Jake’s Angel (King’s Of Fury MC #2)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JAKE

The clubhouse is empty except for the officers who are gathered here awaiting instructions. Pop comes out of Gabe’s office, seemingly happier than he was yesterday. I’m not the only one who notices his relaxed demeanor, either.

“Well, looks like you offloaded a little stress last night, eh, Mack?” Hawk hollers from where he stands by his bike. “Was Lisa able to walk this morning, or did you leave her laid out to rest up for tonight?”

“Fuck off, Hawk!” Pop hollers back. He gives a slight chin lift, signaling Declan.

Hawk shouts, “Ow!” and a smirking Declan walks past him, not the least bit apologetic.

“Alright ladies!” Gabe calls, walking in behind Pop. “Jameson, Declan, Hawk, Jake, Caleb, and Mack will head out to meet Austin and Blake and bring the girls in for questioning. Ethan, Ghost, myself, and the other two prospects will remain here in case shit goes sideways.”

“It’s two little girls, Pres. You think they’ll be that much trouble?” Jameson jokes.

“You wouldn’t think two barely legal girls would be so much trouble, but where Sadie Jay is involved, we can’t be too careful,” Ghost says what we’re all thinking.

“Remember, not a word about Cusenza until we find out why the girl ran in the first place. You all got me?”

A collective, “Yes sir” echoes in the yard.

Hawk hands everyone their comms devices, making sure we can all hear one another.

“Hawk,” Gabe calls out. “Don’t fuck with Sadie, you hear me? I don’t want you setting her off before we get a chance to find out what exactly her involvement is in all of this. You can piss her off after I’m done with her. We clear?”

“Yeah, I got you, Pres.” Hawk climbs in the truck with Pop while the rest of us mount our bikes. I notice the way he cracks his neck a few times before closing the door.

Me too, brother. I feel your pain.

These women are turning out to be more trouble than they’re worth.

It only takes us fifteen minutes to get from the clubhouse to Bella Noche.

We kill the motors to our bikes and coast up just as we turn the corner of Sadie’s Street. Pop parks the truck a little further back down the road. Blake and Austin climb out from behind the tree line across from her front window. Austin snubs out his cigarette, offering a chin lift in greeting.

“There’s been some movement in the kitchen this morning. They were up late last night, but no one came in or out after Sadie came home. The only other vehicle was the pizza delivery guy about thirty minutes ago.” Blake smiles widely. I lift my chin in question to his smugness.

“Pizza for breakfast?” Caleb chuckles.

“More like brunch,” Austin says. I turn to look at him, and he shrugs. “It’s after breakfast before lunch,” he supplies in way of explanation.

Blake smirks. “Sadie wasn’t too happy to see me at her door instead of the pizza guy.” He shrugs. “She knew she was being tailed yesterday. Drug Colt’s ass all over creation. I just wanted to make sure she knew she didn’t shake anyone off her. We’re still here.”

“Are they both awake?” Declan comes into the conversation, leaning against the front of the truck. I turn to find Hawk sitting with one leg hanging out of the passenger’s side and his laptop open on the console.

“What are you doing?”

“When we had the house fixed up for her, one of Mack’s stipulations to Sadie living here was having a Garrison Security system installed on the place. I’m just shutting it down without her knowing I’m in the system. If I can connect it with my phone, I can watch the live feed, in case they try to run. I can also leave the indicator lights on without tripping the alarm, so it looks like the system is still armed, but it’s not.” He closes his laptop, steps out of the truck, then latches the door quietly.

“Let’s get your Pops and get this party started.” He smiles his same shit-eating grin out in full form. It’s how we know when he’s fucking with someone. It’s all a big fucking game to him. Especially where Sadie’s involved.

Pop signals everyone to gather around. Caleb, Declan, and Jameson are sent to cover the backdoor.

Pop, Hawk, and I all head for the front. Austin and Blake hang back to keep watch over the road.

