Chapter 9 #2
Satriano offers her a soft smile and takes it, bringing it to his lips for a sip. “Mmm. Just as I remembered it. Grazie, Angelina.” He inclines his head toward the table. “It was lovely to see you, ladies. Please give my best to the rest of the Hawkes and let them know I’m back in town.”
His gaze sweeps over each and every one of us, pausing on Gage for a second before he turns and walks out as casually as he walked in.
Satriano is the king of making veiled threats, of using simple pleasantries to prove his point, and that’s just what he did during the entire conversation.
Anyone seated around us in The Grind would have been completely oblivious to what was happening at our table, that we were seconds away from potentially exchanging gunfire with the man they undoubtedly all thought was incredibly stylish and handsome.
I watch the door close behind him, and our men on the sidewalk step back, giving him a wide berth.
He walks to the curb and climbs into the back of a black SUV that pulls away the moment he’s inside.
Gage’s hand slides fully across my shoulder, squeezing it tightly. “Who the fuck was that?”
“None of your business.”
“Bishop…”
I whip my head around and glare at him. “It’s none of your concern, Gage.”
Not now.
Not ever.
This is Hawke family business.
I look to all the girls, who all appear shaken—none more so than Astrid, who trembles in her chair. “We need to go. All of us.” Glancing over at Angie, I give her a tight smile. “Ang, shut down early. It’s time for a family meeting.”
* * *
GAGE
I tighten my grip on Bishop’s shoulder as she tries to stand, keeping her down in her seat. If I don’t make her stay for one second and explain what’s going on, she’s going to shut me out completely like she already attempted to more than once.
“Wait, Bishop. What the fuck just happened?”
She glances up at me, her eyes drifting to where my hand rests as if she’s debating physically removing it with force. “I suggest you take your hand off me, unless you want me to break your arm.”
Fuck.
The look she’s giving me tells me it isn’t an empty threat.
This isn’t the time to test that theory, either.
I slowly withdraw my hold on her as all the women at the table rise to their feet, murmuring to each other in hushed tones I can’t hear, but the panic and distress etched on their faces is unmistakable.
Angelina and Allie begin making their way around the café, letting the customers know they’re going to be closing down unexpectedly, while the rest of their cousins pull out their phones and start making calls.
“Who was that guy?”
Bishop pushes to her feet, only now pulling her hand from her gun. “None of your business.”
“Like hell it isn’t.”
I didn’t mean to say that so loudly, or for it to sound so possessive or so much like an order when Bishop isn’t the type of woman who appreciates them, but it’s too late to take it back now.
She glares at me, her tight jaw working, but I don’t back away, holding my ground and making it impossible for her to move from the table without physically moving me.
“It is my business if someone’s threatening you, Bishop.”
And what just went down was clearly a threat.
Under all the niceties and forced smiles—from everyone except Kennedy and Bishop—it was one of the most tense standoffs I’ve ever been a part of. And that’s saying a lot considering the ones I’ve had in my career.
Bishop’s fists tighten at her sides, her dark eyes carrying so many different emotions: hatred, annoyance, and a spark of something else I saw that night in the park that she doesn’t want to admit.
Fear.
“Are you in danger?”
She releases a huffed little laugh that carries no humor in it. “We’re always in danger, Gage. That’s the whole fucking point.”
“The point of what?”
“My job.” She throws up her hands. “Which you keep pointing out I spend too much time obsessing over. But that”—she points to the front door—“is why I have to do my job twenty-four-seven, because at any minute, a threat could just waltz through the fucking door.”
“Why didn’t you shoot him?”
She recoils slightly. “Are you fucking nuts? This is Angelina’s business.
And her boyfriend has one right across the street.
It’s already been blown up and shot to hell.
I’m not going to pull my gun in here and shoot that man just because I want to and he deserves it.
It would bring a whole hell of a lot worse down on us. ”
Worse.
Bishop is already walking the razor’s edge of burnout trying to protect her family.
The idea of worse makes me want to sweep in and take her away somewhere that she can’t be touched by any of it ever again. Where she never has to look over her shoulder or worry about protecting so many backs.
I watch the Hawke women cluster together at the counter with Angelina, whispering and glancing toward us and the street. The undercurrent of anxiety rolls off them as customers slowly file out, leaving the once-lively and happy place as quiet as a tomb.
It isn’t my place to intervene.
But I also can’t just walk away after witnessing that.
How the hell could I?
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I release a sigh. “So, what are you going to do?”
Bishop crosses her arms over her chest. “What do you mean?”
“I mean now.”
For a moment, it doesn’t look like she’s going to answer me, but she finally relaxes slightly and nods toward the girls. “Going to go meet with the rest of the family and figure out what the fuck to do next.”
“And push me away.”
Her brow furrows. “What?”
