Hawke
I walk Luisa to the dance floor when the song “The Blower’s Daughter” by Damien Rice comes on, and the words are exactly how I feel looking at Lu in that beautiful dress, hugging her curves. Her beauty is heart stopping. I can’t take my eyes off of you.
“Where are you taking me, Hawke?”
“To dance, baby. I need to have you in my arms.”
“You know how to dance?”
“Baby, there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
She smiles, and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in close. Her hands lock behind my neck, and her fingers play with the ends of my hair.
“Having a good time?” I ask, and she smiles.
“Being here in your arms is heaven.”
She’s fucking perfect.
Our bodies move in sync to the music, and I can’t help but think how perfect this moment is. Could I ever commit to a girl again? Marriage? If I did, Lu would definitely be the one. But I can’t commit to Lu, not until I know Josie is out of the way. She’s been calling me constantly, and I’ve been dismissing them. I shouldn’t have taken her home that night at Black Panthers. Now she thinks she can call me whenever she fucking wants to.
Speak of the devil, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I’m close to ignoring it but I need to fucking end this once and for all. Otherwise she’s going to keep calling.
“Give me a minute, baby. Need to answer this.”
Luisa looks at me, surprise clear on her beautiful face, and I hate myself right now. This woman means so much to me, and I don’t want to fuck things up. I need to get Josie off my back once and for all.
“Go, take it, I need to talk to Jasmine anyway.”
I lean in and kiss her forehead, her sweet scent filling my nostrils.
“Thanks, baby,” I say pulling back from her, and walk out of the marquee that’s been set up in Jasmine’s old man’s garden.
I look at the screen of my phone once I’m outside. It’s Josie, as I suspected.
A few of the club members are hanging around outside having a smoke, and give me a chin lift as I walk by them. I reply by doing the same, but move away where I’ll have some privacy. It’s dark out now, and I try and find somewhere out of earshot.
“What the fuck, Josie?” I growl through the phone when I finally answer.
“Hawke! Thank God!” Josie cries.
“I don’t have time for this shit. What the fuck do you want?”
“Please help me, Hawke—” Josie’s voice is cut off, and I hear muffled sounds coming through instead.
Then Josie’s voice is replaced by a male’s. “The almighty Hawke, glad you finally answered.”
“Who the fuck is this?” I yell into the phone. Whoever it is has a strong Colombian accent, and at the same time has me on edge.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. That’s right, we have not met, have we?”
“Who the fuck is this? I’m running out of patience.”
“I am the man that you and your precious club fucked! So now, I’m getting something back for what you stole from me.”
My gut clenches, and my hand squeezes my cell phone so tight I’m amazed it doesn’t shatter.
“I’m not going to ask you again. Who the fuck is this? And what do you want?” I begin to pace, and run my free hand through my hair.
Could it be? The accent is Colombian.
I stop pacing and whisper into the phone, “Santana?”
An evil laugh comes through the phone. It occurs to me they have Josie? What the fuck do they want with Josie?
“Hawke, you’re smarter than I thought. That’s right, it’s Santana.”
“What do you want?” I growl.
“I want you on a plane, and in New York tonight. Or else, Josie here will die a slow death,” he explains in his thick accent.
Santana is a drug lord, the head honcho of a syndicate that distributes into America from Colombia. Quill’s old man was his connection in the US, and now that he’s gone he’s coming for us.
“You’re the one who sent that fucking warning, aren’t you?” I question, looking around the garden to see if anyone is listening in on this conversation.
“Yes, that was me. I’m growing impatient here, Hawke. Either you get here tonight, or I will enjoy killing this señorita. But first I’m going to have me a taste, and then Nico, Emanual, and Javier will have their turn.”
I hear a scream, and know it’s Josie. She sounds terrified, like someone may be holding a knife or gun to her. “Hawke, please help me,” she cries out in the background. I pull at my hair as I kick a rock on the ground, my frustration and anger at the situation threatening to boil over.
“Don’t fucking touch her,” I growl into the handset. “She has nothing to do with this.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Hawke. She owes me money for the drugs she’s been stealing from me. So, I thought, how do you say it? Ah, I will kill two birds with one stone.”
