A tentative knock sounded on the door, and he had to wonder who it was. It was going on 4AM, he realized as he glanced at the clock. Who the hell would dare bother him after everything that had just gone on? The door pushed open slowly until he could see Jagger on the other side.
“Hey, man. Meredith called and said some shit had gone down? Thought I’d come check on ya,” he said as he made his way into the room.
“I don’t feel like seeing anybody right now.” Layne turned over so that he was no longer facing the other man.
Walking over so that he was back in Layne’s line of vision, Jagger stood his ground, feet wide apart. “I know that you don’t, but I don’t think you need to be alone either. Liam and Tyler might have been fine going back to their women and leaving you here. I’m not.”
“Then what the fuck do you want to do?” Layne huffed as he sat up.
“Wanna play some cards?” Jagger asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards.
That was exactly what he had done overseas when he’d been bored. It brought a chuckle from deep within him as he reluctantly left the bed and grabbed a table that they could use. Once he was done setting it up, he waited patiently for Jagger to grab a chair and have a seat across from him. Even in the dim light of the room, Layne could see the dark circles under Jagger’s eyes, and he knew that this was something that not every friend would do. He made it a point to remember to thank him when the wound wasn’t still so fresh. This went above and beyond and he would never forget that.
Jessica lay in the room they had taken her to trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong, how they had changed in the blink of an eye. She tried to pinpoint in her mind when Layne had changed. He hadn’t always been like that. He hadn’t always been a live wire, ready to go off if someone did one little thing wrong to him. She grabbed her phone, and for the first time since she’d come to Kentucky, she wished she hadn’t chosen to come to Layne.
Her finger rested on the call button just as there was a knock on her door. Putting the cell phone down, she walked over to the door and hesitantly opened it. She wasn’t prepared for another round with Layne—she wanted to make sure it wasn’t him. Instead, on the other side, she saw Bianca. Thankful for a friendly face, she embraced the other woman tightly.
“Are you okay?” Bianca asked. “Meredith called, worried about the two of you. I sent Jagger to check on Layne.”
“I’ve been better,” she admitted, putting her hand up to her throat. It still burned slightly from where he had grabbed her.
Bianca examined it closely. “That’s going to leave a mark. We should probably get you some ice.”
Nodding her head seemed like the right thing to do, but Jessica didn’t really hear what Bianca said to her.
“I’ll be right back.”
Again, Jessica nodded, hoping to keep herself from going into shock. Disbelief still rushed through her at the events that had taken place. Finally, everything came crashing down, and a tear escaped down her cheek, leaving a wet trail. This was not her Layne.
From the door, she heard Bianca whisper. “I keep wondering why you came here. What do you know about him that we don’t?”
That was the bitch of it really, she knew a completely different Layne than they did, but it appeared that man was now gone. Would they believe her if she told them about the weekends they’d spent together before he’d shipped off? When she had escaped her handlers and the people who thought they knew what was best for her. Layne had always come through, had always picked her up at the airport. Even then he’d had a bit of a bad streak in him, even if he hadn’t been on the back of a bike. It was in whatever car a friend would allow him to borrow. For forty-eight hours the two of them were just young kids getting to know one another. They’d done a bunch of stupid shit, but then again they’d done a lot of talking, a lot of soul-searching. She missed that Layne. The one that she’d given herself to before he’d shipped off for war. This had served as a harsh reminder that he might never come back. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she glanced up at Bianca.
“Let me tell you about a man I knew. He was a young man,” she started, folding her legs in front of her. Quickly she grabbed the ice and put it to her neck before continuing on. “He had the world in front of him, and even though he was really scared about where he was going and what he was going to do, he was still incredibly sweet in moments. He didn’t care about me being famous; hell, he didn’t even care that I was lying about my age. All he cared about was that I let him be himself for those forty-eight hours we spent together.”
Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Bianca debated on whether she should ask this question or not, but figured since Jessica was so forthcoming—it was worth a shot. “But what did the woman care about?” she asked as she had a seat on the bed.
The look on Jessica’s face about broke Bianca’s heart. “I just cared about him coming back safely, that he would be the same guy when he came back. I wanted to be able to do all the same things with him and be myself with him. He was the only person I could be myself with.”
But that hadn’t been the case. He hadn’t even called her when he came back to the states. It had hurt to find out from one of his friends that he’d already been home for almost a month. There had been no phone call; there had been no reunion between the two of them. For months she had watched videos on YouTube of men coming home, and she had wanted that with him. She had wanted to be in the audience, holding an American flag for him, waiting nervously for him to be released from duty. None of that had happened.
“Do you know what happened to him?”
“No,” Jessica shook her head. That was one thing he was very adamant about. He never spoke about his time over there with her, except in passing. It was all vague and could be applied to any of the thousands of soldiers that had served. He never shared anything personal about himself anymore. It had closed her off to him—she hadn’t felt comfortable sharing with him the things that had gone on in her own world. In essence, it had closed off their friendship, and to be honest she resented him for it. “He won’t talk about it.”
