“It’s dog,” Raven said, stepping into the club several hours later. She approached Smokey’s desk and slammed the details down on it.
Hunter looked over to the woman and gritted his teeth. He could have handled a whole lot of shit but finding out that it was blood from a dog, now that pissed him off.
Smokey picked up his cell phone and it wasn’t long before he had Big Dick on speakerphone, giving him the update.
“That narrows it down,” Big Dick said. “There are a lot of old ranch holds, abandoned farms for fucking miles, but if it is dog, then that means they have to be out somewhere with dogs where they could hurt them, and dogs in pain can make a lot of noise.”
“Sick fucks. You find them, you tell us,” Raven said, clenching her hands into fists. “I want a piece of them.”
“Be careful and keep us updated,” Smokey said.
“Will do.”
The call ended.
“Carlos is on his way,” Raven said.
“Shit is about to get really ugly,” Hunter said.
“Where is Ugly?” Smokey asked.
“He’s at The Shack,” Hunter said. “It was Big Dick’s turn, and he’s dealing with Twisted, so Ugly subbed for him.”
“Speaking of Big Dick, I know this isn’t exactly club business, but while at the bakery earlier this week, Harlow started to ask me a whole bunch of questions.”
“I don’t need to deal with family shit,” Smokey said.
“I know, but I got curious and I know that’s the fucking kiss of death, but it happened.”
Hunter tensed up. What kind of questions was Harlow asking?
“You know the old beat-up apartment building she’s been living in?” Raven asked.
Smokey shook his head. “How the fuck should I know?”
Raven chuckled. “Okay, the deets. The landlord is charging her a fortune for a piece of shit apartment. She has no heat, no food, and is running into debt.”
“She told you this?” Hunter asked.
“No, she asked a bunch of unusual questions about rent and what it would cost, and the average rental for a place that sounded like shit. She made out it was some kind of business thing she was thinking of. I know Harlow. She doesn’t want to go to Big Dick about this.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Hunter said.
Raven turned to him and frowned. “You’ll deal with it.”
“Yeah, Smokey has too much shit on his plate right now, and you’ve got to deal with protection detail and if Carlos is coming, you’re going to be busy. I’ll take care of the landlord. Tell me what he’s done wrong, and I’ll fix it.”
Hunter was pissed off that Harlow hadn’t come to him. She hadn’t said a fucking word.
Smokey shooed them out of his office, and Raven pulled out her cell phone, handing it to him, and showing him all the details. Even Harlow’s bank statements.
She was actually in debt. There was no electricity going to her apartment, no gas, no heat. There wasn’t even a sign of grocery payments. Hunter thought about the diner, when she had a plate of fries and was looking through her purse, frowning. He had jumped in and paid the bill. He should have fucking known something was up.
“I’ll handle it,” Hunter said, about to make his way out, but Raven suddenly grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Why?”
“What?”
“Tell me why you’re suddenly interested in handling this mundane kind of shit?” Raven asked.
“Because she’s Big Dick’s sister and I’ve got fuck all to do until I find where the Twisted Bastards MC are.”
“Is that all?”
“Why don’t you worry about keeping your husband in line and stop worrying about what I’m doing?”
“You know she has a thing for you, right?” Raven asked.
“So?”
“Be careful,” Raven said.
Hunter pulled out of her hold and made his way outside the club. He climbed back in his car because he wasn’t interested in riding his bike in the fucking cold and freezing his balls off. There was only so much he would do.
Climbing behind the wheel, he turned over the ignition and then headed out, going toward Harlow’s apartment building. They all knew it because Big Dick had told them where his sister was living. From what he could fathom, Harlow had told Big Dick to stay out of her business, so this is what he was doing.
Hunter pulled into the available parking to the apartment, and there was no denying it was a shithole. Climbing out of his car, he made his way toward the tower block. Harlow’s name was there on the intercom, clear to see. The doors should be locked as a security measure, but when he tried it, the door opened right away. Harlow didn’t even have that limited protection, which pissed him off.
He knew exactly where to go, seeing as it was labeled where the landlord was.
Knocking on the door, he heard someone call out that they would be right there. A large man in a stained shirt opened the door. He had messy hair that hadn’t been cut or washed, and layers of grease had accumulated, giving it an almost matted look.
“Who are you?” the landlord asked, looking him up and down.
“We’ve got to talk.” He pressed his palm against the door, and the other guy was no match for him as he pushed his way into the apartment. The stench of sweat, piss, and shit was heavy in the air.
“I got no problem with you. What do you want?” the landlord asked.
“Harlow Erickson. Does the name ring a bell?” Hunter asked.
