“Did you know that this little puta owes me ten thousand dollars?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “For what?”
“Did she not tell you she was selling for me on the streets? The only problem is, she was sniffing more than she was selling. Isn’t that right, puta?” he says, piercing her skin again with the point of his blade.
She’s fucking working for Santana? Fuck, Josie, what have you gotten yourself into?
Tears fall from her eyes as the knife travels lower, cutting her white lacy top open and revealing her breasts and stomach. Her chest is rising fast as she struggles to breathe, and I don’t miss a beat when he pushes the knife beneath the center of her bra and cuts it open. Her breasts are now on full display, her nipples erect as the coolness of the warehouse hits them.
“Beautiful,” Santana says as he caresses her nipples, but then squeezes them tightly, causing Josie to scream. “It’s a pity I will be cutting these nipples off.”
Josie’s head snaps to me, her eyes wide.
Fuck my life.
The blade outlines the curve of her left breast, and once again Santana pulls on her nipple and places the blade just above it. I hear Josie’s muffled cries as the blade cuts into her skin, and my hands grip the edge of the table, the only thing holding me back from beating the fuck out of Santana.
“Stop it!” I finally yell. “All right, you fucking win. Just stop.”
“Ah,” Santana says placing the blade down on the table in front of him. I look over to Josie, her eyes are closed in relief. “You’re a smart man, Hawke.”
I finish the contents of my glass and smash it down on the table. “Let her go, I’ll do what you want.”
Santana looks over to Josie, and then Javier. “Let her go.”
“But, boss,” Franco interrupts. “We didn’t get to have some fun.” I notice he adjusts his cock as he looks over at Josie’s tits.
“Ah, Franco, you greedy man. Don’t worry, I have women waiting for us at the house. You’ll get a blow job tonight.”
Franco smiles at Santana, then looks at me and straightens his face.
“Franco!” Santana yells. “Take the lady home, will you? Javier, go with him and make sure she’s not touched by Franco’s wandering hands,” Santana demands, lifting his chin toward Franco.
Javier unties the rag from around Josie’s mouth, and she sobs and falls to the floor. I immediately jump out of my seat and squat down in front of her. I embrace her, and she cries on my shoulder. “Thank you, Reece. Thank you.”
Josie finally pulls back and looks me in the eye, running the backs of her fingers down my cheek. “Thank you for sparing my life.”
I nod at her. “This is not over, Josie, we need to talk. Now go,” I demand, and she nods in understanding. She struggles to stand again so I help her up, and she sways slightly. I go to steady her but Franco grabs her arm instead, and pulls her roughly toward the SUV.
“If I find out you’ve laid one finger on her, I’ll hunt you down and kill you,” I warn him. He just looks back at me and smiles wolfishly.
I feel Santana’s hand on my arm, and I pull back, making it drop away from me. “Don’t worry, Hawke, she will not be touched, or else Franco will have to deal with me.”
I look at Santana and lift my chin, letting him know I got it.
“Please sit,” he asks, and I do.
Luisa
“Jasmine, it’s your wedding day. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. It’s time for you to go, Quill is going to be furious,” I say, crying against Jasmine’s shoulder.
I’m in her parents’ house, I snuck up to Jasmine’s bedroom to be alone after Hawke left. When Jasmine came looking for me, to tell me she was throwing the bouquet and to get my ass down there, I couldn’t hold my sorrow in. I cried as I said, “Oh, Jasmine, it’s happened again.”
“I’m not leaving you like this, Lu. I can’t. Did he say where he was going?”
“To her!” I reply, and cover my face with my hands, unable to stop crying.
“No,” Jasmine says, shocked. “He wouldn’t do that, not again.”
“Wouldn’t he?” I state angrily, wiping away tears with the back of my hand. “He told me she was in trouble, and that he had to go and help her. She’s always going to be there, Jazz. She’ll always be between us. I can’t compete with her, she was his first love, and he was going to marry her. I can’t, I just can’t.”
