Chapter 13
Hawk
Winger sent me a message to say that Prez wanted me home. My mother took a turn for the worse, and they wanted to talk to me at the home.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would show up with a stripper in tow.
Now, as I lay in bed with Ruby in my arms, I realize that I can’t leave her behind. Every single time the thought crosses my mind, my stomach churns in distress. Same thing happens when I think about eliminating her altogether.
The taste of her is now imprinted on my brain. It was a huge mistake to have her sit on my face.
One thing is for certain. I got myself into this mess, and now, I have no idea what the best way going forward is. Once I get home, I’ll have to talk to the prez, maybe we can give her a job at the strip club we now own.
I turn my head and stare at Ruby’s prone body. She fell asleep about an hour ago. I’m not even sure she understood when I told her she’d be coming with me to visit my mother.
“Fuck,” I mumble to myself and disentangle from her arms. For whatever reason, she likes to cuddle when she sleeps. I never knew that about her since this is the first time she is actually sleeping next to me. All the other times, I’d fuck her, feed her information, then leave.
I walk to the bathroom and use the toilet, then turn the shower on. I realize with a start that I still have my t-shirt and jeans on. I’m not sure if I was ever fully naked with Ruby. She has, but not me.
Feeling her bare skin against mine would imply an intimacy that I will never be ready for. In fact, just thinking about it makes me unwell.
I pull the t-shirt over my head and drop it to the floor before doing the same thing with my jeans and underwear. I am just about to step inside when I hear something.
Looking down, I realize with amusement that the only weapon I got is my hard cock. I stick my head out of the small space they call a bathroom but don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I frown, ready to walk over and grab my gun off the table next to the bed where I placed it under my cut, when I hear it again.
This time, it is obvious that the sounds are coming from the bed. I turn my head, my eyes clashing with Ruby’s. At first, I smirk, but then I realize that she is not amused. In fact, she looks scared, the whimper escaping her lips only proving it.
“You okay?” I ask when I get close enough to the bed. My shadow looming over her seems to incite her even more. She starts shaking, to the point where her teeth are chattering. Her head moves from side to side, and her mouth opens and closes, but no sound is coming out.
I take another step closer, and this time she screams. The sound reverberates against the walls of the room. Worried that someone would hear it and rush over here, I jump and land on the bed, right on top of her, with one hand covering her mouth.
That seems to be the worst thing to do. Ruby starts thrashing around, arms and legs trying to push at me while she struggles to bite me.
“What the fuck, shut up!”
I yell the words in her face, but it’s not helping at all. Tears burst out of her eyes, and now she is worse than before. It takes me a minute to realize that she is mumbling words.
“Please don’t do this to me, Cullen. I- I love you,” she sobs. “They are hurting me. Please don’t…”
She goes on like this for a while, to the point where I am this close to slapping her for a hard reset. But I have a feeling it would not work as anticipated.
“They’re hurting me,” she yelps, clutching at my arms.
With my heart beating out of my chest, I manage to wrap one arm around her while pressing her face to my chest. Ruby continues shivering, fighting with herself between the need to have me close and the desperation to get away from anyone who might want to hurt her.
“You’re okay, sweetheart,” I whisper in her ear. “Shh, I won’t let them hurt you.”
It’s an empty promise since I know for certain that her future looks bleak. But at least I can make her feel safe right now.
“It hurts, Cullen,” she whimpers again. “I thought you loved me…”
The more she talks, the more I put things together. If I were to guess, I’d say she had a thing for this Cullen character, but he hurt her, in a bad way. I try to think back to the information on her that Devereaux presented me with.
Forgetting about the water still running in the shower, I lie down on the mattress and bring Ruby’s body down with me.
“I will kill this fucker for you Ruby,” I whisper in her hair when she doesn’t stop crying. My words finally bring her comfort. She stops moving, and when I lean back to see her face better, I notice that she is once again sleeping. It’s all happened so fast, I’m not sure what to make of it.
I make myself more comfortable on the bed without letting go of her even though she seems to be better now. Her words are now on a loop in my head, and I need to know what she meant. As soon as she is awake and aware of her surroundings, I will ask her. Even if I never see her after this, I still want to find the people who hurt her before. It will be poetic justice, depending on what her story is.