“Maybe you should talk to him about going to see Doc Jones,” Bianca threw out there.
“Who’s Doc Jones?”
Not wanting to give everyone’s secrets away, Bianca answered vaguely. “Pretty much the therapist of the Heaven Hill MC. At one point or another, I’m sure everybody has gone to see her. She’s amazing.”
“Do you have personal experience with her?”
“I do,” she nodded. “I had an incident that happened a few months ago when I was student teaching. The principal became obsessed with me, and he held me at gunpoint. She’s helped me work through that. Just like she’s helped Meredith work through her issues.”
“So no one would look sideways if either myself or Layne went?”
“Oh, fuck no,” Bianca giggled. “We’ve got a group rate with Doc Jones. She’s very discreet, and she knows exactly the questions to ask. It’s not shameful in the least. I think it would help him and you out. Obviously you’re dealing with some guilt that he came back a different person, and we all know how he’s dealing with himself.”
“Yeah, not at all,” Jessica mumbled. There had to be a way that she could help him. There had to be some way to pull him back from this. She needed Layne back as much as he needed to be back. Circumstances had made decisions for her. She was here to stay in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and she would be damned if she didn’t end up with the life that she had always wanted. It was time to stand up for what she wanted and what she believed in. For so long other people had put her in situations that she hadn’t been comfortable with. Always, she had been the adult—taking care of people who didn’t appreciate it. Layne needed that now—whether he knew it or not—and just like he hadn’t balked at coming to get her at the airport, ever, she wouldn’t balk at this. Layne O’Connor had no clue what was about to hit him in the form of a small redhead fireball. S
hock and awe had worked on many military campaigns, just like it would work here. Jessica knew that in order to save his life it had to.
Chapter Thirteen
A few hours later, Bianca and Jagger left the clubhouse, Layne in tow. Jessica wasn’t sure where the three of them were planning to go, but she decided now would be a good time to put her plan into action. Quietly, she opened the door to the room she had been given and observed what was going on.
Not too many people were milling around the clubhouse this morning. Perhaps they’d heard about the drama and were giving it a wide berth. Walking into the main room, she glanced around for the person she wanted to see.
“Who you looking for?”
She jumped as she heard the deep voice in her ear. Tyler was so quiet that it was scary. Placing her hand over her racing heart, she turned around to face him. “Liam.”
“What are you looking for him for?” Those were not words he had expected to come out of her mouth. What did she want with the pres?
How did she explain this without sounding like a crazy person? Should she include Tyler in her request? She felt much more comfortable with him; maybe she should ask that he accompany her. “I have a favor to ask him, and maybe you could come too. I’m kind of nervous about seeing him myself.”
Intrigued, Tyler shook his head. “Alright, but he’s up at the house, and I’m warnin’ you right now, he’s not in a great mood. The only reason he was down here last night to help me with Layne was because he was looking for coffee.”
That made her re-think her decision, but she knew that she had to stand strong with it. She had to be the person for Layne that he couldn’t be for himself. “I’m okay with that.”
A deep laugh rumbled up from Tyler’s stomach. “You are a lot more ballsy than I was willing to give you credit for. Let me check on Meredith and give Liam a heads up. We’ll leave here in a few minutes—is that good with you?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. It would give her time to make herself more presentable. “How’s Meredith doing?”
“She’s always amazing.” He winked before he headed down the hallway.
It was only then she noticed that he carried a can of lemon lime soda and his coffee mug. Yearning for the kind of relationship they had hit her hard. Her shoulders squared and her chin held high, she stalked down the hallway to her room. Looking her best always made her feel her best, and this time would be no different.
After running a brush through her hair, putting on some makeup, and changing her clothes, she realized it was as good as it was going to get. “It’s all on you, Jess,” she whispered to herself. “Sell yourself just like you sell a motherfucking movie, make them believe you.”
Jessica was surprised when they pulled up to Liam’s house. It was much more of a family home than she had expected. She could see now why the little family chose to live here instead of at the clubhouse.
“I called him and let him know we were coming,” Tyler told her, as they got out of his truck and met each other around the front. He stood behind her, and she had to smile slightly. If she could get this guy to go to Hollywood, he’d be the leading man in every romance movie made. Meredith was a very lucky woman. She waited until he put his hand on the small of her back to indicate it was okay to make her way up the steps to the house.
“Thanks for doing all of this. I really appreciate it.”
He shrugged. “I do what I can, and to be honest, I have a little soft spot for Layne. We’ve been boxing for months now, and every once in a while, he’ll let slip some of the things that happened to him over there. I want to help him if I can, and if you think you have a plan to do that, then I’m all ears.”
The two of them walked through the front door without even knocking. That was odd for her, but she guessed that’s the way good friends who didn’t have to worry about paparazzi did it.
“You and your big ass feet have got to be quieter,” Liam grumbled as he came down the stairs, holding a whimpering baby in his arms.
Tyler winced. “Sorry, man. Didn’t even think about it. This is going to take some getting used to for all of us.”
