“I think we better take your car, it’s a long drive to be on the back of a motorcycle.”
“Okay. Here,” she says throwing her keys at me. “It’s not as if I’ll be needing it anyway. You drive.”
I catch them and walk over to her car, parked on the kerb near Rhyder’s bobber. I open the trunk and place her bag inside before unlocking the doors for us.
After dropping Josie off at St. Jude’s, I head back to her apartment to pick up Rhyder’s bike. Now that Josie’s out of the way I can concentrate on Santana, and protecting our club.
Josie didn’t fight me on going to rehab, in fact she shocked the hell out of me, how submissive she was about seeking help for her drug addiction. Maybe she just needed that extra push. Or someone to show they care.
Do I care?
I can’t answer my own fucking question. Josie was my world at one stage of my life. Surely it’s hard to just forget someone who meant that much to you, and move on? But I have, I’ve moved on and found a woman who deserves my love and protection.
Thoughts of Luisa consume me as I drive back to Josie’s apartment. She must be wondering where the hell I am. I want to call her and explain everything, but something tells me she’s not going to believe me anyway. God, I miss her. I hate that she doesn’t trust me. I guess I haven’t given her a reason to yet. I never told her about my past with Josie, and now she thinks I’ve gone back to her. I know how it looks, Luisa thinks I still love Josie. She couldn’t be any further from the actual truth. I love Luisa! She is it for me.
Shit, I need to get out of this fucking suit. It feels like a vise. I also need to get Rhyder’s bike back to him, and head over to the clubhouse to get some shut-eye before Quill turns up.
Quill’s coming back to New York to see what’s going on. I’ve been thinking about this as well on my drive from St. Jude’s. The best thing to do is tell Quill everything. I need to be honest with him, don’t want to lie to him. We need to work together as a club if we do decide to go to war with Santana. We’re going to need a lot of muscle, and me on my own ain’t gonna cut it.
I head back to the compound after swapping Josie’s car over to Rhyder’s bike, and park it next to Tate’s bike, remembering he was holding down the fort while we were away. Fuck, what a night. It’s now 5:00 a.m. Feeling tired is an understatement, I can barely keep my eyes open.
The clubhouse is quiet. Tate is asleep on the couch, some random club whore naked on top of him. Why the fuck they don’t take it back to a room, I have no clue. I make my way to the kitchen and grab some water from the fridge. Tugging at my shirt, I rip it open, finally feeling like I can breathe again. Making my way to my room, I check my phone again hoping Lu’s tried to call me. But no, nothing. I place my water on a side table before ripping off my shirt and falling onto the bed. Sleep soon claims me and I’m out like a light.
Hawke
I’m woken by the sun cascading in through the windows. I try to open my eyes but struggle against the light. It’s so goddamn bright in my room. Then I hear someone moving around and realize there’s an actual person in my private space, sliding the curtains open. It makes the room even fucking brighter.
Anger consumes me and I sit up to see who the fucker is that has the balls to step in my room and wake me. “What the fuck do you think you’re….” I stop when I see Quill in my room, now standing at the end of my bed with his arms crossed. He looks pissed. I notice he’s no longer in his suit, but jeans, a white T-shirt, and his cut.
“Get the fuck up, we need to talk,” he demands. I look over to the clock on my side table, and sigh when I see it’s 12:14 p.m.
“Fuck, brother, how’d you get here so quick?” I ask as I swing my legs over the side of the bed.
“Got the first flight I could. You need to explain why you left last night without a word.”
I rub my forehead, trying to get rid of the pounding that’s begun. Running my hands through my hair, I look up at Quill, now standing in front of me. “Coffee first, then we talk.”
Quill kicks my leg with his boot. “Get dressed, I’ll meet you out front in a few.” He walks over to my bedroom door.
Before he can leave, I say, “Brother, I think we should have a private conversation before we take this to the club.”
Quill turns and narrows his eyes at me. “You want me to keep shit from my club?”
“It’s not like that, Prez,” I say getting up from the bed. “We need to keep shit under wraps till we work out what to do.”
