A sardonic biting laugh comes from Gabe Anderson—Savage’s business partner and best friend, and Atlas and Astrid’s father. Though I’ve seen him at the club more than once, I’ve never actually spoken to him. “That’s a fucking understatement. The man is a menace, one who continues to cut at us like a thorn in our side.”
Bishop’s shoulders tense, as if she’s preparing herself for another showdown with him even though it’s been an hour since he walked away from The Grind. “And now he’s back in town.”
Gabe nods, rubbing a hand across his stubbled jaw. “Which means things are about to get very interesting, and not in a good way.”
The man I instantly recognize as Bishop’s father approaches and holds out his hand that’s goddamn near twice the size of mine. “Saint Clarke. It’s nice to meet you.”
His harsh grip suggests that he’s making an unspoken statement that has nothing to do with the Satriano situation and everything to do with how near I’m standing to his daughter.
Shit.
I hadn’t mentally prepared for “meeting the parents” when I offered my assistance, but since her father runs all the security for Hawke Enterprises, it only makes sense that he would be here tonight, front and center of this family gathering.
“You too, sir.”
His brow furrows, eyes a shade darker than his daughter’s assessing me shrewdly. “What sort of experience do you have?”
I glance around the room and find Atlas, who is the only one of the Hawke men who offers me a genuine smile.
“Well, he can sure throw a fuckin’ right hook.” He chuckles and pushes to his feet from where he was seated on one of the couches to make his way over and shake my hand and slap me on the shoulder. “We sparred the other day. He fought WCAP.”
Saint’s eyes widen slightly. “Really?”
I nod, trying not to squirm under the scrutiny of every single person in the room who seems to be taking stock of me—a few who appear to find me wanting if their faces are telling me anything.
“If you were military, then you know how to handle a weapon.”
Bishop’s father is already mentally preparing my résumé, probably thinking about where they could use me in their security protocol, but saying I know how to handle a weapon is like saying Atlas knows how to throw a punch.
I clear my throat and glance away from Bishop. “I can do more than that…”
Everyone’s attention locks in on me even more, but one set of eyes in particular narrows with sharp awareness.
Gabe’s gaze sweeps over me again, from my hair down to my combat boots. “Where did you serve? What branch?”
Swallowing thickly, I brace myself for the blowback I’ll probably get from Bishop for not revealing this sooner. “I was a Ranger. 3rd battalion, then RSTB.”
All the air seems to get sucked from the room with my admission.
Gabe nods but doesn’t say anything else.
He was a bit of a legend in the 75th even decades after he retired. One of the best snipers to ever serve with them. And he knows that anyone who was part of the Regimental Special Troops Battalion is more than capable of handling anything that might come for the Hawkes.
Though, I’m not so sure I’m prepared to handle what Bishop will say or do when we’re alone again. The heat of her stare licks across my skin until I finally glance over at her.
Now that it’s all out there, she has to understand why I was so insistent on helping them, why it would be impossible for me to just stand by and do nothing. But the way she’s looking at me says that keeping my background from her was a huge mistake she will make me pay for later.
Her father assesses me for another second, his gaze drifting over to the way his daughter looks at me, then he retreats to his original spot near a small brunette woman who must be Bishop’s mother. She offers me a tight smile but doesn’t say anything, instead taking her husband’s hand in her much smaller one.
Atlas clears his throat loudly in the now awkwardly silent room. “Well, now that’s settled…let me give you the quick introductions. The one in the chair is Savage, and the tall blond standing next to him is his wife, Danika. They’re Kennedy’s parents. You now know my dad, Gabe, and the woman beside him is my mother, Skye.”
She gives me a kind smile and a small wave while Gabe continues to watch me with the same calculation I would expect any former-Ranger to.
“The one in the corner of the couch is my uncle Stone. The blonde beside him is his wife, Nora. Their sons are Isaac and Coen.” He motions toward two very similar looking dark-haired men standing in the corner with their arms protectively wrapped around two women. “That’s Giacomina, but we call her Jack.”
“We met at The Grind.”
Atlas nods. “Right, and Coen’s girlfriend is Allegra. She also happens to be Satriano’s daughter.” He skims over that fact like it isn’t probably the most important thing to know, moving right on to the others in the room. “That’s my aunt, Storm, and her husband, Landon. You met Angelina and Alessandra, their daughters.”