When we get to our assigned places, Pop whispers over the comms to stand down while Hawk takes out his cell phone and taps into the living room camera. When he sees someone standing by the door, he turns the mic up so we can all hear.

“Going somewhere?” Sadie’s voice asks. I hear her before I see her standing at the end of the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I was just going for a walk outside. Get some fresh air.” Avery’s voice quavers. I can’t see her face, only the side of her ponytail and shoulders from this angle, but even I can tell she’s lying.

“With your backpack and duffle bag?” Sadie takes a few steps toward Avery, stopping near the counter. Hawk switches camera views. “You were going to leave and not tell me where you were going? Without saying goodbye?” Sadie glances over her shoulder at something on the computer desk for a split second, then back to Avery. Her lips curl slightly.

What’s she up to now?

“I left a note.”

Sadie approaches Avery, placing her hands on her shoulders. “You can’t leave me just yet. I promised you we would figure this out, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I can’t do that if you don’t trust me.” She takes the duffle from a defeated Avery and sets in on the floor. Avery drops the backpack beside it. They both walk back into the kitchen while Hawk changes camera views again. Sadie plates two pieces of pizza, passing one to Avery.

They’re silently eating, staring each other down. Ding! Sadie turns toward her computer and smirks, looking straight at the camera lens. She finally breaks the silence between them when she says, “You can’t leave when the calvary just got here.”

Hawk’s phone screen turns black and flashes with the words “About fucking time” just as we hear the door lock click open.

Pop turns the handle and walks in. We follow behind, completely confused.

“What the fuck, Sadie?” Hawk is wildly searching through the settings of the alarm system on his cellphone. She’s apparently blocked him out of everything. From his own system. “What the hell did you do?”

“Hacked into your system, made some upgrades,” she answers, completely unconcerned about his reaction.

“Upgrades hell! You cut me out of the system completely,” he’s shouting loud enough for the neighbors to hear, if she had any. Caleb, Declan, and Jameson come strolling through the back door, but Hawk’s too pissed to notice anything else but the dark-haired thorn in his ass.

“I turned the system off. You shouldn’t have been alerted to us being here. What exactly did you do?”

“It wasn’t off. You just weren’t in control of it. I created a backdoor so you would think you shut it off. All you did was alert my computer that someone had tapped into the system. Whenever you switched cameras, it notified me. On the third switch, it locked you out.”

“You did what?” Pop says, pointing directly at Sadie. She’s unfazed by his anger, standing with her arms across her chest, waving her hand in front of her while she examines her nail polish. “You know the stipulations of you living here. Put the system back to its original controls,” he growls.

“First of all, before you go throwing around all your ‘ you know the rules ’ bullshit, let’s get the facts straight. I own this house,” she growls back at Pop. “It’s mine . Not the Kings. Not yours. And not yours either, Nathaniel ! So, no, I won’t return the system to its original controls because you have no right to spy on me in my own home,” she shouts to the room.

“So, to explain—though you don’t fucking deserve it. Let’s try this again. I let you into the system, my house, and my security system. You didn’t think I’d let you fuckers watch me like the creepers you are whenever the hell you wanted, did you?” She arches a brow at Hawk. She’s not wrong. He would be a creep about it, especially now that he knows there’s a man in her life thanks to the prospect reporting back her every move yesterday. Oh, he would be all over her ass with twenty-four-hour surveillance. I have no doubt.

“Once you accessed the system on your phone, it alerted me to your presence. I let you believe you had everything under control, knowing the whole time I had you where I wanted you and you were none the wiser.” She’s beaming with pride. “I beat you at your own game, hacker extraordinaire .” She taps a finger to Hawk’s nose. He growls his frustration loudly. If he didn’t have an audience, I’m pretty sure he’d haul her over his knee and redden her ass.

If it were my Angel playing games like that, I’d sure as fuck do it, too.

Oh, hell no. I don’t have an Angel, or anyone else.

“As soon as I knew you were here, I moved Avery safely away from the door so you idiots wouldn’t crush her when trying to kick the fucking thing in.” She hitches a thumb toward the front door.

