by LeAnn Ashers
Kyle hands Tyler a gun, and Tyler presses the barrel to his head. Vanessa’s dad is looking at Tyler, accepting his fate. “Go to hell,” he tells Tyler.
Tyler throws his head back, laughing. “Well, I will see you there. The devil has a special fucking place for someone like you.”
He pulls the trigger.
Kyle takes the gun and smacks him on the back. “Your woman will breathe easy now knowing he is out of her life.”
Tyler nods and lets out a deep breath; then he walks to the bathroom we use for cleaning up. Blood covers his arms and the front of his shirt. “I will call the clean-up crew, let’s all go home,” Kyle tells everyone and they file out. I walk into the bathroom and find Tyler staring at himself in the mirror.
“It fucking kills me the life she had,” Tyler tells me.
“She will have a better one now, man. She won’t have that fear wearing on her anymore. All you can fucking do is protect and love them.”
He doesn’t reply.
I go to another sink and clean up. I don’t want Paisley to see all of this shit covering me. She knows what went on in this room, but she doesn’t need a firsthand look at all of it.
I want to keep Paisley from all of this. I don’t want the darkness to touch her. I just hate that it has touched her at all and that she’s had a glimpse of what people are capable of.
I walk back into the main room, which is half a living room. Vanessa’s head is on Paisley’s lap, and a blanket is covering her.
Tyler scoops Vanessa up out of her lap. “Thank you, Paisley.” Tyler carries Vanessa right out of the clubhouse, and Paisley watches them leave.
“Let’s go home.” She looks at me, taking my hand. She smiles and moves to my side.
Right where she belongs.
12
Paisley
Today is the day that Tyler, Shane, and Brett are getting patched, and we are also celebrating Liam’s birthday, which is tomorrow. His bike got here yesterday, and Kyle is putting it in one of the rooms at the club. When the time is right, he will bring it out for me. I can’t wait to see Liam’s face; he has wanted this for years. I had to bribe the guy a lot to get him to sell it, but I got that accomplished.
I am also giving Liam the key to my house. Even though he has been staying with me since he got back, I want him to have that key so it’s set in stone.
I walk into the club and Liam goes off to the side with the other guys. I head to the kitchen. I get a text, and I take out my phone.
Shaylin: I am here, open the kitchen door.
I run over to the door that leads to the back of the club. I push it open, and Shaylin walks inside with Liam’s huge birthday cake. Chrystal has the refrigerator open, and Shaylin slides the cake inside.
I can’t wait to see his face. Braelyn and Ethan will be here later, not that Liam knows that.
Liam has had a few birthday parties since he got to Braelyn’s, but nothing big like this because that is not what he wanted. But I don’t give a shit what he wants because I am going to give him this.
It kills me on the inside when I think about what kind of childhood he had. It was horrible. I know that he never had enough food to eat, and he had a steady rotation of pimps and drug dealers in his house. He watched his mother get beaten and I don’t want to know what else. When he got older, he tried to step between his mother and these guys, but that led to him getting beaten up. That breaks my heart. I picture a small Liam, scared, hiding in a corner, witnessing all of this going down.
He never had that motherly love, and he never had a real father. The father he did have beat him and Braelyn every single day. Braelyn had it rough. I am not sure how she got over what a shitty hand she was dealt, but she is one of the strongest people I have ever met.
Vanessa has been doing a lot better. She knows that her father is dead, and she is okay with it. She told me that she was relieved; she was tired of looking over her shoulder. She can finally be happy and free with Tyler.
I haven’t gotten to see many of the new guys getting patched into the club, and it’s almost unheard of for three to be patched in at a time. Most prospects don’t make it this far.
Kyle walks into the kitchen and waves me over. I follow him into the main room, and we sneak past Liam toward the back of the club. Kyle pushes the door open, and I see the sleek black beast of a bike. I smile and walk closer to it. “He is going to be so surprised!” I tell Kyle.
“Fuck yeah! That’s one hell of a bike,” Kyle tells me.
He is not wrong. It’s the most beautiful bike that I have ever seen. “Thank you for helping me, Kyle.”
His face softens. Kyle has been my uncle since I was a little girl. This is the guy who had tea parties with me. “Anything for you, sweetheart. I am glad to see you’re happy, and I don’t give a fuck if Liam is a brother or not, if he doesn’t make you happy, I will kill him.”
I snort before laughing loudly. “Kyle, we both know Liam would never do anything like that, and we both know you’re a softy.”
He glares at me. “I am fucking not.”
I laugh louder. “I remember the tea parties, Kyle.”
His face falls, and I laugh louder at the sight of his shocked face. I never brought it up before. It’s some kind of code to never bring up anything like that since it would bruise his badass image.
I slip past him and run away, with him on my ass.
“Keep your trap shut, Paisley.”
I laugh louder, running into the main room.
Everyone turns to look at me and Kyle. The president who barely speaks, let alone laughs, is running after me, laughing. It’s a shocking sight.
