Hawk's Baby: Kings of Chaos MC

by Naomi West

  It could be possible. But it wouldn’t matter. He had legal custody of Damian. All the same he opened the door so she could enter. He gestured to the dining room table and told her to sit.

  She stood by the table, hesitating, looking from him to the door and around the house. “I want to see my baby. Where is he?”

  “No.” Hawk pulled out a chair and pointed. “First, you sit and explain. I was told his mother is dead. You’re going to have to convince me she’s not.”

  The woman took a deep breath and sat, but almost missed the chair. Hawk raised an eyebrow.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I just… I guess I’m so upset that I haven’t seen my baby in so long.”

  “And why haven’t you?” He crossed his again, not liking the way the woman seemed to be fidgeting non-stop. She kept looking around, too.

  “I was away. I needed some help. But I’m here now and I’m ready to be his mother. I’m a good mother. Hugh didn’t see that. He said I was dead to him, and he kicked me out. He wouldn’t let me see my baby. But now he’s gone, and Damian needs his mother.”

  “Away where? Why would Hugh tell everyone you were dead if you weren’t?”

  “He was mad at me. He didn’t want me doing drugs, and that’s where I was. I went to get help. I got help, and now I’m better. I’m clean and I’ve got a place. The only thing missing is my son.”

  “He was mad, so he told everyone you were dead?” Hawk narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t buying it.

  Her face softened. “Hawk. You know your brother’s temper. I wouldn’t do what he wanted for so long and he got sick of it. We had a huge fight and he said awful things to me. About how I wasn’t a good mother and I would never be if I was high all the time. Well, he was right. But I’m better now. I want to see my baby. Please, can I see him?”

  She stood and held onto the table as she inched around it. Hawk stood, too, and got in her path. She was probably high now. Too flighty, too unstable, too fidgety to be straight. If she was his mother, she hadn’t cleaned up her act at all.

  “I don’t believe you. Something isn’t right, here. What you’re saying about Hugh isn’t true at all. He didn’t have a temper. In fact, I thought he should have kicked out Damian’s mother long before he did. She was good for nothing.”

  She thought for a moment, then said, “Did you go to the funeral?”

  Hawk thought about lying. He hadn’t gone to the funeral. Neither had Hugh or Damian. She didn’t have much of one. Her mother showed up and her sister from what he’d heard. She’d screwed over everyone by the end of her short life. No one wanted to say goodbye. Hugh preferred to remember her how she was when he first met her. Healthy and vibrant.

  “Yes,” Hawk said.

  She smirked. “No, you didn’t. You don’t have to lie to me. It’s sweet, though.” She smiled and blinked her lashes at him. “I’m glad you’ve been taking such good care of my baby. You want to protect him. You make a great father.” She reached out and put her hand on his chest. “With you as a father and me as a mother, Damian could have a great life.”

  She leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his. It took him a moment to realize what was going on and he pushed her back forcefully.

  “What the hell?” It was a woman’s voice, angry and stunned.

  Hawk’s head snapped to the left, to where Alexa stood in the hall, watching them.

  “I’m gone for a few hours, and you hook up with someone else?” Alexa said, almost shrieking. Her lower lip shook.

  Hawk’s heart lurched. “What? No!” He pushed the woman back and took off after Alexa, who was storming toward the door.

  He almost ran outside after her, then thought better of it. There was no way he could leave this strange woman alone with the baby. He stomped back over to “Jessica” and grabbed her by the arm.

  “Ouch!” she said as he pulled her toward the door. “You’re hurting me! Let go!”

  “Get out of my house. Who do you think you are, coming here with some tall tale, trying to take my baby? Don’t ever come back here again.”

  He opened the door and forcibly shoved her outside. She pounded on the closed door, begging.

  “Please! Let me see my baby! He’s mine! I’m his mother!”

  Hawk put his mouth close to the door. “I am calling the police right now. I suggest you leave immediately.”

  “Hawk! No! I just want to see my baby. Please? Just for a minute? Then I’ll leave.”

  He said loudly, “Hello, police?”

  She banged her hand on the door one last time. “Just you wait, asshole. I’ll get my baby. And you’ll pay for this.”

  The sudden angry turn in her voice made him peek out the window to see what she was doing. He wouldn’t put it past her to break a window. He watched her walk down the driveway and get in a beat up old Cavalier. The thing looked as messed up as she was. After she drove off and he was sure she wasn’t coming back he went into the nursery and picked up Damian.

  He rushed over to Alexa’s and banged on the door. “Alexa! Please, let me explain.”

  It occurred to him that he and Jessica had changed places, and now he was trying to convince someone of the truth.

