“No,” Tessa says. “You’re sitting down because our pizza should be here any moment.”
I feel Sam’s body brush past mine as he takes a seat. “Listen,” I grit, keeping my voice low. “I don’t know what you’re playing at here.” I take a step towards him, and the fucker doesn’t make a move. He has no clue who the fuck he’s messing with. “But you need to keep away from Tessa and Sam. I’m not going to tell you again.”
He smirks. “Hey, I was only passing by. It was a coincidence, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“Anyway…” He completely ignores me and looks at Tessa. “I noticed Sam’s lip. I hope everything’s all right.” His eyes flick to mine and then back to Tessa. Fuck no.
“It’s fine, Phil. Besides, this isn’t your place. Like, at all,” Tessa says.
“Just looking out for a friend and her son.”
“We aren’t friends, Phil. I don’t even know you.”
“I’ve made an effort to change that, Tessa, and you told me you don’t date. Yet here you are, with this guy.” He juts his thumb in my face. “The same guy from the bar, so by the looks of it, you do date.”
Tessa opens her mouth, I’m sure to defend herself, but I’m done with this guy.
“Enough, Phil, we’re done here. You can go now.” I reach my arm between Tessa and Phil, turning her body towards the booth which Sam’s still sitting in, watching us. As soon as she’s sitting down, I scoot my body next to her. I do this for two reasons. One, I don’t want that fucker getting close to her. And two, I want to have my eyes towards the front of the restaurant, so I can see who’s coming and going. Something isn’t right with this guy, and I’ll be damned if he tries to get sneaky with Tessa and Sam.
“Why are you sitting next to my mom?” Sam asks from the opposite the booth.
“Because we’re friends. Friends sit together, don’t they?”
He seems all right with my explanation because he only shrugs his shoulders and leaves the question alone for the moment.
Our pizza arrives just in time, so we don’t have to explain anything more to Sam. The rest of the dinner consists of Sam talking about everything under the sun. I guess Sarah, the gal who watches him, is a marine biology major and she’s been sharing her passion for the ocean with Sam. I learn from the conversation that Sam has never stepped foot onto the actual beach. He’s seen it, been there, but he’s never stuck his feet in the sand. How is that even possible when they live in southern California?
“I think we’ll need to make a plan to get to the ocean.” I watch as Sam’s eyes light up at the idea.
“You don’t have to do that,” Tessa argues.
I turn my head towards her. “I know I don’t have to, but I want to.”
“That would be awesome. Can we, Mom? Can we go to the ocean?”
I continue to watch as she struggles with my idea. She has a massive issue with letting go of control, and I know why. When something happens to you, like it happened to Tessa, power is the one thing that you feel you always need. It’s been the two of them for so long, and I’m sure she’s struggling with letting me in. The thing is, she’s doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. I can see her desire for me in her eyes. She may not know it yet, but it’s there. It’s the same look she used to give me when we were younger. She thought she was so smart hiding her feelings for me, but there are some things you can’t hide.
I place my hand on her thigh, making her slightly jump. When I give it a slight squeeze, she relaxes.
“All right, baby. We’ll plan a day.”
“When?”
This kid’s relentless. “Your mom and I will figure it out when she gets her schedule next week.”
“But she works the same days and times.”
“Then I’ll make sure I take a Saturday off.”
That seems to pacify him since he doesn’t question it anymore and digs into his pizza.
“How did you meet my mom?” Sam asks when he drops his spoon into his bowl of ice cream.
We’ve spent the last few hours walking around the small downtown area near Tessa’s house. The entire time I’ve been on high alert, making sure that dickhead, Phil, wasn’t watching. When Sam asked to stop for ice cream before he headed back to their house, I complied.
“I told you, honey, we grew up together.”
“Yeah, but how? Why did you grow up together?”
“We lived in the same town. We had mutual friends.”
“Your mom’s best friend was the sister of my best friend.”
