Three
Hawk
I held my breath, waiting for her to answer me, and as soon as she said yes, it felt like I could breathe for the first time. “Alright darlin. Let’s head inside and we can talk more about it later.”
I’m out of the truck and opening her door faster than she can move, surprising her.
A pretty blush spreads across her face, and I chuckle under my breath.
I gently pick her up. Her scent is intoxicating; she smells of vanilla and something that’s uniquely her.
Not being able to help myself, I slide her down my body, hearing the sharp intake of breath, knowing she’s just as affected as I am.
She looks up at me with her beautiful, innocent blue eyes that hold so many secrets.
I can’t wait to find out each and every one of them.
I take her hand and steer her toward the clubhouse.
Before we left her apartment, I made a call to Blade to let him know we were coming.
Her uncle is as good as dead for putting hands on her.
She should have been taken care of, not living the way she was.
As soon as I saw her apartment, I wanted to hunt that bastard down and teach him a lesson.
Avianna deserved to be treated like the queen ?she is.
That’s okay because I now have time to convince her how good we could have it. She will be my ole lady, my queen.
I open the door to the clubhouse and can feel the slight shake of Avianna’s hand in mine. I look down at her to see her taking it all in. “It’s going to be okay, darlin.”
She looks at me, nodding her head as we both hear a loud squeal enough to make my eardrums bleed.
Avianna whips her head around, and a massive smile overtakes her face as we both see Bailey running her way.
Bailey throws herself at Avianna, and I brace her back before they both fall over.
I watch the exchange with a smile. I know Avianna helped Bailey when she was living on the streets.
She would feed her and looked out for her when she could.
“Avianna, I'm so happy to see you.” Bailey gives her a big smile. Bailey has come such a long way.
Avianna gives her a genuine smile. “You look so good, Bailey. I’m so happy that you found your forever family. You deserve all the happiness.”
Bailey looks over at my hand in Avianna’s and gets a smirk on her face. “Are you and Uncle Hawk together?”
I chuckle at the deer in the headlights look as she opens and closes her mouth, not knowing how to answer that. “Yeah, Bailey, B. Avianna and I are together.”
Bailey squeals loudly and jumps up and down. “Yay!?”
Just then Madison comes over, pulling an excited Bailey to her side. “Alright, Bailey, let Avianna breathe. We will have plenty of time to talk to her afterwards. Hi Avianna, it’s good to see you.”
“You as well.” Avianna whispers, and I know she’s a little overwhelmed by all the attention. Lord knows we are a loud bunch, especially to someone who isn’t used to it.
So I take her hand in mine, giving her a squeeze, letting her know it’s going to be okay. “Alright, we are going to head on back. Are the guys waiting?”
Madison gives me a knowing look and smiles. “Yeah, they are waiting for you.” Madison turns back to Avianna and pulls her into a hug, which surprises her. I don’t think she’s used to physical contact. “We will talk soon. It’s going to be okay.”
I pull Avianna with me down the hall, reaching the door to church and turn to her before heading inside.
“I know telling your story isn’t going to be easy, but I want you to know that we are here for you and none of us are going to judge you. Each of us has gone through our own struggles in life, so we aren’t strangers to hardship. You're safe with us, with me. Always.”
She looks at me, and I mean, really looks at me, the kind where it hits your soul as if she’s searching for something, and the moment she finds it, she smiles. “Thank you, Hawk, that means a lot.”
I push open the door to see all my brothers already waiting for us.
Avianna’s hand trembles in mine slightly but holds her head high.
Each man has a smile on their face trying to look less intimidating.
Avianna has seen each of them come into the diner, but we are an intimidating bunch in one room.
I walk towards the two open chairs and help her sit.
She feels too far away, so I pull her closer, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by my brothers.
They all know Avianna is mine. Soon she will wear my cut so every fucker in town knows.
“Avianna, it's good to see you. Hawk tells us you're having problems with your uncle. Why don’t you start from the beginning and tell us what’s going on?” Blade says, giving her an encouraging smile.
Avianna looks over at me, and I nod my head. She grabs a hold of my hand and holds on for dear life. She doesn’t look at any one thing as she sinks back into a time she would rather forget.
“Uncle Jamie wasn’t always so mean and abusive. He was the fun uncle who would take me to the park and play dolls with me. My dad and his family came from money, and he was my dad’s younger brother. He was really flashy with his money, brand new cars every month, lavish trips,
just anything to make himself look important. I don’t remember a time when he actually worked. My parents died when I was ten. The police stated that someone cut their brakes, causing their car to go over an embankment; they died instantly. I found that out years later.
