Chapter 11
Hawk
When I woke up, Katarina wasn’t in my room. From the look of the sheets, she had slept there, at least for a little while. The pillow next to me smelled like her. It was some kind of floral smell, but I had no clue what. Just that she smelled really good.
The white dress wasn’t in the bathroom, either, so I assumed she’d gone to her room to get dressed for the day. Petrov said he’d have the bulk of her things shipped to us so hopefully she had a few days worth of clothes set aside to take with us.
I was ready to get back to the clubhouse. My end of the deal was done with Petrov and I didn’t want to spend any more time in Jersey than necessary. Plus, Eagle and a few of the others were heading to Florida soon for a little trip and Katarina needed to get settled before everyone left.
Once I’d managed to shower, finally figuring out how to work it, I finished up in the bathroom, packed up my things, and went to find my wife.
She wasn’t my woman, and definitely not my Old Lady.
But she was my wife. I almost felt sorry for her.
She looked like a deer in headlights all day yesterday and the only person I knew that was as tightly wound as her was Penny.
I couldn’t be sure if it was the situation or me that had her walking around like a corpse yesterday, but either way, I wasn’t about to wet my cock in her for the sake of her father’s weird ass rules.
At some point it would happen, but I’d never had to take a woman against her will and I wasn’t starting now.
If I had been a weaker man, maybe I would have tried to warm her up to me, because there was no denying she was insanely sexy.
I’d had a semi most of the day and it calmed down once I’d made up my mind I wasn’t fucking her last night, but when she walked out of the bathroom in that fucking getup, of course I got rock hard.
It went down fast enough seeing her still stiff and unsure.
But the little white, silk panties she had on gave away that she was at least physically ready to take me.
Thinking of that little scrap of fabric with an obvious wet spot clinging to her apex made for a nice rub-off in the shower. I’d wondered if her juices smelled and tasted as good as her neck. Even though I didn’t intend to fall for her, she was my wife, and I’d be finding that out soon enough.
But, she needed to be comfortable with me at least. I’d get to know her a little, and she could get to know me enough. Coming from the family she did, she’d understand the life. What she didn’t know about MCs, she’d learn over time.
For now, I was a stranger to her and she was thrust into my lap, literally, by the only family she had.
This wasn’t a love connection, but hopefully over time it would be an amenable pairing.
While she was out of sorts yesterday, with good reason, the first time we met definitely proved she was anything but timid.
Carrying my bag, I headed to her room and her door was open. Poking my head in, I looked around. The bathroom door was open so I walked in and looked around. She wasn’t there. Her wedding dress was draped over a chair and plastic containers were stacked against a wall.
She must have packed up her personal items because the room was bare besides the furniture and the pale blue bedding. It smelled like her, though. I really liked that smell.
After heading downstairs, I went outside to secure my shit in the saddlebag and have a smoke. Hearing the door, I turned and grinned. Maybe it wasn’t a love match, but I couldn’t complain about my wife. She was fucking gorgeous.
Katarina came down the steps with two mugs. “Good morning. How’s your hand?” she asked as she passed me a mug.
“Thank you. It’s fine.” Looking into the mug, I nodded.
“Mama Hen said you took it black.”
Sipping the delicious coffee, I answered. “Yep. And this coffee is delicious.”
“It’s the kind we use at the restaurant. I’ll have some sent to our home.”
“The clubhouse,” I corrected.
“Don’t we have a separate home?” she asked, more curious than anything.
“We do,” I said as I blew smoke out, then flicked the cherry off my cigarette. “It doesn’t look like this, though.”
She shrugged. “This isn’t mine, it’s my father’s. I have nothing.”
Stepping closer, I put my hand on her shoulder. “That’s not true. You have a house, a club, and a husband.”
Specks of gold shimmered in her deep brown eyes as she looked up at me. “So a club is what it’s called?” she asked, curiosity in her tone. “I have a club no more than my mother had a Bratva.”
“That may be true.” I sipped my coffee. “But you do have a husband and a house. And because you’re mine, you have my protection and anything you need. And I am the club.”
She sipped her coffee, a slight blush hitting her cheeks.
I hadn’t seen a woman truly blush in a long time.
I didn’t obsess over innocent women. In fact, I don’t even know what I’d do with one.
I wasn’t sure she was untouched and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
And the fact that I was unsure about that perplexed me.
“Breakfast is waiting. I was told we are leaving today.”
“Yeah. Need to get back to the clubhouse. Your things will be shipped soon. Do you have any luggage?”
“Theo already put it in the car.”
“Let’s eat then so we can get moving.”
I was ready to be home. Everyone had a good night’s rest so I decided we’d make the whole way, only stopping to top off our tanks and let the ladies stretch their legs a bit. We weren’t moving inventory so we could stay on the highway the whole way, and it would save a little time.
Katarina had taken the first leg in the SUV with Ma, and she went inside at the gas station when we stopped in Virginia.
It was still bright out and was getting close to rush hour so the gas station was busy.
I followed her in, then waited for her after I was done in the bathroom.
She grabbed a diet soda and a candy bar, so I went with her to the counter.
She pulled out a card, but I already had cash out.
