Page 5 of Hawk

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When I showed up at the community center, Justin was there to greet me while he watched the younger kids as they played a game of basketball. “Hawk, hey, man. What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area,” I answered, looking around at the kids enjoying the new courts, the old timers sitting around picnic tables, talking, and watching the youngsters. “Thought I’d stop by,” I lied, still scanning the faces for one face in particular.

Justin followed my gaze and flashed a knowing smile. “You know Laura?”

I shrugged, unable to take my eyes off her. “She stitched me up recently.”

He laughed. “And you thought you’d stop by here to thank her?”

“Something like that.” I refused to reveal too much to Justin, but the truth was I had no fucking clue what I was doing here. Was I really so eager to get rejected again?

Fuck no.

Still, she was hot was fuck in a pair of painted-on blue jeans and a flowing peach blouse that laid perfect against the swell of her tits. Her smile was easy, mostly. There was a hint of something close to worry in her eyes and it put me on edge. “What do you know about her?”

“Not much. She’s a nurse and helps out, comes here to do vitals for some of the homeless and older people who don’t get checked out as much as they should. Talks to the youngsters about career plans. She’s good people.”

Of course she was.

Suddenly there was a squeal of wheels, and I became alert as a black van tore past the community center and came to a quick halt in front of her. Before I had a chance to process what was happening, one dude jumped out the side door and made a beeline for Laura. My blood ran cold when he grabbed her arm and gave her a hard tug, but Laura was a modern woman and she’d clearly taken a few self-defense classes because she landed just enough hits to piss off the guy and his friends.

“Bitch,” one of them growled as two more men jumped from the van and grabbed her.

“No!” That one word held a world of fear and agony, but still she kicked and screamed and squirmed as they dragged her—inch by inch—closer to the van, and her inevitable death.

I didn’t know who the fuck the men were, at least until I spotted the telltale green bandanas worn by Los Ochos. They were ruthless by reputation, young and reckless, and I wondered how the fuck Laura ended up in their crosshairs.

“Fuck.” I took off at a full run, desperate to make it to the pretty nurse before they got her into the van. “What the fuck is going on here?”

My question stopped the men in their tracks. “You don’t want none of this, white boy. Just go away before we make you go away.”

I flashed a wide grin. The kind of smile my prez called crazy as fuck because it usually came right before I did some crazy shit. “That sounds like a challenge I can’t resist.” My gaze shifted to Laura, her gray eyes full of fear and confusion.

“She’s our business, and unless you wanna be our business, back the fuck up.”

Before he reached his pocket, I had my gun out and aimed at the clear leader, the asshole who’d grabbed Laura first. “See, the problem with that is that she is my business.” They all shared a confused look, especially when they took in the details of my Steel Demons vest.

“Too bad, man. She’s a liability and we can’t let her live.”

I sighed heavily and shook my head. “That’s too fucking bad for the three of you plus the asshole behind the wheel. This is my old lady, and if you kill her, then you’ll have a fuck of a lot more to worry about, than whatever she saw you do.” I flashed another crazy-ass smile. “If you walk away now, you all get to walk away without a bullet someplace painful.” I took a moment and smiled at Laura. “You okay, babe?”

“Been better, honey,” she stammered.

They released her after a full minute of contemplation. “If this shit comes back on us, she’s dead, along with whoever stands between her and us.”

I laughed. “For your sake, you better hope it doesn’t come to that. If I see you around my woman again, I won’t be held responsible for my actions. Now get the fuck out of here before I use you for target practice.”

The leader stared me down while the rest of his men scampered into the van. He finally stepped up into the passenger seat and tapped the door, a signal for the driver to pull the fuck off. Only they don’t pull away, not immediately, and instantly I knew why.

I went to Laura and hauled her up to her feet and pulled her close against me, kissing the top of her head.

That was what they needed to get gone, but even after the van was gone, she still shook and trembled against me. Terrified, she clung to me, and I let her, not just because her curves felt amazing, but because she needed me. She fucking needed me.

After a few minutes passed, I asked the question that churned in my brain nonstop. “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

Her frame continued to vibrate against me, and she seemed so frail, so fragile. So unlike the firecracker who gave me shit in the ER.

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