Uncle Jamile played the role of guardian well. He took me in and treated me like his own. At first, everything seemed normal, but after two months, everything changed. He started drinking heavily, yelling at me for the littlest things.
He would leave bruises that others couldn’t see and told me if I told anyone that he would kill me. I pushed all my friends away because I didn’t want them involved in my home life, so I was all alone. As I got older, I would find an excuse not to come home if I could help it.
Taking extra courses and when I was able to get a part-time job, he would take half of my pay as well, telling me I had to earn my keep if I wanted to keep living in the house. Which I didn’t understand because he had money, or so I thought. One night, he had his creepy friends over and got drunk,
and I overheard them talking about how he blew through his inheritance years ago and was banking on what my parents’ death would give him. This month, on my twenty-first birthday, I'll inherit everything. When the will was read, I guess Uncle Jamie didn’t like it as he would not get any money,
so he and his friends devised a plan to kill me and make it look like an accident right after my birthday. You know the sad girl who lost her parents and just couldn’t cope with life. That same night I took my belongings and what little money I had saved, and I left.
Today was the first time I’ve seen my uncle in over a year. My birthday is in four days, and now that he knows where I am, he will stop at nothing to kill me.”
With each word she speaks, my anger ramps up tenfold.
Jamie is as good as dead. He’s not going to see it coming, and when I get through with him, there will be nothing left.
I knew I should have just killed the fucker in the diner.
That’s on me, and I won’t be making that mistake again.
The table is quiet; the others just as pissed off as I am.
I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but I need to know.
“Avianna, did they ever find out who cut the brake lines on your parents’ car?” She looks at me with tears swimming in her eyes, breaking my heart.
She clears her throat and looks down at the table.
“Uncle Jamie has loose lips when he’s drinking and was bragging about it with his friends. I was devastated. How could he kill his own family over money? If he had asked dad he would have helped him. I confronted him the next morning about it,
which was the wrong thing to do because he threatened my life and decided as punishment that he was going to lock me in my room for a week without food. I never spoke of it again until now.”
I turn her chair around and pull her into my chest. I can feel her body trembling, reliving her worst nightmares. “I promise you, Avianna, we will fix this, and your uncle will pay for what he’s done.” As she tries to hold herself together, I wipe the tear that has fallen down her face.
“Hawk is right, you are now under our protection, and we take care of our own,” Blade says as the others nod their heads, giving her a smile.
She looks at each man sitting around the table who’s willing to fight her battles for her and offers them a small smile. “Thank you. I don't know how I will be able to repay you for your generosity.”
“There’s no need, and by you taking over for Hailey with the accounting, that’s more than enough. Lord knows I can’t get my woman to sit still long enough to relax, so it's you who's doing me a favor. I will have Hawk bring you by tomorrow so you can sit with Hailey and she can show you the ropes.
How does that sound?”
Avianna gives her first genuine smile since coming in here, and it makes my shoulders relax at seeing it. “That sounds perfect.”
“Good, now that’s settled. I just have one more question to ask, and then you can go relax. I know today has been a hard one for you, so I don’t want to keep you. Would it be okay to look into your family? I have a feeling we are dealing with a lot more when it comes to your uncle.
I just want to make sure we are prepared for anything. Anything Crow finds will stay within these walls no one else has to know.”
Blade asks, and I know that look. It’s the same one I have.
Something isn't adding up with the uncle, and we want to know why.
“Um, yeah, that’s fine with me if you think it would help. My parent’s names are Sean and Sadie Quinn. Mom's last name was O’Feeney before she married my dad, if that helps.”
My body stiffens at hearing the last name O’Feeney. There’s no way it’s the same one I’m thinking of, and by the looks on the guys’ faces, they are thinking the same thing.
Crow clears his throat, breaking the silence. “I will get right on this.”
“Thank you. Just whatever you find, please let me know. I know it won’t bring my parents back, but at least this way I will have some closure.”
“I promise, darlin whatever we find, I will share it with you. I won’t keep you in the dark about this.”
It kills me to say that because all I want to do is protect her from any type of harm, but I know she deserves to know.
She gives me a smile and I will take it because I have a feeling the next few days are going to be a shit show.
If my suspicions are right, her mom’s past might just bite us in the ass.
But I will be damned if I let anyone hurt my Avianna again.
They will have to go through me to get to her.