Cross (Hounds of Hellfire MC Book 12), page 1
CROSS
HOUNDS OF HELLFIRE MC
FIONA DAVENPORT
Copyright © 2026 by Fiona Davenport
Cover designed by Elle Christensen
Edited by Jenny Sims (Editing4Indies)
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CONTENTS
Cross
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Epilogue
About the Author
CROSS
Griffin “Cross” Reid didn’t do one-night stands. So when a furious CPS caseworker showed up with a baby that was supposedly his, he knew something didn’t add up. But the second Cross held Isabella, nothing else mattered—he was all in. For the baby and the woman who’d brought her to him.
Hannah Carver didn’t want to hand Isa over to a biker she didn’t trust. What she didn’t expect was the man beneath the cut…or the way he made her feel like she belonged. And when a threat comes for what’s his, Cross proves just how far he’ll go to protect his family.
1
CROSS
Outside near the main barn at Winslet Orchard and Farms, I helped haul crates filled with plastic pastel eggs that rattled with candy and toys, still not sure how the hell I'd gotten roped into this Bunny Day event. Rebel had a lot to answer for when it came to this farm stuff, but it was hard to begrudge him anything after seeing him settle down so fucking content with his woman. Clara had brought something solid into his life, grounding my Hounds of Hellfire MC club brother in a way that made him a hell of a lot easier to be around.
And we were paid in the most amazing pies I’d ever tasted.
I hoisted another crate onto the hay wagon, the muscles in my arms tightening as I adjusted the weight. Sweat clung to my back beneath my cut, the late morning sun beating down and warming the leather. Families already streamed into the orchard, excited kids darting in every direction while their parents laughed and tried to keep up. The whole place buzzed with anticipation, and I enjoyed the scent of apples, grass, and fresh air, which somehow felt uniquely tied to this property.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, breaking my thoughts. I pulled it out, wiping a hand across my brow as Rebel’s name flashed on the screen, the text simple but firm.
Rebel
Get to the store. Now.
I frowned, already moving, my boots crunching against the gravel path as I strode quickly across the crowded orchard grounds toward the farm store. Rebel wasn’t one to demand attention unless it was urgent, but I wasn’t picking up on any immediate tension. Still, I moved faster, alert and ready for whatever shitstorm might be waiting.
The store’s bell jingled as I shoved the door open and stepped inside, scanning the rustic space for my club brother. Rebel stood by the checkout counter with Clara tucked protectively under one arm, both of them looking uncharacteristically tense. In front of them was a petite blonde, standing rigidly still, her small frame almost vibrating with tension. She had a white-knuckled grip on the handle of a baby carrier, and her expression was a fierce mixture of exhaustion, anger, and stubborn determination that screamed louder than words.
Then her gaze swung sharply toward me, those deep, expressive brown eyes colliding with mine, and everything felt like it stopped.
Fuck.
The air seemed to leave my lungs in a brutal rush, my entire body locking tight in a reaction I’d never experienced before. My muscles went rigid, every nerve ending standing at painful attention as my focus narrowed completely onto the woman before me. Awareness hit me like a damn freight train, a visceral, overpowering sensation that sank into every inch of me.
My gaze swept over her slowly and hungrily. She was around five-three, her narrow frame deceptively delicate with soft curves that flared gently at her hips and tits. The kind that could drive a man to his fucking knees without even trying. Her golden-blond hair shone naturally in the sunlight streaming through the store’s windows, framing a pale but flawless face.
She wore minimal makeup, just enough to highlight the rich brown depths of her eyes and the stubborn line of her full lips. Her pale-yellow sundress hugged those incredible tits in a way that made my mouth water, the soft cardigan she’d thrown over her shoulders doing nothing to hide the lush curves that begged for my hands, mouth, and cock.
Her eyes widened slightly when they locked with mine, shock flashing briefly across her features. But she didn’t shrink away or hesitate. Instead, she squared her slender shoulders, her gaze sparking with a fierce mix of anger, challenge, and something deeper. I couldn't quite decipher what it was yet, but I was more than willing to find out.
A possessive heat surged through my veins, and my cock thickened instantly behind my zipper in an instinctive reaction stronger than any I’d felt before. The intensity of the urge startled me. The rush of desire and ownership that roared up from somewhere deep inside was unmistakable. And the ridiculous thought that immediately followed was crystal fucking clear.
Mine.
What the fuck?
I barely had time to let that strangely possessive word settle into my brain before the beautiful blonde stormed toward me. Her narrowed gaze was fierce, her small frame vibrating with a tightly restrained anger I could practically feel rolling off her.
Without warning, she thrust the carrier into my chest, forcing me to grab the bottom reflexively to keep from dropping it. I glanced down, my eyes landing on the infant who blinked up at me with wide, innocent eyes. My gut twisted with instant, overwhelming confusion. And something warmer…but again, I had no time to process my feelings. Before I could say anything, the woman’s voice sliced into me, brittle with fury and something deeper that sounded suspiciously like pain.