  “Please! It’s not what you think, I swear.”

  Damian woke up with the noise and Hawk’s yelling. He started crying and Hawk tried to comfort him by rocking him.

  She yanked open the door, hard. “Why did you bring him over here like this?”

  She took the baby from him and let him in, then shut the door. She cooed at Damian, and he settled after a minute.

  “You better explain,” she said. “And without yelling.”

  Chapter 17

  “She was a mad woman,” Hawk said as he finished explaining Jessica’s story, “she wanted to see the baby.”

  Alexa’s eyes grew wide. A fear rose in her gut as she listened to the rest.

  “I asked her questions, but she seemed so shady,” he said. “I wasn’t about to let her see Damian. She didn’t like me saying no, so she tried to use the one thing that probably usually works for her.” He looked disgusted.

  “But his mother is dead, you said.”

  “That’s what Hugh told me.”

  “You don’t know for sure?”

  He shook his head slowly. “I guess I don’t. The thing is, I didn’t see her much. Once or twice and she looked a lot different in the beginning, Hugh said. It might have been her, I don’t know. Hugh isn’t usually the type to say someone is dead if they aren’t, or do that whole ‘dead to me’ crap. I don’t buy that part at all. But I don’t know. Having a baby makes you do strange things. It changes you.”

  He grew quiet for a moment, thinking.

  “I get that. But can’t you look it up or something?” She tried to recall what information she had on Hugh’s ex. The name Jessica registered, but she couldn’t remember anything else. She hadn’t been around by the time Hugh died, so she wasn’t part of the investigation.

  “I’m not even sure what her last name is. They didn’t have a good relationship.”

  “Hmm. There might be something in the system. Some way they were connected, and some way we could get info on her. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not doing anything without a court order. He’s legally mine. The courts would have known if his mother was alive, wouldn’t they? They’d have his birth certificate or something, right?”

  “You don’t have a copy?”

  He pulled his lip into his mouth. “I don’t. I guess I need to get one.”

  “If you’re his legal guardian, then yes, you need to have that. And yes, they would have tried to locate the biological parents first.”

  “So, she has to be lying. It’s just not like Hugh to make up a story about her being dead. To lie and say he wasn’t going to the funeral and all that. He would have told me the truth. Even if he was lying about her death, he would have told me the truth.”

  Alexa nodded. “Then
let’s assume that woman wasn’t his mother. Who could she be, and what was she after?”

  “I guess the baby. She’s connected to Hugh’s murder somehow and trying to get back at me. Maybe she’s with the guy who broke in and wrote on the mirror.”

  “I’m worried about all this. I don’t like it at all.”

  “Me either, the only things I know for certain are that I need to keep Damian away from her,” he winked, “and that I like you.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. It was enough to make her heart race, and she had to remind herself she was holding the baby so she didn’t reach up and run her fingers through his hair.

  “I like you, too,” she breathed when the kiss ended.

  Her feelings for Hawk were growing. No denying that, especially after the sudden jealousy she felt seeing Damian’s so-called mother enter his house and kiss him. She was certain of Hawk’s loyalty, and of his innocence. At least as far as Hugh was concerned. That’s not the only charge on his record – there’s still the matter of his father, she thought.

  Both of them were living a lie.

  When the true of came out about who she was, would Hawk be able to handle it? How could she tell him that Hugh had been her informant? Or that she knew Rucker was a big time drug lord, that he’d been a top suspect, and that Hugh had been helping her find dirt on him? If he knew that, he might blame her for his death, and the idea he might never forgive her tore a her.

  The way Hawk was looking at her, like he meant every word when he told her how important she was to him, made her quiver inside. She couldn’t hold onto this guilt of lying to him anymore. She hugged Damian close and took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to start.

  His phone rang and he pulled his eyebrows together. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.”

  He walked across the room and into the kitchen. Alexa talked to Damian and stood him up on her legs. She looked at his little face and a pang of pain shot through her. What if she lost him and Hawk forever? The longer she waited, the worse it would be. She had to tell him now, and that was it.

  “Can’t it wait? I have kind of a situation here.” Hawk’s voice lilted in from the other room, charged with anger. “Don’t make that threat to me. After all I’ve done for this MC?”

  He was getting loud now. He sounded upset.

  “Hawk,” she mouthed silently.

  “No, fine. Well, he’s a baby, what do you want me to do? I don’t have an old lady to help me out!” A pause. “Yeah, fine. I’ll be there.” He came back into the room. “I’m sorry to have to do this and right now, but the Kings need me to do something. I tried to put it off, but it can’t wait. Are you able to watch him a little while?”