My eyes close without me realizing, all these thoughts spinning in my head. The sound of the water running in the shower is comforting, working as a sleeping aid. I don’t bother pulling a cover over us, instead choosing to lay here naked with Ruby on top of me, face tucked gently into my neck.
This gives me weird vibes, but the good kind. I never imagined myself in a domestic environment. Life in the club doesn’t allow for it. The fact that I feel it with Ruby in my arms only solidifies the fact that we’ve been spending too much time together.
That is the last conscious thought in my head before I am out. When I come to, the first thing I am aware of is that I am alone in bed and the water in the bathroom is turned off. My eyes snap open, and I look around, with my hand grabbing the gun off the nightstand on instinct.
“I’m sorry I woke you up,” Ruby whispers from across the room.
She is dressed now and sitting in the only available chair in the room, feet up on the seat, chin resting on her knees. She doesn’t flinch when I point my gun straight at her. It would be really easy to take her out. Apparently, she feels the same and doesn’t mind it either.
“The water was running. I turned it off,” she states the obvious.
My gun is still pointed at her, while my cock is getting harder by the second. I finally bring my arm down and sit up, pushing myself against the rickety headboard. I place the gun next to me and stare Ruby down.
“Why are you sitting all the way over there?”
My tone is cold and unforgiving. I am a little freaked out that I never felt her getting out of bed, turning the water off or putting her clothes on. It is the best sleep I’ve had in a very long time.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” she whispers. “I couldn’t get comfortable.”
I nod in understanding before getting off the bed and stretching. As I do that, my hand reaches for my cock, and I give it a healthy squeeze. I wouldn’t mind a blow job before taking my shower.
When I glance to Ruby’s face, she looks close to tears. She is thinking the same thing, and, while I know she would do it if I asked, I know that is not what she wants. I’m not sure why I care about what she wants. Making her happy is not my goal here.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I growl at her.
She shrinks into her seat even more so than before, her small bare feet looking pitiful with the cuts she has on them.
“I trust that you will still be here when I come out.”
We both know that she would be dead the second she stepped foot out of this room. Whoever is looking for her is not the type to give in this easily. She is worth some money and Bricks would not allow for any error in his calculations.
Without another word, I go to the small bathroom and turn the water on once again. It takes a while to warm up, and while that happens, I use the time to brush my teeth. The mirror above the sink is perfectly positioned where I can see Ruby as she sits in the chair. She has not moved from her spot there.
I spit the toothpaste and rinse my mouth before finally stepping into the shower. The second the warm water hits my back, it is hard not to let out a sigh of relief, but I don’t drag it out. Instead, I soap up and scrub in all the places, rinse off and get out.
I let out a disgusted grunt at the very thin towel I grab off the small rack in the corner. It is so worn out, I can see daylight through it. But I guess I should be grateful for having a towel at all given how run down this place is.
As I rub it over my hair, I walk back into the main part of the room, smiling when I find Ruby right where I left her.
“Do you need a shower?” I think of asking. I did wash her feet last night, but there’s the rest of her.
“No,” she shakes her head. “I washed up when I woke up.”
My eyebrows go up in surprise that I didn’t hear anything. I then look at the clothes she has on. They are the same ones that she was wearing last night when she came in here running. When I stare at her feet, I wonder how in the hell I am going to put her on my bike with no shoes on. It won’t be comfortable at all. Then again, I shouldn’t care about making her feel comfortable.
“What shoe size do you wear?” I ask, nonetheless.
Ruby looks as confused as I feel. “Uh, seven.”
I nod and continue drying myself off. When I am finally done, I drop the towel to the ground before reaching into my small bag for a pair of clean underwear, socks and t-shirt. I then put my jeans and boots on, feeling like a brand new man.
Once I’m done, I find myself staring at Ruby again. The last few weeks should not have meant anything to me. But through an interesting turn of events, I am finding myself fascinated by her. She is sweet and caring despite the nature of her job. It makes me wonder if she is like this with everyone, or if she is giving me special treatment.
I realize with a start that the thought of her being with others the same that she’s been with me is putting me into a fit of rage. I’ve shared plenty of women over the years, and I’ve also had plenty of group sex. My mind feels unhinged as I try to place Ruby in any of those scenarios. I just want to keep her for myself. This could be a real problem.
I grab my cut off the table and yank it on, aggravated now with the stupid thoughts floating through my mind.
“I need to run out for a bit.”
The words come out no better than a grunt.
