This whole turn of events confused her. Four days ago she had been broke and facing foreclosure on her home. Today she was in an entirely new home and had money from delivering drugs for an outlaw motorcycle club. For the first time since she had lost her factory job, she had some breathing room. She didn’t have the weight on her shoulders of having to feed her family and put gas in her car. It was freeing, liberating. Not to mention after making those checks out to the credit card companies, she knew she would no longer be getting calls that hounded her at all hours of the night.
For the first time in years, she felt like she could be something other than a mother, she could be a woman. Maybe she could explore some of the feelings she’d let hibernate for so long. As soon as those thoughts crossed her mind, she immediately felt guilty. What about her children? Shouldn’t she want to do better for them? Instead of worrying about them, she was worrying about how she could be a woman again. On the other hand, one day those children would leave and then she would again be stuck on her own. There had to be a middle ground, and she meant to find it. The man was just too gorgeous not to look at.
“I mean, really Denise, you’re in a home with a man who could be a supermodel,” she whispered to herself. “If you can’t figure out what to do with him on your own then you need to join the nunnery.”
Knuckles rapped lightly at her bedroom door, and she thought about pretending to be asleep for a moment before her subconscious kicked her own ass.
“Yeah,” she questioned softly.
The door opened and she wanted to lick her lips. He’d obviously taken a shower in the time she’d spent contemplating, and her body took notice. He wore dark sweatpants and a white tank top covered his chest. Hair, curly now that it was wet, clung to the sides of his neck, dripping lightly onto his bare shoulders.
“I just wanted to make sure you’re comfortable,” he whispered, walking further into the room. “Did you find everything you need?”
She nodded and then realized that he couldn’t see her in the dark. Stretching up, she turned the bedside lamp on, blinking as light flooded the room.
“I did,” she stared at him.
Clearing his throat, he sat next to her on the bed. “I was pretty rude earlier, and I didn’t mean to be. I told you to treat this place like home and I meant it. If you need something that I don’t have here, we’ll get it.”
“I know. It’s a gorgeous home,” she complimented.
A grin transformed his face. “Besides my bikes it’s my pride and joy. I’m glad you’re comfortable here.”
“I am.”
He ran his hands along his fleece covered thighs before standing up. “Well I’ll let you get to sleep, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow. Hell, it’s been a long day today.”
“What happens tomorrow?” After the events of this night, she wasn’t sure she wanted to actually get to tomorrow.
“You’ll be told what you need to know, but it won’t be much. Just trust me in what I tell you and what others tell you to do.” He knew it was a lot for her to take on his word, but it was all he had. “Get some sleep.”
With that, he was gone, leaving her to contemplate just what he had told her. Everything was such a secret in this life. It would take some getting used to. But if that’s what would need to happen to keep her kids and herself safe, she would do whatever she had to do.
Chapter Ten
Adrenaline coursed through Tyler as he took the Kentucky roads he loved at much higher speeds than was legal. This was it, why he loved to ride his bike. The feeling of the wind against his face, the sound of it rushing by his ears and running through his hair. The freedom of no one telling him where to go or what to do. Listening to common sense, he slowed down to take the turn that would lead him to Denise’s neighborhood. The club had just successfully let the Vojnik steal their drug shipment. It had gone off without a hitch. It was time to let Meredith know what had taken place.
As he approached her duplex, he became breathless. The woman really was beautiful, but she was everything he’d always said he never wanted. Pulling into her driveway, he shut off his bike and swaggered up to the front door. Her car was in the drive, so he knew she was home. Before he could knock, she threw the door open.
“What the fuck is the matter with you?” she hissed, grabbing his cut and hauling him inside.
“Hey.” he yelled sharply. “You don’t touch that.”
Quickly she dropped her hands. “Sorry, but again what the fuck is the matter with you? How dare you park in my driveway and walk up like you own the damn place?”
Irritated, he scowled. “Look Princess, I came by to let you know that we did a job on the Vojnik tonight. Since you’re the one who squealed on them like a damn pig, I figured I’d warn you. What you do with that warning is up to you, but I thought you should know.”
She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it abruptly. Had he actually just done something nice for her?
“Are you expecting a thank you or something?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest.
“You know what? Forget it. I have a feeling they leaked that information to you to see if you’d tell us, and guess what….you did. When they realize that, you’re gonna be in a lot more trouble than you know what do with. Take the information and do with it what you will, but don’t come crying to me when this all backfires.”
He turned and walked out without another word. For the first time since she’d started these investigations, she felt uneasy. Was that really what the Vojnik had planned? Had she really just put herself in a hole she’d never be able to dig herself out of?
“Motherfucker.” Liam muttered as he spotted the blue lights behind him.
Wanting to do anything to avoid jail time at this point, he politely pulled over and dug his license and registration out of his saddlebags. As the sheriff came around the side of the bike, he spotted the face in his side view mirror and grinned. This was an old friend, but he could just as easily be an enemy.
