He nods then drops his gaze to the floor. I reach up and run my fingers through the softness of his short hair.
“I have so many more questions, but I’m not sure Rose can answer them, and I’m not sure if I can even ask some of the old-timers,” he tells me. His eyes drift past me. “Rhea.” She’s leaning against the soda machine that’s on the other side of the patio area. She has a can of soda in one hand and a Styrofoam cup in the other.
“I’m right here. There’s no reason for you to be yelling, brother.” When her eyes land on me, she huffs and rolls them.
“I’m glad you waited.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t feel like walking back home, so I thought I’d get you to do your brotherly duties and give me a ride home.”
“How are you drunk again?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow at me. “I’m not in the mood to deal with your judgey attitude, Miss Perfect. If that’s how it’s going to be, then I’ll be leaving.”
“Don’t.” Hawk reaches out and grabs her arm, stopping her retreat. “Tessa isn’t asking an unreasonable question. Being that you’re not of age–”
“Wait, she’s not twenty-one?”
“No, she’s twenty,” Hawk confirms.
Now it’s my eyes that narrow. “You were in the bar I worked at, drunk off your ass, and you aren’t old enough to be drinking. Unbelievable.”
“Hey!” she barks at me. “What did I just tell you with the judgments?”
“What the hell were you doing in a bar?” Hawk barks back.
“What do you think, smart ass? Getting drunk,” she says matter-of-factly. It makes me sad that she’s ruining her life way before she’s even been able to start it. When she looks between the two of us, she huffs again. “Don’t you two start on me. There’s no way you two didn’t drink when you were my age. Hypocritical doesn’t look good on either of you.”
I glance to Hawk. I’m sure we’re both thinking the same thing. “Rhea, it’s not just that, but Jesus, you’re drunk more than you’re sober,” Hawk tells her.
“You don’t know that. You don’t know me,” she bites back.
He lets out a frustrated sigh. “That may be right, but the times I’ve seen you, you haven’t exactly been sober.”
“My mom has been sick for a very long time. My sister walks on water, my father–”
“You’ve told me this, and those are only excuses. Do you know what Rose said once you left the room today?” When she doesn’t respond, he continues. “She said that it’s her fault you’re like this. So when she’s lucid, she knows that you’re drinking and she feels responsible.”
“Maybe because she is.”
“Bullshit!”
She huffs and turns to leave, but he takes hold of her arm.
“That right there tells me that you’re not mature enough to handle the dangers that drinking can bring. No one is responsible for your actions, but you. I don’t give a shit what life has dished out. That gives you no excuse to find your sanctuary at the bottom of a bottle. It doesn’t work that way. Your mother is an alcoholic, alcoholism runs in your family, and you’re too damn young to have to deal with that shit.”
She pulls her arm from his grasp, and she closes her eyes as tears slide down her cheeks. “I’m so alone,” she whispers. She sounds so childlike, and I understand where she’s coming from. Since the moment I found out Sienna was killed, I’ve felt alone.
“You’re not, Rhea.” He pulls her to him, and she goes willingly, grabbing at his T-shirt as she weeps into his chest. “We’ll get through this. Don’t worry, we’ll get through it.” He runs his hand down the length of her brown hair.
I clear my throat. “I need to get back to work. Martha can only cover for me for so long.”
“Are you working tonight?” he asks.
“Yea, but I’m not closing, so I should be home a little after midnight.”
“I’ll be at your house,” he says over his sister’s head.
I give him a small smile and rub my hand down Rhea’s back before I turn and make my way back to my job.
Hawk
Tessa snuggles into my side. Her breathing has been steady for almost an hour now, but I’ve got too much shit on my mind to be able to sleep which is going to be a pain in the ass tomorrow, or should I say later today when I need to function.
As soon as she walked in the door, I was on her. I needed to get lost in her. I needed to feel the softness of her skin against mine. I needed to hear her moans as I delved balls deep into her sweet pussy. It’s fucking heaven, and if I had my way, I’d fucking keep her wrapped around my dick all damn day.
