Craving Hawk (The Aces' Sons 3)

“Tommy,” I said as he continued to move through the crowd. He didn’t hear me so I said it a little louder, trying to get his attention, but it was no use. He was headed straight for Devin, and by the look on his face he was going to kill my cousin.

“Tommy!” I yelled again, catching the attention of Will and Casper who were just ahead of me.

I picked up my skirt and rushed forward just as the men turned to look at me. Something must have shown on my face because without a word they were turning to look for Tommy in the crowd and were suddenly jogging toward him.

“Tommy,” I said again, trying so hard not to make a scene as I pushed through the crowd. People were starting to notice me, and everyone had grown quiet by the time Will grabbed his brother around the chest and yanked him backward.

I couldn’t hear what Will was saying into Tommy’s ear, but it didn’t seem to be making a difference. My future husband pulled so hard against his brother’s arms that the tendons in his neck were bulging. He didn’t even seem to register the people around him that were rounding up the kids and ushering them back inside. He just stared straight at Devin, who consequently looked like he was going to piss his pants.

“Thomas,” I said when I was finally close enough for him to hear me.

“Stay back,” Will warned, his arms flexing as Tommy pulled against them.

I snorted and moved closer until I was right in front of them.

“Hey,” I said, reaching up to put my hands on his cheeks. “Tommy.”

He looked down at me in surprise and his body relaxed a little, but not much.

“How do I look?” I asked, giving him a small smile.

“Beautiful,” he said softly, turning his head to kiss one of my palms before his eyes shot back up to my cousin.

“You need to calm down,” I murmured, rubbing my thumb over his jaw. “I can’t marry you if Will can’t let you go.”

“That motherfucker—”

“I know, baby,” I said, moving even closer and making Will curse. “We’ll make him leave.”

“He shows his face at our goddamn wedding?” he growled, jerking at Will’s arms. “Motherfucker didn’t learn his lesson the first time.”

“Tommy,” I snapped, making his eyes meet mine again. “I’m not playing with you. Calm your ass down so we can get married or I’m leaving your ass at the altar.”

“You think I’m gonna let that piece of shit walk away again?” he argued.

“I think you’re going to stand here with me,” I replied, ignoring the sound of disbelief he made. “And your brother is going to go tell him he’s not welcome here.”

“Not happenin’,” Tommy spit out, jerking against his brother’s arms.

“Alright,” I said, dropping my hands from his face. “Then Will’s going to hold you while I go tell him—”

“You take one step in his direction,” Tommy warned, his eyes meeting mine again. “One fuckin’ step, Heather—”

“Then you have to stop,” I said quietly. “You need to calm down if you don’t want me to go over there.”

He glared at me, his nostrils flaring, but slowly his body started to relax.

“Thank you,” I whispered, reaching out again.

Just as my hands made contact with his chest, he yanked away from Will who’d loosened his hold. For a second, my heart stopped, but then his arms were around me, pulling me up until my feet no longer touched the ground.

“Get him outta my sight,” he growled at his brother.

After that, there was a commotion behind me but I didn’t try to turn and watch. I could hear my uncle and aunt protesting as Will pushed Devin through the crowd, but I didn’t care. They didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to me in that moment was calming the man whose arms around me were shaking with fury.

“I told you not to do that shit,” he growled, his arms tightening. “I fuckin’ told you.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” I asked smugly, letting out a yelp when he dropped me abruptly to my feet.

“You fuckin’ kiddin’ me right now?” He took a step back and suddenly, I was cold. Really cold. “It’s the one thing I fuckin’ asked!”

“Shut up, Thomas,” I spat, crossing my arms. “The only thing you get to say to me right now is how pretty I look.”

“You know you look gorgeous,” he snapped back, running his fingers through his hair.

He was pissed, but I could see the tension slowly leaving his shoulders once my cousin was out of his sight. I swallowed hard, the shock of the entire situation finally hitting me. I’d seen people angry plenty of times. I’d even seen the Hawthorne temper on full display before. But I’d never seen anything like Tommy when he’d seen Devin. He’d looked possessed. And like it usually happened when I got myself into shit without thinking it through, once it was over I began to freak out.