Meant To Be (Heaven Hill Series) (8 page)

Tears streamed down the teenager’s face as he nodded.

“Now, are you two okay?” Liam again asked, wiping blood from his lip and nose.

“I’m fine,” Mandy whispered, in shock over what she had just witnessed.

“I’m good too, but I just don’t know where all this glass is. They aren’t wearing shoes, and I don’t want to track it everywhere. I know I’ve got some cuts, but I don’t think any are deep.”

He took in the state of the bedroom and glared at her. “Going somewhere?”

“Why don’t the two of you go upstairs and work on your rooms while I clean up this mess.”

They watched as the twins reluctantly walked upstairs. Once they were gone, Liam turned to face her.

“Again. Going somewhere?”

He helped her get up from the floor, brushing glass away from her. She didn’t have shoes on, so he carried her over to a chair in the corner.

“It’s really none of your business if I am,” she said flippantly.

“Oh, that’s where I beg to differ, sweetheart. Where’s your broom?”

She pointed towards the kitchen and watched as he came back with the broom and dustpan. Without even asking, he began sweeping, still talking.

“I’ve put my protection on you. In the grand scheme of the club we may as well be married. The Vojnik have seen you with me too, so we need to get you and the kids out of here. That’s probably what this business is about,” he gestured at the dustpan.

It didn’t sit well with her that all her decisions were being made for her. “We’re not leaving our home.”

“The hell you’re not, you were planning on leaving anyway. Why not leave with me?”

“Should I really count the reasons? I don’t know you, I don’t trust you, and I’m not even sure I
like
you.”

Finished sweeping up the glass, he leaned over and grabbed the brick that had come through the window. Rolling it over in his hands, he held it out to her.

“This is another reason you should want to be with me. I can protect you from this.”

“You’re the
reason
for this,” she argued. Taking the brick from him, she flipped it over in her hands. Foreign words were written on it, and she didn’t know how to make heads or tails of what it said.

“What is this?”

“A threat from the Vojnik. They saw you with me, and they’ll assume you’re an easy way to get to me. Your only choice is to come with me.”

This was a hard pill to swallow. Before he’d showed up, she’d had a plan. A plan she felt good about. A way to get out of this mess. That was now all gone. Feeling defeated, she nodded. Getting up, she called for the kids, telling them to pack some bags as she did the same. Who would have thought covering a simple shift at work would have ever led to all of this.

“Can you tell your sister that the next time she needs me to cover her shift – she’s shit out of luck?”

For the first time, she heard him laugh, and a genuine smile transformed his face. She knew with everything in her that she
did
need protection but of a different kind than he was offering. She needed protection from him.

Chapter Eight

M
eredith sat in the same chair she had been sitting in for hours. Overnight and into early morning, she had watched Denise all but move out. Liam Walker and a few other members of Heaven Hill were loading suitcases into Denise’s car and standing around looking menacing. Tyler Blackfoot, the best friend and handsome Native American, had stalked like a shadow watching over the group. What had happened? Was Denise an old lady now? It was obvious that Liam had offered protection of some sort, otherwise the club wouldn’t have had a show of force like that. Did the window the men had boarded up figure into any of this?

“What am I missing?” she questioned herself, biting the nail of her index finger.

She wanted to expose the illegal activities of the club. That kind of story would do amazing things for her career. And it would get part of the criminal element out of Bowling Green. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin what had become a friendship with Denise. However, in her heart she knew that Denise was the key to breaking them. Meredith didn’t want to use her, but realized she would if she had to. That didn’t sit well with her, never in her career had she used someone she was close with. She could almost taste the praise that her boss would give her, and she craved that approval. It just didn’t feel as victorious as she had assumed it would.

The last motorcycle and Denise’s car had left roughly forty five minutes before. Maybe she could go look around, see if they had left any clues. She put on her running shoes and grabbed her iPhone before walking out the door. She stopped in her driveway to stretch like she normally did before a run and then casually jogged down the street. As she got to Denise’s house, she walked up the front porch and tried the door.

“Son of a bitch, they left it unlocked,” she breathed, glancing around to make sure no one was watching.

Once inside, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness before scanning the room. It was obvious that they had left in a hurry but care had also been used to pack certain things. She made her way to the room where the window had been boarded up. On the dresser in the corner she found a brick with Bosnian writing on it.

“Bingo.”

She couldn’t read Bosnian but knew a few people who could. Using her iPhone, she took pictures of it from different angles as well as a picture of the window that it had obviously come through.

“I don’t think so.” The voice was deep and authoritative with a slight southern accent that caused her skin to prickle with awareness.

