Guardian Angel (Angel's Halo MC #3) by Terri Anne Browning
His scruffy cheek rubbed over my neck as he pressed a kiss to my jaw. “You’re mine now, Gracie.”
“Yeah,” I agreed without hesitation. “And you’re mine… Right?”
“You have no idea how much I’m yours, baby.” His hands tightened around my waist and he blew out a long breath as he started to fall asleep. “You fucking own me, Gracie.”
Chapter 13
Gracie
Doc Robertson made me promise to take it easy the first week I went back to work. I wasn’t supposed to work more than a few hours before resting and he pretty much forbade me to work at Aggie’s for at least another week. I needed the money, though, so I went back to work at Jack’s on Monday.
When I arrived at the garage I got smiles from everyone except from Trigger, but I hadn’t really been expecting one from him anyway. He was a serious-expression kind of guy and I was okay with that. Just as I was okay with no one mentioning Harley all day. I didn’t want to think about the man and forced him out of my head every time he tried to pop into it.
What surprised me the most was that Hawk hadn’t put up more than a small argument when I’d told him I was going to work today. He’d tried to talk me out of not going once, then kissed me and told me to be careful and not to work too hard. I should have been happy that he was letting me out of the house without much fuss but it only made me suspicious. No way would he just go from being overbearingly aggressive about me working to passively accepting of it so easily.
Still, I was thankful to get out of the house without too much drama.
Most of the day I fielded phone calls, set up appointments for routine maintenance for several customers, and took payments from the customers that had been taken care of that day. At lunchtime, Raven brought me a salad from Aggie’s and told me that Hawk had to take care of something at the bar or he would have brought it himself. She stayed long enough to eat with me but then had to get back to the house since Colt was watching Lexa.
I watched from my desk as Raven stopped outside and Bash came over to kiss her. He worked at the garage a few days a week, but I assumed that since Harley was gone now he would be working a little more often. Knowing that Bash was there set me a little more at ease, because I knew that with him around, I was safe. It was the same safe feeling I got when I was with Hawk, but with him it was more like a big brother keeping his little sister safe.
Turning back to the order forms on my desk, I reached for the phone to make the calls that Jack had told me to return for him when the back door that lead from the bike shop opened. I lifted my head, startled, when someone I didn’t recognize walked into the office.
“Can I help you?” I asked, taking in the newcomer a little apprehensively.
He gave off the allure of danger in his expensive suit and short-cropped hair. His hair was almost completely gray but his face had very few lines on it, so I didn’t know how old he could possibly be. When he smiled, I caught the flash of even white teeth that looked cosmetically enhanced. Either he had some very expensive veneers or he spent a lot of time bleaching his teeth.
When he smiled at me I felt like he was assessing me, summing me up for some reason. “Gracie Morgan?”
I lifted a brow at him. “Yes, and you are?”
He offered me his hand as he stepped closer and I took it after a slight hesitation. “Jacob Jenkins, attorney at law.”
My eyes widened. This scary guy was a lawyer? Yeah, I could see that and I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to go up against him in court. “What can I do for you, Mr. Jenkins?”
His smile softened slightly, but I could still tell that he was trying to sum me up. “Actually, I’ve come to do something for you.” He nodded his head to one of the chairs in front of my desk. “May I sit?”
“Of course. Please.” I sat back in my chair, watching him a little closer now. What is this guy doing here?
“I’m not sure if you are aware, but I’m the Angel’s Halo MC’s attorney.” He waited for me to respond and when I shook my head he went on. “Well, I’m getting on in age and I’m ready to start thinking about retiring. Moving to someplace with a nice beach and lots of beautiful women.” He winked when he said that last part but continued. “I was over at the university this morning asking them if they had any promising students that I could take on as kind of a prodigy. I wanted someone smart, who thinks independently and doesn’t balk at getting their hands dirty. As you will find in the business of law, your hands can get very dirty.”
My brows lifted. “So what are you doing here? I haven’t even started my first year of law school yet.”
Jenkins shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. You are one of the top students entering the program this year. Your GPA is exceptional and your LSAT scores were beyond impressive. But besides all of that I’ve been hearing some interesting things about you. Jack has been singing your praises, although I’ve learned that he is a little biased on that front.”
I rolled my eyes. “Jack can kiss my ass.”
Jenkins threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Well now, you see there? I can see plain and clear that you are exactly what I’m looking for.”
Crossing my arms over my chest I glared at the lawyer. “And that would be?”
“Someone I can groom to take my place. I can’t leave the MC in the hands of just anyone when I retire, young lady. And I see in you a fiery spirit that this club will need when I’m gone. They can get into some trouble from time to time and I need someone that isn’t afraid to wade the waters to get them out of it—or afraid to piss them off when they need to listen up. Those bikers don’t listen to just anyone.” He pulled something from his suit jacket pocket and set it on the desk. “If you are interested, I’d like to discuss my proposition.”
“I don’t understand,” I told him honestly. What was this old man doing here? Offering me a job?