His eyes widen at my news. He looks at Tessa. “Where is she? Do I know her? Is it Shae?” Then he turns his direction to me. “Do you know Croy? Why didn’t you say hi when you saw him?”
“Baby, no, it’s not Shae. She was from where I grew up. In…New Mexico.” Her hesitation tells me that she hasn’t shared much of her past with her son.
“Wow, you’re from Mexico?”
I can’t help but laugh at his reaction.
“Thank you, public school system,” Tessa mutters. “No, Sam, New Mexico is a state. Not far from here.”
“Ten hours by car, to be exact,” I say.
“Do you still live there, Hawk?”
“Yeah, buddy, I do.”
“Why did you leave, Mom?”
I know Sam’s too young, and Tessa’s still unsure as to what to tell her son, so I interrupt, “Let’s get going. It’s getting late.”
As soon as we leave the ice cream shop, my eyes find Phil standing across the street. When our eyes meet, his body visible stiffens then he turns around and heads the opposite direction.
When is this fucker gonna give up?
Hawk
As soon as Tessa unlocks the door to her apartment and ushers Sam inside, I wrap my fingers around her arm and stop her. “I want you to lock the door. Use both locks, please. Check the windows and make sure they’re shut and locked. You have locks on all your windows, right?”
Her eyes look frantic, and I know that she’s starting to panic. “What’s going on? Why are you asking me about the locks?”
“I need an answer, Tessa.”
“Yes, of course, I have locks on my windows. I’m a single mother living in Los Angeles, I’m not stupid.”
I brush her hair behind her ear. “Of course not, baby. I know you’re not. I just need to hear it with my own ears.”
“I know the windows are all locked, but I’ll check again. Now, can you answer my questions?”
“I have a feeling, but don’t worry.” I grab the back of her neck and pull her to me until her lips land on mine. Fuck, it feels so good to kiss her. When I pull away, her eyes are dazed, and I want to thump my fucking chest because Miss In Control Reese loses all control with me and I fucking welcome it.
“You really need to stop doing that,” she tells me, breathless.
“Not a fucking chance,” I say before I turn and leave her porch. “The door, baby. Lock up tight.”
“When do you plan on seeing me again?”
“Soon.” That’s all I give her for now because I’m not sure how the next few minutes are going to go.
The thing with growing up in an MC is that it becomes a part of you. It’s something you need to have to survive, to live, like oxygen. Even Sin, who resists where he comes from on a daily basis, requires the club. He’ll never admit to it, but he does.
My father taught me a lot, even at a young age he told me and showed me things that no child should understand, but I did. Streetlife was the way to live, and I’m not talking the thug life, gangs and shit like that. I was to know the street, to blend into your surroundings when you needed it. Being in an MC placed targets on our backs, so blending in was always crucial. More so today. Bounty hunting requires you to blend in, to grab your mark, and that’s precisely what I’m doing right now as I stand in the shadows of Tessa’s neighborhood.
For the past two hours, I’ve watched this fucker stand watch over Tes
sa’s place. Part of me is fucking pissed that I missed it the couple times that I’ve come by. I know this isn’t the first time that he’s stood out here, across the street from her apartment, and it makes my fucking blood boil. Our run-in tonight was not a coincidence as he so innocently put it.
I watch as he strokes his crotch. What a sick piece of shit. He can’t even see Tessa through any of the windows, and he’s turned on. I wonder why. Is he picturing her naked? Maybe he’s thinking about what it would be like to go balls, deep inside. “Yeah fucker, not on my watch,” I whisper.
When I feel the vibration of my cell in my pocket, I turn my back on him and pull it from my pocket. It’s Dyke, I had him pull all the records he could find on a Phil Jensen.
DYKE: Nothing much. He’s got a clean record, but he has been let go from several jobs over the past few years. It seems that his father left him quite a bit of inheritance when he passed. No kids, no wife, no immediate family.
His text doesn’t tell me anything.
