“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. “There are plenty of people around here that aren’t your biggest fans…” he trailed off and dropped the water bottle onto the floor next to his feet. Destiny watched with agony as it spilled out across the dirty ground. She swallowed again, trying to make her mouth moist.
“I know,” she said. “And I don’t blame them.”
“So you don’t deny your involvement in what happened at Red X?” he said angrily as he sat forward and his features were caught by the light again. She had been right about the stubble. He had a fine dark smattering across the bottom half of his face.
“No,” she said. “But it’s not what you all think… I never wanted any of it to happen…”
She felt the tears rising within her again. She wanted to tell him so badly about how she had been forced into it all, but she knew at this stage there was no way that he would possibly believe her.
“Well,” he said. “I guess that’s what you’re here for…” he trailed off as he got to his feet and stretched.
“What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.
“I mean,” he turned and stared down at her, “Some people seem to believe your innocence.”
Destiny felt herself tense up. Someone was on her side?
“What?” she asked with disbelief.
“It’s not all enemies you have here,” he concluded. “There may be hope for you yet.” He smiled at her and she felt herself relax, even if it was just for the briefest of moments.
He sat back down on the chair and faced her. She was still crouched in the corner, flat against the wall and on the filthy mattress, but she knew she wasn’t in any immediate danger. Whoever had brought her here, could have killed her by now if that’s what they truly had in mind.
She looked at him. He was handsome in a way she could only ever imagine to exist. He had Hollywood looks. He wasn’t as rough and rugged as some of the other bikers she had met in her time in both towns. He was tall, broad, muscular and tanned, but even with his stubble there was a softer edge to him. He didn’t seem as wild and feral as some of the other men. It was as if he had been brought up properly and had only stumbled into that way of life by accident. He seemed more relatable to her than Lev ever had.
She turned her eyes back to the floor, worried that she was staring at him too much, but she simply couldn’t look away.
She could feel his eyes on her too… She felt them gloss over her… She felt him take in every inch of her quivering body as she sat there timid as a mouse and completely at his mercy. He could have done anything to her and she wouldn’t have been able to stop him, and that’s how she knew that he wasn’t at all like Levitt. He was a different breed… and more of a man than Lev could ever be.
She rubbed her hands down her arms and tried to make herself warm.
“You look like shit,” he said to her. “Are you thirsty?”
She nodded shyly and he got to his feet, picked up the water bottle and marched to the back of the basement. Destiny hadn’t noticed it before but there was a sink right in the corner, not far from the furnace, and she watched as he turned on the faucet and filled the bottle to the brim.
“Here,” he said as he walked back over to her.
She took the bottle from him with both hands and as she brought it to her lips she sipped greedily. The feeling of the water spilling into her was the most incredible release from being dehydrated and dry. She relished every moment and looked up at him with adoring eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He nodded and sat back down on the chair in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m Hawk,” he said finally after a long pause. “They’ve sent me here to look after you.”
7.
Hawk. His name rattled around her head like an echo. He bent forward and rested his elbows on his knees and brought his fingers in a peak up to his chin. As her eyes took him in again, she could see the edge of a winged tattoo peeking out from the neckline of his t-shirt.
Maybe she had got him wrong… Maybe he was just like all the others.
“What do you mean, look after me?” she asked, feeling brave.
“I mean I’m here to make sure none of the members of this charter who are out for your blood come down here and rip you to shreds,” he said with a snort of amusement. “You have a lot of enemies here…” he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, “But as I said before, you also have a few friends left.”
“Why have I been brought here?” she asked. “If it’s not to kill me… what is the reason?”
“Pay back,” he said matter of factly. “The Iron Riders have really fucked us over… And now it’s our turn to shake things up their end… Get under their skin… Make them suffer…” he trailed off and looked past Destiny as if he was thinking of something in particular.
“Well I hate to disappoint you,” she said. “But I don’t think taking me away is going to have the desired effect.”
“Aren’t you Lev’s woman?” Hawk asked with confusion.
“I suppose you could call it that,” Destiny rolled her eyes and lay back against the mattress. Just the mention of his name was bringing her migraine back, and she really didn’t want to talk about him.
“Elaborate,” Hawk said as he pulled the chair forward, closer to her. It screeched across the floor and the sound made her wince.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” she whispered. “But the whole thing… the accident at Red X… me being there in the first place… all of it was them. I didn’t want to do any of it…”
“Go on…” Hawk raised his eyebrows.
She didn’t know even where to begin without it just sounding as if she was trying to offload an excuse. How could she explain how she had been broken down by the men of Ironhill and scared into acting as their puppet… Hawk, being as strong as he clearly was, surely couldn’t and wouldn’t understand what it was like being a woman in this kind of situation.
