Page 7 of Hawk
Even if it meant lying to my friends, I wouldn’t let the past get dug up.
Chapter 2
Hawk
After leaving the military, I was like a ship adrift at sea, not knowing what my next move would be. Somehow, I stumbled into a job that paid well and gave me a kind of purpose. I did my job well for almost a decade, but somewhere along the way, I lost sight of who I was. I became someone I didn’t recognize. Someone who took the honor I had from my days in the service and crushed it under their boot.
I didn’t work for just one person during those years. I was what they called a freelancer, coming and going at will and accepting or declining jobs at my discretion. It was the last job I took that was coming back to haunt me, and the longer I stood under the critical gazes of the brothers and my Death Hounds family, the more I knew I was eventually going to have to do something I promised I would never do.
Tell the whole truth.
Only, it wasn’t my truth to tell and before I spoke a word to them, I was going to have to get permission. Never in my life did I ask for approval of my actions, but this wasn’t an ordinary situation.
“What’s got you so rattled, Hawk?” Devlin asked when Hailey, Hatchet, and DJ were completely out of the room. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Nothing I care to discuss with you, madman,” I spat and, suddenly, I felt bad for Skid.
He was the person stuck in the middle between the club and his loyalty to the man who saved Hatchet’s life all those years ago. Skid shifted closer to me and crossed his arms over his chest, silently giving me reassurance that whatever was happening, he was siding with the club . . . with me.
Lucian stepped closer to the bar and his blue eyes met mine. His head was slanted to the side slightly, and the longer I looked at him and Devlin, the more the similarities between the two of them became. The feeling I’d experienced for years where Devlin was concerned, like I’d known him from somewhere, grew stronger as we wordlessly stood staring at each other.
“I think he knows something, and it’s time he explains himself,” Lucian said to no one specific, and I felt my jaw clench from the building anger.
“I don’t have to explain myself to either of you, so go fuck yourself,” I spat back, taking a step forward.
Lucian and Devlin both stepped closer to the bar, and I felt Skid’s shoulder bump into mine as he stood tall beside me.
“I think you both need to back off,” Skid instructed, and Devlin pinched his lips together and shook his head.
“We all know Hawk’s past is full of holes, and if he knows anything about where my sister is, it’s past time for him to talk.”
Devlin’s words, while truthful, made me more defiant.
“Fuck. You. Devlin,” I said slowly, enunciating each word crystal clear.
“You’re going to talk, or I’ll make you,” Lucian threatened, and I felt a smile push up on my cheeks.