It took everything in me not to pound her unconscious. To mark her skin, to leave a red mark on her neck, so every fucking prick out there knows she’s off limits. To show that fucker, Phil, if he’s dumb enough to approach her, that she’s off the market and that he never had a chance. This possessives that I feel burning in my veins is all consuming. There’s no fucking way that I’d ever walk away from her.
My phone vibrating across the nightstand has me jumping. The screen lights up, indicating that someone is now calling me and not just texting. I look at the screen and see that it’s Cut calling.
“What’s up, man?” I whisper as I roll Tessa from my body. She groans and wraps her arms around her pillow.
“We’ve got a problem, Hawk,” Cut says on the other end.
“What’s up? Did Jr. back out of the deal?” I slowly get to bed and quietly walk towards the bedroom door.
“Wait, go back,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I’m not fucking joking, Hawk. Tyson grabbed Savannah from my mom’s house. Bubba was on watch.”
Fucking Bubba.
“Where’s Sin?”
“Fuck, Hawk, him and Lick went after Tyson’s mother.”
“I’m on my way.”
I end the call and head back to Tessa’s room. I push through the door and stare at her sleeping form. I really don’t want to leave her–but I need to go.
“Tessa,” I say as I kneel on her side of the bed. I brush the hair from her face making her eyes flutter open. She’s so damn beautiful.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Her voice cracks from sleep.
I grab the back of my neck. “I need to head back to New Mexico. Savannah’s been taken.”
She scurries to sit up. “Oh my God, are you serious? Matthew must be going crazy. Is it the ex?” She knows about Savannah. She knows about everything that’s going on back home. I think her questions and curiosity are a good sign.
I nod, dropping my gaze to the floor.
She places her hand on mine, and her thumb gently smooths over the back of my hand. “What else, Hawk?”
I take a deep breath and look at her. “I think Bubba had something to do with it.”
“No.” Her eyebrows draw together and shake her head. “Are you serious?”
“He was on duty when they came to Bianca’s.”
“I can’t believe he would do that.” The story of my father flashes in my mind. I wouldn’t put anything past anyone. “Is Bianca all right?”
“Yeah, she’s all right, but I need to get. It’s a long drive back home, and the club needs me.” I stand up and turn to gather my things. I slip on my jeans and fight my way into my boots.
“What about Rose and Rhea? What about Sam and me?” she asks as I grab my wallet from the dresser and shove it in my back pocket.
I turn and look at her. “I don’t know, but I have to go, Tessa. Sin’s my fucking brother.”
“Of course.” She gives me a watery smile. “I wasn’t thinking. You need to go.” I know she thinks that she’s alone again. But I’m not walking away from her.
I take a seat on the bed and turn towards her. I brush my thumb along her cheek. Her eyes close, and she leans in. It wasn’t that long ago when she would stiffen every time I would get near, and now she relishes at my touch.
“I don’t want your mind to start churning up stuff that’s not tr
ue, sweetheart. You got me. I’m coming back, but I need to get shit straight back home.” I wipe a tear from her face. “You know, you can always come home with me. That way I can be there for both you and the club.”
“You know that will never happen, Hawk.”
I clench my jaw because that is the one thing that I want to happen. The more time I spend with Tessa, the more that I realize there is no life without her in it. Every. Fucking. Day. There is no option in long distance, and there’s no way that I’m turning my back on the one thing that’s always been there for me. Devil’s Fury.
“Never say never, baby.”
“Don’t hold your breath. I kinda like you around for however long I have you for.”
“You’ll always have me,” I tell her before I pull her into a kiss that’s going to have to last her, for however long I’ll be gone. “Try to go back to sleep. I’m going to check on Sam before I leave. I’ll call you as soon as I get back home.” Home. I’m not sure where that is anymore.
She nods then shimmies her body back under the covers.
I clench my jaw as I pull the phone from my jacket pocket. I don’t like the idea of me not being here for Tessa and Sam, but there isn’t shit I can do about it now. If I’m not here, then someone has got to take up the slack.