“I met Lev when I arrived in Ironhill,” she said as she looked across at him. “I thought he was great at first… but it wasn’t long after he managed to convince me to move into their clubhouse that he started to change.”
Hawk snorted as if he knew the scenario all too well. He nodded and urged her to continue.
“He treated me like a slave, and then so did the others… I was like a maid to them all… but then things started to get worse.”
She swallowed and blinked back tears as the memories came flooding back.
“He kept me there like a prisoner… And he knew how to scare me… I haven’t had a life of my own since I met Levitt… I’ve become a ghost of the person I used to be.”
She felt the tears roll down her cheek and she noticed that Hawk was looking at her sympathetically.
“But you still did their dirty work?” he asked.
“All I did was what they forced me to do,” Destiny said with a shrug. “They told me I had to apply for the job at the club, make sure I got it, and then feed back any information that may be of an advantage.”
Hawk snorted and clicked his teeth. He clearly didn’t like that admission.
“But,” she continued. “I never did… I never did tell them anything… I knew deep down that I’m not that person. I was so afraid of them, but I made friends here in Slate Springs… I cared about the girls at the club… Hell I even cared about Marv. I had no idea what the Iron Riders wanted to know, but I was sure I wasn’t going to tell them…”
“But you told them Tanner was going to be at Red X with Marv on the night he was killed?” Hawk said with a snarl.
Destiny shook her head.
“No,” she said. “I didn’t.”
She watched him for a moment, letting it sink in to him that she was as lost in all of this as he was.
“I didn’t know the Iron Riders were coming that night… and I certainly didn’t know Tanner was going to be there.”
“So you didn’t pass
back any information?” Hawk asked sternly.
“Not one thing,” she admitted. “All I did was work there and give them lame pieces of info about how pervy Marv was and about how he didn’t have much clue about running a business.”
“So how did they get in?” he asked.
Destiny looked down at the floor and sighed.
“I left the back door unlocked by accident… But I swear, I didn’t do it on any orders and I didn’t do it as a betrayal… I had no idea what the Iron Riders wanted me there for, and I sure as hell didn’t know anyone was going to end up dead. I’ve gotten myself mixed up in all of this somehow and all I want is to get out…”
“And what happened afterwards?” he was on his feet and pacing up and down the basement.
“I knew I couldn’t come back here,” she said. “I knew I couldn’t run to anyone in Slate Springs… I didn’t know any of the Forsaken Riders well enough, and Candy had just disappeared… She was the only person I felt like I could trust, but she was nowhere to be found.”
Hawk nodded and studied her from his vantage point. She could tell that he was listening to her and considering everything she was telling him. She just hoped to God that he believed her.
“And Lev?” he asked.
“He’s brutal,” she shook her head and shuddered. “He’s been beating on me and keeping me isolated for months now. My life hasn’t been my own.”
“How come you were out today wandering around town if that’s the case?” he looked proud of himself, as if he had just found a huge flaw in her story.
“He passed out drunk and I made a run for it… Like I said, I have nowhere else to go… If I could have come and sought refuge here, I would have done it. But I knew that no one would believe me and that the people of this town wanted me dead.”
She started to cry and she pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her head between them. She couldn’t bear to look at him. Going back over all of this was too painful and raw, even after six long months.
“Okay,” Hawk said with a hint of compassion. “Don’t get upset.”
Destiny wiped her eyes, but she was still shaking. All of this was too much for her to stand.
“Try to stay calm,” he said. “I’m here to listen to what you have to say… And I do believe you.”
“You do?” she looked up at him, just hoping he was telling the truth.
“Yes,” he said. “I do… Because I know what the men of Ironhill are like… and I know what can happen when you get caught up with men like Levitt Cleveland.”
Destiny nodded in agreement. Hawk really had no idea how evil Lev could be.
“I’m going to get you some warm clothes,” he said as he turned to face her and backed towards the door. “I don’t think it’s fair you be down here freezing like this… It’s not exactly the nicest of places.”
She didn’t know what to say. This certainly hadn’t been the welcome she had been expecting from one of the Forsaken Riders. She smiled and nodded her head, and then he started to climb the staircase that led towards the main body of the house.
When the door opened and he stepped up and out she could feel a blast of warm air filter down behind him and the scent of cooking. She must have been near the kitchen and her stomach started to churn with hunger. She dug her hands into her sides and willed herself to forget about things such as food, and instead reached for the bottle of water and took another long sip.
She couldn’t tell exactly how long Hawk was gone for, but she estimated at around twenty minutes, when suddenly the door opened and a stretch of light appeared down the stairs. She held her breath, hoping that it was him and not someone else, and she sighed with relief when she saw the scuffed bottom of his jeans and his muscular frame come into view.