“You’re a hard man to find, Griffin.” The tightness in her voice and restrained tremble of her full, tempting lips caught me off guard. “Here. This is Isa—I mean Isabella. The baby’s mother, Rea Tolland, passed away three months ago. Since you’re her dad, she’s your responsibility now.”
Shock slammed into me so hard my head went completely fucking blank. My entire world shrank down to just those few words. I stared at her dumbly, my mouth opening and closing several times. My voice came out in a harsh rasp as I finally managed to sputter, “What the fuck are you talking about? Who the hell is Rea Tolland? I’m not a—”
I couldn’t even finish the sentence. A father? That wasn’t even fucking possible.
I’d never been a man for one-night stands or meaningless hookups. And it’d been so damn long I could barely remember my last relationship.
I had no fucking clue who the woman she mentioned was. The name rang no bells. Nothing about this made sense.
But instead of backing down, the woman’s expression hardened, a shadow of something deeper and far more painful flickering through those big, expressive eyes. “I’m not surprised you don’t remember your one-night stand, but apparently, she sure remembered you because she listed you as the father on the birth certificate. Congratulations, Dad.”
The bitter sarcasm in her voice and brief flash of raw, unguarded hurt in her eyes hit me like a punch to the gut. For half a second, my confusion shifted to something else entirely—a fierce need to reach for her and soothe away whatever pain I’d caused. But before I could fully register that feeling, she glanced down at the baby one last time.
Her gaze softened, and her lips trembled. For a split second, I thought she might cry right there in front of me. Then just as suddenly, her jaw firmed, her shoulders squared, and she spun around, turning her back on me as she stormed toward the exit.
My mind spun wildly, a thousand conflicting thoughts battling for dominance. Part of me wanted to chase her and demand answers so I could figure out what the hell was really going on here. But a primal instinct screamed that I couldn’t let her leave—that something in my world would be fundamentally fucking wrong if she walked out that door.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath harshly, blinking a few times before shaking my head to clear it. My chest felt tight, confusion and panic clawing at me, but instinct took over in the next instant. I set the baby carrier carefully on the checkout counter, close to Clara and Rebel. “Can you watch her for just a second?”
Clara nodded quickly, her eyes wide, while Rebel’s hard expression flickered with stunned surprise and concern. But I didn’t have time to explain shit. Not now. Not when everything in me screamed to catch up with the blonde before she got too far.
Without another word, I bolted out the door after her, my pulse roaring in my ears, adrenaline surging hot and urgent through my veins.
2
HANNAH
Handing Isa over was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I’d grown to love that sweet little girl over the past few months, and it wasn’t fair that my boss had insisted I bring her to the father who’d never bothered to claim her. Her caseworker should’ve been the one doing the handoff—which would have allowed me to have a private goodbye with Isa—but Shirley had an emergency appendectomy yesterday and wouldn’t be back in the office for at least a week.
Mentally kicking myself as I pushed through the door, I regretted my choice to come to the orchard looking for Griffin Reid. I should’ve just taken the perfect excuse I’d been handed when he wasn’t at home or work. It would have bought me at least another day with Isa. I could’ve rented a hotel room, called my boss to let him know about the delay, and soaked up the extra time. Instead, I’d made what felt like the biggest mistake of my life and followed the directions the guy at Inferno Cycles and Customs had given me.
“Dammit.” I kicked the gravel in a failed attempt to ease some of my fury. Unfortunately, it only left me with a scuffed shoe.
I stormed toward my car, my hands fisted so tightly that my nails bit into my palms. Exhaustion dragged at every muscle. Three months of knowing I was the only thing standing between Isa and a system that could swallow her whole had gotten to me.
When Shirley had finally managed to track the man listed on the birth certificate down, all my boss had seen was the quickest way to cross Isa off Shirley’s caseload. Griffin Reid didn’t have a criminal record, owned his home, and had a steady job—although that was about all we could find on him. On paper, he was the perfect solution for a baby whose mother had recently died. The inspection was a foregone conclusion in my boss’s mind, just a formality that I needed to sign off on.
But Isa wasn’t just another case to me. She was the baby I’d been fostering when Shirley hadn’t been able to find an emergency placement for her.
During the drive to Riverstone, I’d told myself ripping off the Band-Aid was the merciful thing. That handing Isa off to her biological father wasn’t only right for her, but it would also allow me to walk away before I got any more attached.
But I couldn’t do it.
My steps faltered halfway to my sedan. The thought of leaving Isa with that man made my chest tighten until I could barely breathe. I couldn’t drive off without making damn sure he wasn’t going to treat her like an inconvenience the way he’d done with her mother.