“We’re taking this to the club. Now get dressed and I’ll meet you out there in ten.” Quill leaves and I get up from the bed and walk over to the bathroom. Turning the hot water on, I waste no time showering and dressing, not wanting to upset Quill even more by being late. I tie my wet hair up in a loose bun, put my cut on, and make my way out to where he’s waiting.
Quill’s sitting at the bar, a mug of coffee in his hand. Daisy, our barmaid, pours a cup for me as I sit down. “Thanks, Daisy.” She winks at me and continues to dry glasses lined up on the bar.
I glance around the room and notice all my brothers are back, but there’s no sign of Jasmine. “Jasmine asleep?” I ask, staring at Quill over the rim of my mug.
“She ain’t here, she’s still at her folks with Luisa.”
My eyebrows lift. “She already sick of you, man?” I ask with a smirk.
Quill laughs. “She ain’t ever getting sick of me. I asked her to stay back. Didn’t want to get her here in a rush, you know? Being pregnant and all.”
“I bet she didn’t like that.”
Quill runs his hand through his hair. “Nope, but I told her she hasn’t got a choice.”
I laugh. “I would have loved to be around when you said that to her.”
“Let’s just say,” he says, uncrossing his ankles, “I have a way of persuading her.” Quill smirks. I can just imagine how he goes about persuading his new wife.
I take another sip of coffee and ask the question that’s been eating at me. “How’s Luisa?”
Quill rotates his mug on the bar, looking down at it. He looks up at me after a few seconds. “She’s upset, what do you expect?”
I nod, I do get it.
“You’re gonna lose her if you don’t start getting your shit together. She told me Josie needed you last night. Is that true? Or did you just use that as an excuse to leave?”
I frown at Quill. “I wouldn’t do that, man. I love Lu, but Josie did call me. Let’s have church so we can get this over with.”
Quill nods, and shouts, “Get your asses into church! We have something important to discuss.”
I head to the back room where church is held, and feel a tap on my shoulder. “Hey, hermano, you good?” I look to my right and find Blaze beside me with his eyebrows pinched together.
“I will be, need to get some shit off my chest.”
“Let’s do it,” he replies, and takes his seat as sergeant at arms.
I watch as everyone enters the room. Tracker nods at me when he sees me, and then Trigger, Gunner, Bear, and the others. They must know something’s up.
Quill slams the gavel and announces, “Brothers, we’re all here this morning because Hawke has something he needs to say.”
All eyes are on me and I inhale deeply. “Last night at the wedding, I received a call from Santana.”
“Santana!” Quill growls. “You left without telling me he called? Are you fucking crazy?”
I stare at Quill. “Calm the fuck down, and let me explain before everyone here goes apeshit on my ass.”
“Spit it, Hawke!” Quill shouts, and I can see he’s breathing heavily with his rage.
I focus my gaze around the room of men. “Most of you know that I’ve been engaged before.” I hear a few grunts, and some whispering. My eyes lock with Trigger’s and he lifts his chin in understanding.
“Quiet!” Quill shouts and all voices mute.
“Like I was sayin’, I was engaged before. To keep a long story short, she cheated on
me, so I cancelled the wedding. When we were at Black Panthers last week, for Prez’s bachelor party, Josie was up there on stage.”
“Shit, man, your ex is a stripper?” Gunner jokes.
My hands wrap around my mug, trying to hold back my anger. I narrow my eyes at Gunner. “Shut the fuck up, I’m trying to explain here. When I knew her she was a fucking PA, working for a design company.”
“Sorry, man,” Gunner apologizes. “I was only having a dig at ya.”
“Don’t have time, Gunner, we’ve got bigger problems then my ex being a stripper.”
“Go on, Hawke,” Quill says, leaning back in his chair with his fists resting on the table.
“Anyway, she’s gotten herself into trouble, on drugs and shit. She reckons she started when I left her. But the reason for her doing the drugs is not the issue here, it’s the person supplying the drugs to her. He was the one that sent us the warning.”
