down at them. They looked like normal hands. Nothing special.

But he turned his palms toward each other and imagined energy flowing between them.

In a moment, both his hands began to burn, and his fingers started tingling. The energy traveled up his arms, through his shoulders, down his sternum, and into his chest. He could feel the energy in his heart center vibrating, shaking, coming alive.

He wasn’t imagining it. He knew he wasn’t.

His gaze shifted to the notepad on the counter. What if he could make a difference for others? What if he did have the ability to somehow transmute the pain that echoed so rampantly through this world?

If there was any chance he could help, how could he say no, right?

He looked down at his hands, and sudden inspiration struck him. “Is my name Falcon?”

His hands moved further apart, of their own accord. Yes. The word was very clear in his mind, as if someone had spoken to him.

Excitement began to build inside him. “Is my name Bella?”

His hands moved closer together. No. Again, the word imprinted in his mind.

“Should I call those healers?”

His hands moved further apart. Yes.

He didn’t ask again.

He simply walked across the room, pulled out his phone, and called the first number on the list.

When she answered, he said, “My name is Falcon, and I’m a healer.”