“What the fuck has she done?”
Hunter tutted. “It’s not what the fuck has she done, but you.”
This man—no, not man, piece of filth—had taken advantage of Harlow’s naivete. Big Dick had told them at Christmas that life for Harlow wasn’t always easy with her parents. She had gotten out as soon as she could, tried to be independent, and fucking assholes like this man made life way too hard for her to cope, and it sickened him.
“How much do you charge her rent?” Hunter asked.
The man gave a figure, and that was a lie. Swinging out, the first blow landed to the face. The landlord collapsed on the sofa, which Hunter was pretty sure something crawled out of when he touched it.
“Get up,” Hunter said.
He tried to stay down, but after several minutes, he was on his feet again, and Hunter punched him.
“Tell me how much you charge her for rent.”
It took several blows, but finally the landlord told him the fee. Not only did he charge her rent, the landlord also confessed to charging her an additional fee for utilities. Harlow had been paying double for everything. Hunter was tempted to put the knife through his neck.
“You’re going to give all that money back, because if you don’t, I’ll be coming for you, do you understand me?” The landlord was on the floor at this point, whimpering. Blood came from his mouth, nose, and one of his eyes was already swelling shut.
He didn’t give a shit. Men like this sickened him. There were many of them through all walks of life, preying on the innocent and the weak. He made it a skill to find them, to hurt them. He loved to hunt men who thought they were powerful. Never did he go after the weak.
He left the landlord, after taking all the money the bastard had on him, and Hunter had a feeling he was going to have no choice but to pay him another visit soon. He made his way up to Harlow’s apartment. He already had her key from the landlord, so now he didn’t have to worry about the sick fuck snooping through her stuff.
Stepping foot inside the apartment, he looked around and saw Harlow barely had anything. The apartment was small and clean, but she didn’t have anything. There was a chair, no television, a few books on the floor were neatly placed.
There was no decaying stench in the air, but he saw she’d placed air-fresheners around. He hadn’t realized how she was living. Her kitchen was tiny. The fridge wasn’t working and there was nothing inside it. She didn’t have any electricity and when he tested the gas, he saw that wasn’t working either.
Now he was getting pissed off. None of this shit was good. He took a seat on the single chair and looked toward the door.
It was getting late so Harlow would be arriving home soon. He had thought she’d been losing weight. He was also pretty sure he saw her wrapping up leftovers from Christmas, but she’d hidden it and he’d not really given a shit.
This was no way to live. And he wasn’t going to allow Harlow to live it either.
****
Harlow didn’t know how the club managed to get people moving, but she was grateful to them, seeing as the bakery had no choice but to close for most of the day. With the damage to the window, Ava had opted to keep the shop closed and for them to only fulfill the pre-orders for lunches. This was unfortunate seeing as she liked to sneak a cookie or two. Instead, she had gone most of the day without food. It was only when Raven had stopped by with lunch that she had gotten anything to eat.
Raven hadn’t taken any money from her either, which she was thankful for. She didn’t have a cent to her name. Things were getting tough and Harlow knew she was going to need to make a decision. Going back home to her parents was out of the question but she didn’t know what else she could do. Time was running out.
She walked up to the apartment building. There had been no call or text from Hunter, not that she had been expecting one. Hoping for one, but it hadn’t arrived.
She typed in the code on the keypad and let herself in the building. She had a horrible feeling the security lock on the main door didn’t work. The elevator wasn’t working, so she went to the stairs, tensing up, waiting for the landlord to come out and accuse her of not paying the full rent, but nothing happened.
There was no way she was going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and she took the steps, two at a time, to make her way toward her apartment. Pulling out her key, she slid it in the lock, flicked it open, and then stepped inside.
She had been able to charge her cell phone at work, so she’d use that for light. The electricity had been turned off a couple of weeks ago.
She had worked on the theory that for many years humans lived without light or gas, so she could as well. It would make her value them when she was able to afford them again. So far, she hadn’t been able to afford anything.
“How long has this been going on?”
Harlow screamed at the voice inside her apartment.
“Who is that?” Harlow asked. Yeah, that was bright, asking who her intruder was and expecting an answer.
“It’s Hunter,” he said.
“Oh.” She frowned.
“Yeah, oh.”
She couldn’t quite make him out and then as if he knew what she was going to do, there was suddenly light coming from his cell phone.
Hunter sat in her only chair. It wasn’t quite so comfortable, and she often changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. It was easier for her to gain heat, especially in the freezing temperatures they were experiencing.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I live here.”
“When were you going to tell Big Dick what was going on?” Hunter asked.
