Chapter 18

Hawke

I slip inside the back door, walking through the kitchen and seeing heads turn toward me. They don’t say anything, though. They’re used to seeing me sneak in and out of places.

Getting back to work, the servers load trays, and I push through the next door, the rolling thunder of balls hitting pins filling the air.

I scan the bowling alley, spotting Aro’s “brothers”, sitting there bold as brass, right in the middle of our town.

Which one of them has been with her? No idea why I care, but all of a sudden, I do. She said she didn’t like sex. Did they not take their time with her? Did they take advantage of a kid when she needed a family?

Charging over, I pull my hood down, not caring who sees me. I swipe a chair from Hugo’s table, watching his gaze pop up, and I plant my ass down. “You’re on the wrong side of the river,” I say.

Axel swipes his phone off the table, but I level him a look. “Don’t bother texting Reeves,” I tell him. “I’m not staying.”

I spy the cameras positioned at each corner of the lanes and know there are more behind us. They know the cameras will see me. But they’ll see them too.

Hugo settles his gaze on me from across the table, and I look at his leather jacket that probably reeks of cigarettes and his dirty nails, but… I spot a larger version of Aro’s tattoo on his neck and know young women flock to him. Reeves got the perfect asshole to reel them in and get them to do what he wants. There’s no way Hugo kept his hands off her.

“It’ll cost a hundred-and-fifty thousand to pay for everything you destroyed,” he tells me, laying down the situation. “Not to mention the missing bag of money. We only found one in the trunk.”

I keep what I know about the second bag to myself.

“So, let’s say two-hundred-fifty thousand,” he states.

“Added a little interest on, did you?”

“Just a little.”

Yeah, their loss is maybe one-seventy. At best.

“You know this won’t go anywhere good,” I tell him. “Take the loss.”

Shelburne Falls may seem like a Hallmark village, but it wasn’t always like that. My family knows people, too. Jared’s popular, Madoc’s powerful, his father-in-law is more dangerous than Green Street, and my dad is scary smart.

“You don’t want our attention,” I remind him.

“And you want to go to college.” His eyes dance. “If you want a deal, I’ll need her back.”

I stare at him.

“He doesn’t want you,” Hugo tells me, and I assume he means Reeves. “I mean, he does, but he knows better. We’re well aware you’re untouchable. But I need my girl back.”

“She’s not your girl.”

“I’ve known her a lot longer than you,” he taunts. “I’m the reason she’s stayed fed the last three years. Aro is special. I have plans for her.”

“Oh, I know you do.”

“Don’t give me that look,” he fires back. “I’m sure she’s taken a bath by now, and you know what’s underneath those clothes.”

Axel breathes out a laugh, and I feel Nicholas shift in his seat.

Hugo leans forward, a gleam in his eyes. “Does it look as good as I think it does?”

Fire flows under my skin, but at the same time, I exhale a little. He hasn’t seen her. He hasn’t touched her.

When I don’t answer, that seems to be answer enough. “Then she’s safe,” he says in a smooth tone. “I’ll keep her for myself, if that’s the case. It’s time I started a family.”

I steel my spine.

“She’d be a great mother,” he continues. “It’s a good life for her. She’ll be taken care of, I promise.”

I rise, done with this conversation. She likes astronomy.

And if I have anything to say about it, she’s done raising kids until she’s damn well ready.

I start to leave, but I hear him behind me.

“Or…” he says, stopping me. “She can be yours and then she’s protected, too. No member of Green Street touches another member’s woman.”

What?

“Think about it.” His tone is soft and seductive. “The tattoo would look great on you.”

I walk away. Jesus.

So, I give her back or I claim her by putting that shit on my neck? I’m not doing either one.

I dive back into the kitchen and exit through the back door. Hitting the alley, I step just inside the rear door of the Chinese restaurant, in case they decide to follow me.

Dishes clank, someone is using a hose to spray them clean in the basin, and I wait just a minute before leaving through the front. Pulling up my hood, I circle back around to High Street and climb the fire escape.

She’s not my woman. That’s not what…

I reach the roof, pulling off my hood, and walk for the door.

We’re friends. Kind of funny how it happened, but I like her. She’s a good person—or wants to be—and I want to know what she can do someday. She deserves more.

But I’m going to college, she’s not. At least not yet. She’ll go her way, and I’ll go mine, and I hope she gets the life she wants, but we’ll lose track of each other. It happens, but it’s unrealistic to think this is more than it is.

We’re rivals who were forced to find common ground. It’ll be a cool story someday. Maybe I’ll run into her again, and we’ll laugh about this.

We’ll laugh, because it all ended up okay. Life worked out for her. She got out.

And I’ll turn out normal, hopefully.

I lean over and pull on the door, thinking about the years ahead.

College. Travel. Work.

A woman and my children.

And it takes a moment before I realize the door on the roof isn’t opening.