As long as Gracie didn’t find out about it, that is. She was all about having her own independence. She hadn’t wanted him to pay for her law school, so he—along with Bash and Uncle Jack—had gotten the Club’s lawyer to sponsor her. In other words, they were paying him to pay her and had started an account speci
fically for her tuition. If she ever found out about it, I pitied my brother. Hawk was going to have a lot to be sorry for if she did find out. Not that I wouldn’t have done the same.
“Here, at least take this to go.” Raven handed her a biscuit that had some bacon on it. “I’ll bring you some lunch later if you want.”
“I’ll do it,” Hawk told them and wrapped his arms around Gracie’s little waist before dropping his head to brush his lips over hers. “Drive safe. Jenkins can suck it if he get’s upset you’re a few minutes late.”
“I’m already an hour late, Hawk.” She pulled away and ran her fingers through her hair yet again. “Stop keeping me up all night,” she mumbled with a blush.
Hawk laughed. “I’m not going to promise anything, babe.” Another smack of his lips on hers and Gracie was practically running out the door.
Flick had been watching the two. When the back door shut behind Gracie, and Hawk’s old car purred to life in the driveway, Flick glanced over at Colt. “She works for Jenkins?”
“Yup.”
“But…” She broke off, shaking her head. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
“Damn right it isn’t,” Hawk growled from across the table.
I kicked at his chair. “Cool it.”
Hawk shot me a glare before turning his eyes on Flick. “Yes, Gracie works for Jenkins. She’s his protégée, he’s her mentor. When she passes the bar she’s going to take over his practice.”
“So who’s paying for that? You forget that I know Jenkins, Hawk. He doesn’t have a generous bone in his body. So who’s paying for it? You or the Club?”
“Me.” He answered with a frosty bite to his tone that I wanted to punch him in the face for using with my female. Whatever his past feelings for Flick, he needed to bury that shit, and fast. I wasn’t going to have Flick feeling unwanted by anyone, especially Hawk.
A gasp from the back door had all our heads snapping up. Gracie stood in the doorway, her eyes already filling up with tears. Watching my brother and Flick had distracted me and I’d forgotten about the rumbling car out in the driveway, so I hadn’t questioned when it hadn’t pulled away. I grimaced as she swallowed hard and looked down at the small package in her hands. “I found this out by the bikes. It’s addressed to you, Hawk… I thought it was something important and didn’t want you to miss it.”
She set the package down by the door and quietly backed away. Hawk muttered something vicious under his breath but it was so low I didn’t catch what it was. His chair scrapped noisily across the floor as he jumped to his feet and rushed after her. “Gracie!”
Colt stood just as the tires of the car outside squealed, and went over to where the small brown package sat on the floor by the door. “There wasn’t a package out there when I came in earlier,” he muttered to himself. “Matt, did you see it?”
“No, man.”
Colt didn’t touch the package, but crouched down to take a better look at it. The look on his face made my blood run cold as I watched him pale. He stood and practically ran over to the table where he scooped a sleepy-eyed Lexa up in his arms. “Everybody out of the fucking house,” he barked, his green eyes wild. “It’s from the Italians.”
Everyone in the kitchen went still, including myself. It took a few seconds before we realized just what Colt had said. The package was from the Italians. We knew a lot of Italians. We had an alliance with a certain family whose major location was New York, but they were rivals with another family who were mainly based out of Southern California. A family that was just as bad as the Irish when it came to blowing shit up.
“Fuck,” I heard Bash growl at the same time that one word left my own mouth. I reached across the table and grabbed Flick’s arm instinctively. I pulled her around and against my side. With Max still held in her arms I tucked them both close against me to shield them, and we ran out of the house through the living room so we didn’t have to pass the package.
Fear mixed with rage like I’d never experienced before in my life choked me and I held Flick against me as tight as I could while still allowing her to walk. My instinct was to just pick her up and carry her out, but she had the baby and I didn’t want to risk her dropping Max.
Bash had Raven, and Matt was right behind them. Outside, Colt had Lexa still in his arms as he stood on the sidewalk, a phone to his ear as he barked out orders. “Come get the kids and the women. Take them to the clubhouse… What?” Colt snapped as I reached him and his eyes narrowed as he listened to whoever he was listening to on the other end. “Fucking motherfuckers. Okay. Okay. Just let me think, man. We need to check the place out so we can get everyone on lockdown.”
I felt Flick tremble but when I chanced a look down at her, she was smiling reassuringly for the baby to keep him calm. She’d always been strong, the kind of woman a man like me needed to have his back. Why the fuck had I let her go in the first damn place?
Bash was beside my youngest brother in a flash, Raven tucked against him. “More packages?” His voice was nearly animalistic. His face was pale and there was a savage rage in his eyes that made me glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of it.
Colt lowered the phone. “At the clubhouse. Raider just found it by the front door. We can’t take them to the Bar, and who the hell knows where else they would send this shit.”
“Stop cussing in front of the kids,” Raven scolded, taking Lexa from Colt’s arms. “You know she repeats everything you say.”
“Sorry. I’m a little upset here, honey.” Colt pressed a kiss to Lexa’s forehead. “Walk down to Spider and Willa’s, okay?” His eyes found mine. “Go with them?”
I nodded and tucked Flick closer against me. It was only natural that I be the one to take the kids, Raven, and Flick down the street to the enforcer’s house. The rest were Club, something I wasn’t anymore. Right then I wanted to be a part of the MC again more than I had any other day during the last year. I had no control over what was going to happen next, and I needed that fucking control.
Still holding onto Flick’s arm, I took Raven’s in my free hand. She clung to Bash for another second before she let him go, and shifting Lexa more comfortably in her arms, went willingly with me.