Page 40 of Torn In Two

He laughed into his mug. “Sure you weren’t.”

Hayden wandered over, and when Ice ignored him, not offering coffee like he had to me and Hawk, Hayden just reached over the counter and poured himself one. He took a taste, then screwing up his face at the flavor, crossed the space to stand in front of Hawk, the two of them eye to eye.

Nerves sprang to life in my belly, and I cringed, waiting for one of them to throw a punch.

Hawk sipped his drink like Hayden all up in his space was no big deal. He refused to move back though, not conceding an inch.

Slowly, Hayden lifted his mug and poured what was left of the sludgy coffee into Hawk’s mug.

Hawk let him, but the smile slowly fell from his face as Hayden leaned in and said loud enough for us all to hear, “If you’d wanted me to taste your cum, Hawk, you could have just asked me to blow you. No need for me to lick it from her pussy.” Then he winked at me. “Though for the record, if you’d come to me this morning, even dripping with his cum, I still would have.”

Queenie and Ice hooted with laughter, Queenie slapping her knee, her eyes watering at the horrified expression on Hawk’s face. Ice got himself under control quicker, turning away to busy himself with dishes that needed washing, but his shoulders shook with silent laughter.

I just wanted the earth to swallow me whole.

Or maybe transport me via secret underground tunnel back to Hayden’s room so he could make good on that promise, because just like last night when Hawk had suggested letting Hayden feel how wet I was, the idea turned me hot.

Hayden put the mug down on the countertop and pointed at the coffee machine. “I know I’m a guest around here, but your coffee is shit. I’ll bring a new machine home with me tonight.”

Hawk frowned. “The coffee is fine. And buying crap we don’t need isn’t your place—”

Queenie waved him off. “Stop, child. I’ve seen the man’s name on that fancy new restaurant in Providence. If he wants to be stealing coffee machines from work so we don’t have to drink unidentifiable swill, then let him. He’s right. The coffee is horrific.” She glanced at Ice. “No offense, sugar. You pour a nice whisky, but that’s about the extent of your culinary skills.”

Hawk looked ready to argue again, but Hayden ignored him.

“I can cook too. I’ll probably be working a lot of nights after we open but I can make extras, and someone can come down and pick it up.”

Hawk started to protest again, deciding for the entire club that Hayden’s services weren’t welcome here.

Hayden just stared at him. “War said I need to earn his respect. I intend to do that.” He shook his head. “Maybe even yours too. She clearly likes you, so there must be something good about you.”

Hawk paused, clearly as surprised at Hayden’s words as I was. Then he shrugged. “Aloha is allergic to mushrooms. Gunner can’t eat fried shit, his cholesterol is already sky-high.”

Hayden nodded. “Okay. Fine. I can work out meals around that.”

Hawk crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. “And I don’t like pickles.”

Hayden raised an eyebrow. “Because they’re dick shaped?”

Hawk scowled and jerked his head toward the door. “Don’t you have to go to work or something?”

Hayden sniggered. “Actually, I do.” His gaze sought mine. “You going to be okay?”

“I want to take Hayley Jade down to the local school and enroll her.”

Hawk’s mouth pulled into a straight line. “That’s not safe. Not after what just happened here, and that was behind our gates. Josiah’s people…we underestimated their reach. I never thought for a second they could use our own club members against us, and yet that’s exactly what happened.”

The funny thing was, I knew all that. I should have been terrified, and a part of me was. Of course it was. My sister had been murdered. Someone had tried to murder me. I certainly didn’t want the same thing to happen to Hayley Jade.

But that had happened right here. Behind the perceived safety of the gates where I should have been one-hundred-percent safe.

But I wasn’t. I wasn’t one-hundred-percent safe anywhere. Nobody was. Most people didn’t have their husbands chasing them down in the name of cleansing their sins, but the world was a dangerous place. People walked outside their homes every day and ran the risk of getting hit by a bus or being abducted while on their morning run.

It didn’t mean they stopped living.

I had. I’d forced the world to stop turning around me and my daughter in the name of fear, and look where it had gotten us?

She still wouldn’t talk, and that was breaking my heart.

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