“Oh, Lu.” Jasmine hugs me once again. “I’m so sorry.”
“What’s going on in here?” a deep, husky voice says.
Jasmine and I both look up at the same time, and find Quill standing by the door. His eyes are warm as they focus on Jasmine, and I envy what they have. If only Hawke and I had the same connection. I thought we did, but lately, I’m not so sure.
Quill walks into the room and stops behind Jasmine. He leans down, and she turns her head in time to catch his lips. It’s a brief kiss before his attention falls on me. His eyes are full of concern. “What happened? Where’s Hawke?”
I begin to sob again, and Jasmine rubs my back. “He’s gone, Quill, he just left,” Jasmine explains for me.
“What do you mean he left? Hawke wouldn’t leave on my wedding day without telling me.”
I look at Quill as he snatches his phone out of the inside of his jacket. He presses buttons rapidly, making a call. “I’ll see what the fuck’s going on,” he murmurs.
Quill starts pacing, looking down at his phone before lifting it back to his ear. “Hawke, where the fuck are you, brother? Call me.”
“He’s with his whore!” I shout. My nose is dripping, and tears are falling freely down my face. I’m a mess.
“He’s what? Who the fuck is his whore?” Quill questions, clenching his jaw.
“Josie. You know his ex-fiancée, don’t you?
Quill sighs and rubs a hand over the back of his neck. This is probably not a good time to be noticing how handsome he looks tonight. You would never know he’s a biker in the suit he’s wearing, and with the way his hair is styled.
He stops pacing and walks closer to the bed where Jasmine and I are seated. “Tell me exactly what he said.”
I wrap my arms around my waist and begin. “Hawke and I were dancing… until his phone rang. He said he had to take the call, so he left and went outside of the marquee. I went to check on Jasmine and noticed he’d been gone a while, so I went searching for him and found him talking on his phone. He disconnected when I approached, and then told me he was going to have to leave, on club business apparently.”
“Club business?” Quill repeats.
I nod, and continue. “When I asked how he could leave at a time like this, he said Josie was in trouble, and that he had to go make sure she’s okay.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t Hawke come talk to me before leaving?”
“Maybe because he knew it’s our wedding day,” Jasmine offers.
“Look guys, it is your wedding day. Don’t worry about Hawke, I’m sure he’d call if it was indeed club business,” I say, my voice laced with venom.
Quill comes around the side of the bed, and I turn to face him. He grabs my hands in his warm ones. “Hawke loves you, don’t doubt that. He has a big heart, and if Josie called him because she needed his help, Hawke wouldn’t be able to turn his back on that. He’s just not built that way, neither of us are. We served together, I know him like my real brother.”
I inhale deeply, and think on Quill’s words. “I know you’re right, Quill, but he almost lost me not too long ago because of his lies. Now he’s going to her? Surely there’s someone else that can help her.”
Quill shakes his head. “Not sure, Lu, but I know she’s lost everything, and that may include everyone.”
“So how is it his problem?” I say, exasperated.
“It’s not his problem. I’m pissed at him too, Lu. Leaving my wedding without coming to me, something doesn’t feel right. But I’ll find out, don’t worry,” he says ge
ntly, wiping away one of my tears with his thumb.
“Thank you, Quill,” I whisper.
“Fuck, I sound like a fucking pussy, don’t I, babe?” Quill says shaking his head. He turns and watches Jasmine as she gets up from the bed and wraps her arms around his neck.
“I find it very sexy,” she replies. I hear a growl come from Quill, and then his lips are down on his new wife’s in a kiss that has me fanning myself.
“Um… I’ll just leave you two, shall I?”
They don’t reply, just keep kissing and touching one another. Quills hands lift Jasmine’s dress and travel underneath it. When she moans, that’s my cue to get the hell out of here.
