Chapter Three
Della
Sleep evaded me, so when the front door was thrown open hitting the wall, I was up out of bed and running down the hall to see what was going on. It didn’t even register it could be dangerous since I’d felt safe with the Hawks MC. Thankfully, when I made it into the living room, I saw it was only Lissa and a fuming Dallas.
“Tiny, wait here. Do not open the door for anyone but me, and I mean no one, not even a brother.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, my hand sliding to my throat. Dallas’s urgency had the hairs on the back of my neck rising.
“Strip club was hit. Gotta get there to help the brothers out.”
A gasp escaped me. I’d heard Handle did security at one. Had he been working?
“W-was everyone okay?”
“A brother was shot.” Before I could question who, Dallas’s hand came up. “It wasn’t Handle.”
My heart was in my throat. “A-are you sure?” I whispered, gaining Lissa’s eyes from her man. Right then I didn’t care what they saw from me. Fear was choking me from the thought of something happening to Handle.
“Yeah, darlin’,” Dallas said gently, so very unlike him. I must have looked crazed. “Promise it wasn’t Handle. It was Muff.”
Nodding, I folded my arms around my churning stomach. Anyone being harmed was terrible, but just the thought of it being Handle scared the life out of me. My reaction confused the hell out of me, but there it was.
Melissa reached for her man. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she pulled him down to her height for a kiss. “Get back soon, babe.”
“Will. Do not open that door, woman.”
She stepped back, saluted him, and then winked. His reply was an eye-roll before stalking back out the front door. Lissa quickly locked up and armed the alarm again. She turned to me and gave me a soft smile. “You okay?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Della?”
Sighing, I walked further into the living room and sat on the couch. Lissa came over and took the spot next to me. “It… I don’t know, Lissa. I really don’t know. I was worried about Handle.”
“I saw.” She nodded.
“Why would I worry about him?”
“I’m not sure, honey.”
She knew, as well as I did, I was worried because I cared for the infuriating man. Only I refused to admit it aloud. I was grateful Lissa was playing along with me, though. I didn’t want to talk about it anyway.
“Hey, I’m going to stay up and wait for Dallas to come back. Want to keep me company? We could watch a movie, eat popcorn, and stuff ourselves with chocolate.”
Appreciating the obvious change of subject, I grinned. “That sounds good.”
“Great, you pick a movie and I’ll get the snacks.” She bounced up off the couch and made her way into the kitchen. I went over to the cabinet of DVDs. Something light was in order. It took a little time, but I finally picked Baywatch. It always brought a laugh out of me. Plus, there was also Dwayne Johnson to ogle over. I’d managed to get it in the player by the time Lissa walked in carrying in one hand two blocks of chocolate, the other a bowl of freshly popped popcorn, and two sodas under her arm. She sat them on the coffee table in front of the couch and then grabbed a phone from the back pocket of her jeans.
“Saw your phone flashing on the kitchen counter,” she explained and handed it to me.
Sitting down, I noticed I had a text waiting. Opening it, my breath caught.
“You okay?” Lissa asked.
Handle: I’m fine.
Murder was the first thought that popped into my head. I was going to kill Dallas. He must have said something to Handle for him to text me. We didn’t text. I had his number and he mine since back in Sydney, but we never texted each other.
“Della?”
Glancing to Lissa, I asked, “How fond are you of Dallas?”
Her brows shot down. “Why?” she drew out.
“Say I killed him, would you be devastated?”
“Hmm,” she mumbled, knowing I was messing around, but the thought did hold merit. “Let me think about that.” Leaning back on the couch, she put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. “He has a great body,” she started, turning her head my way. I smirked. She added, “And he’s great in bed. I think I kind of like him. So yes, I would be upset if you offed him.” Straightening, she asked around a mouthful of popcorn she’d just shoved in her mouth. “What did he do?”
Facing the text her way, her eyes widened, and then she coughed, nearly choking on the popcorn. I grabbed her soda, opened it, and passed it over. She took a swig, pounded her chest with her fist, and cleared her throat a couple of times. “I-I’ll kill him for you.”
Snorting, I said, “I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“Maybe just smother him with his pillow,” she thought aloud. “Or kill him with too much sex. At least then I’d get something out of it before he kicks the bucket.” She took another sip of her drink. “You going to text him back?”
I shrugged. What did I say back to that? What exactly did Dallas tell Handle? God, I couldn’t believe Dallas opened his big mouth. He probably said I looked freaked, which I maybe did, but Dallas didn’t have to convey that to Handle.
“What would I say?” I asked, staring down at my phone. His text.
“Hey, big man, how about you show me how fine you are after you finish doing what you’re doing?”
Slowly, I shifted my head sideways and just blinked at the woman beside me. Then we both started laughing.
“Or, glad you’re fine, sugar lips, but momma wants to double-check, so get your fine arse over here.”
Still laughing, I told her, “Oh, shit. That’s worse than the first.”
“You think of one then.”
Wiping at my eyes, I picked up the block of white chocolate, ripped it open and broke off a row. I then divided that into two lots. Placing one in my mouth, I thought it over.
