Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hawk

I had a white-knuckle grip on my bike as we pulled into the parking lot where Diesel had agreed to meet with Tomas, the leader of Los Ochos, and his number two, Cortez. This meeting was supposed to quash whatever beef still existed, but I had my doubts that was even possible.

"You okay?" Rocky asked when I killed my engine and just sat on my bike for a long moment.

"Nowhere fucking near okay, but I'm here." I pushed the words through gritted teeth and kept a tight rein on my emotions. "Let's get this shit over with."

"This has to be done," Rocky reminded me. "If we don't put an end to this shit, we'll have a war on our hands."

I laughed at that. "Seriously? These fuckers already went back on their word once and now we're supposed to believe whatever they promise us today? Fat fucking chance, but like I said, I'm here." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the rest of my brothers to assemble.

Diesel stopped a foot away from me. "We gonna have a problem, Hawk?"

"Nope. Just don't expect me to believe the bullshit."

Diesel nodded. "Do you want a war, Hawk?"

"It's not about what I want, it's about the shit they've been doing. Or are we all gonna pretend this shit is my fault?"

"You did claim Laura as yours," Rebel added with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah, fuck you." My fists tightened when Los Ochos rolled up about twenty deep in four brightly colored convertibles. I was tense and angry, but I clamped my jaw shut and kept it that way for as long as I could.

Tomas stepped forward, his eyes shielded with sunglasses. "Diesel, what is this meeting about?"

Diesel's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "It's about you going back on your fucking word," he said, and took a step forward. "I thought we had an agreement."

Cortez tossed his head back and let out a loud bark of laughter. "We did have an agreement when we thought your boy," he nodded in my direction, "was a fine upstanding criminal instead of a fucking snitch."

"You wanna say that shit to my face?" I took a few steps forward and got in front of Cortez. "Go on, say it again." He pushed me and I smiled because the jackass was pint-sized, and I didn't budge. At least not until I pulled my arm back and let my fist connect with his jaw. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

"What the fuck?" Tomas frowned as he glared at Diesel. "Get your dog under control."

"Who the fuck you callin' a dog?" I took a step towards Tomas and the punk backed up. "That's what I thought."

Diesel put a hand out to stop me from knocking someone else out and he stood in front of Tomas. "What the fuck do you mean he's a snitch?"

Cortez laughed and answered on behalf of his boss. "You don't know?" He laughed again and shook his head. "Everybody knows that your boy here is working for the cops."

"That's a fucking lie," I roared so loudly it made my throat hurt. "I don't work with any fucking cops. Not ever. You assholes started this rumor."

"Nah, man. We wouldn't dog you out like that. We gave you our word, which we kept until we heard about you tattling to the pigs."

I got back in Cortez's face. Blood pumped through my veins and my heart pounded furiously. "Who said that?"

He shrugged, playing coy. "I ain't no snitch."

"Famous last words." I gripped the fucker by his hair before I punched him in the goddamn nose. I punched him again and then two more times. "Who fucking told you that lie? If I'm gonna be accused of shit, I at least need to know who's doing it." He didn't answer fast enough, so I kept hitting him and asking the same fucking question. "Who?"

"Get your dog," Tomas shouted at Diesel.

"Give me a fucking answer," I shot back, "and he'll get to survive this beating."

I felt two sets of hands on my shoulders, and I tensed when they began pulling me off Cortez.

"Come on, man." Maverick was the voice of calm, but I wasn't in a particularly calm mood. "Let him go."

"Hawk!" Diesel said in his angry dad voice. "Let him go."

I did as I was instructed and let him fall to the parking lot with a grunt. "Happy?"

Cortez was bloodied and smashed and still he found a smile. "Don't matter no way, white boy. We don't do business with snitches, period. Your bitch is ours to do with as we please the moment we find her."

Those words hit me in a way I hadn't expected, and pure rage pulsed through my whole body. My vision blurred and the only sound I heard was my own damn blood rushing through my veins. "Then I guess it doesn't matter," I said eventually, and pulled away from Maverick and Rebel. "You should've kept your fucking mouth shut," I said to Tomas before I lifted my leg and brought my foot down on Cortez's face where it landed with a sickening crunch.

"That's your final answer?" Diesel folded his arms and stared at Tomas, waiting for him to respond.

Tomas shrugged. "We don't do business with snitches. Period."

"Then we don't have shit else to talk about." Diesel's words came out slowly. Deliberately. His gaze never left Tomas's face so that he knew that whatever came next was his doing. "See you around."