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“Hawk’s on the phone,” I hear him tell someone else. “Hawk, I’m putting you on speaker. Cut, Brass and Lick are here.” I inwardly groan because this is not the conversation I want to have over speakerphone.
“What’s up, brother?” Cut asks.
I take a deep breath because I know this is a subject that Cut doesn’t like to address. We all but avoid the reasoning as to why Sienna was taken and killed. The club figured that Cut suffered enough losing his sister and father that he didn’t need to get any grief about allowing them to go to the mall without club protection. We know he was trying to be a brother, and that was the last time he’s put family before the club. Just ask Lily.
“I need information about the evening of the attack.”
“Fuck, Hawk. What the hell for?” Dyke asks. “You really want to dredge all that shit up now? With everything that has happened with Louie Jr. and his daughter and you want to bring that shit back up?”
“Yeah, fuck that shit,” Lick spits. “I’m not wanting to bring another turf war when things are finally settling down in the MC. We’re looking to the future, kid, and not the fucking past.”
I bite my tongue because there are so many things that I want to say to that fucker, but it’s not going to get me anywhere.
“What’s all this about?” Cut asks.
“It’s about Tessa.”
“Tessa Reese? What the fuck is going on out there, Hawk?” Brass asks.
“Jesus, fucking Christ. For twenty-eight years I’ve fallen in line for this MC. I’ve done my diligence, I’ve paid my fucking dues. I dance around with a fucking smile on my face while people have died—”
“That shit’s in the past, now,” Lick cuts me off. “You know we don’t run like that anymore. You’re asking for us to open a can of fucking worms the size of world war three if you dredge up that attack. The Diablos are on the verge of handing Louie Sr. over. Once that’s done, the wrongs will have been righted. Let Sienna rest in peace, man.”
“It’s not about fucking Sienna!” I roar, my chest heaving. I glance around when I see surrounding patio lights flicker on. Just fucking great. I don’t want to start any issues with Tessa’s neighbors.
“Hawk?” It’s Dyke, and by the sound of his voice, I know that he’s no longer on speakerphone. “Tell me, brother.”
“Tessa wasn’t just beat up, man. It’s far worse than what any of us knew. Those witnesses, they didn’t know shit. She was raped. Gang raped by the Diablos, and I need to know every single motherfucker who participated. I need the names of every man who touched her, and I need it now,” I growl.
Silence filters over the phone until I hear a grunt. “You’ll get the info that you’re after.”
Tessa
Hawk didn’t mention anything more about my revelation last night. I’m not sure when he left, but he left a note on my nightstand, telling me that he’d be seeing me.
“You all right, baby girl?” Martha asks with motherly concern. “You’re looking a little pale, and your eyes aren’t as bright as they normally are.”
“Cleaning the toilets is never a pleasant experience,” I say as I haul my mop bucket up on my cart.
“No, sugar. It’s something more,” she says with a scrutinizing gaze.
I blow the hair that’s fallen from my braid out of my face. “Well, I told Hawk about my past.”
Her eyes widen in shock. “Everything?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“And?” Her eyebrows raise, waiting for my answer.
“Nothing really. Sam woke up after I told him about my attack, and Hawk insisted that he helped him get settled while I got myself put back together.” She purses her lips together in approval.
“It’s amazing, baby girl. All these years and you’ve never let a single man penetrate your walls, and bam, Hawk, with his swagger and those piercing eyes comes into town, and you’re opening up like Niagara Falls.”
I shake my head because she’s not wrong. “You’re reading too much into it. Hawk is someone from home. The link to my past–”
“A past that haunts you to this day. Wouldn’t he be the last one you’d want to know what happened to you? Croy doesn’t even know, and he’s practically raising your son with you.”
“He is not, Martha. I’m handling Sam on my own.”