“Okay, what about… I need to check how fine you are. The first time wasn’t enough—” I snapped my mouth shut and sucked a big breath through my nose. I watched Lissa sitting there gawking at me like I had two heads.
“You and Handle? When?”
Closing my eyes, I reached up and clasped the side of my neck. Opening my eyes, I glanced down at the coffee table and whispered, “Back in Sydney.”
“Della, honey,” Lissa said quietly. “Why?”
Tears welled in my eyes. “I thought if I took back control, took what I wanted with a man for a night, it would be good for me.”
“And was it, honey?”
Sighing, I admitted quietly, “He… he made it beautiful for me after so much ugly. In a way, it did help. The way he made me feel after so much torment, it’s something I’ll cherish because it showed me not all men are like… those others.”
“I’m glad he treated you well.”
I blinked away the tears and smiled softly. “A little too well.”
“You like him?”
“He’s… yeah, I think I do, but he also gets on my nerves.”
She laughed. “The best of them do. Dallas does with me at least twice a day. Are you going to do anything about it?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Why not?”
“It’s too, I don’t know. I need more time for me and to see if what I’m feeling isn’t only because of that one night or because I have some hero-worship thing going for him.”
“Have you booked in to see who Elina suggested?”
“Dr Robertson. Yes, I see her tomorrow.” And I was glad for it. Elina, after asking me, sent my files over to Margery Robertson, so she knew my history prior to our first appointment. I needed her to catch up, though. I had an urge to ask if what I was feeling for Handle was sane or not, or if I was hero worshiping him in some way, which would explain why I liked him as much as I did.
“Good. Now, let’s get this movie started. There’s nothing like hot men on TV while eating bad things for you to take your mind off other… things.”
Placing my phone down and grabbing more chocolate, which I sat on my tongue, I mumbled around it, “I have to agree.”
Lissa had been a godsend right from the start. One of the top hackers in Australia, she’d been willing to help me take down Jimmy for the death of my sister as soon as she’d heard my story and seen the evidence I had, even though it was slim at the time. And she did it all without payment. However, I regretted the day I got her involved as Jimmy had noticed her and forced her into marrying him so she could hack into the companies he wanted to take over. She only married him because of me, because he’d threatened my life. Lissa had been protective of me since the bond between us had already been made.
She was more than my friend. She was my sister, and I wasn’t saying that to replace Ashley in any way. You could never be replaceable, Ash. But with Lissa and me, there was a kindred connection that would never be undone until the day I died.
Halfway through the movie, I lost count of the times I’d looked at my phone. He wouldn’t text again, but I felt guilty for not responding, but I didn’t know what to say.
At the end of the movie, I picked up my phone, placed it on my knee, then put it on the couch before taking hold of it again until the credits rolled. Lissa was kind enough to not say anything when she noticed my movements, and she did notice, because I’d been jittery enough.
When we heard the door unlocking, Lissa quickly stood and faced that way, while I looked over the back of the couch.
Dallas strolled in. He looked tired and tense, his eyes to the floor, his mind somewhere else. So after he closed the door, locked it behind him and spotted us, he stopped dead.
“All good?” he asked.
“How did it go? Is Muff okay?” Lissa asked.
“He’s good, Tiny, just a graze to the arm. By the time I got there, he was patched up by Nurse.”
“Did you get the guy?” I asked.
His eyes hardened. That was answer enough for me. Still, he said, “No, the motherfucker got away.”
“Anyone else injured? Any of the girls?”
“A waitress got knocked around a bit while he was trying to take her out back.”
“Who?”
“Tiny, you don’t know her.”
“So? I can still know her name. She might need someone to talk to. Am I not a part of the Hawks family?” Her hands went to her hips.
“Fuck,” Dallas grumbled. “Yes, woman, you are. You fuckin’ know you are.” Lissa crossed her arms over her chest. Dallas sighed. “Her name’s Poppy. Though, after the way Fang acted, not sure you’ll have a chance to tend to her. He looked ready to kidnap her himself.”
“Interesting,” she muttered, her eyes came over to me.
“Tiny, do not get involved in their shit,” Dallas warned foolishly. He knew his woman would do what she wanted, as long as it didn’t cause anyone harm.
“I won’t.” She grinned a grin that said she certainly would. “By the way, we’ve got a bone to pick with you.”
“Christ,” he cursed low, ran a hand over his face, and added, “I’m beat. Gotta hit the sack.”
“Viking man,” Lissa snapped. He ignored her. Then on his giant feet, he came her way, picked her up while she ranted, and had her over his shoulder. She half-heartedly kicked and punched as he strode down the hall towards their room. Then he called back, “You good to shut shit down?”
“Got it,” I got out before I heard their door slam shut.
God, they were perfect for each other.
Shutting off the TV, I took our rubbish to the kitchen. After turning out the lights, I made my way down the hall using my phone to light the way. When the groaning and swearing started, I quickly picked up my headphones, plugged them into my phone, then placed them over my ears, and turned on my music. Slipping between the sheets, I once again opened Handle’s text and stared at it.
What do you think, Ash? Snorting, I knew what my sister would say: Hurry up already and text back. Biting my bottom lip, I sucked in some courage and sent back one word: Good.