was Hawk’s woman? I mean, he’s old enough to be her father, but I thought…” His words hang between us.
“I don’t know what they have together, but she ain’t branded, therefore ain’t his woman.”
Both of us are quiet as we wait for them. I watch a fancy as fuck BMW arrive, and grin at the sight of Hawk driving her car. When they get out, my smile falls immediately at the sight of Avah. Her head is dipped down, she’s got a huge pair of sunglasses on and an oversized sweatshirt pulled around her.
“C’mon,” she whispers.
We follow behind them, and my good mood is completely gone—it’s vanished. I feel like a piece of fucking shit. It didn’t bother me, the idea of her fucking some guy to get what we needed, to help us out. A whore does that, right? Fucks whoever she needs to for financial gain or any other type of gain.
It’s no big deal, right?
Right?
She disappears into the back of the apartment before I can even say a single word. Turning to Hawk, I lift a brow in question. He jerks his chin toward the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony.
Following him, I wait as Dutch closes the door behind him before I ask if everything is okay. He’s quiet for a moment, taking a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. “Wish I had something stronger, but I haven’t been out in a while to get supplies,” he murmurs.
I don’t remind him that we have so much goddamn pure product in the back of that pickup truck that we could probably end all of Los Angeles in a week. Instead, I wait for him to answer me, knowing that he has something to say, something that he doesn’t want Avah to hear.
“Thought she could do this and be good, thought that I could be good.”
“Shit,” I hiss. “We would have figured out another way, we could have.”
He opens his mouth, but it’s Avah who speaks. We all turn around, our eyes finding hers. I can’t stop the guilt from gathering in the pit of my stomach.
“There was no other way,” she whispers. “This was the only way. But this is the last time. Trista never belonged in this life. I pushed her into it, dangled all of the pretty pieces about it in front of her as a way to entice her because I was so alone. I brought her down to my level when she shouldn’t have ever been there, she’s so much better than I could ever be.”
“Avah,” Hawk rasps.
She shakes her head. “No, what happened today. This is nothing less than I deserve, and I was happy to do it for your club. This club that has come to mean so much to me. But I can’t do it again, please don’t ask me to.”
“Never,” Hawk announces. “Not fucking ever. Now, pack your shit and let’s go home.”
Avah gives a trembling smile. “I’m not going with you. I’m staying here, or maybe going somewhere else. I’ve given you all of Layne’s contacts. I’ve done what I promised. I need to just breathe for a while.”
I expect Hawk to demand she goes with us, but he doesn’t. Instead, I watch as he makes his way toward her. It feels too fucking intimate a moment for us to witness, but I can’t look away either.
Hawk wraps his hand around the back of her neck and tugs her head forward. He rests his forehead against her for a moment, whispering something to her, then he shifts his head down and kisses her.
When he breaks the kiss, he turns, his gaze finding mine. “Let’s get the fuck back to Arizona,” he growls.
“Let’s go home,” I rasp.
“Home,” he grunts.
I can tell it’s the very last thing he wants to do. He wants nothing more than to run after this woman. This girl half his age that he’s falling in deep with, this is not the end of their tale, I’m not a fucking fool and even I can see it written on both of their faces. Shit between them is about to get really fucking real—after they get their heads out of their asses of course.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
LEIGHTON
I want to ask Trista what the hell is up with this Jaguar guy, but I don’t. We’re too nervous to chat, or at least I am. I’ll ask her eventually. Right now, all I can think about is attempting to escape.
If we get caught, it’s game over.
We need