“You think you’re so special, but he’ll throw you away, just like he did me,” she slurred. “Why couldn’t you have just left my family alone?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, you crazy bitch?” I asked, hoping someone from inside heard what was going on.
“You took my family, and I want them back,” she cried, and I carefully lifted the gun, pointing it directly at her.
She finally saw it, so I raised my arm as I stood from the table and walked closer to her. Fear was winning as she stepped back in response to each of my steps closer. I wasn’t going to ever let her near my kids again. And make no mistake, Matthew and Anna were as much mine as Hailey was.
“You threw your family away for drugs and anonymous sex, you stupid bitch. No one’s heard from you in over a year, and now, all of the sudden, you think you can change your mind?” I yelled as I shook my head and continued to step closer. “You think I’m ever going to let you get your hands on those sweet babies, ever again?” Another step closer and another step by her backward. “What makes you think Colton will ever want you back after hurting those kids?” I stepped closer again, and she had nowhere else to retreat. Her back hit a pillar on the second pavilion as I lifted the gun to the center of her face. “What makes you think I’m going to let you take my man and my kids from me?”
“I just want my family,” she started to cry as she lowered her head and sobbed into her hands.
The gun she was holding was dangling from a finger, and I needed to secure it to make sure she didn’t shoot me or herself. I reached out and took the gun from her hand as she made a vain attempt to disarm me. Using the handle of my gun, I cracked her on the side of the head, and she crumpled to the ground.
“Hawk,” someone yelled from the open rollup door. Moments later, I heard heavy boots running toward us.
Colton ran up and saw his ex-wife lying on the ground, barely conscious, and carefully, he took the gun from me and leveled it on her. Kissing me on the side of the head, he pulled me close to his side as he asked, “Are you okay, darlin’?”
“I’m fine, but if you don’t get this cunt out of here right now, I swear, I will kill her.”
“I’ll handle her. She’ll never be a problem to us ever again. Why don’t you go inside and let Sadie make you something to eat while I take care of this?” he suggested, and reluctantly, I agreed.
I wanted to be the one to kill her for what she’d done to not only me but Carla, Matthew, and Anna, Colton, and who knows who else. But I wouldn’t let her tainted blood touch me. She was Colton’s mess to clean up, so I kissed him on the cheek before I turned and walked through the gathering Death Hounds. They parted like the red sea as I walked back to the clubhouse, most nodding or lifting their chins in a sign of respect.
Sadie met me and ushered me into the dining room. Hailey, Matthew, Anna, Carla, and Zeus were waiting for me, and I sat down at the table with them. Jacob and Skid were standing guard over us as Sadie made us all plates, insisting we eat something.
I took small bites as I watched the kids eat. Uncertainty was still coursing through me, but I did learn one thing tonight.
No matter who they were, I would never let anyone hurt any of my kids again. And after tonight, Carla was mine, too, and I would protect her with everything I had.
She didn’t deserve what she’d lived through, even if she hadn’t given us her story yet. The old ladies of the Death Hounds would take her in, like they did so many, and give her a safe place to heal.
Afterall, that’s what they did for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for this group of leather-bound angels.
Chapter 43
Hawk