“Well, if you are willing to sign a contract with me, agreeing to take over after you’ve graduated—and I’m confident that you can take over for me in a dependable fashion—I’d like to give you a job. It would only be as a kind of intern, but I would of course pay you.” He pulled another paper from his pocket, this one looking more like a legal document. “And as a bonus I would also like to offer you a full scholarship. It will cover all living expenses, books, and classes. But it carries with it the stipulation that you must come work for me once you graduate.”
To say my jaw dropped would be an understatement. What the ever-loving hell was going on here? Things like this just didn’t happen, at least not to me. Sure, I had good grades and all that, but for this man to just walk in and start offering me a solution to all my problems…
“Hawk.”
Of course. Hawk Fudging Hannigan. It made perfect sense now. I was so going to kill him when I got home that night.
Jenkins’s eyes widened a little. “What?”
“Hawk,” I snapped and got to my feet. “You said you’re the MC’s lawyer, which means that you basically work for Hawk Hannigan. Right?”
The old lawyer shrugged. “Yes, I guess that is true.”
Agitated, I began to pace. “And he came to you telling you that I needed money for school and that he wanted you to take care of it.” No wonder he hadn’t put up such a fuss when I’d left the house that morning. He’d known that his guy Jenkins was coming to see me and make all my problems go away.
That damn, interfering man.
Jenkins grinned. “No, actually I haven’t seen or spoken to Hawk in several weeks. I assure you, my dear, this has nothing to do with Mr. Hannigan and everything to do with me wanting a dependable replacement. You’re young and haven’t even gone through your first year of law school. I can work better with that, mold you to how I want my replacement to think and act.” He leaned forward. “I can teach you things about law that no professor will ever dare attempt to try and teach you.”
I relaxed a little and dropped back down into my chair. “So Hawk has nothing to do with this offer?”
Jenkins shook his gray head. “No, Gracie.”
I bit my lip, starting to actually think about his offer. When I’d decided to go to law school it hadn’t been because my father and his father and his father’s father had all been lawyers and it was expected of me. They were all corporate sharks and I didn’t want that for myself. I would lose my soul in that kind of work. But after seeing what my mother went through I’d promised myself that I would spend my life helping others just like her.
What Jenkins was offering seemed to be more for the MC’s benefit and honestly I didn’t have a problem with that. I cared about a number of the MC’s members, loved them like they were my own family. But what about my plans? Would I be able to help the battered women that really needed good legal aid?
“Will I only be representing the MC? Or can I do what I’ve been planning to do all along?” I asked, needing to make sure before I agreed to anything.
Jenkins frowned. “And what is that, my dear?” When I explained to him what I envisioned for myself, his eyes widened and after a moment his lips lifted in a genuine smile for the first time. “I think we can work something out with that, Gracie. The MC doesn’t take up all my time, although at times it might feel like it. You will definitely be able to take on some pro bono work like that any time.”
I rubbed my hands over my forehead. This was all a bit much all at once. I couldn’t think straight, and I didn’t want to jump in headfirst without thinking the whole thing through first.
As if he realized I was struggling to make a decision, Jenkins stood and offered me his hand before handing over the legal document in his hands. “Take a few days, dear. Read this over and if you want we can make some adjustments to the agreement. But I can only give you until the end of the week before I have to start looking elsewhere.”
Once he was gone I just sat there, my head hurting for an entirely different reason than the concussion I’d had the week before. My heart was pounding and I felt like I was going to be sick. As I read through the terms of the agreement over and over again, I realized that if I took this offer I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. School would be paid for, and with the amount listed from Jenkins’ ‘internship’ I wouldn’t have to work at the garage or Aggie’s to make ends meet.
I would be a total idiot not to take this offer, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that it was real.
The door to the office opened and Bash walked in. Wiping grease from his hands he dropped down into the chair that Jenkins had sat in earlier. “You look like you’re thinking pretty hard over there.”
I tossed the agreement at him and he caught it easily. “Tell me you had nothing to do with this,” I pleaded, still not convinced that it was genuine.
Bash glanced over the page then shrugged his massive shoulders. “Yeah, actually I had a little something to do with it.”
“What?” I didn’t mean to scream but my voice wasn’t really cooperating with my brain at the moment. “I knew it. Fudge.” I raked my fingers through my hair and glared up at the ceiling. Definitely too good to be true. Damn it.
Bash shook his dark head. “No, it wasn’t like that. Jenkins came to me and asked me about his replacement. He has to have the club’s backing for whoever takes his place. He mentioned you and I told him it wasn’t going to be a problem if you took over. That’s all.” He placed the agreement back on the desk, his ice-blue eyes amused as he watched me. “So please, little Gracie. Don’t go planning my death.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. As if I could ever kill this man. For one, I loved him like a brother. For another, he outweighed me by a good hundred and twenty pounds. It would take a lot of good planning to kill Bash Reid. “So this is real?”
“Jenkins doesn’t make fake deals, sweetheart.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the other. He looked relaxed and I was sure that he wasn’t lying to me. “From what I’ve read, it looks like a good deal at that. You going to take it?”
