Page 74 of Property of the Hellfire Riders

The door bursts open, and the atmosphere in the safehouse shifts instantly.

Hawk strides in.

His dark hair, tousled and slightly damp from the rain outside, falls in wild curls around his chiseled face. His jaw is clenched tight, the muscles working as he grinds his teeth. The sleeves of his jacket are rolled up.

My cheeks turn to a bright red like I’m a teenager being caught making out with my boyfriend at the movie theater. I don’t utter a word when Hawk’s gaze locks onto mine, and for a moment, the world narrows to just the two of us.

“What the hell is going on?” he asks.

Tank rises from the bed. “Listen, we just wanted to keep her somewhere safe.”

One of Hawk’s eyebrows pops up, his gaze flicking from Tank to Vance, and then back to me. His nostrils flare, and I know he can smell the sex in the air. His jaw tenses even more, and for a moment, I’m afraid he might explode.

“Safe, huh?” he growls, his voice low and dangerous.

“Hawk,” I interject, standing up as well, my heart pounding in my chest. “I’m fine. They were just...”

“I can see what they were just doing, Izzy,” he spits out, his voice cold. “Jesus Christ.” He runs a shaky hand through his hair and looks away. “I’m not sure who to be pissed off right now.”

“No one needs to be pissed, I—” Tank starts, but Hawk whirls on him, cutting him off. “I have every goddamn right to be pissed off. All of you—ran off without a word. You better have a fucking real good reason.”

A tense silence settles over the room as Tank and Vance exchange glances.

“I—” my voice cuts out when Hawk holds up a finger.

“Not a word, darling. You’re the reason we’re all standing here.” My lips press together tightly, and I have half a mind to sock this man right in the gut, but I’d know better than to shake a beehive. He’s on edge.

Vance moves closer, his posture relaxed but ready. “We’ve got some new information,” he says, his tone carefully neutral. “Izzy found something.”

Hawk’s eyes narrow, his focus sharpening on me. “What’d you find?” His voice softened just a fraction.

I swallow hard, my heart pounding. “I broke into Reynolds’s office and found files, photos of us. He’s been following us.”

Hawk takes another step forward, his eyes boring into mine. “And you have proof?”

I nod. “There’s a folder. I took everything I could grab.”

For a moment, Hawk just stands there, staring at me.

“You broke into his office?” he repeats. “Into a lead detective's office?”

“Yeah.” Here comes the big confession. “I used to work there. Well, still, I think. I’m not quite sure anymore. Probably not after all this anyway.” I start to mumble, trailing off but luckily Tank interjects.

“I found her in the parking lot. Vance tracked her phone.”.

Hawk drags a hand down his face, sighing heavily. “Jesus Christ, Izzy, you could have been caught or worse.”

“I was careful.”

“I don’t know if you’re brave, stupid or both at this point.”

“So, Reynold’s been following us. That’s nothing new. I’ve been following that bastard for years?—”

“No.” Now, I interrupt him, and he surprisingly shuts up, though I get an eyebrow raise as I continue. “I’m not quite sure, but I think Reynolds has some connection to what the Puppeteer is doing. No one else knows that I’m with you except for him and all those little notes I have been getting feel like some cryptic message. I don’t know.”

Vance puts an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. “It explains why he’s been so interested in the Hellfire Riders,” he says quietly. “And why the Puppeteer is so interested in our girl.”

Hawk swears under his breath and runs his hand through his hair. “Fuck, this just keeps getting worse.” Then he holds out an empty hand, waving it up and down.

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