Hawk shook his head. He had tats and scars. Ugly voice. Bad attitude. Hell, the only women who liked him were the ones who obsessed over violent men and rough sex.

Best he stay far away from the fragile woman who was Aric’s mother.

He was halfway to his house when Bull’s voice boomed across the courtyard. “Hawk, get your ass back here.”

Keep going? Wouldn’t work. Bull would just come after him—and talk.

Why did people think they could fix things with talking?

With a grunt of exasperation, he walked back, his gut tightening. At least, Kit had seen him before. Wouldn’t be shocked by scars and tats.

He climbed the steps and scowled at his brother. “Aric should be with his mother. Without me.”

“Nope.” Bull shook his head. “Grayson said Aric might still need you for security, even with her here.”

Hawk eyed the door. Aric might need him. Kit didn’t, and he sure wasn’t into scaring her. “He’ll be fine.”

Bull laughed and slapped his back. “C’mon, let’s go in.”

Hawk shot him a glare that should’ve fried his ass.

If anything, Bull’s smirk widened. “If nothing else, the beer’s great.” The owner of Bull’s Moose Brewery would say so, of course.

There was no winning this battle.

With a pissed-off growl, Hawk stepped inside and assessed the room. Good lines of retreat to the windows and doors. Three people in the living area—Frankie, Kit, Aric.

Dark-haired, curvy Frankie, who was Bull’s woman, sat at one end of the sectional.

With her splinted right arm in a sling, Kit sat in the middle with the kid standing and leaning against her legs. Still slender, but she’d gained some weight and was no longer hollow-cheeked. An inch or so shorter than Frankie, she might be five-five. The brown hair with sun-lightened streaks was like the coloring of a golden eagle. So fucking pretty.

In the compound the night of the rescue, she’d been bruised, battered, and beaten, but not broken. No, she’d roused enough to help get the other women to leave, had told them, “Go with Frankie, you idiots.” She’d fought off unconsciousness and ordered Hawk to care for her son. The woman had a solid core of strength.

But she wasn’t all steel. When she smiled at her son and her brown eyes turned soft, the warmth was enough to melt an Alaska glacier.

Hawk didn’t get a smile.

Then he did. A hesitant one, as if she wasn’t sure how he’d react. “Hawk, thank you for taking care of Aric. I didn’t realize that you’d be doing…well, everything.”

“Everyone helped.” And he would be doing nothing now the kid’s mother was here. A prickly ache started up under his ribcage.