Page 78 of Hawk

“How did you know about that?”

“Baby, nothing happened in my clubhouse without me knowing,” he replies with a grin. “Of course I knew about your stupid little diary. Read it too.”

“What do you want, Hammerhead?”

“Want? Well, I want you, of course,” he says. “I came all this way to get you back, baby. I’ve missed you. Took me forever to find you, but I finally did and now, you’re coming home with me.”

I slowly edge toward the door, but Hammerhead pulls out a large, fearsome-looking gun that freezes me in my tracks. I swallow hard and lick my lips nervously.

“Yeah, you don’t want to be doing that,” he says. “You really don’t.”

“Please, just let me be. I’ve got a life now and—”

“Like I give a goddamn fuck about your life!” he roars. “Your place was in my clubhouse by my side. That’s what your life was supposed to be.”

The tears spill down my cheeks, and I instantly try to wipe them away and hide them, recalling how he used to slap me for it. I hate how easily I’m falling back into old, subservient patterns around him. I hate him for making me this way.

“So, what do you think, baby? Should we wait for your man and your little boy to come home?” he asks. “Should I make you watch me kill them both?”

A choked sob bursts from my throat. “Please, leave them out of this. I’ll go with you, peacefully if you just leave them alone,” I say. “Don’t hurt them.”

“Hawk fucked me over,” he sneers. “He deserves a bullet in the head.”

“He wouldn’t have if not for me. It’s all my fault. I swear it. I made him help me.”

“Awww, ain’t that sweet?” he mocks. “It’s sweet that you’re coverin’ for him that way. Really, it’s touching.”

I sniff loudly and am doing my best to control my emotions but it’s next to impossible. He leans forward on the table and stares at me.

“You know what’s gonna hurt him more than a couple of bullets in the head?”

I sniff loudly again and wipe away the tears on my cheeks. He glares at me.

“I asked you a question, bitch.”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t know what’s going to hurt him more than a bullet in the head,” I say. “Please, stop this. Don’t do this.”

“Not knowing what happened to you is what’s gonna eat him alive,” he says with a laugh. “Always wondering if you’re dead or alive. That’s what’s gonna kill him a hell of a lot better than just shootin’ him.”

His words send a river of ice flowing through my veins and nearly stops my heart entirely. He’s going to take me. Again. He’s going to force me to live in that cage once more. The thought occurs to me that it would almost be better to let him kill me than to live that way again. I don’t know that I’d survive it a second time.

“That’s right, baby. You’re comin’ home,” he sneers.

Without thinking about it, I turn and push my way through the door. But Hammerhead is quicker than I imagined, and he grabs me by the hair and yanks backward, almost pulling me off my feet. I scream, my voice echoing through the trees around me, but they ultimately fade away. Unheard. I’m alone here and nobody is coming to save me.

Hammerhead spins me around and drives his fist square into my face. I feel a blinding flash of pain a moment before my entire world goes black.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

“All right, buddy,” I say. “What do you think about a little ice cream?”

Jenkins burbles and coos in my arm, making me smile. I push the basket with his baby carrier sitting inside through the store, picking up everything on Molly’s list and some other things I’m sure she’s going to have a craving for later on. I know her well enough to know what she likes and what she’s going to want, even if she forgot to tell me to get it at the time.

I grab a bag of chili cheese chips from the shelf and hold it up for Jenkins to see. “See these? Your mom loves these,” I tell him. “I’ve seen her go through an entire bag on her own. It’s impressive. And kind of nauseating.”

Jenkins smiles at me, a big bubble forming on his lips. I scan the shelves around me, looking for things Molly might want. I’m trying to anticipate her every craving, even if she hasn’t had it yet.

“What an adorable baby.”

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