How the fuck is Josie linked to all this? And stealing drugs form Santana?
“So, you’re going to leave your president’s wedding, and get your ass back here to New York tonight,” Santana continues. “I will be waiting, Hawke. And don’t even think of telling anyone. If I get word that you’ve mentioned this to your club, then she’s dead.”
Tonight? How the fuck will I explain leaving to Quill? And Lu? Fuck. Lu. What will she be thinking if I just up and leave?
“I don’t even know if there’s a plane back to New York tonight?” I’m trying to stall him, I need time to think about how I’m gonna handle this fucked-up situation.
“Ah, I’ve already organised my private jet to pick you up. It’s waiting for you at the airport.” Fuck! “Oh, and Hawke?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t think I don’t have eyes on you. I know your every move, and if you don’t do as I say, she will die tonight.”
I swallow hard. I know what has to be done. Josie doesn’t deserve to die. She may have chosen the wrong path to take but that doesn’t mean she has to die for this.
“I’ll be there,” I state and end the call.
I tuck my phone into my suit pocket, and begin to plan how the hell I’m going explain to Luisa that I need to leave all of a sudden.
“There you are.”
I stop in my tracks and look up. There she is, the very person I was going to see. “Hey, baby.”
“What’s wrong?” she asks, placing both hands on my chest.
I suck in a ragged breath. “Baby, I need to leave.”
“Now? You’ve got to be kidding me. What’s so urgent that you have to leave the wedding?” she asks, pushing me away from her and stepping back. I hate the look of disappointment on her face, and struggle to find the right words.
“Lu, listen. I have to go take care of club business. You need to trust me.”
She puffs out a breath. “You can’t be serious. Club business? You expect me to believe that? Has this got anything to do with your ex?”
The fact I’m not answering has her nodding her head. “You’re going to her? After everything we’ve just gone through because of that woman, you’re still running to her?”
I inch closer to Lu and grip the back of her head, bringing her in close to me again. “Listen, Lu. I don’t want to leave but she’s in trouble, she needs me.”
Luisa grabs hold of my wrist, removing my hand from her neck. “If you go to her, Hawke, we’re done.” Her eyes narrow and bore into mine, leaving no doubt she’s serious.
“Babe, please. When I get back I’ll explain, but right now I have to go. Her life is in my hands.”
She places her hands on her hips, and tears are on the verge of rolling down her face. She shakes her head. “Go to her, then,” she whispers, not looking at me but down at the ground.
“Babe, I knew you’d understand.”
The look she gives me conveys sadness, but something else. She roughly swipes away her tears, and straightens. “Goodbye, Hawke,” she says, and I see her take a deep breath.
I tilt her head by placing my finger under her chin, wanting her full attention. “I love you, Lu. I’ll be back, I promise.”
She doesn’t say anything, and her silence is killing me. She doesn’t even nod or reply to acknowledge she heard my words, just stares at me.
I lean in and kiss Lu, and still get no response. I cup the back of her head and swipe my tongue over the seam of her lips. She hesitantly opens her mouth, and I delve my tongue into it. I force her body closer to mine, but nothing changes, she’s not responding. I explore her mouth with my tongue but she doesn’t kiss me back. I pull away and fist her hair. “I love you, Luisa. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
“Just go,” she whispers not able to look up at me. Then quietly and without a last glance, she turns away and walks back to the marquee. She’s gone.
My heart squeezes and I feel winded, like someone just smashed their fist into my stomach. The way she just looked back at me, no emotion at all, that’s not the Luisa I know. God, I hope I haven’t fucked up, but right now I need to deal with this shit. Quill’s gonna kill me for not mentioning this to him but I have to put the club first, and if that means keeping this information from Quill, then so be it. It’s his wedding night, anyway, he’s gotta understand.
I need to go see Santana, see what he wants. I can’t take any chances by telling one of my brothers. Santana will kill Josie, I don’t doubt it. He doesn’t think twice when it comes to murdering people in cold blood. To him it’s just another day.
Josie may be in my past, but I need to get her out of this mess.