“How did you know?” She didn’t understand how he could have found out. It wasn’t like she advertised it. In fact, she hadn’t done anything of the sort.
“Raven got curious after you questioned her. Big Dick is busy, so I came and handled it.”
“You didn’t need to do that. I intended to confront the landlord and demand my money back.”
Hunter laughed. “And you think he would have given it to you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re so fucking stupid.”
“Don’t,” Harlow said. “I wouldn’t have stopped.”
Hunter got to his feet and walked over to her. She tensed up, glaring at him, waiting for him to … she didn’t know what he was going to do but she would be ready for it.
“I took care of it. Pack a bag,” he said.
She frowned. “Wait. What?”
“I took care of it,” Hunter said. “The money that’s owed to you will be returned, but you can’t live here. Pack a bag. You’re coming to stay with me.”
“No, I can’t come and stay with you. This is … no. I can handle it. Trust me, I’ve been doing just fine.”
Her stomach, the traitor it was, chose that moment to start growling, which annoyed her. She didn’t want her stomach to growl and make him aware that she was starving.
“Fine?” He looked down at her stomach. “Starving yourself and freezing and you call that fine?”
“I … can handle it.”
He gripped the back of her neck, pulling her in close. “If you still want my dick, then you will pack a bag and you will do as you’re told. If you want to test me on this, you can, but we both know I’m going to win.”
Harlow gritted her teeth. “You don’t have to take care of me. I can handle it.”
“I do have to take care of you because you’re doing a fucking useless job. Now pack a bag, or this is done.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him to fuck off, but instead she glared at him for another second, and then moved to her bags. She didn’t have a lot of stuff.
She had never told Big Dick, but when she left her parents’ house, it was after an argument. Her mother had told her she was wasting her life for the last time, and that she needed to make changes, and she didn’t want to listen to it anymore, so she left.
With the job at Ava’s she did have a small amount of savings. She had walked right into this place, and it had been nothing but a fuck-up ever since. She could put on a brave face, but the truth was, it was killing her. Being hungry wasn’t fun.
With a bag packed, she moved toward Hunter. He looked at her and she waited. She didn’t know what more he wanted, and then he took the bag from her and they left the apartment. Harlow didn’t look back.
This was her independence, and so far, it had been nothing short of a nightmare. She didn’t like to complain because she knew other people were in worse positions. At least she had an apartment, even if it was cold with no creature comforts. She had more than most.
Hunter tossed her bag in the back of the car, and she climbed in the passenger side as he got behind the wheel. Neither of them spoke as he fired up the engine and then took off out of the parking lot.
“Are you angry with me?” she asked, finally building the courage to say something.
“No, I’m not angry with you. Men like your landlord make me angry.”
“What did you do?” Harlow asked.
“Nothing, just gave him a warning.”
“Do I even want to know what a warning means from you?”
“No.”
Harlow pressed her lips together. Why did Hunter care? Was it because he might have feelings for her? Was it because of her brother? She didn’t dare ask so she kept her mouth shut. Harlow expected them to go to the clubhouse, but they headed in the direction of his home.
It wasn’t long before they stepped through his front door and Hunter closed it and flicked the lock into place. He dropped her bag on the floor.
“What did I tell you?” he asked.
Harlow frowned, looking at him. With everything that had happened in the last few hours, she couldn’t really think.
“Er…”
Hunter stepped in close.
“Get naked.”
“Oh,” Harlow said.
She was all fingers and thumbs as she scrambled to remove her clothes. Hunter wasn’t joking about that. She didn’t know if they had to be talking sex for her to get naked.
Harlow was very much aware that he watched her as she removed her clothes. Her lingerie was nothing special. They were old things, but hopefully she’d be able to afford something new. She intended to keep her bra and panties on, but he shook his head and did that tut that she found annoying.
“All of it.”
She didn’t argue and stood before him, completely naked. “Happy?”
She didn’t mean to be sassy, but there was no point in denying what came naturally to her, and being sassy was exactly that.
“Yeah, I am happy.” He gave a little growl of appreciation.
Hunter stepped toward her and kicked her clothes out of the way, and then banded an arm around her waist, pulling her in close. “I like it very fucking much.”
She let out a gasp as he grabbed her ass, the tight grip sending a shockwave of pleasure through her body. She had no idea how he had this much effect on her, but she knew she didn’t want it to stop.
He pressed his face against her neck and she released a little moan.
“You’re going to learn to take care of yourself and I’m going to show you how to handle assholes like the ones you’ve encountered. First, I’m going to feed you, and then I’m going to fuck you.”