Meant To Be (Heaven Hill Series) (7 page)

“Are you tellin’ me you think my people have loose lips?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, put off by the questions being asked. “I think you know exactly what I’m saying.”

Without warning, the bigger man leaned back and clocked her across the face. With a gasp, she fell to the floor, holding her cheek. Blood poured from her nose, and her cheek started to bruise almost immediately. Liam reached down to help her up. He shook with fury, none of them liked to see women hurt, and he had told this one’s son that she wouldn’t be. In the span of minutes, he’d managed to break a promise. That was just great, and his own father was the one to thank for that. Sometimes he wished they didn’t share the same name or the same blood.

“Was that really necessary, Dad?”

“She questioned me and this club. We all know the rules here.”

“Yeah, but
she
doesn’t.”

“Are you starting to question me now? I’ll do ten times worse to you.”

Liam swallowed hard. He knew what was coming if he dared say the things he wanted to. He felt that most of this was his fault. Had he spoken up louder, sooner, maybe he could have kept her from this. Now was the time to take the stand he hadn’t taken before.

“I’m not questioning you. I’m
telling
you if you touch her again, you’ll deal with me.”

Shock was evident on William’s face as the words came out of his son’s mouth. “You do realize what you’re saying, right?”

“I do. This won’t be happening here, Dad. You won’t be touching her again.”

Denise wondered just what in the hell he meant. This time, however, she did leave her mouth shut. The Native American, whom she recognized from the news as the one arrested with Liam, approached them and pressed a towel to her face. It must have held ice because it felt blessedly cool.

“In case anyone missed what went down here, this woman is now my property,” Liam announced loudly. “You got something to say? You say it to me,” he looked directly in his father’s eyes as he spoke.

Denise wanted to scream at him. She, out of everyone, had missed what went down. She didn’t know what being his property entailed, and she sure as hell didn’t want to find out right this instant.

The crowd was silent as the two of them left, Tyler watching their backs as they exited the building. Once outside, Denise yelled for the kids. Disappointment and fear was plain on Andrew’s face as he looked from Liam to his mom.

“Who hit her?” he demanded.

Realizing for the first time just how dangerous this situation could be, Denise herded him to the car along with Mandy as she threw the towel down on the ground. She wanted absolutely nothing to remind her of this place. Not even waiting for Liam, she got in her car and drove off as fast as she could. The kids screamed questions at her as her car kicked up dust in her wake.

“Damnit!”

Liam knew he couldn’t leave her alone. He had claimed her now in front of everyone. She was his property, whether she wanted to be or not.

Chapter Seven

“Y
ou better go after her.”

Liam glared at his sister as she walked over to stand with beside him. Nothing about any of this was easy, and he didn’t want to hear other people’s opinions.

“She obviously wants nothing to do with me or us.” He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his dark hair.

“That’s not just her decision anymore, and you know it. You’ve claimed her, and she’s been seen with you. Our enemies will be after her and her family now. I feel horrible about this,” she whispered. She had always been the worrier of the two of them. Above all, Roni tried to be a good person, and he knew hurting Denise would be tearing her up.

He slung his arm over her shoulder and brought her close to his body. “You didn’t mean for this to happen any more than I did. It was our bastard of a father. Unfortunately, we can’t say no to him.”

Truer words had never been spoken, and it wasn’t the first time that Roni wished their mother was around. She would never speak those words to anyone, but at times like these they needed an ally.

“No, but we should have looked out for her and her kids. What’s gonna happen now? What kinda danger is she going to be in because of us?”

Squaring his shoulders, he turned her to face him. “Nothin’ is going to happen to that family again. I’ve promised my protection and that’s what they will have.”

“What if she doesn’t want it?”

“I think it’s pretty goddamn obvious she doesn’t want it, but she doesn’t have a choice. What I want, I get.”

Roni knew he spoke the truth. He always got what he wanted, but he did it in a much better way than their father.

“Anybody ever tell you what an asshole you are?”

William turned sharply to face the voice of his estranged wife, Lauren. Neither Liam nor Roni knew she still came to the club, but the two of them couldn’t seem to stay away from each other. There was absolute love there, but they couldn’t deal with one another on a day to day basis. Liam didn’t trust her, so they kept most of their meetings private.

“You, on more than one occasion.”