“Santana,” Quill says on a low breath.
I look over at him and nod. “That’s right.”
“Wait a minute,” Blaze says. “He’s the one that sent a brick through my old lady’s shop?”
I link my fingers and tap my thumbs together. “That’s right, it was him.”
“What the fuck! What does he want with my old lady?”
“It wasn’t a hit against Tess, Blaze, it was a warning to our club.” I look over to Quill and focus on his eyes. “He knows you killed your old man, now he wants us to take his place as distributor.”
Quills face turns to stone, and I can see his jaw tensing with anger at what I just revealed. “What. The. Fuck! And you kept this from me?” Quill yells as he bangs his fists against the wooden table.
I jolt back in my seat in shock. “Just listen to me,” I say needing to explain everything.
“You better start talking, brother,” he says with a snarl.
I continue. “Santana kidnapped Josie and threatened me with her life, unless I went to meet with him right away. He also said that if I wanted her to stay safe, to not mention our meeting to anyone. So I did as he said. We all know that Santana is a man of his word. So I did everything he asked of me.”
“What exactly did he say?”
“He wanted me to try and convince you to take over from your old man, as distributor.”
“And if you can’t convince me?”
“Then Josie will lose her life, and we will be in a motherfucking war with the Colombians.”
“Grrrrr! When is this going to fucking end?” Quill growls loudly again as he gets up from his seat, kicks his chair, and begins to pace the room.
We all go quiet as our Prez continues to curse under his breath. When he finally stops, he turns to face me. “Where’s Josie now?”
I inhale deeply. “In rehab, I took her last night.”
“Good,” Quill replies. “She’s outta town?”
I nod. “I thought she’d be safer at St. Jude’s.”
“Good thinking. Now I just gotta work out what we’re gonna fucking do.”
“Would it be such a bad idea if we did it?” Trigger says.
Quill pauses, then stares down at Trigger. “What did you fucking say?”
Trigger’s Adam’s apple bobs. He’s nervous.
All eyes turn to Trigger. We’re confused about what the fuck he’s trying to do.
“What?” he questions. “We could make some good money.”
“Not gonna happen, Trig,” Quill states. “This club is not dealing in any illegal shit. Fuck me! I killed my old man because of it, now you’re saying we should work with Santana, and distribute drugs?”
“Uh… it was only an idea.”
“Yeah, well keep your fucking ideas to yourself. I’m trying to make this club better for the good, and you want to change everything that I’ve fought so hard for?”
“Sorry, Prez, I just thought….”
“You thought fucking wrong,” Quill answers, ending that conversation there. “I need to think about what we’re gonna do now.” Quill takes his seat again and looks over to me. “Did Santana give you a time frame?”
“Nah,” I reply shaking my head. “Just warned me to convince you, or else we’ll be going to war, and Josie will die if we don’t do as he says.”
“Okay, I need to think on this. We know he’d be staying at his mansion, and that Josie’s safe. I want all the women here. You hear me?” Quill states looking at each brother in the room. “Your women, children for those who have them, bring them to the club. We’re on lockdown till we work out what the fuck we’re gonna do. Hawke, get Luisa here.”
“But Prez—”
“Just get her here!” Quill shouts, and I shut my mouth.
“Okay,” I say raising my palms. He’s more pissed than I thought he’d be. Something is on Quill’s mind, other than what’s going down with Santana. My gut tells me guilt is eating at him, for killing his old man. It would have been different if he’d let another brother take his old man’s life, then he wouldn’t have been the one to pull the trigger. We all know that shit stays with you till the day you die. To kill a man is hard enough, to kill family? Well, that shit just don’t go down too well, even though his old man deserved it.
Till this day, we don’t bring the subject of what Quill did up, but now we have no choice. We need to deal with Santana, and that’s going to involve discussing Quill’s old man at some point.
