Page 119 of Hawk
My phone rang again, and I ignored it a second time as I spoke directly to him. “Lucian, you have to understand something. What Stella endured over the years changed her, and she’s got a chip on her shoulder where you’re concerned. When we found this information, I made the decision to not tell her any of it. But you have to see things from my perspective. She’s been hurt so badly, and the last thing I wanted was for her own brother to cause her any more pain.”
“I’d . . . I would never hurt her. She’s my baby sister, and I love her. All I want to know is whether she’s okay.”
Gunner’s phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his cut as I said to Lucian, “She’s good, man. Healing and thriving. I wish I knew what—”
“What?” Gunner yelled and looked at me before turning to Lucian. “Hawk, man, we have a problem.”
Gunner placed his phone on the table and put it on speaker, instructing whoever was on the other end to retell what they said. Falcon’s voice came through the phone, and my stomach dropped as he began to explain. “Stella sent me to grab something for Matthew, and when I got back, I discovered a puddle of urine on the front porch, the house is locked, and when I tried to go into the backyard, the crazy dog chased me out. I could hear Matthew and Anna crying in their treehouse, and when I yelled for Stella, I got no response. Something’s wrong.”
I jumped from my chair and turned to run out when a hand fell on my shoulder. Snapping my head to see who it was, I saw a pissed-off Lucian standing behind me. “I’m coming with you.”
I nodded and looked at Skid. “Call the madman and have him search the cameras. Someone took Stella, and we need to find her. NOW!”
Lucian and I ran out of the clubhouse together, and Gunner followed closely behind. “Death Hounds, ride out,” he yelled, and the brothers outside ran to their bikes without questioning where we were going.
Lucian started running toward the front gate, where his car was still parked, and I saw Skid cranking his bike next to me. Lifting my eyes to him, I yelled, “Where’s the madman?”
“He’s not answering, so I’m calling James. Ride, Hawk. We’ve got your back.”
The gate opened as the line of Death Hounds filed out of the compound, and Lucian, who was parked on the side of the road, waiting for directions, fell in line close to the front of us. As we blew through the stoplights in town, I could see him white-knuckling the steering wheel. I couldn’t imagine who would take her, but I knew she wouldn’t survive any more abuse. She was fragile. Not like a flower, but like a bomb, and I worried this would be what pushed her over the edge.
The faster we drove, the faster my heart beat. Falcon said Matthew and Anna were in the treehouse, so they were safe, but who took Stella, and did they see it happen? How traumatized were my children because I wasn’t there to protect the three of them?
We turned onto my street, and I could see a few bikes belonging to brothers from town already parked outside my house. I skidded to a stop and jumped off my bike, not caring if it got damaged as it fell to the ground. Needles’s gaze caught mine, and I could tell he was ready to go to war with me. I felt the Death Hounds at my back as I ran up to the door.
The strong smell of urine was worrisome, and when I unlocked the door and ran inside, I began yelling Stella’s name. “Stella, darlin’, where are you?” Glancing over my shoulder, I yelled, “Check the house,” as I ran to the back door. Zeus heard the door opening, and when I stepped outside, he went from growling and baring his teeth to submissive and whining at me. “Matthew? Anna?”
I could hear them crying as Matthew poked his head out the window of his treehouse. “Daddy?”
I ran as fast as my feet would carry me to them, and a moment later, Matthew began to climb down the ladder, followed by Anna. When they got to the ground, they sprinted into my arms, covering my shirt and cut with their tears as I tried to understand what they were saying.
Gently pushing them away, I spoke directly to them. “I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. Where’s Stella?”
“Someone took her,” Matthew cried, and Anna was stuttering through her tears.
I looked to see Gunner approaching. He kneeled in front of Anna and spoke softly, “Let’s take you inside and get you cleaned up.”
She looked at me, and I smiled with a nod, so she wrapped her small arms around his neck and he whisked her away from the chaos outside. I turned back to Matthew as Zeus approached, crouching down with his head low. Stepping next to Matthew, he pressed into my son’s side and whimpered. Matthew placed his hand on the dog’s head and his tears began to slow.
“What happened, Matthew? I need for you to tell me everything.”
“M-m-momma and we were cooking when someone knocked on the door. S-she went to s-s-see who it w-w-was, and a minute later, s-s-she told Zeus to protect us and she closed the door,” he explained through stuttering tears and a full-body tremble.
I petted the dog’s head and said, “Good boy, Zeus.” Looking back at Matthew, I asked, “What else? Did you see who it was?” He shook his head and buried his face in his hands.
I pulled him close and hugged him, knowing this must’ve been sending his anxiety into overdrive. “You protected your sister and that was a brave thing to do.”
“B-b-but they took M-m-momma,” he cried, and a piece of my heart broke.
If we didn’t find Stella, I wasn’t the only one who would suffer the pain. Matthew, Anna, Hailey, Devlin, and the asshole Lucian would all feel her loss. I was going to do whatever it took to bring her home to her family, and whoever thought it was okay to take my woman and terrorize my kids was going to die a slow and painful death . . . no matter who it was.