It belonged to Tyler Blackfoot. He wasn’t supposed to be here, there were no bikes outside. She turned around, hand on her hip. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question. Give me the phone,” he motioned with his hand. The man was larger than life and beautiful really, but right now he was annoying her.

“I live in the neighborhood, I was worried.”

He smirked, white teeth showing against his tan skin. “But you don’t live in this house do you? Give me the phone,” he said again.

“It’s my property.”

“And you are trespassing. Do you know how much I’d love to call the cops on you and then take
your
picture as you come out of jail?”

Her eyes widened. “You wouldn’t. The door was unlocked.”

“Try me. Anyway, just because it was unlocked doesn’t mean you should be coming in here uninvited.”

Sighing, she handed over the phone to him. “I could give you a tip about the Vojnik,” she smiled seductively.

“I’m listening,” he muttered as he ran back through the pictures that she had taken.

Putting her hand on her hip, she stuck it out and focused on him. When she noticed that his eyes were on her, she pushed her chest out slightly. “I heard they’re planning to intercept your drug shipment next week.”

He laughed. “You’re cute, but if you wanna seduce me, you’re gonna have to do a little more than stick your tits out. About the other thing, which shipment?”

That pissed her off. She
was
cute. People told her she was cute all the time, yet he acted like she was begging him to throw her on the ground and take her. His question confused her as well. “There’s more than one shipment? How many of these do you guys do every week?” she asked, her brain working overtime.

He shrugged, the leather he wore over his shoulders creaking with the movement. “I dunno, Ms. Rager. You tell me. How many are there in any given week?”

It was then she realized he was playing her. Taking the information she was giving but not giving her anything in return. Heat reddened her cheeks, and she held her hand out for her phone.

“You got what you wanted, give me my phone back.”

He pressed a few buttons and smiled at her before placing it back in the palm of her hand. “I like you, so I’m gonna be nice. You’re stickin’ your nose into things you don’t understand here. Your curiosity is goin’ to get someone killed. Do you want someone’s blood on your hands? Because it’s goin’ to be there if you don’t back off. Don’t make me warn you again. Next time I won’t be so nice.”

Turning her around by the shoulders, he pushed her out of the front door and locked it as she stumbled out onto the front porch. He knew without a doubt that she would be back, but he hoped that next time she was a little bit smarter.

Fuming, Meredith made her way back down to her duplex.

“Ugh. That man.”

Grabbing her phone out of her pocket, she tried to make a phone call only for it to tell her that her passcode was incorrect. Again she tried, knowing that she had input the correct one. Realization dawned after the fourth try. Seething, she marched back over to the house and beat on the door until it opened.

“Can I help you?” he asked, laughing as he saw the look on her face.

“Change it back.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean?”

“You, Tyler Blackfoot, are a bastard. Change my damn passcode back. You’ve put me in my place, and I get it.”

He grabbed the phone from her hand and did as she asked. “Games aren’t that fun to play are they? Remember that when dealing with the club, Ms. Rager.”

“Damnit.” Liam shouted as he threw his phone down on the bed that they had just made up with fresh sheets for Mandy at his house.

“What?” Denise asked, looking up at him in alarm.

His heart ached as he looked at her. It had been a long twenty-four hours, and it showed on her face. A large bruise marred her cheekbone, her nose was still red and swollen, her eyes had blackened, and you could still see bits of dried blood on her scalp.

“Club business,” he answered, his voice clipped.

“Is that all I’m allowed to know?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest. She wasn’t sure how well this would work for her. Being by yourself meant you were never kept in the dark – having someone else calling the shots would take some getting used to.

“That’s all you get to know. I gotta go, but I’ll be back in a little while. Make yourselves at home. There’s plenty of food.”

As he reached the bedroom door, he turned abruptly and came back to stand in front of her. Looking up at him, she was afraid to move. Tenderly, he cupped her cheek with the palm of his hand and swept his large thumb over the bruise that had appeared.

“Get some sleep. Things will look way different when you wake up. Roni will make sure that the kids are taken care of. Just rest,” he whispered. More than anything, he wanted to comfort her. To explain that
this
wasn’t how things always went. Maybe lean in and give her a gentle kiss on the lips, show her another side of himself, but he knew this wasn’t the time.

The moment was too intimate for her, too soon after everything that had happened. She stepped out of his personal space and shook her head slightly as if to clear it.

“I can’t, I have to work tonight.”

His eyes hardened. “Not anymore. I’m gonna take care of you for a while. Roni already called and told them you quit.”

She flushed angrily. She had never even had to consult with anyone about her decisions before, and now others were making decisions for her that she didn’t even agree with.