CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

“A monster laughed, and her heart was full.” - Gia

 

He found his girl with her brother in a huddle in the office room out back of the club. Voices hushed. “What the fuck is wrong with everyone out there? They all stared at me like I’m wearing a dress.”

One look at Gia’s wild eyes and he knew something was wrong. He took her face in his hands, ready to slay dragons, lock her in a safe room where nothing else could put fear into her. And then the pensive stare from Rider, his gut tightened.

Every instinct he had started to roar. Hooking a hand around the back of her neck he had no intention of letting her go, instead he brought her in and let her find her place next to his ribs.

“Okay. Who’s gonna tell me? Is your dad causing trouble?”

“No, baby. I want you to listen, okay?”

“Are you hurt? Who the fuck am I killing?” She was his everything. He didn’t fucking care if that made him weak.

She smiled at him and laid a hand on his cheek. “I’m good. I love you. Come and sit down with me?”

He eyed his Prez. Unreadable.

“If we’re having an intervention, little bit, you already know I’m a stubborn bastard.” As he roamed a finger under the bangs of her hair to better see her worry filled eyes he thought back to when Rider was bombarding public affection on his girl not so long ago and Hawk had watched incredulously that his prez would do that and not give a fuck who saw him doing it.

Now he got it.

Making sure his Gia was okay came before anything. Even catching shit from his mocking boys. They took a seat.

Now he was fucking worried. “Just tell me.”

“Okay.” He watched her wring her hands and it looked like she’d been crying.

 “The issue with your … with Lisette no longer matters. She’s gone and isn’t coming back to bother you again.”

Not what he expected. “Did you pay her off?”

“I had to do something, Colton. You were breaking apart because of her. You couldn’t have a life because of her.” Tears filled beautiful blue eyes. He swiped a thumb under and caught one. She leaned into his hand, holding it to her cheek.

“I …”

Rider took over and was straight forward as Hawk knew him to be. “We had her killed, Hawk. It’s done. If you’re gonna blow up and blame someone, then blame me. The decision landed on me.”

“No, it was not, Ambrosio. I brought it to him. It was me. This is on me.”

The only woman he’d cared about sat at his side worrying her nude lip with her teeth, looking at him with expectant eyes waiting for him to blow up.

When all he felt was relief pooling through the front of his belly.

She was gone.

Thank fuck was his immediate and truthfully, cruel thought. Thank fuck.

 “I had to do something, Colton. You are mine. We take care of our own. Marinos’ take care of our own, Colton,” she said more fiercely as if she anticipated an argument out of him but what his little bit didn’t know, and even as Rider watched him carefully waiting for any ticks to alert his boss he was about to go fucking nuclear, was; Hawk was so damn relieved. So damn grateful someone had taken this out of his tired hands.

He couldn’t speak. His tongue was too slack in his mouth, his throat thick.

His head dropped over his hands. He inhaled and exhaled.

They’d done something he’d never been able to do.

Thank fuck.

Emotion attacked his throat. And for the first time probably since he was a kid he wanted to lay his head down and dissolve into tears.

It was over. Finally.

His girl was still talking, rushed and panicked. “If someone hurt me, you’d hurt them back, right? Because I’m yours to protect. The same goes, Colton. I couldn’t stand this hurting you another second longer.”

He wouldn’t just hurt that person. He’d annihilate anyone who lay a finger on his Gia. Being his universe, the breath in his lungs and the tick of his heart, he was willing to do anything for her, to protect her, to make her happy that shit went without saying.

His girl loved him. Jesus. What she’d done for him. She loved him.

“Who?” He asked of Rider, lifting his head. He could guess. It would have been Hawk had it been for anyone else. “The enforcer?” Rider nodded.

Good. That was good. Fuck. He owed that bastard a bottle of 30-year aged Glenglassaugh.

Exhaling, he grabbed Gia’s fingers, bringing them to his mouth. “You shouldn’t have, little bit. I didn’t want that staining you.”