“I don’t know yet. It seems too good to be true.”
“Because it solves all your problems?” I nodded and he snorted. “Sometimes miracles do happen. More often than you think, actually.”
“So are you saying I should take it?” Okay, so it was a cop-out, trying to get someone else to make this decision for me. I was smarter than that, more independent. I didn’t need anyone to make my decisions for me, but right then I wanted someone else to do it for me.
Bash pushed himself to his feet and gave me a small smile. “If it were me I would take it, but it’s not me. You have to decide if this is what you want. Is it something that you can live with if you take it? But don’t go off of what I say, Gracie. Think about it for a day or two. Talk to Hawk about it. This affects him too, whether you want to admit it or not. You two are together now, so whatever you decide you both have to live with.”
With those words of wisdom he left me alone in the office once more, and I sat there still conflicted.
Hawk
I hated plumbers. I especially hated them when they charged me an outrageous amount of money. I glared from him to the bill that he’d just handed over, then down at the mess that was still the men’s room of Hannigan’s.
Yesterday the bar had been closed since it had been Sunday. When the guys and I had locked up Saturday night, everything had been fine. Then today I’d come in to grab the books for Raven, and the bathroom had been completely flooded. Someone had broken in and destroyed a pipe and it hadn’t left the place pretty.
I had my suspicions of who had done the damage, but of course I couldn’t prove it. Didn’t mean I was going to let it go, just that I had to bid my time and catch that fucker Kevin Samson. He was hiding out right now, scared that Spider was going to kill him after he’d left a screwdriver in Willa’s tire. Apparently he’d grown a little more bold since he’d snuck in and did this damage, but he was no doubt back to hiding his scared ass.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I growled at the plumber. He wasn’t the usual guy that we dealt with, but he’d been the only one I could get hold of in my rush to get the water pipe damage contained.
“I had to cancel three other appointments to get out here. That number included the emergency fee.” The short man with the potbelly scratched his chin, not seeming the least bit intimidated by me. Since he was from the next town over I was sure he didn’t realize who I was or what this bar represented. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been so fucking ballsy right then. “I take cash only. No checks from people I don’t know.”
Muttering a curse, I pulled my phone from my pocket and hit connect on Raven’s number. “Yeah?”
“I need some cash. Can you drop it off now so I can get this dickhead out of the bar before I decide to drown him in the piss and shit I’m currently standing in?” My threat got an eye roll from the plumber but a laugh from my sister.
“Yeah. I’ll be right over. Gonna have Lexa with me, though.”
“Thanks.” I glanced at the time on my phone and frowned. “You take Gracie her lunch?” I’d wanted to take it over myself, but I’d had to deal with the water pipe thing.
Raven blew out a sigh. “Of course I did, Hawk. She’s eaten and she’s taken care of. Oh, and I saw Jenkins pulling in as I was leaving.”
My frown turned into a grin. “Good. Drive carefully.”
“How long she gonna be?” The plumber asked. “I gotta be at another place in forty minutes.”
“Chill your tits, asshole. She’s on her way.” I waded through the mess to the bathroom door. Stepping into the bar, I pulled off the rubber boots we kept in the office in case of messes like this. I wanted a drink and I would have killed for a few headache relievers.
Fifteen minutes later, Raven and Lexa came through the front door and I had never been so happy to see my baby sister. I’d been seconds away from having to hide a dead body. The fucking plumber was a
“Uncle Hawk, you have your grumpy face on,” Lexa informed me as she climbed up onto the stool beside me.
“Uncle Hawk has a headache, Lexa.” I grabbed hold of her waist and sat her on the bar top in front of me. I pointed to the center of my forehead. “Right here.”
Here blue eyes widened and she leaned forward to press a sweet little kiss to my head, just as I knew she would. Lexa was a big believer in kisses making pain go away. “All better?”
“It’s a start.”
Raven was already counting out the cash for the plumber, who was eyeing her in a way that made me want to feed the fucker his dick for lunch. Raven glared at the man and shoved the cash into his hands. “There’s the door, jackass.”
He licked his lips and rubbed his hand over his mouth. “If you need one, I could give you a discount, little lady. Save you some money.” Beady eyes were on Raven’s chest and I was two seconds away from grabbing his balding head and beating it against the bar top.
“Oh yeah? And what would you want in return for this ‘discount’?” Raven snarled.
“I’m sure we could come to some kind of agreement.” One pudgy hand reached out, a stubby finger skimming down my sister’s arm.
I put Lexa on her feet and was beside the motherfucker in two steps, ready to break every bone in his hand. I didn’t care if Lexa saw or not. No one touched my sister. That had been beat into my head from the day she was born. Protect Raven no matter what. Don’t let anyone touch her.
Raven grabbed the plumber’s hand and bent the finger he had touched her with back until he was screaming like a girl. I heard a distinctive snap a second before I wrapped my hands around the fucker’s neck.
“O-w!” the man shrieked and Raven and I both looked down to find Lexa kicking him in the chin.