“Rooster, how ya doin’?” he asked, grinning up at the redheaded sheriff’s deputy.
“Not too bad,” he answered. It didn’t escape Liam’s notice that he casually rested his hand on the butt of his gun.
“By the way you’re standin’ I’ll take it this ain’t a social call.”
“You would be correct in that assumption and don’t be callin’ me Rooster. You of all people know my name is Officer Hancock. We had some reports of loud motorcycles and shots fired out near the old Garvin Lane Bridge. You know anything about that?”
“Can’t say that I do. Can you place me or my boys there?”
Officer Hancock smirked. “C’mon Walker, we’re old friends.”
“That’s right Rooster, we are. We ran these roads when we were teenagers, but we’re not on the same side now are we?”
“Your choice. You could have come my way, and we both know it,” Rooster accused, looking down at his one-time friend.
“Are you stoppin’ me for somethin’, or are you just gettin’ your rocks off by harrassin’ me?”
Handing the license and registration back to Liam, Rooster put his sunglasses on and looked down at him again. “Don’t let me find out this was your bunch. You know it won’t take much for you to go back to jail.”
“Officer Hancock, is that a threat?”
“Nope, William Walker Jr., that’s a promise. Friendship doesn’t go above the law.”
“Neither does common courtesy. You remember that, and we’ll be good.”
He sped off, throwing gravel at the cop car still parked behind him, daring Hancock to flip the lights on and pull him over again. Instead, he sounded the siren once in warning and headed in the opposite direction.
Pulling up to the clubhouse, Liam was surprised to see a couple of the other brothers already there. They had just pulled the Vojnik job and had separated to get the hell out of dodge. The run-in with Rooster must have taken longer than he thought. Parking his bike, he got off and wa
lked in. A large group sat around the laptop computer that Travis Steele had set on one of the tables. They were watching the GPS trackers from the drug shipment.
“What’s this?” he asked, having a seat as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the indoors.
Steele grinned as he looked at his VP. “This is technology at its finest. We’re getting a motherfucking roadmap to where the Vojnik clubhouse is now located. Hopefully, this is where they keep their technology too. What my geeky little fingers would do if I could get my hands on some of the stuff they’re bringing in from Europe.”
“Looks like they’re takin’ it to Barren County. Wonder why they’re taking it so far up the parkway?” one of the men asked.
“Probably because they don’t want to keep it around us. Let’s face it, none of us would have thought Barren County when we started this. They’ve been smart.”
Liam watched as the tracking device did its thing. He was familiar with that area, and he was pretty sure they were going to an old warehouse that used to be an automotive plant before the downturn in the economy. Heaven Hill had done some protection in that area for a local loan shark, and if memory served him correctly, it was a large facility.
“We need to get on the Property Assessor’s site and see who that property lists too,” Liam said, taking down the approximate location of the dot on the map.
“Do you think they’d be stupid enough to list it to themselves?” Steele asked.
“I don’t know, but we want to make sure if we blow it to hell we’re not destroying a profitable piece of property for a friend. What if they’re renting it? If the city owns it, we’d be in some deep shit too.”
Steele nodded and pulled up the Property Assessor’s website for the adjacent county. It only took a few moments to find it was listed to an LLC.
“Is it a front you think?” Steele asked, rubbing his chin.
“Not sure. I think we need to do a little more research on it. Maybe get one of the women to go visit the courthouse and see what we can find out. We need to be smart about this. Tyler had a feelin’ last night. We need to be talkin’ to the old man about it too. Shouldn’t he be here soon?”
The group began to look uncomfortable. “Where is he?”
Nobody said anything, nobody met his eyes and one brother even started whistling. “Where is he?”
“I think he went to see your mom,” someone mumbled.
That was all it took to put him in a murderous mood. In a matter of moments he was out the door and on his bike.
“Did you have to tell him?” Steele asked, his blue eyes glaring at the brother who had opened his mouth.
“He asked, I answered.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“How are you getting along?” Roni asked.
She and Denise sat inside the screened-in porch, enjoying the beauty of the afternoon. The kids were upstairs doing homework and playing on the laptops that had been mysteriously provided for them. Denise wasn’t sure if it had been Roni or Liam, but she was grateful.
“Not too bad, I’m just not sure what my place is here, ya know? I feel like I’m invading his territory, but he keeps telling me to treat this house like home.”
“Trust me, if he didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here. He must see something in you and your kids.”
Denise shrugged. “I dunno, we haven’t really talked that much. He hasn’t really been around.”
“Yeah, word has it there was a job today. Of course I don’t know any details, but last I heard everyone was safe.”
A feeling of dread settled over her. “Do people sometimes not come back safe?
