Page 19 of Hawk's Sapphire

“House manager?Is that a stuck-up way of saying maid?I’ve spent a lot of time around rich assholes, and I’ve never heard that term used before.”

“You think I’m stuck-up?”He crosses his thick arms over his chest glaring at me.

I hold back a smile, not sure if I’ve actually offended him.You never can tell with these Italians.Vincenzo gets worked up over the wrong greeting when you answer a phone for fucks sake.

“No.I’ve just never heard the term.”

“Ophelia is far more than a maid.She ensures the penthouse clean, yes, but she also manages all the deliveries, keeps the kitchen stocked, oversees the cook, the doorman, and the maids.She manages the home like a business.”Matteo explains.

I nod, absorbing everything he’s said.I guess not all rich guys are stuck-up assholes after all.

“Get settled.Take a shower if you wish.Dinner will be ready in an hour and then I’ll show you to your office and also the place where we will continue your training.”I shiver slightly, knowing what he means and what the training will entail.

“Okay.Thank-you, Matteo.”

The door clicks shut behind him and I take a moment to lie on the bed and just… breathe.

No sooner does my head hit the pillow, then my phone chimes.Pulling it out of my pocket, I slide open the screen and read through the alerts.

My alarm has been turned off at the house.I open the camera feed and watch as Jake and Hawk enter my home, shouting my name.Jake heads for the garage while Hawk goes to the kitchen counter, flipping over my phone in his hand.I left the real phone and kept the clone.He can’t trace this one.Eventually I’ll get rid of it too, but I wanted to keep it in case Hawk starts going through the old one, which I know he will.I’ll be able to see whatever he’s doing with it and cut him off if he gets into something he shouldn’t.it’s the same program I installed on the thumb drive he took from me months ago and uploaded to his computer at the clubhouse.It’s how Tate has been able to help me stay one step ahead of everything.

When Hawk sees the keys on the counter, he picks them up, thumbing the rabbit’s foot he gave me when I first got Loretta.It was such a simple gift, but when he told me specifically that it was sapphire blue, it gave me hope.He gave me the nickname when I was a little girl because he said my eyes turn from a lighter blue to a deep sapphire whenever I’m angry or excited and he thought it was a beautiful color.I ate up every word and took it to mean I meant something to him.That I would one day be someone special to him.Afterall, why would he give me such a pretty nickname and allow only me to call him by his real name.Something he rarely allows his own mother to do.

It had to mean something, right?

A silly schoolgirl fantasy.

I watch as they comb the house and realization hits that I’ve gone.Hawk slams his hand on the counter, his anger visible even from the distant camera angle.He scrubs his hands down his face as Jake says something I can’t hear.Hawk nods.Jake’s hands go to his hips with an expectant look, waiting for Hawk.I zoom in the lens angle and watch as Hawk turns to look right at the camera, his eyes squinting.I gasp.He walks up to the camera, points his finger and says, “I’m coming for you, Sapphire.”

Panic fills my chest, and I kill the feed.

8

HAWK

We’re sitting on our bikes outside of Sadie’s house preparing to leave when Ethan pulls up.He turns off his bike and nods toward the house.“Where’s Sadie?”

“Gone.And she left everything Hawk could use to track her here.”Jake says, his icy glare cutting to me.Ethan follows his line of sight and shucks his chin at me.

Ethan nods, taking us both in.I’m checking my phone to see if there’s anything else in her system that will tell me where she went or how she left, zooming in on the tables and counters to see if there are any visible notes or just anything that will give me a clue.But of course, there’s nothing I can see.

“So, what actually happened here last night?Because what I saw when you two showed up at the clubhouse, something more than a conversation took place.You had that look in your eyes and Sadie looked nervous as all hell when I walked up.There was a whole lot of tension between the two of you.”Jake asks suspiciously.I don’t answer barely looking up from my phone as I look through Loretta’s tracking history over the last few days, but again nothing looks out of the ordinary.

“There’s always tension between them.”Ethan scoffs.“Maybe she was feeling guilty, worried about walking into the clubhouse and getting caught.”

I glance up and see Jake glaring at me.Sometimes it sucks to have someone who knows me so well.We’ve been best friends since we were small boys raising hell and stirring up shit from the beginning.He was there at my side when Nate beat the hell out of me, and I stuck by his side when he blamed himself for Avery’s alleged passing.We know each other better than brothers I’d say.

“Bullshit.”Jake says bluntly.“I’ve known Sadie her whole life.Hell, I helped raise her.She’s always had a thing for Hawk and as much as he hates for anyone to know, he wants her too.But he’s never acted on it for some bullshit reason, and she suddenly shifted her attention to pissing him off rather than pining for him … until this morning.”I feel his eyes on me.He’s not going to let this go.

“Care to explain, brother?I saw you two holding hands and the way she was looking at you.”

“Was it the usual murderous glare?”Ethan teases, trying to lighten the mood.I tuck my phone into my pocket and lean back on my bike with my arms crossed, keeping my expression neutral.

Jake shakes his head slowly.“Nope.It was the way Avery looks at me.”I flinch slightly because I know what he saw.Ifeltit.We were on the same page and things were going to be changing.I was excited to tell my brothers I had claimed her, but then my phone chimed, and I saw the video of her betrayal, and it was like a switch flipped inside me.

“It was the first time I’ve seen her look at him that way in front of him.She usually tamps it down and only stares at him with that longing look in her eyes when he’s completely oblivious.She’s not good at hiding it from the rest of us, but she never lets Hawk see her true feelings for him because she knows he’ll reject her.”

“And it wasn’t hiding it this morning?”Ethan looks between the two of us.I know the look he’s talking about.She may think I don’t notice, but I do.I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it.She’s so young and as much as she hates to be seen as a club princess, it doesn’t change the fact she is one.Mack has said on a number of occasions how he wants something better than club life for Sadie.For her to go off and see the world and find something of her own, for herself - to make her own way.Ther’s no way he would accept my wanting to claim Sadie.

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