“Here,” he said. “It’s not exactly ideal, but these will have to do for now…”
He handed her a big oversized sweater that she guessed had to be one of his own. She pulled it close to her and put it on over her head. The inside was cozy and warm and she smiled at him and thanked him.
“Honestly, you have no idea how good this feels,” she said as she nuzzled into it, the heat slowly returning back to her frozen limbs. She breathed the scent of the sweater in deeply. It was a mix of cologne and bike oil.
Hawk bent down and handed her a big pair of socks and some sweat pants. Destiny slipped her skinny legs into them and pulled them up to her hips. They were massive on her and he laughed as she stood there with them hanging low.
“Wow,” he joked. “Looks good.”
Destiny felt herself blushing. She had no idea why he was being so nice to her… she certainly wasn’t used to men, especially bikers, treating her with any kind of care and respect. It was almost overwhelming.
She sat back down on the mattress and fiddled with her hands. The silence between them was overbearing and although she wanted to ask him a million questions and get to know him better, she was aware that this was not a regular situation…
She was his prisoner.
He was holding her captive.
When she put it in perspective like that she felt a rush of excitement flood through her. Even though she had been kidnapped, this felt nothing like it had when she was being bossed around and dominated by Lev… Being holed up with Hawk in the damp, dark basement was turning her on. She felt her desire for him growing with each passing second and knew that there was a connection between them that had been instantaneous. She had felt it the second she had seen him, and she was starting to think that he had felt it too.
“King and Steel hate me,” she whispered.
“They’re just misinformed,” Hawk said. “But they’re slowly coming round.”
Destiny felt the lump in her throat slowly start to evaporate. Maybe everything would be okay after all? Maybe she would be forgiven and they would listen to her side… Maybe Slate Springs could be her home…
There was a noise from the top of the stairs and she jumped backwards against the wall. The handle turned slowly and Hawk looked up to see who was entering the basement.
Footsteps started slowly down the stairs and Destiny didn’t dare breathe… Who was she going to be confronted with? And would they be as understanding as Hawk?
8.
The clip, clip of heels filtered down into the basement and Destiny waited with baited breath. She was shaking, terrified of who could be coming to meet her and unsure as to whether this would mean that her stay at the Forsaken Riders’ clubhouse was about to take an unwelcome turn.
The sparkling glitter of heels came into sight and Destiny felt her whole body relax. She would recognize those shoes anywhere.
It was Candy.
As Candy stepped down the last step and stood in front of her, Destiny wanted nothing more than to run across to her long lost friend, wrap her arms around her and hug her tight… But from the scowl on Candy’s face, she knew that she couldn’t.
“Destiny,” she whispered as she stepped even closer. “I can’t believe it’s actually you.”
“C… Candy…” she stammered, but Candy held her hand up to silence her.
“No,” she said. “Don’t speak…”
She looked down at Destiny with what looked like spite and sadness and she could see the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
“Why?” she finally managed to croak. “Why did you do that to us… why did you do that to me?”
“I didn’t…” Destiny started to cry. “Honestly you have to believe me… I didn’t feed any information back to the Iron Riders, even though my life depended on it… I’ve always been loyal to you, I promise…” Destiny felt defeated and she slumped down into the mattress. Her headaches were starting to rage again, and even though she felt like she had just offloaded six months’ worth of frustration and pain, she was still nowhere near being healed.
“It’s okay,” Candy whispered. “I do believe you…”
Destiny looked up and their eyes met. Candy had been like a sister
to her all that time ago, and they had formed a close bond, even if it was based on stripping and working late nights and knocking back shots of vodka. Destiny had always held Candy in high regard.
“When everything happened,” Candy began, “I told Steel from the beginning that it can’t have been true that you would have screwed us over like that… I knew that there must have been something going on, something deeper… I was afraid for you.”
Destiny blinked and two fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
“So, I arranged to have someone surveilling you and the Iron Riders for the past few months…we had to see what was happening over there… and it turns out my hunch was correct…”
Destiny couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I saw how they all treated you… Especially him…” Candy’s lip curled into a sneer. “He’s vile… I knew I had to get you out of there.”
Hawk got to his feet and stood beside Candy, his arms folded across his chest.
“The girl I saw back in Ironhill, she wasn’t the Destiny I worked with at Red X… she was broken… bruised and flat…” Candy soothed. “I begged Steel to go and get you and he said for me, just this once, he would try to put things right.”
“Thank you,” Destiny cried. She had no idea what to say other than that… How could she ever repay Candy for saving her like this?
“I knew something wasn’t right… I knew you couldn’t screw us all over like that. I’m a good judge of character, and the second everyone tried to pin this on you, I knew they were wrong.”
[Runes of Argyl 01.0] The Runes of Argyl Trilogy Page 116