“It’s up to you if you want to leave while I’m gone,” I inform her. “If you do leave, be prepared to die shortly after,” I warn her. “Just because I told them last night that you were not here, it doesn’t mean they believed it. What you do next is your fucking business.”
She doesn’t say or do anything other than stare at me. I put my gun in the holster at my back and nod at her. I tap my pockets to make sure I got my phone, wallet and cigarettes before walking out of the room.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter to myself when the sun hits me right in the eyeballs.
The three feet I walk to my bike feel like too much. I blindly search for my sunglasses with one hand while pulling a cigarette out with the other. Just as I sit on the bike, my cell phone starts ringing.
“Yeah,” I say in greeting. There is no point in wondering who the unknown number flashing on my screen is. Everyone blocks their number in my world, with very few exceptions.
“Mr. Hawk, good morning.”
I roll my eyes at Devereaux’s tone when he speaks. I have never in my life met anyone who is as pompous as he is.
“It sure fucking is,” I agree with him, then light up a cigarette. My eyes go all around, making sure there is no one listening in. Starting the bike and talking while riding is not an option.
“There’s been a slight change of plans,” he informs me.
I let out a long puff of smoke. “You don’t say,” I murmur. “What change is that?”
“The mission in Austin has been moved to the day after tomorrow. I need you here by end of day today, so we can go over the details.”
My mind instantly goes to the woman inside my room. What the fuck am I supposed to do with her now? If I leave here now, there is no coming back. She will have to fend for herself.
“You said it would not be for another couple of weeks,” I protest.
The second the words are out of my mouth, I want to bring them back. He now knows I have a weakness, and while he doesn’t know specifically what it is, he is good at figuring shit out.
“And now I’m telling you it will be in two days, Mr. Hawk.” The way he speaks leaves no room for negotiations.
I suddenly remember that I am supposed to be back home to see my mother.
“I can’t this soon,” I tell him and brace for his wrath.
Devereaux sighs, but it’s more of an amused sigh.
“Mr. Hawk, I am aware of the situation with your mother. You will be home by the end of this week, I promise you. Also…”
He hesitates, and I am pretty sure this is the first time I heard him unsure of how to proceed.
“Bricks is upping his game. He has everything lined up to screw me over. Or so he thinks.”
I continue smoking on my cigarette as I listen. Apparently, Bricks has been calling on all his favors in a desperate move not to lose some major contracts. The reason he is preparing a new shipment of young girls sooner than expected is because the one dealer requested it in exchange for allowing him to transport drugs for them.
“The money will not be enough to get the club out of the mess Bricks got them in,” Devereaux chuckles. “But it would definitely help in buying them some time.”
“We need more time, too, so that should work,” I remind him.
“Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you, Mr. Hawk. But Bricks moved up the date to get Wrecker eliminated. That will not do.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head. His obsession with saving Wrecker is getting to be pretty ridiculous.
“I have it all planned out on my end,” he continues. “And you are my last piece of the puzzle. I need you here by tonight at eight, post meridian.”
I don’t say anything before hanging up because I don’t plan on following his directive without speaking with my president first.
“I knew you’d call,” he chuckles when he picks up. “I take it that you already talked to Devereaux.”
“I did,” I confirm. “What is this bullshit about me having to be there by tonight? I was planning on riding home tonight…”
“Change of plans, brother,” he cuts me off. “Everything can wait until after this mission.”
“But, Prez, my mother…”
“I said it can wait,” he growls at me. “And, Hawk…”
I throw the butt of my cigarette to the ground and step on it.
“Before you leave town, make sure to get rid of Ruby Santiago.”
If I was still smoking, I would’ve choked on the spot. “What are you saying?”
“I know that Bricks is after her to sell her.” He is right on the money with that one. “Once he has his hands on her, she will try to get out of it by giving them information on you. She is a loose end, and we need to eliminate her.”
“She has nothing on me,” I lie through my teeth.
It’s weird how only last night I was thinking that I might have to take her out myself. I didn’t seem as distraught at the idea as I am right now as I am being told to do it.
“I don’t give a fuck. I am giving you a direct order, Hawk.”
I squeeze the phone tighter in my hand.
“Get rid of the stripper, then report to Devereux in Austin by eight o’clock tonight.”
He hangs up the phone without giving me more time to argue. Not that I would’ve anyway. I have never not followed an order, and I am not about to start now.