My chest tightens with that thought, and I rev my engine and pull away again. By the time night starts to descend, my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull over and take it out to read the text.
We need to meet.
I scowl at it.
Not tonight.
The rain begins to taper off, but getting home and getting dry is my main priority. Not dealing with the devil on my shoulder.
Now. Don’t forget who you work for.
I grit my teeth and stare at the message for a few moments, trying to sort through the feelings raging in my chest.
I’ve never been particularly good at taking orders. A fact that got me into trouble more times than I can count. Most of the time, I’d rather go with the flow, figure things out for myself and take action only when I find it necessary.
But that isn’t the nature of the job.
A job you willingly took…
“Fuck…”
I fire off a reply text.
Fine. I’ll see you in an hour.
Because he’s right.
I have to remember who I work for and why I’m here.
I can’t throw it all to the wayside because I’m attracted to Bishop Clarke, because her passion for protecting the Hawkes is admirable.
Do your job, Gage.
It will be painful tonight.
He won’t like what I have to say.
It’s why I’ve been putting off this meeting for as long as I already have. There are only so many ways to avoid facing the situation, and I can’t come up with new excuses anymore.
This is going to be a very long, very painful night filled with those decisions that all lead me back to the same inevitable internal conflict when all I want to do is go back to the club to find her.
BISHOP
“So, what do we do?” I pace Savage’s office, tugging on the hair tie on my wrist as I try to work through the dilemma that’s been plaguing me for days. “Postpone the opening of the second tower?”
Everyone in the room stares at me as if I just suggested razing it instead of merely bumping the date until we have a better handle on what’s going on, until I can be confident we can do it safely and securely.
I look from Savage to Dani, then to Gabe and Luca, and finally, Mom and Dad, waiting for someone to agree with me that it might be a good idea, but the hard set of everyone’s jaw and wide eyes tell me I’m not going to get much support on this.
Not that I expected it.
My meeting with Savage and Gabe yesterday about the same issue went absolutely nowhere. They wouldn’t even consider my suggestion to postpone. I don’t know why I thought having anyone else here might actually change the result.
Maybe because my head has been swimming to places it doesn’t belong since Gage walked out of the club.
Warm blue places filled with heat and passion that are nothing more than a distraction I can’t afford.
Not when there are dark places swirling with chaos, pain, and uncertainty that need to be my focus.
