Page 21 of Emily's Essence

The woman turned and walked away, and Emily watched her go with one thought in her head. She’d made an enemy of the slut and didn’t know why. She thought about talking to the girls about it. Until then, she knew she’d have to watch her back.

Chapter Nine

A few weeks passed before Hawk, and his men pulled into their private driveway. They were all exhausted, hungry, short-tempered, and just wanted to crash.

He saw the lights on inside when he parked his bike and didn’t think much of it until he walked in the back door. The place sparkled. He could tell someone, most likely the women, cleaned the place, and he was grateful. More than grateful. He had been dreading it.

He walked through the living room and saw the sofas, tables, and huge TV he had delivered. Instead of the boxes he expected, they had placed them around the room, making it look like a home. He kept walking around, noticing everything they’d done.

He walked down the hallway to the other two rooms. He had eight beds delivered and hadn’t thought about where to put them. He’d been dreading it because he’d have to tell two of his guys they were sharing until they got the addition done. He’d still have to choose, but he thought the two most recent guys to join the Nomads would share the room. It seemed the fairest. The girls had put two mattresses in the bigger room that would eventually become the sluts’ area and one in the smaller room. The bathroom was spick-and-span with towels and soaps.

The group made it upstairs.

“Fuck. This is great. I was not looking forward to sleeping on the floor,” Razor said.

Each room had a bed and nightstand. Like the room he’d chosen, a few already had a desk. Just like downstairs, everything was clean, and the two bathrooms had supplies in them. Their beds were even made and had pillows.

Hawk and Brick took the two big rooms upstairs. The two that had to share a room didn’t seem to mind, maybe because they knew they would start building on the house the next day.

Hawk pulled out his phone as he looked out his bedroom window toward the main house where Striker lived.

“Hey, man, thanks for the clean house and everything else. We’re thrilled. Now we can crash without sleeping on the hard floor.”

Striker chuckled. “That wasn’t me. You have the girls to thank for that. They directed a few guys to help put the furniture in place, but they did the rest.”

“I definitely will.”

“A few of them were headed your way with dinner. They were going to put it in the oven. We didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”

“The guys will appreciate the meal very much. I’m afraid if I don’t feed the fuckers and let them go to bed, they’ll start fighting. Now, I don’t have to worry or bash heads together.”

Striker laughed. “They’re like children sometimes, aren’t they? Call if you need anything.”

“Thanks, man,” Hawk said and hung up. He was walking downstairs when he heard voices and headed for the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway to see Willow, Kristina, Meg, and Emily placing dishes on the counter and the men already opening them up and groaning.

He was shocked by the color of Emily’s hair. She had told him she’d dyed it, but he hadn’t thought about her true color. He was used to it being black, but now it was a light blonde. The color fit her better than black, and he guessed it was her natural color. He caught sight of the side of her face and noticed there were no bruises left.

“We have plates and silverware. They’ll get you by until you get some,” Kristina said.

Meg popped up. “There are some things in the frig and cupboards. If you guys want to make a list for the grocery store, we’re going tomorrow.”

“That would be great,” Brick said. “Jesus, you’re making this way easier than we expected. We appreciate all of it.”

“We like taking care of people,” Meg said.

“Are you planning on eating at the big house?” Kristina asked.

“Maybe sometimes. We have a lot of work to do with the house and the businesses we bought,” Doc said.

Hawk hadn’t been noticed yet, and he couldn’t get over how relaxed Emily was with his men. They all seemed to treat her like a younger sister and poke fun at her. His gaze ate her up. He’d thought about her several times every day. At first, it had pissed him off, but then he got used to it. He wasn’t at a place where he’d let her in, but he was getting closer to giving in and taking her.

“Hello, Hawk,” Willow said.

Hawk watched Emily stop and turn toward him. The color seeped from her face before she turned away. He wanted to reach out to her but caught himself. He was too damn tired to deal with emotions at the moment.

She said something to Kristina and walked out the back door. He could see the frown on Kristina’s face as she watched the door close. She smiled when she turned back to them, but Hawk could tell it was forced.

He couldn’t believe how angry he was when Emily ran instead of trying to talk to him. She acted as if she despised him, and that shit wasn’t happening. He knew she was his. He just had to come to terms with the fact.

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