When I pocket my phone and turn around, Phil’s gone. I take a step towards Tessa’s when I see a figure walking around the side towards her patio. “Oh fuck no.” I pick up my pace, making sure to grab him before he can make it to her fence.
As soon as I’m close enough, I wrap my arm around his throat, making sure to put enough pressure on his larynx so he can’t make a sound. I throw a few kidney punches making his knees buckle. Now I know he’s in too much pain that he won’t fight me when I pull his ass around to the alleyway.
“Listen to me, you piece of shit,” I growl into his ear. “I don’t know what game you’re playing at, but you need to stay the fuck away from Tessa and Sam.”
When I get to our destination, far enough away from prying eyes and ears, I push him down to the concrete. His eyes are murderous as he heaves breaths while I press my boot into his chest. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he grits, but his sorry response only makes me laugh.
“I said,” I press down more onto his rib cage, “you need to stay the fuck away from them.”
“Fuck you.”
I feel a pop of one of his ribs when I apply more pressure, and his groan tells me that he’s feeling the pain. “I’m not someone to be fucking with, Phil. You don’t want on my bad side. I’ve fucking killed people who’ve ended on my bad side.” His eyes widen, and I know that I’ve gotten his attention. “Yeah, that’s right, man. You stay the fuck away from what’s mine, and I’ll let you live. But if I see or hear that you’ve come near them again, I will fucking kill you.” I push down again, driving my point across.
If I were back home, he wouldn’t live long enough to pull himself out of that alley, but I’m not in Las Cruces. I don’t have the safety net of my club to cover my ass, and I haven’t checked in with the local charter letting them know I’m here. Until I do that, I have to let him be. But if he thinks of testing me, he’ll know what the wrath of Devil’s Fury feels like.
Hawk
My chucks squeak against the cold white and black speckled tile of the hallway that leads to my mother’s room. The nurses’ station is empty. I’m not sure if the staff takes lunch at the same time, but knowing that anyone can come into the facility and into any room doesn’t sit right with me.
It’s been two days since I’ve seen Tessa, and it’s been hell staying away from her, but I’ve had other things more pressing. Like watching that fucker, Phil, go about his day. I needed to know his routine. It’s become essential for me to be one step ahead of him since I left him in that alley only a couple nights prior. Now that I’m thinking about Tessa, I wonder if she’s working today. I think she should be, but I don’t have her schedule nailed down. If she is, then I want to ask her about the policy of allowing the front desk to remain vacant like that.
I’m not sure where this sudden protectiveness of my mother has come from. I never thought I’d see the day where I didn’t want any harm to come to her. But I guess things change.
Like before, the door to her room is slightly ajar, so I push my way into the place. I clear my throat causing Rose to turn her head from the window and look at me. Recognition flashes in her eyes before sadness take over.
“Hi, Rose.” I clear my throat because I’m not sure where she is today. “Mom,” I correct myself.
“Hawking?” Her brows are creased, and the thin lines along her mouth are more pronounced. “This can’t be.” She’s talking to herself more than me, and this tells me that she doesn’t remember two days ago when she was speaking to me like we’ve chatted every day for my entire life.
“It’s me.” I wipe my sweating hands on the front of my jeans as I make my way farther into her room. I take a seat in the chair that’s always next to her bed. I wonder who else has sat here. I wonder if Tessa spends time with her while she’s working. Do the nurses take the time to chat with her? Or does she spend her days alone in this room? Have my sisters come by to see how she is?
She takes in my appearance. I’m dressed in dark jeans and a plain white T-shirt. I learned after my first visit not to wear my cut. The images, the patches that adorn the leather, hurt her, and that’s not what these visits are supposed to be about. Not anymore anyway. Not after I saw what was in that file, Dyke gave me.
“How?”
