Chapter 8

"You better go after her."

Liam glared at his sister as she walked over to stand 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 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 absolutely 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 v 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 around 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 grunted 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?"

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 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 without her consent. "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.