“ You ,” Pop snaps, pointing at Sadie. “Sit your ass down here on this couch and don’t you move a fucking muscle. Hawk, I want to know what she’s got going on with all these computers over here.”

“No! Don’t touch anything! You can’t!” She yells, but Pop isn’t bothered by her outburst.

“Hawk?” Hawk nods, pulls out the thumb drive, shoving it in his pocket and begins his assault on the keys of her computer. Sadie starts to tear up, but remains strangely quiet. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she already knows what he was doing. “Now, Avery, grab your things.”

“Speaking of which, where’d she go?” Avery’s no longer sitting at the bar. Her backpack is gone too.

We were all so caught up in Hawk and Sadie’s argument that we didn’t see her slip out.

We all split up. Declan, Caleb, and Jameson take off out the front and back doors. Hawk stays with Sadie while Pop and I dart down the hall. Her bedroom window is wide open. The curtains blowing in the wind.

How the hell did she get past everyone?

“Any sign of her?” Declan’s voice comes over the comms line.

“I have her. She got as far as the back end of the truck before I jumped out and caught her. I’m bringing her to you now.” Austin’s voice comes over the comms.

“Copy that.” I pull my earpiece out and let it hang on my shoulder. Pop’s blocking the hallway with his body watching Sadie and Hawk, who are in a staring contest. Declan stands as their referee. Caleb is leaning over the countertop, where he can watch all the exits. Jameson has gone out to get Avery while me and Blake are leaning up against the fireplace.

She walks through the front door, Austin’s carrying her bag. Once she’s inside, the prospect heads back outside to the truck. He hasn’t been given permission to be a part of this conversation. I nod to Blake, who follows Austin’s lead and heads outside. Both prospects are good men, and I trust them with my life, but this conversation needs to remain officers only for now.

“Avery.” Pop tries to coax her to him. His voice is gentle. More so than how he’s really feeling right now, I’m sure. “I think you have some explaining to do, don’t you?”

“No more than you,” she fires back. Her face flushes red with anger. Pop lifts his brow, challenging her to go on.

“Why are you here? And what the hell are you doing wearing a leather cut?”

“This is my family, and this,” he taps his cut, “is my real uniform. I don’t just work for Russ. I work for the Kings of Fury. Garrison Security is a club-owned business. My turn to ask you something. Are you all right, sweetheart?”

“Depends on what you plan to do now that you’ve found me.” Her voice trembles. She’s working hard to keep herself calm. Pop stays quiet, studying her. She doesn’t seem to trust him. I don’t understand what reason she would have not to. He’s been guarding her family for years.

“We’ve come to take you two ladies back to the clubhouse for a little chat. Our President has some questions he’d like answered.” Pop stays calm and keeps his answers straight to the point.

“You need to understand something before I agree to go anywhere with any of you.” She points a finger, circling the room. “I’m not going back to Baron’s Edge or that house .”

Pop nods, and the rest of us stay silent, watching her movements. If she tries to run, we’re ready for her.

“What does your president want with me, anyway? I don’t even know him. Or any of you. I met a couple of you at the diner, but I don’t know what any of you could want with me.” She trails off, keeping her distance, watching Pop skeptically. She’s putting up walls. I’m watching as she constructs them, one by one, protecting herself from everybody.

My chest feels tight with the need to protect her.

“I’m not here to take you back. Quite the opposite. You’re welcomed to stay here in Oak Ridge for as long as you like. In fact, we’d prefer it if you do. But first, you need to go meet with our Pres. Answer a few questions.”

She looks to Sadie for reassurance. When all she gets is a one shoulder shrug of indifference, she sizes each of us up, weighing her risks. The men all stand prepared to stop her should she try to run again. Each one’s face is emotionless, giving nothing away. She doesn’t know us and, for some reason, she’s decided she can’t trust Pop. But it’s obvious Avery knows the only choice is to come with us.

Her eyes ping-pong back and forth between all the brothers until her eyes finally lock on mine.