  “Sure. I think we’ll go back over to your place, though. I didn’t get to clean up much.”

  “Of course. And I don’t know how long it will be anyway. Could go late.”

  “Okay, no problem.”

  “Thank you.” He leaned down to kiss her and Damian, then walked out the door. His bike started a few minutes later and he drove off.

  “Well,” she said to Damian, “I guess I’m off the hook for now.”

  Chapter 18

  Hawk left the house pissed off. Blade had called and asked him to come do something for the MC which normally wasn’t a big deal. The club knew exactly which members had which skills and they used them to their full advantage. It was part of being in the club, part of your dues. You help the others and they help you. It was that simple.

  But he’d asked for a reprieve, a chance to straighten things out, and instead of accommodating him they’d threatened him instead. If Blade had said he’d kick his ass or punch him or even cut him, he would have laughed it off. Even if he’d threatened to kill him, he would have been fine with that. But he’d threatened to take his patch and that was no light threat.

  Taking someone’s patch meant they were gone from the MC for life. It was like being excommunicated except worse since it entailed a bunch of angry bikers who had no problem doing stuff like slashing your tires or trashing your bike if they came across it just because you’d wronged the MC. Threatening to take a patch was the very highest form of insult there was. The fact that Blade had issued it to him had him writhing in rage.

  Hawk knew he hadn’t been at the headquarters as much as he should be but what he said on the phone was accurate. He was raising a baby alone and that was no easy business. Yeah, the old ladies at the club would watch him, but that wasn’t the best solution, either. They were busy enough, and if they had to leave, he’d be stuck.

  He pulled up to the address Blade had given him. It was some old bar with a line of bikes out front. Blade stood against his car, which was odd enough – seeing him without his bike was like imagining him as a different sex. Hawk shivered and stopped himself right there.

  He gave Blade a head nod and walked over to him. “What was so deathly important that you threatened my patch over it?”

  Blade looked at him, then looked away. “First, swear your absolute silence.”

  “What the hell, man? Do you know me at all?”

  “Swear it!”

  Hawk rolled his eyes. “Fine. I swear. What they hell is going on?”

  “I locked my keys in my car.”

  Hawk blinked at him. “And?”

  “And I need you to open my door so I can get them out.”

  “And?”

  “And… it’s not my car. It’s Allie’s car.”

  Hawk blew out a long sigh. “I thought that was over, man.”

  “It was. Then it wasn’t.”

  It was a good thing he kept a few tools with him at all times. Either for crap like this or if he happened upon a car he was searching for while he was out doing something else.

  “This is some bullshit, you know that, right?” Hawk glared at him and went to retrieve a tool. “Threaten to take my patch because you need me to come right this instant because you locked your keys in your girlfriend’s car and can’t let your old lady find out? Messed up.”

  “I wouldn’t have taken your patch.”

  “You sounded pretty serious over the phone about it.”

  “I had to get you here somehow.”

  “That was a low threat.” Hawk stuck the slim jim down the window and popped the lock.

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  He crossed his arms. “How’s that?”

  “Come inside. I’ll buy you a beer. The baby has a sitter, right?”

  He nodded. He had told Alexa it might be a while, and this had been super quick. He had plenty of time to sit and have a drink. They went in and sat at a table where Allie was waiting. She smiled at Blade and gave Hawk a sheepish look.

  “Heya,” Hawk said to her.

  “Hi.” Generally, she didn’t talk much, and right now she had her hand on Blade’s thigh and kept looking at him.

  Blade set a beer down in front of Hawk. “Let’s just say I owe you a favor, okay? You helped me out big time today.”

  Hawk took a sip of his beer. “Favor.” This was a big deal. Blade didn’t do favors or give them out. He would have to use this carefully, like a child with his one wish. “Thank you.”

  He stayed for a while and caught up with some of the boys and drinking a little but after an hour and a half he figured he better get back. Wasn’t fair to Alexa to leave her there with Damian all the time. And now that he’d alerted Blade and the MC about this Jessica chick, he felt much better about the situation. He might not be able to own a gun right now, but at least he had lots of friends who did. He just hoped he wouldn’t need to call in his favor too soon.

  He texted to let her know he was coming, then hoped in his car. At the stop sign before he turned onto his street, he glanced at his phone. Usually she texted back quickly, but maybe she was in the middle of putting Damian down for a nap or giving him a bath.

  He pulled in the driveway, but shut the garage door when he looked at the house. Something wasn’t right.
The door was open. Not much, just a crack, but given what had happened with Jessica and the break in the other day, he wasn’t taking any chances. He parked in the driveway and grabbed a screwdriver. His PO couldn’t keep him from all weapons.