“Honestly? Depends on what they’re doing. This life isn’t for everyone. There have been casualties and even fatalities of our wars. It’s just a fact of this life.”
That was what scared Denise. What if her kids were caught in the crossfire?
“I don’t mean to scare you, don’t get me wrong. Ninety percent of the time things are fine, but there are turf wars and pissed off clubs. There can be dangerous times.”
As she opened her mouth to respond, she heard Liam’s motorcycle coming up the drive. “Guess he’s back.”
Roni listened intently. “He’s pissed though.”
A look of disbelief crossed her face. “How can you tell that by the roar of his bike?”
“Lots of practice. You’ll be able to do it sooner or later.”
He came barreling through the front door and stomped all the way through the house and out onto the porch where they sat.
“What crawled up your ass?” Roni questioned her brother. “We were having a nice, quiet time.” It amazed Denise that anyone spoke to him in that way.
“Dad’s gone to see Lauren.”
Just like that, the mood shifted for Roni too.
“Who’s Lauren?” Denise questioned softly.
Liam glared at her before turning around and stomping out again.
“Forgive him, he doesn’t deal well when she’s mentioned. Lauren’s our mother. She abandoned us. For some reason, our father still loves her. Give Liam some time, he’ll come around. He’s just gotta get over it. C’mon girl. Talk me out of this bad mood.”
Smiling, Denise started rambling, enjoying her afternoon acting like any other woman in the world. She did, however, put the little tidbit of information about Liam’s background in the back of her mind. When the time was right, she would ask her questions and hopefully get her answers.
Chapter Eleven
William rolled over taking Lauren’s body with his. It wasn’t very often that they did this, but sometimes they just got caught up in the memories and the moment.
Even after what they had just shared, her stomach bunched with nerves. She had to say what was on her mind, but she knew it would not be received well. “You’ve got to watch it with Liam,” she started carefully.
He groaned. He didn’t want to hear this. He hated when she acted like she knew her son. The only way to get her to stop was to throw hurtful words back in her face.
“Shut the fuck up,” he told her. “You don’t know anything about your son, and you especially don’t know anything about our relationship. You’re the one that left.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she turned away, hiding her face so that he couldn’t see. That was the one thing she hated. He always brought up what a bad mother she was. They could never stay on good terms for more than a few hours, and usually those hours were spent between the sheets. It didn’t help that ultimately she knew the words he spoke were true. She was a mother of the worst kind, not even able to be called Mom.
“Because you won’t let me know about your relationship,” she whispered, letting warm tears trail down her cheeks.
The bed dipped as he got up, and she could hear him put his clothes back on. His anger was obvious in the sound of the fabric slapping as he covered his body.
“I gotta be gettin’ back to the clubhouse. Do you need any money?”
Add that to the list of things she positively hated. He got what he wanted, and then he had the nerve to ask if she needed money. Like she was his whore, like she didn’t still wear his ring on her finger. Like in the eyes of the law and God they weren’t still married. She may have given up on their children, but she hadn’t given up on him. “Keep your damn money. I don’t need it.”
Paper money fluttered as it hit her shoulder and she flinched. Refusing to turn over, she heard the door slam on his way out.
“Lauren, when are you going to stop doing this to yourself?” she whispered as she rolled over and grabbed the money that sat on the bed.
She counted $400 – enough to pay almost all of her rent. It never failed to strike her as shitty that both Liam and William owned their own homes. Even Roni had been left out of that. They each had motorcycles and cars, it didn’t look they wanted for anything. While she struggled. Both financially and emotionally. The little apartment she rented was hot in the summer and cold in the win
ter. The pipes froze at least once a year, and the shower never seemed to have hot water. Her thirteen-year-old car was on its last legs, and her bank account could use a few thousand dollars so that she could get a little spontaneous with her spending. She sighed deeply, brushing the moisture from her face. This was not how she had ever though her life would turn out, even in her wildest dreams.
“Mrs. Walker, it looks like you’ve got yourself a healthy baby boy.”
Her heart sank in what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life. In a flash, she saw this little boy’s future, and she was scared. For herself, her husband, her older daughter, and this innocent little boy who had no idea that his future had just been sealed.
William and his friends had started a motorcycle club that was quickly turning into something very illegal. When she had become pregnant, she had prayed every night that it would once again be a little girl. This boy would be heir apparent to those illegal activities and that motorcycle club. There was nothing about this that she liked.
“Thanks for giving me a son, Lauren. The next generation is well on its way.”
His eyes shone brightly with pride as he held the tiny bundle of joy in his arms. Any love that he felt for the child she had just birthed was replaced with greed for more power and the guarantee of the line of succession for Heaven Hill. She realized at that moment that she would have to leave. Her throat tightened as she fought to hold back the fear that she already felt. She would take whatever time she had with this son of hers, and it would have to last her the rest of her life. She knew that as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the east and set in the west.
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