Page 17 of Hades

He saw her getting worked up again, so he squeezed her hips and said, “Hush.” Her mouth instantly clamped shut as tears flooded her eyes. When he was sure he had her attention, he continued. “Look, you don’t have to speak to her, but I do need you to help me talk to my people about your ex. He’s been causing a lot of trouble for us, and you can help us put all that to rest. You want him to stop bothering you, right?”

Harley’s face scrunched up. She had forgotten about Drew completely, but she quickly nodded her head because she definitely didn’t want him to keep popping up on her. It unsettled her, especially after everything that happened earlier, so that definitely needed to be checked off her list.

“How do you plan on getting him to stop?” she whispered, not wanting to be involved in any harm coming toanyone.

“That’s not for you to worry about. I just need you to come talk to these people, and then we can go. Simple as that.” Hades felt her body tremble, and he squeezed her hips again.

“I can’t see her. I can’t, Hades.”

“I’ve made it law that I don’t exclude anyone from church, Tink. Cati isn’t a member, but she is family. I promise she won’t be able to get to you, okay?”

She closed her eyes and blew out a deep breath. “Like with everything else, I don’t have a choice, so let’s get this over with.”

Hades clenched his jaw and stood, towering over her. He kept his hand around her waist and hated the fact that she was trembling, and it wasn’t his doing.

He guided her to the elevator, and within sixty seconds, they were back in the room filled with people. Once again, all eyes were on them as they walked through the space, but this time, Hades wasn’t going to let Harley bolt.

“Lady Bug?—”

Hades turned and mugged Cati, causing Major to step up next to his woman. Major was a couple inches shorter than Hades, but he was just as bulky. He knew not to step to Hades on no bullshit, but about his woman, he would definitely walk through hell.

Hades pointed his finger at Cati. “I’m going to tell you this one time, Cati, and one time only. You are not to speak to her. You got that?”

Cati took a step back as tears filled her eyes while she looked at Harley, who looked everywhere but at her sister, and looked like she wanted to disappear within herself.

With a quivering chin, Cati said, “If that’s what my sister wants, then I respect it, as long as she knows I’m here and ready whenever she is.”

Hades nodded before continuing his stride with Harley next to him. They had almost made it to the front of the room when someone stepped in front of him. He looked down when he felt long nails trailing down his chest.

Vixen looked up at him with green eyes and big pouty lips, thanks to the lip injections she got two times a year. She was a thick little white girl with a fat ass and an endless throat. He busted her down a few times since she joined the club a few years back, but she had never stepped to him like this. He always approached her because nobody had the balls to approach him, and he preferred it that way.

“Hey, daddy. Can we link after this?”

Harley stiffened next to him, and for some reason, that pissed him off. He didn’t know why he gave a fuck what Harley thought about him, but suddenly, he did, and Vixen was fucking his image up.

He slapped her hands away and frowned down at her. “Get the fuck out my face, Vixen.”

She pouted. “I just?—”

“I’ma be real with you right now, shorty. I’m about to bop you in yo’ fuckin’ head if you don’t move out of our way.”

Vixen’s eyes widened, and fear flashed in her features, causing Hades to grin sinisterly down at her. It seemed she just remembered who the fuck she was talking to.

Vixen’s eyes flashed over to Harley, and her frown deepened before she scurried away.

Hades pulled Harley along so he could start this meeting. When they got to the front of the room, it seemed everyone stopped talking by that point and waited for Hades to speak as they peered curiously at Harley.

“I’ma keep this short. That nigga Drew is about to be a bigger problem for us, and we need to figure out a way to handle that. I’m just here to give y’all as much information as I can on thenigga so we can figure out how to make the issue disappear. Twelve is already on us for some shit we ain’t do, so we can’t be reckless, but we need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse.

“This is Harley, and she used to date dude. She’s going to give y’all information on him, and in the next couple of days, I want you guys brainstorming to figure out how to make this shit go away, and quickly.” He looked down at Harley, who trembled beside him. He bit down on his back teeth and squeezed her side, signaling for her to speak.

It took her a moment, but she finally started talking. She told them where Drew hung out, gave out his number, and even told them about the house he used to take her to. She talked about the men in his crew she knew of too. She spoke quickly as if she was ready to get out of there, and Hades shared that sentiment. He had the instinct to take her straight back to his house and keep her away from people. Keep her to himself.

When Harley wrapped up, Hades was about to conclude the meeting when Cati spoke up. “How did you get tangled up with him, Lady—I mean, Harley?”

Harley shifted uncomfortably, and Hades frowned at Cati. “That ain’t got shit to do with this.”

“It kind of does,” Vixen spoke up, stepping to the front of the crowd. “How do we know we can trust her?”

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