Page 3 of Torn In Two

Hawk let out a string of expletives as I damn near ran him over, but he gripped the doorframe and, through sheer willpower, dragged himself inside the moving vehicle. “Not your girl. My fucking girl. And God, I hate you. You could have at least let me get in. I probably just ripped something in my shoulder.”

“Decide faster next time then,” I growled back, attention firmly on the road, tires kicking up dust. “Or work out more so you aren’t so precious.”

Hawk flipped me the bird. “I work out plenty.”

I was aware. I’d seen him naked not all that long ago, when we’d both had the unpleasant experience of being strip-searched at the local police station. Hawk was all tanned skin and rippling muscle that had been hard not to look at.

Shame his mouth and shitty attitude ruined everything else.

“Then quit your whining.” I pushed my foot harder on the accelerator, the van eating up the miles of what felt like the world’s longest driveway to get to the Slayers’ gates.

Hawk gripped the “holy shit bar,” his ass bouncing up and down on the seat with the force of the van traveling at pace over the uneven road. “You know you’re a dead man if you step foot inside those gates, right?”

I gritted my teeth, staring down the imposing gates as they rose in front of us. “Then I guess I’m a dead man.”

Hawk braced himself on the dashboard. “Stubborn prick. Slow the fuck down. You’re going to kill us both.”

“Need speed to get through those gates. You said yourself, your brothers aren’t going to unlock them and roll out the red carpet for me.”

Hawk’s knuckles were white. “Jesus fuck.” The van lurched over a pothole. “Who knew your driving was so bad? Stop, you idiot! Trying to ram your way through ain’t going to get us anywhere except in a mangled wreck or airlifted to the hospital.”

“You should probably put your seat belt on then. Because I’m not stopping.” I meant every word. Screw Hawk and his club and their stupid rules. “My woman is in there.”

“She ain’t your fucking woman!”

“Well, she sure as hell isn’t yours either.” We were driving too fast, but I couldn’t take my foot off the accelerator. Not when everything inside me demanded I get to Kara. “Now, you gonna get your boys to open that gate, or do I have to kill us both?”

He glared at me. “Ain’t no way I’m going to Hell holding your hand. It would be just my goddamn luck to get stuck with you for the rest of eternity because we died on the same day.” He stuck his head out the window, waving his arms and hollering at whoever was on the gate. “Get them open! Get them open!”

I flashed my lights and slammed my fist down on the horn. My heart pounded. All I could think about was getting to her. I didn’t care about anything else. Not the Slayers’ gate or the van or me or Hawk. All that mattered was her.

Everything else was just collateral damage.

I’d seen the video of men surrounding her while she danced. Touching themselves while they watched her. It wasn’t much of a leap to assume that right now, they were doing a whole lot more than just looking.

Bile rose in my throat.

Hawk’s attempts at drawing attention our way failed. The gates didn’t open. No guard wearing a Slayers’ jacket stepped from the shadows to stop us.

I braced myself for the hit. For the spray of shattering glass and the scream of twisting metal. Waited for the pain I knew would come.

It would be worth it.

Hawk jerked the wheel, sending the van into a spin on the dirt road.

It had the desired effect of stopping me from ramming down the gate, but the g-force of the spin and the fact Hawk hadn’t listened when I told him to put his seat belt on, sent him flying into me.

His head collided with mine and we both groaned, the van coming to a stop with Hawk practically on top of me.

“Have I mentioned today how much I hate you?” he moaned.

Pain radiated through my skull, centering behind my eyes as the world stopped spinning and came back into focus. “Get off me and open the gates, and maybe I’ll spare you the details on how much the feeling is mutual. Why the hell did you do that?”

With some shoving from me, Hawk peeled himself off me, but it wasn’t without a glare of indignation. “Are you seriously giving me shit right now? I probably just saved your life.”

“We would have been fine.”

“Those gates are reinforced, dickhead! You would have killed me. And fuck, even if you’d only killed yourself, I don’t want to be the one who has to tell Kara that.”

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