Page 61 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

I forced myself to remember Sonya and her traitorous ways, hoping that would force the fucking walls back up. Women were good for one thing, and I wanted to keep it that way. Fuck them and walk away, no strings attached. No emotions. No fucking mess. Deep down I knew that Audra was different, that she wasn’t like Sonya, everything in me told me that, but I was too stubborn to accept it.

I couldn’t get back to the clubhouse fast enough. We continued around to the rear and backed our bikes close to the building. “Baby,” I said once it quieted down around us. “Go to my room. Get cleaned up. I have some shit to take care of.” I helped Audra off my bike, mindful of her leg.

She steadied herself and glanced up at me. “Thank you again, Hawk,” she said softly, and fucking hell I saw more in her eyes than I wanted to. I clenched my jaw, until with a small smile she finally turned and limped away.

Rock came to a stop next to me, watching Audra disappear into the building. I braced myself because his silence spoke volumes. “Don’t say a fucking thing,” I warned him. He snorted, and I knew that if I looked he’d be smiling.

“She’s getting to you, brother.”

I growled low, closed my eyes, and shook my head.

He slapped me on the back of my shoulder. “What are you gonna do about it?”

I didn’t even have to think about it. “Nothing. She’ll be gone in a couple of days.” I looked at him. “Either Covacks takes care of Dane Winthrop and the club’s a million bucks richer, or I do the fucker in myself.” I knew he wouldn’t question me why, because he’d do the same fucking thing. We were a hard-core MC until it came to women and children who needed our protection.

“You know, brother, not all women are like Sonya.” Rock had been there when everything had turned to shit. “Be ashamed to turn a cute little piece like that loose because another bitch soured you.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I walked to the door and opened it.

“Fine, but if you don’t want her, can I have her? I’d like to get a taste of her little—”

I should have expected that, but without thinking I swung around and punched Rock right in the mouth. He didn’t even try to stop me. In fact, there was a bemused smile on his face that pissed me the fuck off. The fucker had been baiting me. He staggered back a little, bringing his hand up to his split lip.

“That answer enough for you?” I snapped.

A humorous chuckle was his only response. With a curse, I turned. Most of the brothers were at the bar, being made over by the club women and already drinking hard. It wouldn’t be long before they’d disappear to the rooms to work out their aggressions. What had gone down at the farm house could have turned out a lot worse. Most of my crew lived each day as if it were their last.

“Hey, baby.” Sid came slithering up to me, sliding her hands up my chest to link them behind my neck. She was wearing a bikini top so tiny that it barely covered her nipples. Her cut offs fell just below her jeweled bellybutton. She rubbed against me like a fucking cat in heat. “You look like you need relief,” she cooed into my ear, before biting down on it.

I jerked back when I felt her teeth sink down on the lobe of my ear, and then reached up to unwind her arms from around my neck. Why couldn’t she get it through her fucking head that I was done with her? “If you keep this shit up I’m going to bar you from the club. Find another brother.” I didn’t wait for her to react.

I went straight to Fox’s room. As usual, he was sitting at his computer. The man fucking lived on the damned thing, which was good considering that he did our surveillance and security. “I want the pictures of Dominick.” He picked up a stack he’d printed out and handed them to me. “Why so many?”

“There are four different men here, Prez. See if she can pick out Dominick’s face, then we’ll fucking know for sure.”

I thumbed through the pictures. The men in them were very similar. I nodded. “Good call, brother.”

“Too bad about Popcorn.” I nodded, there was nothing else to say. All the brothers knew he’d been a good prospect. “I heard about Keg, man. Good thing we put that second GPS tracker on his bike.”

“Yeah, could have ended in a whole different way.” He could have disappeared with Audra. I thought about her and what Dane had planned. It could have turned into a life sentence for her, being locked away on some fucking estate. “I should have killed him when I had the fucking chance.”

Fox’s brows rose with surprise. “She means that much to you, that you would have jeopardized our affiliation with Covacks?”

He had a lot of fucking nerve asking me that. Protecting the club came first, and that included doing whatever was required to keep in good standing with our contacts. The club earned a ton of revenue from Covacks, we’d be stupid to piss him off. His explicit orders that he’d wanted his son’s killer alive in order for us to get the million dollars was the only reason I’d let Winthrop go. I knew, though, that if Audra had been hurt by his hands, I wouldn’t have hesitated to take him out on the spot.

“You know the answer to that, brother.”

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