Hawke
I shake Santana’s hand, agreeing that I’ll speak to Quill about his offer. He’s promised if I don’t follow through, he will hunt Josie down and kill her, and my club. I don’t doubt him for a second, Santana has the means to do anything. He’s a well-protected man with connections everywhere, including the police. I just gotta figure out how to get out of this situation.
First things first, I need to go see Josie.
One of Santana’s men drops me at the clubhouse, and hands back my cell phone before speeding off. I check my messages and there’s one from Quill. Fuck. I’m gonna have to tell him something, or else he’ll kill me.
It’s quiet at the clubhouse, just the prospects onsite. Rhyder and Torch are at the gate, and open it up to let me in.
“Hawke, brother. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the wedding?”
“I had something come up. I need a bike, give me your keys.”
Rhyder looks hesitant and I thrust my hand out to him. “Give it to me, fucker, I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Can’t you take the truck?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you disobeying your VP?” I say, snarling at him. “Remember who has influence in the decision about you becoming a member of this club.”
Rhyder smirks. “You ain’t Prez, brother.”
“Who do you think Prez asks when we vote in new members? Yeah, me motherfucker. So hand me your keys.”
Rhyder throws up his arms in defeat. “Okay, okay. Here, take it.”
He throws his keys at me and I catch them, walking off toward his bobber. I slide my legs over the seat and start up the motorcycle. It roars to life. Not a bad sounding engine. I rev the shit out of it, loving the look of panic on Rhyder’s face. He looks as if he’s gonna pass out. That’ll teach him to fuck with me. I take off at full speed, riding through the quiet suburban streets to Josie’s apartment.
Parking the bike, I slide off, march myself up to her building, and punch numbers into the intercom. I can’t believe I’m back here. Everything has been such a mess since the night I took her home from Black Panthers. It’ll teach me to not be such a kind-hearted fucker next time.
The gate opens and I race up the stairs two at a time. Fuck, I should have changed. My pants are starting to irritate the fuck out of me.
Just as I’m about to knock on Josie’s door, she opens up. She must have just got out of the shower, all wrapped up in a dressing gown and her hair wet. She’s been crying as well, her bloodshot eyes giving her away.
“Can I come in?” I ask hesitantly, not knowing if she’s open to what I have to offer her. She nods and opens the door wider for me to enter.
Once I’m inside she shuts it again. “Can I get you a beer?”
“Sure, I could do with one after the night I’ve had.” Josie smiles but it’s a brief one. She grabs a beer out of the fridge and hands it to me. I don’t miss the way her hands shake when she passes it to me. She rubs them down her thighs. “I can’t make them stop,” she explains as she shakes them in front of her.
“Let’s sit down, Josie. We need to talk.”
“I know.” She grabs what looks like a cup of tea off the kitchen bench, and walks over and takes a seat on the couch. I sit opposite not wanting to give her any kind of indication that this is anything more than a friendly chat.
She sighs, placing her mug on the coffee table. “Go on, say it, Reece. I know you’re dying to.”
I down my beer then place it on the table. “Listen, Josie. I’m not your fucking father, okay? I’m here because if I don’t try and help you, I’m gonna regret it.” I look over into her doe eyes, filled with tears. “I want to help you. Let me help you get better.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “How do you suppose you help me, Reece?”
“I need you to trust me. If you want your life back, I need you to go into rehab.”
“No fucking way!” she shouts jumping up off the couch.
I stand up and storm around the coffee table to where she’s standing, grasping her shoulders in my hands. I know I’m probably squeezing a little too tightly but she needs to feel the pain, needs to know I’m serious.
“Ow, you’re hurting me, Reece,” she cries out, trying to break free of my hold.
I shake her. “Do you understand that you could have died tonight? Do you fucking have a death wish? Cheating Santana with his own drugs. Are you fucking crazy?” I growl, my face only inches away from hers.
She begins to cry, an ugly cry, tears everywhere. Her nose starts leaking, and she’s struggling to get a breath in.