“You’re going to push me away even more now, right? Because you don’t want me involved in whatever the hell that was. You’re going to use it as an excuse to keep me at arm’s length like you were already doing because you were fucking scared.”
She opens and closes her mouth a few times, gaping at me, and maybe it isn’t the time or place to push her on this, but I can see the truth in her eyes even as she tries to lie through her teeth.
“I’m not pushing you away.”
“Bullshit.” I raise a brow. “You literally ran the other night.”
She squeezes her eyes closed for a second and shakes her head. “I don’t have time to have this argument with you right now.”
When she reopens her eyes, they hold renewed determination and she pushes at my chest to move me out of the way. Of course, I could stand my ground and challenge her further, refuse to budge an inch the same way she is, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere. Certainly not where I want to be with her.
I allow her to push me back a few steps, giving her space to move around the table and over to her family. She whispers something to them, and Angelina locks the front door, staring out across the street toward the book shop.
“I have to call and let Jude know what happened…”
The fear and worry in her voice make it crack slightly, and Bishop walks over to her and wraps an arm around her back, urging her away from the front windows.
And now that they’re all together, they close ranks completely.
Shutting me out.
Preventing me from hearing what any of them are saying as several of them text or whisper on their phones.
It feels like a massive intrusion watching them handle their family business, but even worse, witnessing their panic and fear and not being able to do something about it makes me feel useless in a way I haven’t in a long time.
I scrub my hands over my face and shove them back through my hair.
Fuck this.
Of all the stupid things I’ve done in my life, stalking over to Bishop right now might be at the top of the list, but I do it anyway and grab her arm, tugging her away from the girls.
“Let me help you.”
There isn’t any way to keep the plea from my voice. No way to hide how desperately I need her to say yes.
She locks her gaze with me, holding it steady. “You don’t want to be a part of this fight, Gage.”
“You’ve seen me in the ring. I like to fight.”
That’s one thing she absolutely should have learned about me in the brief time we’ve known each other.
I will not back down from a challenge or a threat.
Bishop shakes her head, sending her braids flying over her shoulders with the sheer force of how hard she does it. “This isn’t about wanting to fight, it’s about needing to, and that’s a totally different thing. You don’t need to.”
“I’ve been in more firefights than you can count. I’ve taken bullets and been blown up on two different continents…”
She recoils slightly at my confession, but I’m not telling her this to brag or try to somehow get her to feel sorry for me. I’m telling her so she understands that I won’t just walk away from this.
“I’m not afraid of the danger, Bishop, but I am afraid that eventually it’s going to crush you; this need to be the one who solves the problem and protects everyone. It’s going to get you killed.”
Her jaw hardens, and she wears the same look she did the other night before she left me alone on that blanket, but Astrid steps over to us.
“Sorry to butt in to what is clearly a private conversation, but maybe he’s right, Bishop.”
Her head rolls toward her cousin. “What?”
Astrid shrugs. “Maybe you should consider bringing him in to meet your dad and Gabe. To join the security team.”
Bishop doesn’t even take a second to consider the suggestion. “He has a job.”
Her cousin glances at me. “What do you do?”
“I’m a mechanic, but I own my own shop. I make my own hours. If you need help, let me help.”
For the love of God, let me help.
I may not be able to convince Bishop on my own, but with Astrid standing right here, clearly on board with bringing me into the fold, it has to be harder for her to say no.
Bishop weighs the options for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t like it.”
I dip my head low, close to her ear, so Astrid won’t be privy to what I’m about to say to her.
“Of course you don’t, because it means you’re going to have to be around me even more, but put that aside and think about your family.
Think about what having someone else who’s trained and skilled on your team could do for you. ”
It’s the best argument I can make.
Simple.
Straight to the point.
And maybe a little underhanded to suggest that not bringing me on would negatively affect her ability to protect her family.
But at this point, I’m willing to say whatever I need to in order to get Bishop to listen to reason.
I know the second she concedes because her shoulders slump slightly.
“This is a maybe.” She holds up a finger. “And don’t get any ideas about what it means beyond that.” Meaning us. “I’ll take you to meet my father and everyone else and they’ll check you out and make their decision about you.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m an open book. And it feels like you’ve already made your decision about me and it’s to cut me out.”
Her mouth opens and closes, like she’s not sure how to respond when her cousins are standing within ear shot. Instead, she just shakes her head. “We’re not doing this now.” She motions to the girls. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
She holds up her phone. “Emergency family meeting. And I’m warning you, this is going to be tense.”
“I can handle tense.”
Her brow furrows. “Are you sure?”
“I handled you, didn’t I?”
The heat that flares in her gaze almost overpowers the glower she tosses my way before she brushes past me, intentionally bumping her shoulder into mine.
I can’t fight a smirk that Kennedy, Jack, Astrid, and Allie all return as they brush past me to follow Bishop out the back of The Grind.
They know I won that battle, but it feels like the war is only just beginning.