Page 57 of Savage Guardian

“I’m going to tie that fucking woman to my bed and fuck her until she can’t goddamn walk,” Fang growled.

Trouble clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes at Fang’s drama.

“I take it Tessa is giving you a hard time,” Hell Hound drawled, then smirked.

“Fuck you,culo. She’s gotten a hair up her ass, taking Fae to do God knows what with no one with them.”

Hawk shot to his feet, his fists slamming into the surface of the conference table.

“She fucking what?”

“How did they get out of here without Preston or Dragon on ‘em?” Odin asked, rising to his six-foot-ten height to glare fire at Fang.

“She thinks she’s guard enough for Fae. Preston and Dragon took off hours ago, since their shift with Fae was up when they dropped her here after work. She rarely goes anywhere once she gets here, so they probably thought it was safe to take off.”

Hawk flew across the room, quickly pinning Fang to the wall by his neck.

“You let Fae walk the fuck out of here with some goddamn psycho out there watching her?” he ground out, rage flooding his vision with white and his chest with unfiltered fear.

Fang glared at Hawk, his nostrils flaring. “She ain’tmywoman, brother. Maybe you should think about why she was so eager to leave in the first place. What made her walk out of here, knowing the danger?”

Like a fist to the gut, Fang’s words slammed into his vulnerable underbelly.

“That’s enough, Hawk,” Odin barked, snagged Hawk’s shoulders to yank him away from Fang, who remained standing against the wall, his face red, his expression hard.

“We’ll have AFK track her phone,” Trouble supplied, before pulling his cell from his pocket to text the club tech specialist.

“Once AFK reports, go, get her back here in one piece,” Odin ordered. “All this fucking drama is giving me a headache, and I want to get home to my woman so she can make it all better.”

His woman.

“…she ain’t my woman, brother,”Fang had sneered, insinuating that Fae was Hawk’s.

No. Fae wasn’t his woman, but she was hisresponsibility. She needed him to keep her safe, and he needed to be the oneto keep her safe. The drive, the urgency to be the one watching over her, was bone deep.

So why have you been avoiding her like a bitch?

Because Trouble’s words still rang through his mind, over and over. And no matter how many times he tried to make sense of what he was feeling, the roiling emotions choking him…then soothing him, he couldn’t find solid ground. Clarity. A way to move forward. He hadn’t felt so unsteady since….

Wiping that thought from his head, he stomped back to his seat and gripped the edge of the table, his fingertips and knuckles turning white from the force.

“Church is over, assholes,” Odin grumbled on his way out the door. Trouble cast Hawk, then Fang, a speaking glance before heading out as well. Fang cursed under his breath, offered Hawk a chin lift, then went on his way, too.

He was alone—well, as alone as he could be with Hell Hound leaning back in his seat, snoring his head off. The fucker could fall asleep anywhere.

As an hour—but what was in actuality only three minutes—passed, Hawk’s cell dinged. Snatching it from where he’d put it after checking it for a text from Fae for the billionth time, he saw the message from AFK.

He read the text twice before the words sank in.

“Oh, hell no,” he barked, making Hound flinch in his sleep.

Growling, his body vibrating with rage, Hawk marched from the room, punishment on his mind.

The inside of the club was all noise, sweaty bodies, and flashing lights in the dark. One glance at the stage and the half-naked man gyrating against the floor, and Fae knew she’d made a mistake.

“I don’t think this is the best place for me to be,” Fae shouted at Tessa as the other woman dragged her through the sardine-packed room toward the long bar along the wall. Behind the bar were men much too pretty to be stuck doing something as menial as mixing fruity club drinks.

“This is exactly where you need to be, Fae-Bae. I promise, you’ll have fun. Let loose a little…and Hawk will lose his shit.” Fae stared wide-eyed at Tessa, who was grinning unabashedly. “Win-win.”

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