“Titus,” he barks into the phone.
“Look, I’m headed back to New Mexico.” I climb into the cab of my truck and roar the truck to life. “Some shit is going down back home, and I need to get my ass back there.”
“Got it.”
“I need eyes.”
“No problem. We’ve got your back.”
“If he approaches, kill him.”
His chuckle filters through the phone. “So you do have the balls it takes to care for your woman.”
“I’ve got the dick too. Let me know, and I’ll shove it up your ass just so you’re certain.” I end the call only to receive a text seconds later.
TITUS: We’ve got your girl, take care of your club.
Hawk
“You’ve started a shit storm, Bubba.”
“You don’t think I know that,” he barks back.
I got back to the clubhouse fifteen minutes ago, and I’ve heard the entire story. It pisses me off that he fucking did this shit. How he turned his back on his club for a fucking high. “We aren’t fucking kids anymore, Bubba. Grow the fuck up!”
“Hawk!” Dyke yells at me.
“What?” I spin and aim my anger towards Dyke. “I fucking told you that he was into some shit. What the fuck did you think was going to happen? Nothing ever good comes from that shit. You, of all people, should know it. This isn’t his first rodeo, Dyke.”
“I’m going to rehab.” Bubba adjusts himself and winces. I hope the graze he got from the fucking bullet burns.
I sigh and drop my head back. “Rehab?” I turn and face him. “You’re serious? You think that going into rehab is going to bring back the trust you lost? You think that me, Cut, Sin, or any of the Devil’s Fury are going to welcome you back into the club? That’s a fucking pipe dream, brother because there’s no fucking way that you’ll ever be Fury again. Fuck that.”
I take a step towards him and push. His grey-blue eyes don’t falter as I get closer. He keeps them trained on me. I push him again. Maybe I want him to make the first move so that I can beat his ass. “He could kill her, Keith. Do you not get that? There’s an innocent baby–Sin’s baby, and it may not be born because of your ass.”
“You think I don’t know that?” he grits. His nostrils flare and I know that he’s fighting the urge to hit me. His pupils are dilated and sweat trickles from the top of his shaved head down his forehead. He looks clammy. I know he’s in withdrawal, and it makes me fucking happy that he’s suffering.
“How you feeling, brother?”
“Enough, Hawk!” Brass comes in. “This isn’t helping shit right now.”
I swing my finger towards that bastard. “I don’t even know why the hell he’s still here.”
“He’ll be gone in the morning.”
“This is bullshit!” I slam my hand on the wood of the table, “I’ll never forgive you if she dies. Because we all know if she dies, then Sin will die right along with her.”
Hawk
“This is fucking crazy. It’s been hours and nothing from Sin or Lick.” I lean back, bringing the legs of the chair up. Cut, Brass, and Dyke and I are sitting around jury. The club’s been quiet for the past two days. No one in and no one out. Bianca is still held up at Lily’s, with two prospects sitting watch. This is a bunch of fucking bullshit. I thought we had issues with the Diablos, but it’s been nothing compared to the shit that Tyson Redding has brought to our table since Savannah ended up on Fury ground.
“This guy doesn’t mess around,” Brass adds. “I’m sure it wasn’t Redding who did the deed to Kara, but whoever’s on his payroll is one sick fucker.”
My phone dances on the table as it vibrates. I look at the screen and see Rhea’s name. I inwardly groan because I don’t have the energy to deal with her. I look at Cut then Dyke. “I gotta take this.”
I make my way through the back of the clubhouse and step outside. “What’s up?”
“Tessa said you’re gone.”
“Yeah, I have some business to take care of. Is everything all right with Rose?”
“Are you coming back?” She sounds panicky.
“Yes, Rhea, I’m coming back, but things here need my attention. Is everything all right?”
“Yes,” she bites back.