“She just went to sleep two hours ago,” he sighed.
Jessica took in the appearance of the club’s president and almost laughed. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, his hair was untamed, sticking up in all directions, and he had a few days’ worth of beard growth covering his face. He wore sweat pants and a tank top, his bare feet sticking out from the leg bottoms. When his stark blue gaze pinned itself on her, she wondered if now really was a good time or not to ask questions of the man.
“I can come back if it’s not a good time.” She hooked her thumb behind her, back the way they came. “I figured she’d be asleep, because of what time it is.”
“Didn’t we all?” he grinned sardonically.
Denise gingerly came down the stairs, looking just as tired as Liam. “I’ll take her while y’all talk. It’s not a big deal. If she keeps crying, we’ll walk a little bit, and maybe that’ll put her back to sleep.”
Just when Liam was about to hand Tatum over to Denise, Tyler stuck out his huge hands. “I need the practice, and she needs to talk to you. Give her here, Denise; you go get some sleep, and the two of you go talk. We’ll be fine.”
All of them stopped what they were doing and looked at the big man, mouths hanging open. Liam laughed, shaking his head as he did so. “You have fun, buddy,” he said as he placed his daughter in Tyler’s arms.
They all watched for moments as she screamed bloody murder while Tyler bounced her slightly in his arms and spoke in soft tones. Within a minute, she was quietly laying there, gazing up at him.
“Motherfucker,” Liam mumbled, scratching his neck. “Man, I just don’t even know what to say.”
“Women love me,” Tyler grinned. “Even little ones who are only a few days old.”
“Before his head gets any bigger, why don’t we go in the kitchen, grab lots and lots of coffee, and you tell me what it is that you want to talk about,” Liam told Jessica as he put a hand on her shoulder and pointed her towards where the kitchen sat in their home.
Liam poured them all coffee and had a seat at his kitchen table, holding his head up with his hands. “What can I do for you, Jessica?”
Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure whether this was really a good idea or not. What if he said no? What if he thought she was a blooming idiot? What if he told her to get the fuck up from his kitchen table, out of his home, and away from his club?
“I’m not gonna bite,” he tried to make a joke.
“I know that,” she told him, moving her coffee cup this way and that with her hands. “It’s just hard for me to get this out.”
“We’re not going to know what you have to say if you don’t come right out and say it,” Tyler told her from where he sat beside her.
“Layne needs help,” she blurted out.
Liam and Tyler glanced at one another. It looked like they were having a telepathic conversation when Liam answered. “We know he does, but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.”
She put her hand up to her neck, showing them the bruises that had appeared. “He did this to me last night. Make him want to be helped.”
“Maybe it’s just my sleep deprived brain, but I’m not following what you’re wanting us to do,” Liam told her, taking a healthy drink of his coffee.
“Okay, I thought about this all night last night after I spoke with Bianca. Layne is ex-military. He’s used to taking orders…why do you think he joined this MC? Someone tells him what to do and he does it. It truly is what makes him happy.”
“He is damn good at taking orders,” Liam agreed. “But I’m still not sure where you think that can help him. You’re gonna have to spell it out for me, sweetheart.”
A smile crossed her face, one that had gotten everything she had ever asked for when she was in negotiations with studio heads. If he wanted to pull out the endearment card, she would
pull out the big guns too. “Bianca told me about a Doc Jones.”
“That woman is the shit,” Tyler piped up. “I love her. She is the grandmother I never had.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Jessica nodded. “I want you to tell him that in order to remain in the MC, he has to go talk to Doc Jones. Obviously the VA doctors aren’t helping him. When was the last time he even went to an appointment with them? He used to tell me all the time he was going. I haven’t heard that from him in months.”
Liam scratched his head. “I really don’t remember either. It wasn’t something that all of a sudden happened, it’s like they just kind of tapered off a few months ago.”
To be completely honest, Liam felt uneasy about forcing one of his men to get mental help. On the other hand, he also felt like a good leader did what was best for them, and sometimes that got uncomfortable. What if the next time Layne was in a flashback Tatum was around, or Denise, Meredith, Roni, Bianca, even Mandy. What if they didn’t get to him in time? What if they couldn’t bring him out of it? It had taken both him and Tyler the night before. There were too many what if’s in this scenario for him to feel comfortable.
“You might have a point here, but we’re going to have to be smart in how we approach him. I don’t want him to feel like all everybody thinks is that he’s a live wire, ready to go off at any moment. I don’t think that. I’ve been around him a long time, and he’s not ever done this before. There’s something about you,” he pointed at her, “that brings this out in him. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but he obviously has some hang-ups where you’re concerned. Having said that, you better help him work through this. Don’t puss out when the going gets tough.”
She could tell that he was serious in the way his eyes turned hard. “I promise you that I won’t.”
“You break that promise to me and, Hollywood starlet or not, your ass will be out of here faster than you can snap your fingers. Dishonesty and disloyalty do not get far with me. It would be good if you remembered that.”
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