Page 11 of Hawk

“You’re having me watched?” she asks with a shocked expression.

“More like protecting you from your ex.”

“I don’t know whether to thank you or yell at you.” She furrows her brow, clearly thinking of her options.

“If I get a say, I’d go with thanking me.” I grin, and that gets me a sliver of a smile. “Hey, you’re part of RR Mechanics, and we look after our own.” She bites her lower lip, and I can see she has something on her mind. “Spit it out, Ginger.”

“Sasha told me you’re part of a biker club.”

“I’m the president of Redemption Riders. We employ club members, but we also have others onboard who are just plain employees. The two are separate for the most part. Club business doesn’t touch you.”

“You don’t do anything, um, like, uh, illegal?”

“We run legitimate businesses. I’m not going to lie to you, the club has enemies, but so do many corporations. Difference is that in the corporate world, they call it takeovers, but it’s just as ugly and vicious. With our MC, there are rival clubs that want our territory, or they ask for favors we want no part of. I’ve drawn a line in the sand and made it known not to fuck with us.”

“And if they do?” she whispers.

“No one takes what our club has worked for, and we protect what’s rightfully ours. If it makes you feel better, Redemption Riders are part of an alliance with other clubs that have the same moral code. Anyone who comes for us is fighting an army. It wouldn’t be a smart move.” I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t know me well enough yet, but I swear to you, you’re as safe as you can be with me and the club. You good with that?”

Her green eyes sparkle brightly, and she nods her head once. “I believe you,” she replies quietly. I want to kiss her so badly, but I know that if I do, I’m going to hate to leave her, and when we have our first kiss, I want to be able to take my time and savor her mouth.

Etain wants me to kiss her. Her body sways closer, her lips part slightly, and her eyes beckon to me. I steady her and take a step back.

“I’ve gotta go. I’m already late for a meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow. Eight o’clock sharp.” I get the hell out before I cave in to my urges and carry her into her bedroom.

Titan and I are the last to arrive at the compound. We’ve already started the addition, and it comes as both a blessing and a curse. The site is a mess, but since it’s only temporary, we’re getting by. The much-needed addition will give everyone their personal space, and as bikers who love our freedom, that’s a must. Redemptions Riders is a close group of men. We started with six original members, and we’re growing fast. We currently have thirty members in the club. Some are still serving our country, but when they’re home, they come straight to the club. Others are on loan to other clubs to help them out in one capacity or another; the rest are here tonight.

As soon as Titan and I enter the room, the heavy wooden door slides shut, and Flex flips the lock. If a brother shows up late, he pays a fine, and I have to have a word with him privately. It’s not something I enjoy doing, but to keep us all accountable, I will.

I scan the room and see that everyone’s present, so I bring the meeting to order.

“There are two items up for discussion,” I announce. “The Jackals are encroaching on our turf. They haven’t made a move except to flex their muscle and point out that we still have one more run to do for them. They’ve got a plan, and we’ve got to get ahead of it. They’ve been hanging out at the Sweet Shack just outside town.”

Drifter pipes up. “I got people on the inside. I’ll make a few calls and see what I can find out.”

I nod. Drifter knows how to get information from the streets. He seems to have connections everywhere. “Good. That may not be enough, though. This run is end of next week, and the Jackals have too much time to plan a way to get the cops on our ass. Phantom’s already paying the price of our fuckup. We’re not having a repeat performance.”

At the sound of Phantom’s name, their faces grow hard. Each of us bears the burden of what went down that day, and we all swore we would make it up to him. More importantly, we decided it would never happen again. We’re smarter and more lethal than we were when this all went down a couple of years ago.

We spend the next hour dividing tasks. Drifter has his role, but Flex and Shooter have been working on finding out who is the main supplier of the Jackals’ product. Flex comes from the grittiest part of Texas, and he knows how to hunt for information. Shooter is suave and an excellent negotiator. He exudes this “nice guy” persona, but he’s dangerous as fuck. If they can get an in with whoever is supplying the Jackals, we can change the course of the delivery.

Raven’s been scouting the delivery site and has been away for a week, watching and tracking the members of Jackals MC. Raven’s back from a stint in Syria. He’s due to go back in three weeks for his last tour. When he came home and was told of our predicament, he swung into action faster than I could relay the situation. His strength is tactical planning. He’ll find every hiding spot, every hidden road, and make it work for us. He’s invaluable, and I just wish he wasn’t going back to Syria when this is all said and done. Raven checks in nightly, and I keep him in the loop as to what’s happening.

With a firm plan in hand, I move on to the next topic.

“This isn’t going to be a surprise for some of you, but I’ll make it official. I hired a new office manager for the garage. Etain is off-limits to all of you. She’s also got an ex who doesn’t like the word ‘no’ and is being a pain in the ass. The idiot got Officer Syd involved because she wouldn’t return his calls,” I say. “The reason I’m telling you is because you need to keep your eyes peeled. He’s a shifty lawyer, and I got a feeling he doesn’t play nice when his toys are taken away.”

Drifter lifts his brows and smirks. “And…”

I look him directly in the eye and say, “Etain is mine.” Then I scan the room to see Shooter grinning as he looks down at his boots. Flex isn’t even hiding his amusement. Decker is the only one who seems surprised.

“The babe from this morning?” Decker asks.

“Her name is Etain Huggart,” I retort with a scowl, not liking that he called Etain a babe. She is a freaking knockout babe, but I’m the only one who gets to call her that. Decker mockingly holds up his hands to ward me off.

“Relax, brother. I go for blondes,” he says with a laugh.

“Does she know anything about cars or bikes?” Flex asks.

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