TOTAL ECLIPSE: The Evolution (Sin City Heat Series Book 7) (25 page)

CHAPTER 28

Darrell had to admit he enjoyed himself at
Club Ecstasy
. It had been a minute since he’d last been there, but, Jake, the same manager who had worked for him six years ago, still ran the club. Jake was surprised to see Darrell and shocked to find out that Darrell and Hawk were related. The three of them sat in his office for half an hour, and had a drink while Hawk divulged his plans for a fourth club. Jake thought it was an excellent idea and told Hawk to let him know if there was anything he could do to help.

After they got to VIP, Hawk shook hands with several people he knew and hugged an endless parade of women that came over to their table. Once he introduced Darrell, the females flirted as shamelessly with him as they did with Hawk. One in particular was especially aggressive, determinedly sticking to Darrell’s side most of the night. Darrell had to admit she was bad as hell. Shit, he was married not dead, but from the first, he’d held his left hand up and showed her his wedding ring.

The young hottie had only shrugged as if it were of no consequence to her. After a while, though, it finally seemed to sink in that things were not going to progress as she hoped. Pouting prettily, she asked if he would at least take a picture with her. Before he could answer, she and her girlfriends snuggled close to him and snapped a few shots with their cell phones. She gave him a kiss that landed on the corner of his mouth before he could stop her. Her friends captured that on their phones as well before she finally moved on to someone else.

“Damn, these women are aggressive as fuck,” he told Hawk a while later as they were shooting pool.

Hawk laughed. “You been outta the game a long time. Believe me, they didn’t just get like this.”

“I guess. Makes me appreciate the married life that much more, though.”

“Then call your wife back and stop acting like an ass,” Hawk drawled as he lined up his shot.

“Yeah. I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“Good. See, a playa like me was built for this life,” Hawk grinned. He cursed softly when he missed the shot. “A woman for every night of the week? That’s what I call ballin’.”

“Yeah, and you can have that shit. Been there, done that, and don’t intend to go back.”

“I hear ya’. ‘Specially when you–”

“Hey!”  A deep, angry voice interrupted Hawk, causing both he and Darrell to turn around. A large mountain of a man stood a few feet away glaring at Hawk with murder clearly written in his eyes. Behind him cowered one of the women who had been flirting with Hawk all night. Three other men followed behind them.

The man walked up on Hawk and held up one of Hawk’s business cards. “This yours?”

Hawk looked at the card, making a big production of reading it before nodding affirmatively. “Yep. That’s mine.”

“Did you give it to my girlfriend?” The man’s brows drew together to form one dark, ragged line.

Hawk lifted hooded eyes to look at the man, who stood several inches taller and outweighed him by about at least twenty pounds of bulky muscle. Snorting, Hawk pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a long, deep pull while staring at the man with an obvious lack of concern. His indifference only served to infuriate the guy further.

“Hey, bitch, I’m talking to you!”

Hawk squinted and blew a steady stream of smoke out the corner of his mouth. When two of the bouncers moved forward to grab the men and throw them out, Hawk shook his head for them to hang back. After taking another drag of the cigarette, his eyes ran over the man and his friends dismissively before turning back to Darrell.

Growling, the man roughly shoved the woman back. Stumbling in the outrageously high heels, she managed to catch herself from falling just in time.

Hawk stared at her for a moment, his expression darkening before muttering to Darrell, “Your shot, Cous’.”

“I know,” Darrell said, looking at the balls on the pool table. “Just trying to decide which way I wanna go.”

“How about aiming for the two at the far end. Think you can make it?”

“Sheeit, you even gotta ask, son?”

Hawk laughed and shrugged. “Sorry. My bad.”

As if acting out a well-orchestrated plan of attack, the two of them moved into action at the same time. Darrell went for the two men on the right, leaving the loud mouth and his friend for Hawk. Catching them by surprise, he floored the smaller one with one punch, then picked up a chair and swung it wide into the other guy. He finished him off with a punch that knocked him out cold.

Darrell turned just in time to see Hawk grab the eight ball off the pool table and slam it into the side of the instigator’s skull. The man screamed and brought his hands to his head where blood gushed out like a fountain. When Hawk brought his foot up and kicked the other man in the testicles, he tumbled to his side to rest in a painful, fetal position.

Hawk bent down and pulled his pants leg up. Frowning, Darrell saw the ankle strap holding his piece. “Hawk!”

Hawk calmly whipped the gun free and pointed it in the man’s face. The bouncers immediately surrounded him, but it wasn’t to diffuse the situation. They kept their backs to Hawk and the man, standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms crossed facing the crowd that had gathered, effectively blocking Hawk from their view.