The cashier nervously looked between us, so I set my jaw and dropped the cash. “I’ll take this and I need $3o on pump three. Keep the change,” I gritted.
She grabbed her items and I motioned for her to walk ahead of me, opening the door as we headed out. I lit up a smoke, taking a few drags on the sidewalk.
“I have my own money,” she said as she twisted the cap of her drink, the carbonation hissing.
“I thought you had nothing?” I mocked.
She stared hard, probably fighting an eyeroll if she was as much like Penny as I thought. “I’m sure you know I have a trust fund and I get a certain percentage each year. I got a bonus for marrying you.” The look on her face after the first sip of her soda did something to me.
I took a final drag and jammed the cigarette into the sand on top of the trash can then motioned for her to head back to the gas pumps. “We don’t like to use cards. Plus, what’s mine is yours, right?”
Credit and debit cards left a fingerprint, a trail. There were a lot of people at the wedding I wasn’t familiar with. I could never be too careful. I started filling the tank as she stood against the concrete beam.
She smirked. “Well, how am I going to get things I need?”
“You tell me what you need,” I answered as I topped off my gas tank.
Mama Hen was finishing up at the pump, and it looked like everyone was back outside.
“Very well,” she said before she turned.
Her ass sure looked good in her jeans. And they hugged her thighs. She was short but she had to have worked out a lot. She was toned with thick thighs and pronounced muscles but a nice, curvy shape. I thought about those thighs wrapped around me and almost offered for her to ride with me.
But instead I clenched my jaw and let her return to the SUV. It was still a long ride. And I wasn’t ready to have her on the bike. I just wanted to feel her body against mine. Instead, I checked in with my brothers, then we mounted up and headed home.
We rode through the remaining six hours.
Besides all the shit with the Hellbound Heathens, trying to find Pa’s killer and the trafficking ring, and settling in as the national president, I now had a wife to add to the mix.
On top of all that shit, this other mafia family may have an issue with me having her.
She had to get rid of her phone, and we had to move her funds somewhere else. There was a lot to be done once we returned.
Even with the racing thoughts of all of that, visions of her in her fancy little underwear from last night kept flashing through my mind. And that damn scent was burnt into my nose or something.
Maybe my mind wandering to her over and over wasn’t terrible because before I knew it, we were making the turn onto our long driveway to the clubhouse. It was dark out and the night air was cool. The tree lined drive was a balm to my soul.
Torches lit the grounds as we made it to the clearing and the clubhouse came into view.
As I parked my Harley, I pulled my helmet off and hung it from the handlebar.
Running my hands over my hair, I put it back into place.
I drew in a huge breath and blew it out, the cool air crystalizing it like a plume of smoke.
“Home sweet home, Prez,” Eagle said.
Falcon stretched as he climbed off his bike. “Thank fuck we’re back where it’s normal.”
Rooster waved at us and jogged toward the SUV. Looking over, Kristie jumped from the SUV and he scooped her up.
The other ladies climbed out, stretching and going to grab their bags. I grabbed my own bag and then walked over to the back of the SUV, dropping my duffle inside.
“Ma, just leave this here for now. I’ll drive it over in a bit and help with your bags.”
Ma climbed out then asked, “Aren’t you gonna take her home?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, “Yeah Ma, but we all need to piss, I need to feed her, and she needs to meet everyone. If it pleases you, I’m taking her to the clubhouse first.”
Katarina said, “I could use some food and a ladies room.”
Shiv said, “You and me both. Let’s go, new friend,” as she threw her arm over Katarina’s shoulders and guided her inside.
At least they were all getting along.
Everyone started to file inside and I was behind Shiv and Katarina. Shiv said, “Follow me,” and her arm fell from Katarina’s shoulders before she stepped through the door.
Katarina was right behind her, and I wasn’t far behind when a huge palm landed on her plump ass.
Before I could grab the arm that belonged to that hand and break it, Katarina’s hand had grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and swept his feet from under him.
In just seconds, she had him on his belly with his arm bent behind his back.
Chaos erupted and Squatch tried to pull Katarina off the other guy, but I was already on them, my hand at Squatch’s throat.
I refused to let go, pushing him until he fell back onto a table as bottles shattered on the floor.
“Don’t touch her,” I gritted as chairs fell and women squealed, moving away from us.
He put his hands up, his lips in a hard line. The idiot member on the floor, Rod, was still running his mouth. With one last squeeze to his jugular, I pushed Squatch away as my officers cleared everyone else away from her. I grabbed Katarina by the arm and lifted her up.
Shoving her toward him, I barked,“Rooster, take her to Church.”
She didn’t seem rattled but she did jerk her arm from my grip, and didn’t protest when Rooster waved her to the door that led down the hall.
Leaning down, I grabbed Rod’s collar and pulled him up. He looked over his shoulder, his jaw tight.
I got close to his ear and said, “You touch my wife again, it’s the last time you’ll have hands.”
“Sorry Prez, I didn’t know you had a wife.”
Shoving Rod down and stepping over him, I looked at Ma. “We need food. I’ll be back shortly.”
She grinned but said, “Alright.”
The other ladies moved but looked stunned. Hell, I was stunned. How did this woman who maybe topped at one-forty just floor a two-hundred and fifty pound man?