Page 110 of Hunter (Hell's Bastards MC)

“No. Just possibly ruining a friendshipwhile listening to an asshole and his criticism.”

He didn’t geta chance to correct her as Big Dick came back.“Any news?” His gaze landed on Hunter holding Harlow’s hand on histhigh, before going to Larissa and then to Andrew. “Are you twodating? Moving on from my sister?”

“Like I said to you, George. Your sister andI are just friends.”

Harlow nodded. “At no point were we actuallydating.”

“And now you and Larissa are dating?” BigDick asked.

“How about we focus on what you did?” Harlowasked, getting to her feet. She pulled on her hand and he knew hecould make her stop if he wanted to, but she was clearly interestedin facing her brother.

Hunter let her hand go, but he stood up,moving closebehind her.The scent of vanilla was quite heady and he loved the smell. Hewanted to press his face against her hair, but he held himselfback. Now was not the time to start irritating her.

“What did I do?”

“Did you ask Kinky for help?” Harlowasked.

Big Dick looked toward Kinky and Harlowclicked her fingers. “No, you don’t get to look at him because thisis not about club business. This is about you and me. Did you forcehim to get close to Hailey?”

“Harlow, this is club business.”

“No, not if it concerns me. I’m not club. I’m not a specialmember. I’m your sister, and do you know what you could have done?You could have ruined my job for me. Hailey is … she’s not what youthink. She isn’t used to male attention or any kind of attention.Her parents shipped her off to boarding school when they could, andshe hasn’t had many close friends in her life.” Harlow stopped.“And now the first guy to show her any real attention meantnothing.”

Big Dickslapped his hands together, and the sound echoedthroughout the whole reception room. “You’re right, Harlow. You arenot club. You are no relation to club at all, unless you startdating this one.” He pointed toward Hunter. “But you are my fuckingsister. A pain in the ass squirt, who I happen to love. Yes, Iasked Kinky to get close to Hailey, for two reasons. You are not aneasy person to get along with. It was a miracle you took the job atAva’s, and managed to keep it, but even I had my doubts as to howlong that would last. Second, you got a job the minute you walkedout of Ava’s. That has never happened before, with a woman thatnone of us know anything about, or can trust. That’s what’simportant, Harlow. I was looking out for you.”

“And it doesn’t matter to you who getshurt?”

“No, it doesn’t. There is always damagewhen you try to protect the ones you love.I’m not sorry for doing everything Ipossibly could to protect you when you didn’t care to even look inmy direction.”

Harlow shook her head. “And that ishow you justify youractions?”

“I don’t need to justify them, Harlow. I did it for you.”

“No. You did this for the club. You thoughtshe was in cahoots with the Twisted Bastards MC, and she was afucking lifeline. None of you even tried to come and see me. Noneof you even tried the natural method of coming to see her, to getto know her.” Harlow brushed off his hold. “You better hope thatHailey doesn’t fire me, because you won’t have to be afraid of theTwisted Bastards MC killing your ass, I’ll do it.”

They all turned around as a door openedand therewas Smokey,with a tiny pink bundle in his arms.

“It’s a girl.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Harlow stood outside Hailey’s room for thethird day running. So far, they hadn’t gone to the beauty parlor.Hailey hadn’t gone, butHarlow had canceled all her appointments, and while she wasthere, she fulfilled the new orders.

She hated this.

Holding a tray of soup in herhands—her favoritenoodle broth, using fresh herbs and veggies—it was close to tasting like chicken. It didn’t have thepools of fat on the surface, but it was pretty much the next bestthing. Carrots, onions, celery, sage, parsley, and thyme, alongwith peppercorns, salt, and lots of water, stewing down for hoursmade the house smell so good. After it had cooled down, shesqueezed the shit out of the veggies, trashed those, rewarmed thebroth, and then seasoned it with a few secret ingredients to get ittasting just right. The best kind of broth a vegan could hopefor.

Harlow didn’t want to cook a chicken. Sheloved her friend and wanted to be there for her, but there were limits. Meat was a biglimit.

She knocked on the door. “Hey, Hailey, itis me. I don’t know when you last ate but I have the best noodlebroth that Ican make.It is so good, and smells heavenly. Larissa also dropped by somebread, and it’s all fresh. I warmed it a little.”

Hunter had also started to come into thebeauty parlor. If she didn’t let him in, he would stand at the doorknocking, which she didn’t think would be irritating, but on thefirst day, he knocked for an hour straight. He didn’t let up. The noise had drivenher crazy, so she let him in. He sat in one of the seats andwatched her, trying to make suggestions for dates. She tried toignore him.

Each day, after she finished work, hedrove her home and wouldtell her how sorry he was.

Big Dick had also texted her, and evenstopped by.

Kinky hadn’t. Kinky hadn’t said a word.

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