“Listen, I’m coming back. Don’t worry.” I know she wouldn’t tell me even if she was worrying. “Just keep me in the loop on anything that happens with Rose. Send me texts, reach out to Tessa. Even if I’m not there, you can lean on her. Tessa will have your back.”
“I’m not sure–”
“She’s good people, Rhea.”
“Okay.”
“Okay. I need to go now. I’ll check in soon.”
I pocket my phone and head towards the door just as Dyke is coming out. “Everything okay?” He lifts his brow.
“Yeah. One of my sisters.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ve only met one, but I hear she’s the lesser of the two evils.”
He chuckles then pulls an envelope from his back pocket. “Here. This is the info on Tre you asked for.”
I take it and give him a nod.
“It’s Sin,” Cut says as he points to the phone he’s on when Dyke and I walk back into the room. “Did you find him?” He paces the head of the table.
I watch as Cut runs his hands through his hair. “Make her talk, Sin. You need to.” He pauses. “For fuck's sake, you’re my brother, your dad’s son. I know you can think of a way. She knows where your woman is. She knows where that baby is. Are you ready to throw in the towel? Are you ready to walk away and never hold that baby in your arms? Are you ready to never hear her call you daddy? Because if that’s the case, then by all means, let the bitch go and come back here.”
“Kara’s dead, man,” Cut says into the phone. “Brass went by her place. She was strapped down to a kitchen chair with a couple of syringes hanging from her arm. Someone killed her, man. Made her OD on the same fucking shit Bubba’s been using. I know she wasn’t a druggie. She never used. Not since she’s been at the clubhouse, anyways.”
I stand and stride over to Cut. “Lemme talk to him, Cut.”
He ignores me. “Do what you gotta do.”
He drops the phone to the table and lets out a long breath. “She ain’t talkin’,” he tells us, “But I have faith that Lick will get her to talk. By the time this is over, we might have two dead Reddings on our hands.”
Brass pops his knuckles and gives a little smirk. “You don’t fuck with Fury and you sure as hell don’t fuck with what’s ours.”
Tyson and his mother made their beds; now it’s time they lie in them and make friends with the reaper.
Tessa
“When’s Hawk going to be back?” Sam asks as he colors at the kitchen table.
My throat tightens as I swallow down emotion. I know that Sam’s missing him just as much as I am and it’s only been two days since he left. “As soon as he’s done doing what he needs to do, he’ll come back,” I tell him as I chop the vegetables I’m using for dinner. The smaller I cut them up, the less likely Sam will complain about having to eat them.
“Why does he have to do anything back there when he’s always here?”
“Because people need him back home.” I dump the cutting board of veggies into the pan instantly hearing them sizzle.
He stops coloring and looks at me. “But don’t we need him here?”
I wipe my hands on the towel hanging over my shoulder. “I don’t think we need him. I think you and me do pretty well on our own, but I think we like having him here.”
I’m not comfortable admitting to my son, or myself for that matter, that my feelings of liking him are turning into more of a sense of want and need. I haven’t, in all of my adult life, been dependent on anyone, and other than Sam, there isn’t a single person who I need in my life.
“I do like having him here.”
Sam goes back to his coloring, which I’m thankful for. I’m not sure what’s going on with Hawk and me. I’m not going to ask him to stay here with us when his life and the club are back in New Mexico–And there’s no way I’m ever going back there. I can’t live with those demons.
I’m setting the timer on the oven when I hear a knock at the door. My body stiffens because I’m not expecting anyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not Croy. Since Hawk’s been around, I haven’t made the time for him like I usually do. I haven’t needed him to grab Sam at all because Hawk’s been the first one to volunteer when I’ve needed a hand.
“Stay here, baby,” I tell Sam as I pat the top of his head. When I peer through the peephole my heart lodges in my throat when I see who’s at my door. Hawk’s words come back from the other night. The facts, the warnings. The reasons why I should stay away from Phil. I drop down to my toes and squeeze my eyes tight, hoping that he didn’t hear anything, and I can pretend we aren’t home.
Hawk_Devil's Fury Book 3 Page 16