chapter Twenty-Five
Denise sighed deeply; it had been a very long day. She and Mandy had decided to completely clean the house they had been calling home, and her body was screaming. It was obvious to her she needed to start a workout program once her body allowed her to actually bend her arms after this. Of course Mandy hadn’t felt anything, she’d run off with Andrew as soon as the sun had gone down. They had started having bonfires at night with other club kids and some of the younger club members. It had bothered her at first, but now she realized just how much she enjoyed her peaceful nights. She also loved that her kids had met others who lived this life and who understood it. The development of her kids was the most important thing to her, and in the past few days she realized just how much of a home they had made here. Their independence gave her independence, and that was a great gift that she had not counted on when she started this.
“Oh shower, how I love you,” she moaned, letting the hot water rush over her sore muscles. Just maybe she’d be able to walk in the morning. If she played her cards right. When her fingers were pruned and the water began running cool, she got out. The hot water heater in this house was huge, so if she’d used it all, she had been in there quite a while.
Shutting the water off and stepping out, she winced as she reached over to grab her towel. The muscles in her back protested, and she groaned. Wrapping the towel around her body, she grabbed her brush and tried to pull it through hair made curly by the shower. The steam in the bathroom at least made her muscles feel pliant, and she felt like she could move just a little bit better.
“I am in such bad shape,” she groaned. This must be how most women felt after doing Zumba for the first time.
Carefully walking into the bedroom, she sat on the bed and unwrapped the towel from her body. Downstairs, she could hear the front door shut and smiled, it was about time Liam got home.
“Liam, I need a massage,” she yelled, leaning back on the bed and striking a pose. She had never done anything like that, but maybe it was time she started. Denise hoped that he would appreciate it.
She waited for a few minutes, and when there was no answer she called out again. “Liam?”
The stairs creaked, but she noticed that she hadn’t heard the heavy stomping of his motorcycle boots. There had been no noise of him putting his keys on the table in the hallway, she hadn’t heard the shuffling of mail that he usually brought in. Something wasn’t right. The hairs on her arms stood on end, and she began to feel uneasy. Her aching body protested as she quickly sat up, grabbing sweats and a shirt that Liam had left beside the bed after his workout earlier in the day. They swallowed her whole, and she cursed as she tried desperately to tie the drawstring on the pants. The bottom of the pants went well over the edges of her feet, and she fought to kick them out of her way. Her hands shook violently, but she finally got them tied and tiptoed her way back into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it before sinking down in between the toilet and the wall. If anything happened, maybe it would offer her some sort of protection.
Her heart beat rapidly, threatening to come out of her chest. She felt like one of those crazy girls in a horror movie waiting to die. Trying to regulate the breath rushing out of her mouth, she heard the floor creak in the bedroom and slapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. She wished she had something, anything, to protect herself with. The door handle jiggled as someone tried to turn it. Moments passed and she thought that maybe the person on the other side of the door had left. She was just about to get up when muffled gunshots sounded and bullets came through the door near the door knob. It felt like time was moving in slow motion. She could swear she saw the bullets whizzing by with her eyes.
That was it; she screamed bloody murder and cursed herself for backing into a corner. Now she had nowhere to go. A glass jar sat on the counter, holding q-tips. Thinking quickly, she grabbed it, throwing it as the door opened. Sheer luck finally won out as it hit the intruder in the head, and he screamed, blood pouring out of the knit mask that covered his face. He was tall and she was willing to bet he was strongly built. He took up most of the doorway that he stood in. If he approached her for hand-to-hand combat, he would likely kill her, and she knew that she couldn’t allow that to happen.
Downstairs, the front door crashed open, and Denise heard Liam’s voice yelling for her.
“Upstairs. There’s a guy with a gun!” She screamed, hoping with everything that she had that Liam could save her.
The man in the doorway glared at her. The only thing visible were blue eyes, and it looked like he was contemplating what he wanted to do with her. They both could hear Liam scrambling up the stairs, and the guy with the gun made a split decision. He turned, aiming the gun at the window in the bedroom, and shot it out, jumping from the second story just as Liam made it into the doorway. Liam held his own gun and yelled as the unknown man jumped from his bedroom window.
“You okay?” he asked Denise as he saw her standing in the bathroom, her face pale and her body shaking.
“Yeah, thanks to you. I hit him in the head, he probably can’t make it far,” she informed him, motioning to all the glass on the floor.
“That’s my girl.” He pulled out his cell, letting the person on the other end know that Denise was fine and what had happened. Hanging up, he motioned toward her.
“Did he hurt you?”
Shaking her head, she answered. “No, I hid in the bathroom, like a wuss.”
“Nothing wrong with stayin’ alive, baby.” He crossed the threshold and scooped her up in his arms.
