Page 49 of Hawk

“Love you more, baby.”

With a sob, Sasha gets up from her chair to come to her side. Etain holds her hand.

The door opens, and Drifter comes in with the nurse. “The doctor’s on his way,” the nurse says. “You had all your friends worried.”

“Hawk. A word,” Drifter says. I know that look. He’s got news. I glance down at Etain, but it’s the nurse who answers.

“I’ve got to take her vitals. Go on,” she urges.

“I’ll be right outside the door,” I tell Etain and reluctantly let go of her hand. I follow Drifter out the door.

“We found him. Hauled his ass down to the club. He’s in the basement,” Drifter says. “What do you want us to do with him?”

“He’s mine,” I growl.

“No shit. But someone’s going to notice he’s missing. Cops are looking for him, remember? Whatever we’ve got to do, we have to do it fast. You didn’t make it a mystery in front of the police about what would happen if you found him first,” he reminds me.

“I can’t leave Etain.”

“I can take care of him, or we can hand him over to the cops and let them deal with it,” Drifter suggests.

“Hold him. I’ll take care of him tomorrow,” I state firmly. “Get his car and hide it. Robert’s going to have an accident.”

“I’ll get Decker and Flex on it.” Drifter slaps my back. “Good to see she’s doing better. Guys are waiting just outside.” He points to the waiting room. “Be good if you tell them yourself.”I look toward Etain’s room. Drifter adds, “I’ll stand guard.”

The waiting room is a sea of Redemption Riders, all very relieved to know that Etain is through the worst and is on the mend.

TWENTY-ONE

Acceptance

ETAIN

Several days later…

The hospital let me go the next day. The last thing I remember was stopping off home to get changed to meet Sasha at the spa, when I saw Robert coming at me.

He immediately closed his hand over my mouth and dragged me into the house. I hit my head on the doorframe as I struggled against him, which gave me a slight concussion. Before I could scream or fight him off, I felt a needle prick, then the rest is a blur. Sasha filled me in on how they found me. Drugged and dazed, I must have stumbled out the back of the house and into the woods before I collapsed. Hawk doesn’t want to talk about it and is beating himself up for letting me leave alone, which is crazy because I insisted.

Hawk hasn’t left my side except for the next night, and that night, I had half the club and Sasha in my home catering to my every whim. It was sweet, but I was so tired, I slept through most of it.

The television is droning in the background while I’m tucked into Hawk’s side when the news comes on, and Robert’s face flashes on the screen.

“A man wanted in connection to kidnapping and attempted murder was found dead this morning. It appears that Robert Sutton was driving his car when he missed a turn and drove over the edge and down a cliff,”the news announcer says.

Hawk lowers the volume on the television, and I look at him.

“Robert’s dead,” I gasp.

“Man almost killed you. Good fucking riddance,” he snaps. He gets up and skulks into the kitchen.

I get up and go to him. “Hey, I’m not sad, or mad, or anything. It’s weird, but I feel nothing, if that makes any sense. He got what he deserved.”

“He did,” he says, gritting his teeth.

Hawk has something to do with Robert’s accident. I see it in his face. I can sense it in his demeanor. He was a soldier who protected the weak. In Redemption Riders, he protects his brothers, and now he’s protecting me. I can either walk away or accept Hawk as he is.

“I love you. All of you.” I wrap my arms around his middle and nestle into him. His arms band around me immediately.

---