Page 5 of Hawk
“I’m not working at your company, Brandon.”
“Okay, well work at any company—anything that will get you to let go of that gang life.”
“My association with the club is not the reason I got locked up. Granted, I’ve done plenty to get locked up for, but need I remind you it was our idiot brother who decided he was going to rob a bank!”
Brandon shakes his head. “You know they screwed him over.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gage never saw a dime of that money. The word around here is, one of ‘em fled to Mexico…don’t know what happened to the other one but wherever he is, he’s livin’ it up.”
All I can do is shake my head. “You better talk some sense into him, Brandon, because I’m done. Look at what he’s done to me.”
“I ain’t talking no sense into him. If he wants to be wild and free, that’s what he’ll be until he lands in more trouble.”
I stand up, stretch and take a look at the house. “This place has so many memories—just me and Ivy. It’s a simple house—nothing fancy about it, but the love we shared here is what made it home, you know.”
“Have you heard from her?”
“No, and I don’t expect to.”
“I hate that for you, man. You were crazy about her.”
I still am.
“Have you seen her around?” I ask.
“Uh…I last saw Ivy about six months ago.”
“Oh, yeah? She still looking good?”
“I’m not judging your lady, man.”
“Well, she ain’t mine no more, now, is she?”
Brandon sips beer and leaves my question in the air. “She has a daughter now, I think—at least I saw her with a little girl.”
“A daughter?”
“Yep.”
Damn.
I tell Brandon, “I used to sit in prison and dream we would get back together as soon as I got out, but hearing this means she’s moved on.”
“Maybe. That same day I saw her, she also had something else that was concerning.”
“What’s that?”
“A black eye.”
“A what?” I ask in disbelief because while we’re no longer together, I’m not about to let a man abuse her. Whoever he is, he’s as good as dead.
“I don’t know who she’s mixed up with, but the situation ain’t good.”
He leaves me to draw my own conclusion. I couldn’t imagine a man putting his hands on such a gentle, sweet woman. Sure, she could be a bit of a firecracker at times, but sweet nonetheless. I’ve always liked women with a bit of an edge and Ivy fit the bill perfectly. That’s why I married her. She’s five-six, thick in the hips, and has that chocolate skin that makes a man’s mouth water and other parts of his body stiff. She always wears her hair in braids, dresses nice, and smells like cocoa butter, vanilla and sensuality.
While her looks are top-tier, her personality is even better. It offsets my ruggedness. She’s soft and gentle. I’m hard and rough around the edges. We’re the textbook definition of opposites attract. We were Bonnie and Clyde without the criminal activity – well, on her end at least.