Page 29 of Hawk's Sapphire

“Hey Hawk, do you think Sadie might’ve run because you claimed her and then cut her loose?”Ethan so unceremoniously blurts to whole fucking room.My stomach drops to the floor, and I grit my teeth waiting for the inevitable blow to come from Mack.I’m shacked as hell when the fist that connects doesn’t in fact belong to Mack, but Caleb instead.My chair falls sideways taking me down with it, and Caleb’s standing over me with his fist in my shirt, scowling.

“Ow.What the hell, Cap?”

“What does Ethan mean, you cut her loose?”Caleb sneers, his face mere inches from mine.I’ve known this man my entire life.He was probably the proudest of me the day I got my patch.My own father was a piece of shit, but Caleb stepped up and filled in the gaps whenever we needed him.That’s why the disappointment I see staring back at me in his eyes cuts so fucking deep.

I’m not about to fight with the old man.I throw both my hands up, a sign I’m not going to fight, and tell him them all the truth.“She betrayed the club.As much as I want her to be mine, I can’t trust her.Would you have made Liz your ol’ lady if you didn’t trust her?”

Caleb lets go of my shirt, but not before shoving me one more time on the ground.“You’re a goddamn fool, Hawk.”We all get back in our respective seats and everyone waits silently.I know what they’re waiting for and there’s no use putting it off.

Leaning forward with my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped in my lap because I can’t guarantee I won’t punch the next fucker who takes a swing at me otherwise.

“The night of Skyler and Ethan’s party, I claimed Sadie.I’ve been wanting to for a long time but shit just kept getting in the way.”

“Bullshit.”Jake coughs.

“You kept getting in your own goddamn way.”Caleb snipes.“You two have been circling each other for months now.Hell, Sadie’s been a lovesick puppy over you since she was sixteen years old.We all saw that.Everyone except your dumbass.”

“She’s a kid.Mack wanted her to have a better life away from the club.I kept my distance and shut shit down because the only thing I have to offer her is club life.But none of that matters now.”I drop my head and try to shake the guilty thoughts swirling around in my head.“I claimed her, and I meant it.But when I saw the tapes-what she did and with Thomas no less- I had to cut her loose.There was no other choice in the matter.I need a woman who’s loyal to me and this club.Can any of you say after watching what she did, that she’s loyal to anyone but herself?”

“Sure, I can.”Jake says, glaring at me.“Sadie doesn’t do shit unless it’s to help someone else.She’s one of the least selfish people I know.Look what she risked saving Avery?How she helped that girl in middle school.Sadie knew she could get into trouble, possibly get herself killed if Cusenza ever figured out the part she played in Avery’s escape.But she fucking did it anyway to help her friends.”

“And she brought shit to the club’s doorstep in the process!”I shout.“She would’ve been expelled and possibly gone off to juvie if Mack hadn’t pulled a favor with her principal and agreed to take her to that overrated rich kid school in Baron’s Edge.”I point out.“And if she hadn’t fucked with the security system at the West property or fucked with Vincenzo’s system at the Oasis, Avery might never have been shot!”

“Or she might have been sold off to that asshole and been dead by now.”Jake yells back.“You have no fucking clue who Sadie is.If you honestly think she would ever do anything to jeopardize this club or her family, you don’t know shit about her.”

“She brought Thomas back and helped him escape again.And let’s not forget that Nate is dead after she snuck down there and oh, yeah, the fucking Feds are all over our asses because ofher.And where the fuck is she?Not here?Not with herfamily!”

“You know, for a genius, you’re not too bright, are ya?”Cash’s smug grin has me grinding my teeth.

“This doesn’t concern you, Cash.But the fuck out.”I snap.

He shrugs.“Maybe.Maybe not.But I do know Skyler, and Avery, and even Sadie and Jayde.I didn’t grow up with them like you all did, but I’ve never seen a more loyal, fierce, group of young women in my life than those four.They do everything they can to protect the ones they love.If you take a step back and look at everything Sadie has ever done for anyone and why she did it, you’ll see what I mean.”He goes on to explain.“Sadie brought Avery here, because she knew the shit Avery was going through and that if trouble came, her family would protect an innocent girl.Not knowing who Avery really is at the time.Training with Skyler at the gym and giving her someone to confide in and laugh with…she helped Skyler feel comfortable coming home.Gave her a friend to confide in.And when Avery took off from the Oasis, wasn’t it Sadie’s tracking device that led you all to her rescue?”

“All shit that never should’ve happened.So, what’s your point?”

“It shouldn’t have happened, but Sadie trusted the club to have her back.So, maybe, this is Sadie’s way of having yours.”Cash finishes.Gabe looks at Cash and starts rubbing his hand on his chin.

“So, you think Sadie’s trying to protect the club from something?”Gabe asks Cash, who shrugs and says, “Or someone.”

“It would be like her to do something stupid like put herself in a shitty situation if she thought she was doing us a favor.”Mack reluctantly agrees.

“All right.Let’s try this from a different angle.What do all these situations have in common?What’s the common denominator?”Pres looks around the room to each of us.One by one we all pop off with ideas.

“They’re all connected to the trafficking ring.”

“The Devils.”

“Money.”

“Parisi.”Ethan’s answer stuns the whole room into silence.

Son of a bitch.

“He knew what George was doing and made a deal to protect Sky.Then he told Pres about Avery’s grandmother and her plan to sell her off.He knew about Thomas.Helped Violet and her doctor friend.Sent a lawyer to free Violet from jail.Brought Nate to meet us at the house where Carter was being held.I’m willing to bet, he knows something about the four dead bodies, why the Feds are here and what the hell they want with us.”Ethan finishes.

“He was working with Trident when you and Violet were held up in the mountains, right?”I ask Declan.

“You think Sadie made a deal with Vincenzo?”Declan understands where my train of thought is taking me.

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