His body tense, Darrell glared at his cousin in silence. Hawk pressed the barrel of the gun against the man’s cheek. “Now. You were saying?”

The man brought his hands up pleadingly. “S-sorry, dude. I’m sorry.”

“Damn right, you’re sorry. Fuckin’ pussy.”

“Hawk, let it go,” Darrell hissed.

But Hawk was focused on the man on the floor. “Apologize to my cousin for ruining what had, up to now, been a great evening.”

Trembling in fear, the man stared at the gun then blinked up at Darrell with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, man! M-my mistake!” He looked at the gun again. “Please, man, I don’t wanna die!”

“Obviously you do.” Hawk’s voice was calm and unruffled, but his eyes glittered with fury. “You just gonna approach a mothafucka like you ain’t got no damn sense, then say you don’t wanna die? That’s bullshit. Must got a death wish, boy.”

“Please!
I’m sorry
!” The man cried, continuing to plead for his life. “D-don’t kill me!
Please
don’t kill me!”

Hawk’s finger remained poised over the trigger as if still trying to decide what he wanted to do.

Teeth grinding together, Darrell called his cousin’s name in a low voice. “Hawk.”

He looked up at Darrell. Several seconds passed before he slowly moved the gun out of the terrified man’s face.

“Looks like this is your lucky night. The next person you decide to fuck with might not be so generous,” he told him, slipping the gun back into the black ankle holster. He stared down at the man in disgust before glancing at Darrell. “Ready to go, Cous’?”

Grimacing, Darrell nodded. When they passed one of the men moaning on the floor, Hawk kicked him in the side, then stepped over him before heading to the entrance. Darrell whispered to one of the bouncers to make sure Jake took care of the security tape. The last thing they needed was evidence floating around of Hawk threatening someone with a gun. The man immediately took off to do as Darrell requested. Five minutes later Darrell burnt rubber out of the parking lot, dividing his glowering stare between the road and Hawk as he roared down the highway.

“What the hell was that?” he snapped.

“Give me a little credit. I wasn’t gonna shoot his ass.” Turning his head to look out the window, Hawk added under his breath, “At least not in front of witnesses.”

“You a crazy mu’fucka, you know that?”

Hawk laughed and leaned his head back against the headrest. “The Pattels are all crazy mu’fuckas, including you. It’s in our blood. That’s how I knew you had my back.”

Darrell’s lips tightened, before he relaxed and grinned. “No doubt.”

“You gotta admit that was fun, though, right?” Hawk’s white teeth flashed in the darkness as he looked at Darrell. “I probably saved that asshole’s life. Bet he’ll think twice before confronting anybody else like that.”

Darrell laughed and shook his head. “Crazy mu’fucka,” he muttered again.

Hawk joined in his laughter, amusement thick in his voice. “Runs in the family, Cous’. Runs in the family.”

By the time they got back to Darrell’s condo, the brief tension between the two of them was long gone. Darrell unlocked the door, leaving Hawk to follow behind him. Darrell shook his head as his cousin continued spouting the foolery he’d been talking on the way up on the elevator.

“I mean, come on, I gotta have somebody to have a lil’ fun with every now and then, and you’re it. Between my brothers and yours, they have no sense of humor when it comes to shit like what happened tonight.”

Darrell glanced at Hawk while opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. “I wonder why?” he asked sarcastically.

“Like I said. They don’t know how to have fun,” Hawk laughed, heading to the living room. “Just like that night we all had dinner at the restaurant. I wasn’t going to actually jack Rae’s date up. Just ruffling his feathers a bit.”

Darrell stood in the kitchen listening to Hawk with a look of amusement while drinking his water.

“But before I could say more than a few words to his ass, here comes Lorenzo, offering to pay for their dinner and…” Hawk stopped talking abruptly. He stared down at Darrell’s couch before looking up at Darrell with his mouth open. “Hey. Thought you said you didn’t fuck around on your wife?”

Darrell’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What? I don’t. What are you talkin’ about?”

“I guess strange women just wander into your place when you’re not here all the time, huh?” Hawk said, staring again at Darrell’s couch, licking his lips as if preparing to sample something deliciously tempting. He tilted his head to the side as Darrell took long strides towards him. “Although I have to say, I wouldn’t have minded if this one had kept going until she sashayed her cute lil’ ass to my bedroom instead of stopping here. After the way our evening ended tonight, I could use a bit of TLC between those smooth, brown–”

“Hey!” Darrell’s eyes followed Hawk’s to the woman asleep on his couch. His sharp tone cut Hawk off before he could finish the thought. “That’s my wife!”  

CHAPTER 29

Surprise shaded Hawk’s face as he swung his eyes back to the woman curled up asleep on the couch. The little black dress she wore had risen to the very tops of her thighs, showing a generous amount of tantalizing skin. “
That’s
Jerra?”