Gunner was there the night Quill shot Antonio. I would have been happy to kill that motherfucker myself, but Quill gave me the job of looking after Jasmine, taking her back to the clubhouse after she was kidnapped by Antonio and the Gypsy Brothers. Quill’s old man had no heart. Kidnapping your son’s woman so he would obey an order? That is not how you deal with Quill.
If Quill is choosing not to talk about it right now, ain’t shit any of us can do. He needs to sort out whatever he’s feeling because right now, we could be going into the biggest war this club has ever seen.
Luisa
My phone rings for the third time, and I grab it off the table under my parents’ porch. I’ve enjoyed being back in Tennessee because it’s given me the opportunity to visit with my parents. It has been way too long since I last saw them. I’ve also forgotten how quiet it is here on my parents’ ranch. Jasmine’s gone into town for a checkup because she’s been getting stomach cramps. She called me after her appointment and explained it was just Braxton-Hicks contractions causing them. Now that she’s almost six months pregnant, the doctor said she should be expecting some discomfort.
“Hawke again,” I whisper to myself. Well, there’s no time like the present. I’ve been ignoring his calls, but I think it’s time I face the music.
“Hello?”
There’s silence for a while, and I repeat, “Hello?”
“It’s me.”
I bite down on my bottom lip, my throat closing with my emotions.
“You still there?” he asks, but his voice sounds hesitant, quiet. I picture him in his room at the clubhouse, lying on his bed, shirtless, wide shoulders taking up half the space. His hair would be messy and draped over a pillow, and his abs—God, those abs, stomach flat as a surfboard—would be on full show.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“I’m so glad you answered.”
“Yeah, well, I thought we would have to talk eventually, so I answered, I guess.”
I hear him scratching his scruffy jaw before he speaks again. “Look, Lu, a lot is going down at the clubhouse. We’re goin’ on lockdown.”
“Lockdown?” I ask freaking out a little.
“Yeah,” he confirms. I’ve been at the club before when it was in lockdown. All members and their families need to stay at the club for as long as it takes to ensure everyone is safe. It means there’s a war happening, or about to happen.
“Babe, I need you here, to ensure you’re safe.”
“Why would anything happen to me?”
“I’m not sayin’ it will, we’re just taking precautions.”
“Look, it’s nothing for you to worry about, babe. Like I said, we’re just taking precautions.”
“Last time it was only a precaution, Jasmine got kidnapped. So be honest, Hawke,” I say sternly. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yes, I mean no. Fuck, Lu. I didn’t want to get you involved in this shit, but our club’s under threat right now. I need you here with me to make sure nothing happens to you.”
I inhale, feeling my pulse quicken. “But why would they do anything to me?”
“To get to me. And right now, you’re the only one they can hurt me with.”
“Oh,” I say, my voice a little quiet.
“Will you just come, Lu? For me?”
“For you? Are you kidding me? Where does your ex fit into all of this?”
I hear him sigh, and picture him running his hand through his hair—something that I love to do. “Lu, she’s out of the picture. I’ve dealt with her, now I need you here. Will you just get your ass here?”
“Out of the picture you say? So you left the wedding to go and help your ex, and left me here alone. I doubt she’s out of the picture, Hawke.”
“Fuck!” He growls into the phone. “I’m doing this because I care, and because I love you, Lu. Now get your ass down here, or I’ll come up there myself and drag you onto the motherfucking plane. Fuck! You sound just as bad as Jasmine.”
A small smile graces my lips, and I have to admit I’m a little turned on by this dominant side of Hawke. He’s never spoken to me like this before. I should be angry he is, but I can’t help the warm feeling spreading through me.
Jasmine. I forgot. Quill most likely wants her there now too. They were supposed to go on their honeymoon but Quill said he had to deal with important club business. Could this “club business” be why Hawke wants me there?
“What about Jasmine?” I ask him.
“Quill has already spoken to her. Why don’t you two come down together? You’ll both be safe here, and I’m sure Jasmine has no say anyway, not when it comes to Quill protecting what’s his.” Hawke pauses for a split second. “Just like I want to protect what’s mine.”
Taming Hawke: Book #3 in the Blood Brothers MC Series Page 17