Page 135 of Wife Number One

But that clubhouse was overrun with bikers.

And I didn’t trust Hawk even more than I didn’t trust Luca.

I couldn’t stand the thought of Kara in that clubhouse, men surrounding her, taking her body while she screamed.

And Hayley Jade…if she was in there too…I couldn’t stand the thought of her having to see her mom like that.

I couldn’t get them out alone. I had no fucking friends since I’d left the Sinners.

But Luca had people. Contacts. Money. He could get her out.

I swallowed hard, resigning myself to making a deal with the devil for the good of the angel behind the gates. “There’s a fire trail turn-off about three miles from the Slayers’ compound.”

Luca made a noise of approval. “Good. We’ll meet you there. And Hayden?”

“Yeah?”

“We have one shot at this. One shot to get in and get your girl, without anyone getting hurt. If that’s what you want, don’t be late.”

I didn’t hesitate. “I won’t be.”

I ended the call, but there were still hours until midnight.

I needed a movie. They had always been my go-to thought eraser, starting from as far back as when Liam had been chosen to live a bigger, better life, and I’d been left behind without my brother.

Losing myself in somebody else’s story made it easier to forget that I was always ruining my own. Right now, it would stop me thinking about what could be happening to her at a Slayers’ party. Stop me thinking about other men putting their hands on her. Thinking about how she might not like it.

Or worse.

That she would.

The Saint View theater ran movie marathons on weekends. Back-to-back screenings on Friday and Saturday nights from early evening through to dawn.

At least I couldn’t drown myself in the fucking cat’s water if I was around other people.

I parked my truck and got out, wandering inside and pulling out my wallet as I looked up at the movie board.

The marathon was all four Twilight movies. And the foyer was filled with women.

I was sorely out of place.

But what-the-fuck-ever.

Better to watch someone else’s unrequited, hopelessly doomed love story, rather than think about my own.

38

KARA

Dating felt nice. We finished our meal, and Hawk drove us to the theater, stopping the van in the parking lot and slipping his hand into mine as we got out.

I glanced down at our joined fingers and then at the crowd milling around us. There were a lot of people here, waiting in line for tickets or the concession stand, or just hanging around the lobby, waiting for the theater doors to open. A woman around my age did a double take when she laid eyes on Hawk, her expression turning into one of confusion when her gaze traveled down his arm to find him holding my hand. She stepped in to her group of friends and said something, and they all glanced back at me.

He cleared his throat. “That okay?”

I dragged my attention back to him. “That you’re holding my hand?”

“Mmm.”

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