Damn, he missed her being here all the time. When he had started this club, it had been for her, it had been for his family. When they got too deep in the illegal activities, she ran. Abandoning her children, but not abandoning her feelings for him.

“I think right now I have to be honest with you. You’re driving him away, and you need to watch it before you push him so far he doesn’t come back. Just like I did.”

“I’m trying to teach him to be a leader,” he explained gruffly.

Lauren put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “What’s more important? Him being a good leader or being your son? The two of you are in a very dangerous situation, and you are walking a tightrope. He only has one father, and you only have one son.” She was careful with the words she used; it wouldn’t serve any purpose to get William mad at her. “Don’t let a sense of loyalty to the club disrupt that. Liam is a damn good man. These younger guys follow him first and ask questions later because of his heart and his loyalty. Don’t perceive it as a threat, allow him to grow. Don’t break him the way I did. I know what I did was wrong, but it’s too late to go back and change that now.”

William could see the decisions she had made were weighing on her. If he had been a better man, he would have offered her his shoulder and told her that no matter what Liam was still her son and would love her unconditionally. But he wasn’t that man.

“You’re right. He hates you, and that’s never gonna change.”

She took a deep breath, her heart sinking at those words. He was right, and she wasn’t sure she could ever make that change.

“Get upstairs and do your homework.”

“We don’t have any, school just started,” Drew reminded her before she pinned him with a look. It wasn’t long before she heard feet running quickly up the stairs, almost as if they couldn’t get away from her fast enough. Bedroom doors slammed, and at last she was alone. Sinking to the couch, she put her head in her hands.

“What the ever-loving-fuck have I done?” she asked herself out loud.

The phone rang at her side, and she laughed as she recognized the number. It was her job, probably calling her in on her day off. She should have been happy with that job, and she wouldn’t be in this situation now. The ringing grated her nerves and she reached over, sending it to voicemail.

“What am I going to do?”

She had a little bit of money left from the club. Paying off the credit cards and house had taken most of it, but she could just let the bank take the house. She and the kids could run a long way on the money she had made. They had been frugal for the past year, they could learn to be even more so. She could homeschool, and they could start a new life somewhere different, somewhere this bad luck didn’t seem to follow her. The only family she really had was upstairs, and possessions didn’t matter if they weren’t alive to enjoy them. She could pack what they needed tonight, and then go to the bank tomorrow morning to withdraw all the remaining money. They could be miles from town before noon.

Mind made up, she ran for the bedroom and grabbed a suitcase. She threw clothes inside, trying to keep her panic at bay. At this moment it felt like they were running for their lives. The roar of a motorcycle interrupted her thoughts and gave her pause. She missed the time – was it only a few short days ago? – when the roar of a motorcycle meant nothing to her. If Liam was here to talk her into something, he was sorely mistaken. She wasn’t stupid, and she wouldn’t be making the same mistake twice. Bracing herself for the knock she knew was coming, she tried to even out her breathing and calm down her temper. She’d finally reached the ‘lose my shit’ point and she was ready to let him have it.

Without warning the window of her bedroom shattered, broken glass raining down on her. Almost instinctively she dropped to the floor. She could feel pricks at her scalp and knew she was bleeding. Taking stock of what had happened, she gazed around the bedroom. There on the floor not five feet from her lay a brick.

“Mom, are you okay?” both kids asked breathlessly as they stood in the doorway to her bedroom.

“I’m fine.” She winced as her fingers felt her scalp.

The front door slammed shut causing all of them to swivel round on alert. Liam stalked through, rage on his face.

“Is everybody okay in here?”

Drew lost it when he saw the man, running at him with a loud war cry. He caught Liam around the waist, bringing them both to the ground. Once the boy was on top of him, Drew began swinging. Mandy and Denise were screaming at the two of them without trying to intervene. Denise was afraid to get up because she didn’t know where glass was lodged, and Mandy was afraid she was going to get hit in the melee.

“Andrew. Get off of him now.” Denise yelled.

The boy just kept hitting the man, Liam grunting as Drew made contact with muscle and flesh. Finally Liam was able to flip them over and hold his arms down over Drew’s. “You done?” he asked, afraid to let him go.

Drew’s body heaved as he tried to control his breathing. It had taken almost everything out of him as he tried to purge the anger he had towards Liam.

“Answer me. You done?”