Hammer's Pride by E.C. Land (brene brown rising strong TXT) 📕

church, and you gotta stay here,” I mutter, having no intention of telling her the reason why. She’ll have to trust me on this one.

“I don’t see why the hell I can’t go with Leanna while she runs a few errands. What’s the harm in going off with a friend?” she snaps with full-on attitude.

Fuck, I love her attitude, but right now, it’s pissing me off. This is her safety and not wanting anything to happen to her. Why can’t she simply see that I’m protecting her by keeping her from leaving without me?

“Sunshine, not gonna argue with you or tell you my fuckin’ reasons why. You’re keeping your ass here where I know you’re safe,” I growl. Flashbacks of my brother’s house pop into my head, and I inwardly shake them away. I don’t need this shit.

“Hammer, nothing’s gonna happen to either of us,” Avery tries again, causing me to snap.

I’m not one to lose control, and it pisses me off more so with this situation because she wants to argue with me about this.

“You don’t know that,” I snarl. “You could go out there, and those fuckers snag you up or decide to slit your throat. I’m not gonna go through that shit again where I get a call saying you’re fuckin’ dead. So do me a favor and keep your ass here where I know nothing’s gonna happen. I don’t need you putting yourself out there where someone can get to you. Not when I’ve got shit to do, and I’m fuckin’ busy.” With that, I turn on my heel and storm out of the kitchen, ignoring the tears that fill her eyes.

That’s another thing I’d learned about my woman. She cries when she’s upset, and I don’t have time to worry about her feelings right now. I have more important things to worry about, such as her life not being snuffed out.

Stalking through the clubhouse, I make my way to church and sit in my chair to wait for the rest of my brothers to get here.

It’s time shit gets back to normal around here, and that means we need to eliminate the enemy one at a time. Starting with Avery’s brother’s gang. I’ll gladly pull the trigger, nailing them all between the eyes, and I won’t blink twice about it.

Chapter Sixteen

Avery

“Sweetheart, don’t take what Hammer said to heart,” Leanna murmurs as she comes back to stand near me.

“How can I not? Hammer has never been harsh with me. Sure, yeah, he’s been a jerk by going all he-man on me, pushing and pulling, putting me where he wants me. Still, he’s always been somewhat gentle about it. I get that about him, and I’m falling in love with him even though I know this is who he is, but he’s never, not once, been so harsh with his words,” I whisper, tears spilling down my cheeks.

God, I hate that I cry when I’m upset.

I’ve always been this way. My sister used to call me a crybaby all the time, provoking me to cry even more.

“I get where you’re coming from, but you have to get where he’s coming from. Has he told you about his family?” My brows furrow at her question.

“Not really,” I utter, thinking how I’d met his niece, Ally, when she was here and knew he had a nephew up in Virginia where both he and Ally live with their families.

“Of course, he wouldn’t tell you. It’d give you nightmares,” Leanna says, shaking her head with a haunting look on her face.

“What do you mean it’d give me nightmares?” I ask.

“I won’t tell his story. That’s something you’ll have to ask him. But I will say this with what he said, I suggest you not fight him on anything when it comes to your safety. For his peace of mind at least.” Her words clench in my chest. She might not have told me anything; however, she told me everything she could at the same time. Something bad happened to Hammer and his family.

Questions filter through my head, and I can’t help but wonder, did he have someone before me that he lost because he’d not been able to protect her? I mean, is it a possibility that he had a girlfriend or wife. It sucks that I hadn’t thought to ask about his family before now.

I’ve been staying at the clubhouse for a month now, and I now realize how selfish I’ve been for not thinking to find out more about Hammer. Sure we talk. I know things that he likes to do and what he does for the club. At this, I knew it was a lot on his plate and didn’t want to add more to it. He’s already done so much.

This is why I hadn’t told him about the calls I’d received at my coffee shop. Nor did I tell him my brother, Adam, who I thought was still locked up, walked right into my coffee shop yesterday. Ordered a coffee as he smirked evilly at me. I’d wanted to say get Tap, who was stationed at one of my tables to do something, but my brother stopped me from doing it by speaking low enough for only me to hear him.

“If you want me to kill your guard dog over there, go for it. Seems the calls and note haven’t done its job in getting you to come back where you belong. So now I’m here tellin’ you, find your way home before I decide to start killing each and every one of those fuckers you’re lettin’ defile what’s not yours to give,” he’d said vehemently.

This confused me to no end. I still don’t know what he meant.

What I do know is I need to find a way to keep my brother from making his threat real without having to give myself over to him. I refuse to allow anyone here to be hurt because of me, but at the same time,