Unbeloved Read Online Free Page B

Hawk wasn’t here. The last text I’d received from him had been days ago, informing me that he’d be here by Christmas Eve. There’d been nothing since, and every call I’d made had gone unanswered.
    However strained our relationship with each other was, Hawk had never ignored my calls, and he’d certainly never missed an opportunity to spend time with his son.
    S omething was wrong.
    Setting my coffee down on the windowsill, I quickly typed out a text on my phone.
    I ’m worried. Please call me.
    Pressing Send , I held the phone in my hand and waited. And waited.
    Ten minutes went by and still no answer.
    I glanced at the clock on the wall, which was silly since my phone told me exactly what time it was, but old habits die hard and I’d been checking clocks long before I’d had a cell phone to tell me the time.
    Six thirty a.m. Which meant it was seven thirty in Montana. Deuce and Eva had two young children, and considering it was Christmas morning, might be up already.
    I typed out another next, this one to Eva ’s cell phone.
    Have you heard from Hawk? He ’s not here. He hasn’t responded to my calls and I’m worried.
    Then I waited, clutching my cell phone, staring at the lit screen so intently that when it brightened even further, flashing Unknown Caller , followed by the ridiculously loud and obnoxious ringing I hadn’t yet figured out how to change, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
    “ Hello?”
    “ Dorothy.” Deuce’s deep, rumbling voice filled my ear. “You fuckin’ know better than to text shit like that to an unsecured line.”
    “ Merry Christmas to you too,” I said dryly, unconcerned with Deuce’s texting protocols. “Now, where’s Hawk? Why hasn’t he responded to any of my calls?”
    “ What do you mean he hasn’t responded to your calls?”
    For such a smart man, Deuce could really be dense at times.
    “What I mean is just that . He hasn’t responded to any of my calls or texts. Not since the day before yesterday.”
    Silence followed my words, only serving to worsen the sinking sensation in my stomach.
    “ Deuce?”
    “ I’m here. I’m thinkin’ . . .” Another long pause followed, then, “I gotta go, I’ll have Eva call you if I have news.”
    “ Wait!” I cried, but I was too late. He’d already hung up.
    “ Dammit!” I shouted, squeezing the phone in my hand with frustration.
    Why had I even bothered calling? The Hell’s Horsemen and their seedy business dealings were never something I’d been privy to. And getting any sort of information out of Deuce was the equivalent of demanding answers from a brick wall. Utterly impossible.
    “ Mom?”
    My gaze jerked across the room. Leaning heavily against the hall entranceway, Christopher regarded me with sleepy eyes and a crooked smile.
    Tossing aside my phone, I jumped up off the couch. “Merry Christmas, baby,” I said softly. Smiling, I gestured toward the tree and the brightly wrapped presents piled underneath it.
    His little face, still slack wit h sleep, instantly brightened. His green eyes widened, and then he was hurtling across the hardwood flooring. Just as I thought he would run right past me, he skidded to a stop, whirled around, and threw himself at me.
    I caught him, but just barely. Only seven years old, but he had the strength and build of a baby bear. Much like Tegen, the color of his eyes and hair were his only resemblance to me. He was every inch his father’s son.
    “ Merry Christmas, Mommy,” he said, squeezing my waist. In answer, my heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t called me Mommy in years.
    I might not have remembered being pregnant when he ’d first been presented to me as an infant, but it hadn’t stopped me from loving him instantly.
    Regardless of all my confusion, the pain from my head injury, the resulting surgery, and my emergency C-section, the moment I ’d laid eyes on him, I’d felt instantly connected to him, knowing he was mine.
    While everything else around me had felt