“I’ve been here, almost every day for the past couple of weeks.” I’m not going to handle her with kids gloves–not when I know that she’s lucid. I may go along with her thoughts when she’s not all there, I don’t think telling her what she thinks is wrong will help her. But now that she’s here, I’m going to be honest with her. I’m not sure how long she’ll be around for.
“I–I don’t understand?” She shakes her head as she pulls herself up in the bed.
“I have a friend that works here, and she told me you were here.” I keep that fact that Tessa is from back home out of the conversation. I’ve also learned that any talk of Las Cruses brings an adverse reaction and that makes her retreat into herself. This is tricky because I need to hear from her what my father did to make her flee New Mexico and leave her family all those years ago.
“Oh. I see,” she says as she tries to straighten her hair. “I wish I would have known you were coming by. I would have gotten ready.”
“You look beautiful.”
“You’re my son. You have to tell me that even if it’s not true.”
I can’t help my laugh a little at her personality, something I wish I grew up with. I have no doubt that what Bianca told me is true. She and Rose were thick as thieves when they were younger. It wasn’t the fact that their husbands ran the club together. They were friends because they wanted to be.
When I don’t say anything, she continues. “So, what brings you here? I mean, I left you. I’m sure you have questions. You might as well ask them before I’m no longer here.”
I sit up. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Oh, sweet son. You and I both know that isn’t true.” She pats the blanket next to her. “It’s been over twenty years, Hawking. Be a dear, even though I don’t deserve it, and come to sit near your mama.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat, unsure if I can be that physically close to her. I haven’t allowed myself to remember the times when I would sit on her lap with her arm wrapped around me. When I finally get the courage to look at her in the eye, I see the fear of rejection. She’s scared and rightfully so. She’s made mistakes, and I don’t think they’re just with me. I’m sure she’s live the past twenty years creating mistake after mistake.
Without another word, I get up from my seat and bring my leg up on the bed, taking up the spot where she had her hand. She doesn’t hesitate as she takes my hand in hers and rubs her thumb gently over my skin. I can feel the sting of my nose, and I fight against the emotions that are churning in my stomach. Tilting my head back, I look at the ceiling urging myself to get my emotions in check. You’re Devil’s Fury, Hawk. A man’s man. We do not break. The voice of my father rings thro
ugh my mind.
“It’s okay, son. I’ve cried enough for the both of us,” she says as she pats my hand. I take a deep breath, and I roll my head in her direction. Tears roll down her cheeks, and it breaks my fucking heart. She doesn’t make a sound as she cries. She suffers in silence. When I reach up to wipe them from her face, she grabs my hand and brings it back down in my lap.
“I don’t deserve your kindness,” she whispers, but I know that’s far from the truth. She turns her head away from me, concentrating on what’s happening beyond this room, beyond her heartbreak.
“Mom?”
The voice from the other side of the room has me turning my head.
Rose squeezes my hand. “Rhea, baby. Your brother and I were just talking about you.”
I close my eyes because I know that I’ve lost the lucid Rose and I’m going to have to wait for us to have our talk. I pull my hand from hers and get off the bed. I don’t feel right sitting next to a woman who only thinks she knows me.
When Rhea’s gaze falls on me, I see how much she looks like our mother. This girl standing before me looks identical to the pictures Bianca has kept for me.
“And what are you talking about?” She lifts her brow at her question.
“Just about your graduation this coming June. How I’m doing my best to get home in time. Hawking is making sure my plants aren’t dying, isn’t that right, Hawking? We all know your father doesn’t have a green thumb on either hand.” She laughs from behind me as I continue to take in my sister. There’s no way this girl is still in high school.
She crosses her hands over her chest and hitches her hip to the side. Her eyes narrow in on me. “Is that right, brother? You keeping our mother’s plants watered?”
“Now don’t test him, Rhea. We both know he’s too busy to have to take your lip, young lady.”
I look back at Rose who’s trying to look behind Rhea.
“Where’s Loa? I thought she’d be with you.”
Hawk_Devil's Fury Book 3 Page 13