Page 30 of Snagged By Hook

“There’s very little to dig up on Brent, no middle name, Wilson. A few moving violations, no employer, no lease in his name. No legal judgments. Nothing of note. Dude barely exists. Even his socials haven’t had activity for years.”

Croon piped in. “That doesn’t mean much, a lot of douche-cannons fly under the radar.”

“In this case, it’s what’snotthere that causes my eyebrows to move.”

It took Hook’s brain a second before it caught on. Shit. “No divorce.” The thought that Nova was still married made him want to vomit.

“Close, my tattooed friend, go deeper.”

“That’s what she said,” Santa mumbled to himself. Zombie shot him a look, and Santa raised his hands in surrender.

“Look, he’s almost there,” Virus taunted. Hook still didn’t get it.

“For fuck’s sake,” Squatch chided. “No legal filings atall.” He stressed the last word.

“I get that, but how does it help if Nova’s still married to the fucker? She thinks they’re divorced.”

“Marriage certificates are legal documents too, numb nuts.”

Wait, what?

“They were never married?”

“Ding, ding, ding, give the man a prize,” Squatch quipped.

Hook flipped him off. “What about June?” If she wasn’t legally his, then that would help them in that department.

“He’s listed on the birth certificate, as well as co-owner of the van we got out there. And a driver’s license with the old address, that’s it.”

The more Croon revealed about what they could find on Brent, the larger that pit in his stomach grew.

“Hook, you ready to share your suspicions?” Prez phrased it as a question, but it was anything but. Zombie was a happy-go-lucky kind of man until you fucked with women, children, or his family—and the club was family. If things were as they appeared, that piece of shit has done all three.

With a deep breath, he spoke. “June said some things to me that raised the hair on the back of my neck. It was…familiar. Something about what the fucker said to her, just…” He paused mid-story to give himself a mental pep talk. He didn’t want to tell his brothers about his past. They’d never look at him the same way again. Pity in his brother’s eyes would destroy him. However, for his Flower and Nova, he’d endure it.

“By familiar, I mean, it was what we were taught to say to recruit new kids.”

The various sounds and curious looks aimed his way almost had him chickening out.

“Recruit new kids for what?” Hook barely recognized Squatch’s voice. It sounded as if his teeth were glued together and he’d just swallowed glass. Hook realized his mistake. Squatch was thinking the worst of him.

“Sex,” he hastened to add. “I never recruited anyone.” The very thought transported him back in time and made him sick to his stomach. “But it was drilled into us. And something about what June’s sperm donor said to her. The way she said he saidit, just scratched at a memory I’ve fought my entire adult life to forget.”

The room was so silent and still even the very air froze. It was the stillness he’d been afraid of. After that would come pity.

Bile rose in the back of his throat.

Fuck it.

Hook would not retreat back to the boy he was. He would not cower before his brothers. He hadn’t cowered before anyone since he left that house of fucked-up horrors, and he damn sure wouldn’t start now.

“You can all take those sad eyes and pop them back in your fucking sockets right now. The only thing you need to worry about is my ol’ lady and my fucking little girl.”

It just spilled out that way. It wasn’t intentional. Nova would lose her shit if she knew he’d just laid claim to them in front of his whole club. It may just be a room to outsiders, but it was a sacred space during church. Words carried weight and cemented promises. They forged alliances and drew enemy lines clearly.

Even if Nova wouldn’t have him when the smoke cleared, no other Bastard would touch her after his claim. No matter what it ultimately was for Nova, in his heart, they’d always be his.

Zombie raised a brow and lifted his hand in a casual vote of ascension. Others followed suit without a word spoken, and that was that. The club approved.

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