Hugging herself tightly to his body, she buried her head in his shoulder and let him know what her worst thoughts had been. “I really thought I was a goner there for a minute. I thought it was you at first, and I was lying naked on the bed.”
He shuddered, knowing just what could have happened. Knowing the horrors that had been done to Meredith, he breathed easier. “Thank God you figured out it wasn’t. Pack some stuff. We’re goin’ on lockdown at the clubhouse. They hit Meredith tonight too.”
Her blood ran cold. Something felt off. “What do you mean they hit her?”
Framing her face with his hands, he told her the news he didn’t want to tell. But he knew that he had to be honest with her. “She was beaten and raped. Tyler found her and brought her to the clubhouse. Right now she needs her friend. Can you pack some clothes for her?”
Was that what the man had been planning to do to her? Was this a planned attack on the club? “Was he going to do that to me?” she asked, eyes wide.
“I don’t know, but at this point we have to assume the worst. That’s why we’re going on lockdown. Even my damn mother will be there,” he grumbled.
She knew there was danger if his mother was going to be included in the protected bunch. “Let me get a bag. Are the kids already there?”
“They are,” he confirmed. “You want me to pack for us while you pack for them?”
“We’re just all gonna sleep out in the open?” she asked, wondering what kind of clothes she should pack. Her hands shook with the residual adrenaline that coursed through her body. She dropped her bag twice before she finally picked it up and took a deep breath.
“No darlin’. Brothers have dorm rooms,” he put his hands on her shoulders, calming her with his mere presence. He knew that what had transpired had affected her.
She didn’t know what that meant, but she assumed this was another lesson in the world of a motorcycle club.
They arrived a few hours later, having boarded up the house as best as they could. The gate that usually stood open at the edge of the clubhouse’s property was only standing part way open. She recognized Prospects and lesser members of the club standing guard. Men stood on the roof of the clubhouse, watching over the groups of people coming in. They held guns, and it felt like she had stepped into a war zone.
“Grab your stuff and let’s get inside.” Liam’s tone of voice said there would be no argument. They needed to get inside where it was safe. He didn’t mind being out in the open, but he most definitely didn’t want her out there.
Tyler met him as Liam got out of his truck. “You’re the last of them,” Tyler informed them.
Liam turned back to where the Prospects and members stood at the gate. “Lock it down.”
He watched with keen eyes as the gate was closed and locked. Parking rollbacks and wreckers in front of it provided an extra barrier of protection. Reaching over, he grabbed one of the bags that Denise carried and ushered her into the clubhouse.
As they walked in, her breath hitched. There looked to be a couple hundred people there. She hadn’t realized how large the clubhouse was. She greeted the few people she knew and stuck close to Liam. Feeling her unease, he wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her in front of his body and letting her rest against him.
“You’re fine here,” he reassured her.
“I know, I’m just kinda put off by all the people.” Even as confident as she had grown, insecurities still lay just below the surface. She wondered how many of these women Liam had slept with.
“It’s okay, it’s a lot to take in.” He tried to see this through her eyes. Walking into this place with all these people that she didn’t know had to be intimidating.
William got everyone’s attention as he stood at the front of the room. “I want to welcome everyone and let you know that while you’re here, you’re safe. We have a threat to this club and everyone involved with us. While we have some business to take care of, you will all remain here. Any concerns, you see one of us and we’ll do our best to help you. We’re at full capacity so please have some patience with one another. Enjoy your stay.”
Liam leaned against the back wall, keeping his arm around her. “Do you need anything?” he asked.
“Just need to know where to put our stuff.”
“Let me take you to my dorm,” he bent down, grabbing one of the duffels they had brought with them.
They weaved their way through the large group that had gathered. He kept her hand in his, looking anyone in the eye who watched them. With this many men and women around, he wanted to let them know she was his and he was hers. It wouldn’t do for everyone to be fighting or to cause a fight because feelings weren’t clear. As they got to the hallway that led to the dorms, an older woman stepped in front of them.
“Liam, it’s good to see you.”
Denise felt his body tense, so she wrapped a comforting hand around his forearm. She wondered who this was, and it was on the tip of her tongue to ask. Instead, Liam took a physical step back and schooled his face to be completely devoid of any emotion.
“Lauren, wish I could say the same.”
Lauren. This was his mother, the one he never spoke about. She was standing right here in front of them. Denise wondered if there would be an introduction.
“Is this the woman in your life son? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
Sighing deeply, he side stepped her. “I’d really rather not.”
With that, he pulled Denise down the hallway until they reached a room with his name on it. Pulling keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and shoved her inside. Anger radiated off his body as he pushed her against the now closed door and planted a kiss on her lips.
The predatory look in his eyes made her hot and scared her all at the same time. “Finally, we’re alone at last.”