“Yes!” Darrell’s voice was thick with warning. His eyes narrowed threateningly. “And stop staring at her like that!”

“Like what?”

The sound that came from Darrell was savagely fierce when Hawk was slow in averting his gaze. He stepped in front of Hawk to block his view. Where minutes ago his grey eyes had been sparkling bright with humor at his cousin’s antics, they were now dark and tumultuous because he knew exactly what Hawk was thinking.

“Alright, alright.” Hawk threw his hands up and took a couple of steps back. “My bad. She just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

Darrell eyed him for a moment longer then forced himself to bring it down a notch. Maybe he
was
overreacting, but he didn’t play that shit with
anybody
when it came to Jerra.

“Sorry,” he said grudgingly, but his tone clearly said he didn’t care one way or the other if Hawk accepted his apology. He reached for a cream-colored cashmere afghan draped over the arm of the sofa and used it to cover Jerra from the waist down.

Darrell studied her face in the dim light. What was she doing here? He frowned when he realized she hadn’t even stirred while he and Hawk were talking, and Jerra was a light sleeper.

“She must really be tired,” he muttered to himself.

“What?” Hawk asked.

“Nothing.” His eyes still glued to her sleeping form, he pointed to a desk a few feet away. “Do me a favor and open the top drawer of that desk over there and get the keys on the black keychain.”

After Hawk found them, he tossed them to Darrell. Darrell tossed them right back. Hawk looked at him with a question on his face.

“Those are the keys to my business partner’s condo on the forty-third floor. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Hawk cocked his ear towards Darrell. “Wait, what?”

Darrell’s jaw locked tight when he saw the now familiar gleam in Hawk’s eyes that was a preface to some good-natured teasing. Hawk tried to keep his face expressionless, but the corners of his mouth fought a losing battle as they twitched from the effort to stop the smile.

“Hawk.” Darrell called his name through gritted teeth.

“What? Is it unrealistic of me to try and get an explanation here? I mean, you invited me to stay, now you’re kicking me out.”

“You act like I’m sending you to the bowels of hell instead of…” Darrell’s teeth snapped closed. His glower turned fierce. “I’m tellin’ you now, I’m not in the mood for your shit. Carl’s place is empty, someone comes in to straighten up once a week, so it’s clean.”

Hawk folded his arms. “That’s not the point.”

“Darrell?” Jerra’s soft voice called his name from the couch.

Darrell turned around and saw that she had sat up and was rubbing her sleep-blurred eyes with the back of her hand. “Hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay,” she said, then promptly let out a wide yawn. “Sorry. I must have dozed off.”

Both Darrell and Hawk stared like helpless idiots at the adorable picture she made sitting there, still half asleep, her thick lashes blinking lazily in their direction.

“Hi, Jerra,” Hawk smiled innocently.

The dark glare Darrell directed towards him was menacing in its intensity.

“Hello,” Jerra answered. Then she frowned and brushed a curl out of her face. “I’m sorry, do I know you? You look familiar, but...”

Darrell took a step towards the couch. “This is my cousin, Hawk Pattel. Hawk, Jerra.”

Jerra’s eyes stretched wide in surprise. “Oh.
You’re
Hawk.”

Darrell knew it was still weird to her to think of him having an extended family other than Gabby and Tina. He still wasn’t used to it himself. 

“Yes,” Hawk grinned teasingly. “And
you’re
Jerra.”

She laughed and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you, all good of course.” He paused then looked slyly at Darrell out of the corner of his eye. “Matter of fact–”

“Matter of fact, Hawk was just leaving. Right, Hawk?”

Jerra looked from Darrell to Hawk. “You’re leaving?”

Hawk’s amused gaze stayed on Darrell before finally giving Jerra a nod. “It would seem so. But I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon. After all, we’re family now, right?”

Jerra’s smile was strained. “Yes, I guess we are.”

“Walk me to the door, Cous’?”

“I’ll be right back, Jerra,” Darrell told her.

Jerra nodded, her eyes following them as they left the living room with the same confident gait.

Once Darrell and Hawk got to the door, Hawk gave Darrell’s shoulder a friendly punch. “You know I was just messing with you, right? Enjoy your time with your wife, and try to work on whatever problems you have. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want the same thing.”

Darrell glanced back in the direction of the living room. “Thanks, man.”

The two of them shook hands before Hawk left. As Darrell made his way back to the living room where he’d left Jerra, he again wondered why she was there. Not that he minded. Like he’d told Hawk, he’d planned on calling her tomorrow to talk after they both had a chance to calm down a bit, but now was as good a time as any. It was past time they cleared the air…about a lot of things.