Something she sees causes her to stop. I stand with my legs wide, arms crossed over my chest, but she’s not intimidated by me. She’s studying me just as intently as I have been her. Those emerald eyes are beseeching mine. When I finally give a slight tip of my chin, I catch her shoulders relax, but only slightly.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, people.” Sadie says, sounding exasperated. Grabbing Avery by the arm, she explains. “Avery, this is my crazy ass family, better known around here as the Kings of Fury MC. These two assholes you already know.” She flips her hand between me and Pop. “Blake and Austin, the two outside have been taking turns playing ‘ chase my tail ’ for the last couple of days.” A loud grunt comes from Hawk at her choice of words.

“The two man-beasts over there are of our Enforcers, Declan and the other is my cousin, and he’s the club’s VP, Jameson. They look like they eat small humans, but they won’t hurt you—isn’t that right, Dec?” She smiles at him, wrinkling her nose. Dec gives a slight shoulder lift and a tip of his head, alluding that things could go either way. Sadie sniggers at him. Jameson stands stoic.

Spinning around, Sadie opens her arms wide as she introduces her favorite King in the room. “That handsome, older looking fellow with the gray hair and beard holding my kitchen counter up is Caleb, better known around these parts as Captain, or to us lucky few—as Papa.”

“That’s right, Shortcake.” He nods, giving her a wink. “Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

He clears his throat as he greets Avery, and something about the way his face softens leaves me curious. Caleb’s always had a soft spot for the girls, but there’s something different about the way he looks at her.

“Aves, not one of these men will hurt you. They’re here to help. I brought you here for that reason. It’s also why I let them in this morning.” Sadie emphasizes her words, goading Hawk. “You asked me to help, and I promised to protect you. Well, the Kings are the best weapon of protection I have to offer, even if they are a bunch of overgrown, imbecilic assholes.” She glances over her shoulder at the room. Sadie’s pushing her luck, and she fucking knows it. Hawk’s eyes challenge her to say something else.

Hawk is still burning a hole in the side of Sadie’s head as we prepare to load up and leave. He’s fighting with himself to follow Gabe’s orders to not start shit with Sadie. It’s burning him from the inside not to go toe-to-toe with her. Watching how he’s flexing his hands over and over makes me think he’s imagining spanking her ass thoroughly for the stunt she’s pulled. I can’t say I’m doing any better. Avery, being here has my every nerve on edge.

We don’t know what kind of trouble she’s in, but she’s brought it straight to our doorstep, and now that we’re sure Sadie is her accomplice, there’s no way we can’t get involved. What’s worse is Sadie did this shit on purpose. She counted on the King’s protection. I don’t know if I should be proud or pissed at her.

Probably both.

But Avery has secrets. Lots of them, it seems, and I find I want to know them all. I’ve never felt a pull like this with anyone before, but there’s something about her that has my insides all fucked-up. I need to protect her. Not just because she’s linked to Sadie, but because it’s her . I can’t explain it, but I am fighting hard against it.

I don’t do commitments, and from the looks of things, she wouldn’t either. She’s ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

I sure as shit don’t do innocent good-girls like her. They always want more than I’m willing to offer. And I know she’s inexperienced—it was evident in the kiss we shared. She was hesitant, nervous.

But then she opened to you.

No! Don’t.

I see how guarded she is, the small cracks in her armor she’s trying desperately to hide. Getting mixed up with her would be a horrible idea. I might not be a good guy, but I won’t be the type of asshole who takes advantage of a woman when she’s clearly trying to come back from something.

I can’t stand here staring for another second. I need some air and a few minutes to think.

“Are we good here?” I ask. Pop nods, releasing me from my duties, allowing me to head back to the clubhouse. I move to pass Avery on my way to the door. I stop cold when her delicate hand grabs my forearm.

“Am I really safe, Jake?” She whispers. I give a curt nod. “Will you be there? At the clubhouse?” Again, I dip my head in answer. She releases my arm, and I bolt for the door with Declan close behind me.