Flinging herself at him, he caught her easily and plastered their fronts together. His face found her hair. “Oh, baby. We just love you so, so much. I would do it again.”

“Maybe Gia loves you the most, bro.” Cut in Rider dryly.

Yeah, she did, he was starting to believe it. Hawk twitched a smile when Gia scolded. “Not the time for semantics, Ambrosio. Of course, I love Colton the most! I’ve been telling you that for weeks.”

Rider bickered at his sister.

Gia bickered right back.

A smile crept up on his face.

Those Marinos’ were something else.

A bolder sat on his chest in awareness.

They were his family. Trusted. Loyal. steadfast.

Fuck. Hadn’t this proved it more than anything else could? No one, absolutely no one else on earth would have gone to such risks as to rid Hawk of his wound for good.

No one ever cared enough about him to do what he hadn’t been able to do no matter how much he wanted to.

He took a few shuddering breaths while those two argued it out before he turned, still with Gia in his arms and his hand in her hair.

He met the eyes of his oldest friend. His savior in a lot of fucking ways. The man he trusted with his life. With the life of his woman. Two decades worth of memories past between them. Hawk simply held out his hand for Rider to clasp. “Thank you, brother.”

Not just for this, he realized.

For every day of his life Rider wouldn’t let him give in to his demons.

The Marinos siblings saved him in so many ways.

Rider gave him freedom.

Family came in many colors. Sometimes the strongest bonds had no shared blood whatsoever. Family didn’t mean what gash you slid out of, it’s who’s there, day or night when you need them. The club, his oldest friend, his boys and his perfect girl all with a hand in dragging Hawk through his darkness.

Gia gave him the chance at a life worth living not only existing in his own tortured skin. A life he looked forward to every single day. Because of her. All because of his Gia. And she gave him the opportunity to do better to deserve her.

He’d fight every single day to keep on deserving her.

Rider clasped his hand, smacking it with his free one and half smiled.

Gia sniffled against his neck, her arms nearly choking him. Fuck, he loved her touch. “Oh, my sweet man. It’s gonna be all okay now.”

His heart had never known true love before, and Gia was the one to show him.

“Sweet?” Rider snorted. “Think she’s got the wrong person.” He smirked at Hawk. Bastard. “That’s my cue to get the fuck gone.” But was stopped in the doorway by Lawless. “Good, you’re both here.” He said and when Hawk dropped Gia back to her feet he arched his brows.

More fucking surprises?

What was it, his birthday? Keeping his Gia up against his side he let Lawless come to him.

“You’re gonna want to see this, brother. It makes for … interesting reading.” Said Law handing him a folded sheet of paper.

Interesting? Hawk was … not knocked sideways often as a normal person would be when his brain tried to make sense of the birth certificate stating his father Xavier Abaddon the paragon of shithood and a woman’s name he didn’t recognize were parents to Kyle Williams.

“Is this for real?” He asked passing it to Rider to look over.

“Seems to be. There’s a few more too. Looks like you got siblings galore, big brother.” Smirked the club’s enforcer and resident kitten whisper. And just like that, a dam broke beneath his skin, Hawk began to laugh.

And laugh hard doubled over with his hands braced to his knees.

Hades. That cocksucker. Kyle fucking Williams. One of the nastiest cockroaches to walk the earth and who’d plagued their MC for years … was his half-brother.

And Hawk had slaughtered him to death in an alleyway and then burned his body to ash.

If that wasn’t divine justice coming to pass he didn’t know what was.

“What? What’s going on?” He caught the love of his life asking in between his bouts of laughing while the others looked on like he’d dropped a deuce in the middle of the floor.

Hawk was too busy chuckling like a deviant to answer. He’d tell her everything later.

Now he felt good.

He grabbed Gia in a bone crushing embrace inhaling the sweetness of her scent. The scent he could only dream about, now he was able to bathe in it, in her.

He wanted to love her so fucking hard.

He was free.