Hawke
I shake Santana’s hand, agreeing that I’ll speak to Quill about his offer. He’s promised if I don’t follow through, he will hunt Josie down and kill her, and my club. I don’t doubt him for a second, Santana has the means to do anything. He’s a well-protected man with connections everywhere, including the police. I just gotta figure out how to get out of this situation.
First things first, I need to go see Josie.
One of Santana’s men drops me at the clubhouse, and hands back my cell phone before speeding off. I check my messages and there’s one from Quill. Fuck. I’m gonna have to tell him something, or else he’ll kill me.
It’s quiet at the clubhouse, just the prospects onsite. Rhyder and Torch are at the gate, and open it up to let me in.
“Hawke, brother. What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the wedding?”
“I had something come up. I need a bike, give me your keys.”
Rhyder looks hesitant and I thrust my hand out to him. “Give it to me, fucker, I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Can’t you take the truck?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you disobeying your VP?” I say, snarling at him. “Remember who has influence in the decision about you becoming a member of this club.”
Rhyder smirks. “You ain’t Prez, brother.”
“Who do you think Prez asks when we vote in new members? Yeah, me motherfucker. So hand me your keys.”
Rhyder throws up his arms in defeat. “Okay, okay. Here, take it.”
He throws his keys at me and I catch them, walking off toward his bobber. I slide my legs over the seat and start up the motorcycle. It roars to life. Not a bad sounding engine. I rev the shit out of it, loving the look of panic on Rhyder’s face. He looks as if he’s gonna pass out. That’ll teach him to fuck with me. I take off at full speed, riding through the quiet suburban streets to Josie’s apartment.
Parking the bike, I slide off, march myself up to her building, and punch numbers into the intercom. I can’t believe I’m back here. Everything has been such a mess since the night I took her home from Black Panthers. It’ll teach me to not be such a kind-hearted fucker next time.
The gate opens and I race up the stairs two at a time. Fuck, I should have changed. My pants are starting to irritate the fuck out of me.
Just as I’m about to knock on Josie’s door, she opens up. She must have just got out of the shower, all wrapped up in a dressing gown and her hair wet. She’s been crying as well, her bloodshot eyes giving her away.
“Can I come in?” I ask hesitantly, not knowing if she’s open to what I have to offer her. She nods and opens the door wider for me to enter.
Once I’m inside she shuts it again. “Can I get you a beer?”
“Sure, I could do with one after the night I’ve had.” Josie smiles but it’s a brief one. She grabs a beer out of the fridge and hands it to me. I don’t miss the way her hands shake when she passes it to me. She rubs them down her thighs. “I can’t make them stop,” she explains as she shakes them in front of her.
“Let’s sit down, Josie. We need to talk.”
“I know.” She grabs what looks like a cup of tea off the kitchen bench, and walks over and takes a seat on the couch. I sit opposite not wanting to give her any kind of indication that this is anything more than a friendly chat.
She sighs, placing her mug on the coffee table. “Go on, say it, Reece. I know you’re dying to.”
I down my beer then place it on the table. “Listen, Josie. I’m not your fucking father, okay? I’m here because if I don’t try and help you, I’m gonna regret it.” I look over into her doe eyes, filled with tears. “I want to help you. Let me help you get better.”
Her eyes widen in surprise. “How do you suppose you help me, Reece?”
“I need you to trust me. If you want your life back, I need you to go into rehab.”
“No fucking way!” she shouts jumping up off the couch.
I stand up and storm around the coffee table to where she’s standing, grasping her shoulders in my hands. I know I’m probably squeezing a little too tightly but she needs to feel the pain, needs to know I’m serious.
“Ow, you’re hurting me, Reece,” she cries out, trying to break free of my hold.
I shake her. “Do you understand that you could have died tonight? Do you fucking have a death wish? Cheating Santana with his own drugs. Are you fucking crazy?” I growl, my face only inches away from hers.
She begins to cry, an ugly cry, tears everywhere. Her nose starts leaking, and she’s struggling to get a breath in.
I loosen my hold on Josie and let her fall to the couch. Reaching behind it I grab a tissue and hand it to her. She quietens down a little, but when I sit beside her she begins again, and this time on my shoulder. I rub the back of her head, trying to soothe her.
“I’m sorry, Reece, I’m so sorry. I never meant to get you involved in this. I didn’t even know he knew you.”
“Shush, that doesn’t matter right now,” I say as I hug her into my side. “What’s done is done. Now, I need you to come with me tonight, to the St. Jude’s Rehab Center.”
“Tonight?” Her head shoots up, and she looks me in the eye. “You can’t be serious. Not tonight?”
I cup her face in my hands. I need her to know I am serious. “If we don’t do this tonight, Josie, Santana will come after you. I can’t protect you. I need to know you’re safe, and St. Jude’s is miles away,” I explain as I place her hair behind her ear. “He won’t find you there, that’s a promise.”
“But… but… what if he does find me? Then what?”
“He won’t,” I growl. “I need to speak to my club about our next move, first thing tomorrow. You’ll be safe at St. Jude’s. Just promise me, Josie, you’ll stay there for as long as it takes. This is the last time I’m helping you, that’s my promise. Take it or leave it.”
Josie wipes away tears with her thumbs and inhales deeply. She looks down at her trembling hands, and whispers, “Okay.”