I loosen my hold on Josie and let her fall to the couch. Reaching behind it I grab a tissue and hand it to her. She quietens down a little, but when I sit beside her she begins again, and this time on my shoulder. I rub the back of her head, trying to soothe her.
“I’m sorry, Reece, I’m so sorry. I never meant to get you involved in this. I didn’t even know he knew you.”
“Shush, that doesn’t matter right now,” I say as I hug her into my side. “What’s done is done. Now, I need you to come with me tonight, to the St. Jude’s Rehab Center.”
“Tonight?” Her head shoots up, and she looks me in the eye. “You can’t be serious. Not tonight?”
I cup her face in my hands. I need her to know I am serious. “If we don’t do this tonight, Josie, Santana will come after you. I can’t protect you. I need to know you’re safe, and St. Jude’s is miles away,” I explain as I place her hair behind her ear. “He won’t find you there, that’s a promise.”
“But… but… what if he does find me? Then what?”
“He won’t,” I growl. “I need to speak to my club about our next move, first thing tomorrow. You’ll be safe at St. Jude’s. Just promise me, Josie, you’ll stay there for as long as it takes. This is the last time I’m helping you, that’s my promise. Take it or leave it.”
Josie wipes away tears with her thumbs and inhales deeply. She looks down at her trembling hands, and whispers, “Okay.”
“What was that?” I ask even though I heard her clearly.
She looks up at me, a look of finality and defeat in her eyes. “Okay,” she repeats, “I’ll go. I’ll do it for you, Reece, only because I owe you that much.”
I shut my eyes, relief washing over me. After a moment I open them up again and look at her. “You won’t be sorry, Josie. Not only will you be safe, but you’ll get the help that you need.”
She looks away and nods. “I’ll go get my things.”
“Good. Don’t be long, just pack a few things you’ll need.”
Josie gets up off the couch and begins to walk to her room. She stops halfway and turns to face me. “You know, Reece, I never thought out of everyone in my life, you would be the one to save me. I need you to know that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for ever hurting you. You’re a good man, and you deserve to be happy and find a woman who deserves you.”
I smile. “I have, I’ve found that woman.”
She returns my smile and nods her head. “Okay, I’ll go get my things.”
While Josie’s packing I decide to make the call I’ve been dreading all night.
“Where the fuck are you, man?” Quill growls through the phone.
“I had to leave, I’ll explain everything to you when you�
�re back.”
“Don’t fucking give me this shit. I want to know now!”
“Quill, believe me, I need to talk to you in person.”
“Tomorrow, then.”
“Wait, what? Aren’t you going on your honeymoon to the beach house tomorrow?” I ask, pausing my nervous pacing.
“Yeah, that was the idea, but something tells me whatever you’re not telling me is important.”
He knows me too well. “Quill! Jasmine’s gonna break your balls if you don’t go away. She deserves a honeymoon, man.”
“I’m not saying she won’t get one. I’m just saying it’s gonna be a little delayed,” he explains. “She’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” I hear Jasmine ask in the background.
“Hey, babe, go back to bed. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“No, tell me now. I want to know.”
“Fucking hell, you’re already disobeying your husband. Wasn’t that one of your vows?”
I start to laugh, it’s started already.
“Hawke, brother, I gotta go deal with her.”
I chuckle. “Sure, brother, you go. Oh, and good luck.”
I hear a gasp, then a moan before the phone call ends.
“I’m ready,” Josie states coming out of her room.
“That was fast.” She’s already dressed, her bag in her hand. It’s small and looks like it would hardly fit anything in it.
I walk up to her and take it out of her hands. “You sure you got everything?”
She nods. “Yep, you told me to only grab the essentials.”
“Since when do you listen to me?”
“Since I realized you were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I fucked it up.”
I take a minute to look over her features, and clear my throat. I’m feeling a little uncomfortable so I change the subject. “Shall we?”
“Sure.”
She grabs her keys off the kitchen bench and we exit her apartment.
Taming Hawke: Book #3 in the Blood Brothers MC Series Page 16