AllFreeNovel
Share Us
While waiting for Eagle to answer, Hawk leaned his ass against the counter in the minusculegalley kitchen. It’d been a long time since he’d been in the place, and needed some serious renovation. It had a two-burner stove, a mini fridge, and a sink that would barely hold her tea kettle. In the only cabinet above the stove, he found a small collection of clean dishes, glasses, and one small pot. He checked the fridge only to find a few cans of seltzer water and a dried up lemon.
He slammed the fridge door just as the bells from the church down the street rang out twelve times, signaling midnight. In all the weeks they’d been fucking each other like wild bunnies, he’d never once asked to see her place. At the time, he hadn’t cared where they were as long as they were naked. But now he understood why she’d never offered. She had all sorts of secrets. And considering what he knew of her stepfather, it had to have been hard for her to go from extreme wealth to extreme poverty.
While he kind of understood her not sharing her background—hell, he’d not told her anything about himself or his family—he was also hurt. They’d not only had a lot of sex, they’d spent countless hours in each other’s arms whispering about random things. Maybe he was hurt because he was just realizing that the things they spoke about were, actually, meaningless. And if that was the case, did that mean their fling had been meaningless as well?
He was used to meaningless sex. Except for some reason, until the day she’d left him in that motel room, maybe he’d subconsciously begun to believe their time together had been more than just a random hookup. And why was he just figuring this out now?
Eagle finally answered with an annoyed, “What?” Loud noise in the background meant that he, alongwiththe rest of their brothers, were still in the bar below.
“We have a situation.” He moved toward the windowoverlookingthe back parking lot and laid out the problem of Izzy, her stepfather, and thepossibilityof Black Jacks in town. The only thing he left out was the fact that he’d been fucking Izzy.
“I really don’t give a fuck,” Eagle said. “That poor little rich girl ain’t our problem.”
Hawk rubbed the back of his neck. “If Black Jacks have followed Izzy into our town, you better fucking believe it’s our problem. Somuchso that I’m rescheduling church for tomorrow morning. I want everyone around the table at six a.m.”
“No.” Eagle’s laugh sounded like a bark. “Acid won’t be back until noon, at the earliest. And you can’t just change church timewithoutthepresident’sokay.”
“Acid might notcomeback until Monday night. He’sdealingwith anissuewith the club charter in Kingsmill.” Kingsmill, the small mountain town where Hawk had grown up, was two hours away. It was even smaller and more desolate than Ravensburg, ifthatwas evenpossible. “I’m in chargeuntilhe gets back. I wanteveryoneat the Powder House, around that table, at six o’clock.Makeit happen.”
Hawk hung up before Eagle could give him more grief. Yeah, it was Saturday night and in a few hours all of his brothers would be sitting at that table with serioushangovers. But if that motherfucker Nine was in town, the club had to be told.
He threw himself into the leather chair that sank beneath his ass due to broken springs and no padding. Then he propped his boots on the small coffee table that groanedbeneathhis weight and made another call. Cali, the prospect who’d been chosen to watch the clubhouse instead of partying downstairs,pickedup on the first ring.
“Hey, Hawk. What do you need?”
Hawk leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He always appreciated a prospect who did what he was told, stayed sober, and made himself available for whatever the club needed. “I’m in the apartment above Rebel’s Refuge. I need you to get here at 5 a.m. torelieve me.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
Hawk opened his eyes and surveyed the crummy apartment with no power, no booze, and no food. “Bring lots of coffee and jelly donuts.” He glanced down the hallway toward where Izzy was sleeping. “And a few chocolate croissants. Chicks like those, right?”
If Izzy was as rich as he suspected, she would probably appreciate a croissant.
“I suppose.” Cali cleared his throat. “A man stopped by the clubhouse earlier tonight. I met him outside the gate, and he said he knew you from Salem. I didn’t tell him anything and sent him away. But I thought you should know.”
A rush of adrenaline burned through Hawk’s veins, and he stood. “What did he look like?”
“Tall. Dark hair. A scar over his left eye. He rode a Dyna and wore leather riding gloves with knuckle holes so I could see his knuckles were tattooed. I couldn’t make out all the letters, but one hand definitely had the tattooed letters A,C,K. I’ll mark the security footage so you can check it out tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” He walked back into the bedroom. The flickering candlelight showed Izzy was sound asleep, wrapped beneath a stained blanket. He smelled her signature lavender scent and noticed her body cream near the candle. One hand lay on her pillow, near a small handgun. He had to admit he was impressed. He’d not figured here for a gun-toting woman. But that also meant she was scared enough to wake up and find it after he’d left her. Since he didn’t want her accidentally shooting him if she woke up disoriented, he took the gun for safe keeping. When he turned, he noticed something on her hand that glinted in the candlelight. A silver ring. She’d not been wearing it earlier that evening. He understood sleeping with a gun. But who put on jewelry to go to bed?“Did the guy say anything else?”
“No. He just gave me a creepy smile, got on his bike, and rode away.” Cali lowered his voice. “Is this going to be a problem?”
Hell-fucking-yeah. Hawk carried her weapon and returned to the family room. “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure all the security cameras are on and everything is locked up. Then grab a few hours of sleep and meet me here at five.”
“Okay. See you in a few. Stay safe.”
After hanging up, he took off his cut and placed it on the counter, next to Izzy’s gun. Then he settled into the world’s most uncomfortable chair. He took his own gun out of his back waistband and placed it on the chair’s armrest. Although he was always armed, the tight, sickening feeling in his stomach warned him he might never feel safe again.
* * *
Loud knocks woke up Hawk, and the flickering lamp confused him. It didn’t help that his neck ached and his body had stiffened in the uncomfortable chair. That meant it took him a long minute to get up, turn off the light, and make his way to the door while the door pounding continued. At least the electricity had come back on.
“It’s me,” Cali yelled from outside.
“I’m coming!” After checking the security peephole and seeing Cali’s tall, lanky body outside, he unlocked the three bolts and opened the door.
Cali, with his long blond hair held behind his neck in a rubber band, held a cardboard tray with four coffees and a white bakery bag. He entered with a wide smile, his blue eyes sparkling. For some reason, the prospect was always in a good mood. “You look like hell.”