And it wasn’t just because I had to file a report with my recommendation as to whether Isa was being left in a stable environment. As much as I wanted to put this all behind me so I didn’t end up with a broken heart, I needed to make sure she was safe. But I was so twisted up inside with grief at knowing I wouldn’t wake up to Isa’s little face anymore that I’d stormed out of there as though I was just going to drop her off without doing my job.
Spinning on my heel, I marched back toward the cute farm store and squared my shoulders. I was going to give Griffin Reid a piece of my mind, tell him I wasn’t disappearing until I knew Isa would be safe, and—
I slammed straight into a solid wall of muscle.
“Careful.”
Strong hands closed around my upper arms, steadying me before I could stumble backward. The impact knocked the air from my lungs. I tilted my head back and froze.
I’d been too worked up to pay attention to what Griffin looked like before, but it had been impossible to miss that he was huge. Staring up at him, I realized he was at least six-four with lean muscles and calloused hands. His dark brown hair was thick and just long enough to brush the collar of his leather vest. He had tanned skin that told me he liked spending time outside, and one of his arms had a full sleeve of black ink, while the other had only a couple of tattoos.
His face was all hard angles, and I found myself wondering how his mouth would look when it wasn’t set in a grim line. But his eyes held my attention the longest. They were dark blue and watchful, almost as though he could read every secret I’d ever tried to hide.
My body’s reaction to him was wildly inappropriate and completely out of character for me. I could count the number of dates I’d had on one hand, none of which had even progressed to a second. And it had been a few years since I’d gone out with anyone.
But here I was with my nipples tightening against the thin fabric of my bra, and an unwelcome pulse throbbing between my thighs. I was hyperaware of how close we stood, making my breath hitch.
I hated the way my pulse raced, and my knees felt a little weak. This man was supposed to be the enemy. He was the deadbeat who’d left Rea pregnant and alone. Not someone who’d brought my libido roaring to life.
I jerked out of his grip, stepping back even as every instinct screamed at me to lean closer. “You shouldn’t ignore your own kid the way you ignored her mother.”
Anger sparked in his eyes, but his voice stayed low as he insisted, “I’m telling you—” he paused and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Hannah,” I practically growled. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn his lips twitched.
Then he continued what he’d been about to say. “I’m telling you, Hannah—I didn’t fuck her mother. I don’t do one-night stands, and I have no clue why some woman I’ve never heard of before would put my name on the birth certificate. Something’s wrong here.”
A tiny, treacherous part of me actually believed him. That unsettled me more than the lies I’d been expecting. If he was telling the truth, then Rea had lied about so much.
He dropped his hands from my arms, but those watchful eyes never left mine. “Why do you think it’s me? Tell me everything.”
I lifted my chin, refusing to let him intimidate me even though my heart hammered against my ribs. And not just because of our confrontation. “Rea was in a car accident just outside Atlanta three months ago. She needed emergency surgery, and there were complications. Her only other family was a brother, but she’d already called our office because she didn’t want him anywhere near Isa. One of my coworkers got to the hospital before she died. Rea told her that Isa was the result of a one-night stand. Based on when she was born, it would’ve been back in February of last year.”
He shook his head. “Which means she can’t be mine because it’s been a lot longer than that since I fucked someone.”
I liked that way more than I should and had to force myself to keep my professional mask in place as I continued, “She said you stayed the whole night, told her it was more, and that you wanted to build something real with her. Then you snuck out the following morning, and she couldn’t find you. All she could do was put your name on the birth certificate.”
My throat burned as the rest slipped out before I could stop it. “It took our best investigator three months to track you down, so I understand why she couldn’t find any trace of you after you bailed. Especially since I also get how tired she must’ve been since Isa has been in my care. I’m the one who’s been walking the floors of my apartment when she wouldn’t settle, changing diapers, singing lullabies, and hoping she’d stop crying for a mother she’ll never remember. I held her while she grieved in the only way a newborn can, and now you’re standing here denying any of it ever happened. Like she doesn’t matter.”
Griffin didn’t retreat from my fury. Instead, he leaned closer as his hard mouth softened just enough at the edges that my traitorous heart stuttered. “She matters.”
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I blinked them back. Even though I found myself wanting to believe Griffin, I refused to cry in front of him. Not when Isa’s future hung in the balance.
I swallowed hard, fighting the pull between us. “As her foster parent, my office trusted me to make sure Isa was safe. Whether you’re telling the truth or not, that little girl in there deserves better than being dumped on a stranger who might disappear on her, too.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Not gonna disappear on her. I didn’t make that baby girl, but I’m not the kind of man who’s gonna let her get lost in the system. She’s damn lucky to have had you watching over her these past few months. And to have you fighting in her corner now. But you won’t be doin’ it alone anymore. No matter how it got there, as you said…my name’s on her birth certificate. That makes her my responsibility.”