“What was that?” I ask even though I heard her clearly.
She looks up at me, a look of finality and defeat in her eyes. “Okay,” she repeats, “I’ll go. I’ll do it for you, Reece, only because I owe you that much.”
I shut my eyes, relief washing over me. After a moment I open them up again and look at her. “You won’t be sorry, Josie. Not only will you be safe, but you’ll get the help that you need.”
She looks away and nods. “I’ll go get my things.”
“Good. Don’t be long, just pack a few things you’ll need.”
Josie gets up off the couch and begins to walk to her room. She stops halfway and turns to face me. “You know, Reece, I never thought out of everyone in my life, you would be the one to save me. I need you to know that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for ever hurting you. You’re a good man, and you deserve to be happy and find a woman who deserves you.”
I smile. “I have, I’ve found that woman.”
She returns my smile and nods her head. “Okay, I’ll go get my things.”
While Josie’s packing I decide to make the call I’ve been dreading all night.
“Where the fuck are you, man?” Quill growls through the phone.
“I had to leave, I’ll explain everything to you when you’re back.”
“Don’t fucking give me this shit. I want to know now!”
“Quill, believe me, I need to talk to you in person.”
“Tomorrow, then.”
“Wait, what? Aren’t you going on your honeymoon to the beach house tomorrow?” I ask, pausing my nervous pacing.
“Yeah, that was the idea, but something tells me whatever you’re not telling me is important.”
He knows me too well. “Quill! Jasmine’s gonna break your balls if you don’t go away. She deserves a honeymoon, man.”
“I’m not saying she won’t get one. I’m just saying it’s gonna be a little delayed,” he explains. “She’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” I hear Jasmine ask in the background.
“Hey, babe, go back to bed. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“No, tell me now. I want to know.”
“Fucking hell, you’re already disobeying your husband. Wasn’t that one of your vows?”
I start to laugh, it’s started already.
“Hawke, brother, I gotta go deal with her.”
I chuckle. “Sure, brother, you go. Oh, and good luck.”
I hear a gasp, then a moan before the phone call ends.
“I’m ready,” Josie states coming out of her room.
“That was fast.” She’s already dressed, her bag in her hand. It’s small and looks like it would hardly fit anything in it.
I walk up to her and take it out of her hands. “You sure you got everything?”
She nods. “Yep, you told me to only grab the essentials.”
“Since when do you listen to me?”
“Since I realized you were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I fucked it up.”
I take a minute to look over her features, and clear my throat. I’m feeling a little uncomfortable so I change the subject. “Shall we?”
“Sure.”
She grabs her keys off the kitchen bench and we exit her apartment.
“I think we better take your car, it’s a long drive to be on the back of a motorcycle.”
“Okay. Here,” she says throwing her keys at me. “It’s not as if I’ll be needing it anyway. You drive.”
I catch them and walk over to her car, parked on the kerb near Rhyder’s bobber. I open the trunk and place her bag inside before unlocking the doors for us.
After dropping Josie off at St. Jude’s, I head back to her apartment to pick up Rhyder’s bike. Now that Josie’s out of the way I can concentrate on Santana, and protecting our club.
Josie didn’t fight me on going to rehab, in fact she shocked the hell out of me, how submissive she was about seeking help for her drug addiction. Maybe she just needed that extra push. Or someone to show they care.
Do I care?
I can’t answer my own fucking question. Josie was my world at one stage of my life. Surely it’s hard to just forget someone who meant that much to you, and move on? But I have, I’ve moved on and found a woman who deserves my love and protection.
Thoughts of Luisa consume me as I drive back to Josie’s apartment. She must be wondering where the hell I am. I want to call her and explain everything, but something tells me she’s not going to believe me anyway. God, I miss her. I hate that she doesn’t trust me. I guess I haven’t given her a reason to yet. I never told her about my past with Josie, and now she thinks I’ve gone back to her. I know how it looks, Luisa thinks I still love Josie. She couldn’t be any further from the actual truth. I love Luisa! She is it for me.
Shit, I need to get out of this fucking suit. It feels like a vise. I also need to get Rhyder’s bike back to him, and head over to the clubhouse to get some shut-eye before Quill turns up.
Quill’s coming back to New York to see what’s going on. I’ve been thinking about this as well on my drive from St. Jude’s. The best thing to do is tell Quill everything. I need to be honest with him, don’t want to lie to him. We need to work together as a club if we do decide to go to war with Santana. We’re going to need a lot of muscle, and me on my own ain’t gonna cut it.
I head back to the compound after swapping Josie’s car over to Rhyder’s bike, and park it next to Tate’s bike, remembering he was holding down the fort while we were away. Fuck, what a night. It’s now 5:00 a.m. Feeling tired is an understatement, I can barely keep my eyes open.
The clubhouse is quiet. Tate is asleep on the couch, some random club whore naked on top of him. Why the fuck they don’t take it back to a room, I have no clue. I make my way to the kitchen and grab some water from the fridge. Tugging at my shirt, I rip it open, finally feeling like I can breathe again. Making my way to my room, I check my phone again hoping Lu’s tried to call me. But no, nothing. I place my water on a side table before ripping off my shirt and falling onto the bed. Sleep soon claims me and I’m out like a light.