Liam steps out from behind the table, and I run over and hide behind him. Kyle stands in front of Liam, laughing.
“What the fuck is going on? Who drugged Kyle?” Techy muses and Kyle’s face drops, glaring at Techy.
“Never mind.” Techy laughs and walks out of the room, probably to get out of firing range.
I peek out from behind Liam, and Kyle is standing there with his arms across his chest. “Your secret is safe with me,” I tell him.
He winks and walks toward his office.
Liam turns around and looks at me, confused. “What secret?”
I throw my arms up. “I am afraid that I can’t tell you.” I slip out of his arms and back toward the kitchen. There are butterflies in my stomach just from Liam’s touch and the excitement of his birthday.
I can’t wait.
Kyle steps into the middle of the room, and I peek over at Tyler, Shane, and Brett, who are standing together drinking beer. Liam is standing next to me, his hand resting on my ass. My dad is across the room with Kayla in front of him, his arms around her. The rest of the guys with ole ladies are in similar positions.
We are a family. The kids are in one of the playrooms with a babysitter Kyle keeps on hand.
Kyle looks at the three prospects, and they stand up straighter under his gaze. “Today is the day we are welcoming some new brothers into the club.” I look at the guys and see the utter shock on their faces. They never had the slightest clue what was happening. The earliest someone has ever gotten into the club was after two years as a prospect. Butcher walks over and hands Kyle three cuts. “I know the usual is two years, but you have shown the club that you belong, over and over again. You have earned the respect of everyone in the room.”
I smile at their expressions, loving every second of it. I love to see the pure happiness on their faces, and I can tell how much they wanted this.
Vanessa smiles at Tyler, rubbing his back.
“Tyler, come here,” Kyle says.
Vanessa takes his beer, and he walks over to Kyle. Kyle has the cut open, and Tyler slides his arms in. The cut has “Devil Souls MC” stitched on it and, under that, “Tyler.”
Everyone claps, whistles, and stomps their feet in congratulations. Tyler grins at everyone in the room and hugs Kyle.
“Shane!”
Shane wal
ks over and slips on his cut. His smile is blinding the whole room, and this is probably the first time I have ever seen him smile. He hugs Kyle and walks into the swarm of brothers. Liam is there too; he left me once Tyler got his cut.
Kyle calls, “Brett!”
Brett walks up to Kyle and slips on the cut, his eyes closed and his head back. This means a lot to him. He turns around and hugs Kyle like the others did and, like the others, he is swarmed.
“Welcome to the family!” Kyle says one last time and looks at me, signaling my turn. He walks toward the back of the club.
I walk to the middle of the floor. I smile at everyone in the room, and Liam looks at me, confused. I clap my hands together, winking at Liam. He arches an eyebrow at me.
“So tomorrow is Liam’s birthday, and I have a surprise for him.” He looks shocked. I hold my hand out, and he walks over and takes it. “Baby, I love you so much. Happy early birthday.” I kiss him right in front of the whole club.
The door opens, and Kyle peeks out. I give him a nod, letting him know. He pushes the door open, and in comes the bike that Liam has been wanting for so long, with a nice big red bow on it. His mouth drops open. Braelyn and Ethan walk in behind the bike.
“Paisley, what have you done?” His eyes are on me; then they go back to the bike.
“I found the bike.” I smile and he sweeps me up in his arms, kissing me hard.
“Thank you so much, Baby.” He sets me down and walks over to the bike, admiring it. I have tears in my eyes at the sight of him being so happy and surprised. I love that I could do this for him. Yeah, he could have bought it for himself, but he could never find one for sale.
I feel someone standing beside me, and I look over and see Dad. “You did good, baby girl.” My heart is light and full of happiness.
The door to the kitchen is pushed open, and I see the cake on a rolling table. The candles are already lit. Shaylin starts pushing the cake into the room. “Happy Birthday…” I start the song, and he whips around to see the giant cake. His head shakes in disbelief once more. “Make a wish!” Shaylin tells him.
He never takes his eyes off of me. “I already got my wish.”
Oh my god, I could die right this minute. “Baby,” I whisper and he bends down and blows out his candles. There are awws all around the room, from all of the ole ladies. This man is going to kill me. I didn’t think I could love him any more than I already do, but he does things like this, surprising me.
“I guess I got another surprise myself,” he announces. He splits the distance between us and his hands cup my face. “Baby, I love you.”
“I love you,” I reply, my words breathy.
He lets my face go, his hands dragging down my arms, and he bends down on one knee. Is what I think is happening really happening right now?
“Liam?”
He reaches into his pocket and brings out a box. Yeah, this is really happening! He opens the box, and I gasp at the sight of the beautiful ring. The band is rose gold, and there is a huge diamond with small ones wrapped around it. “Paisley, will you do me the greatest fucking honor and marry me?”
“Yes!” I scream loudly and everyone cheers. Liam slips on the ring and stands up, lifting me off the ground. He kisses me hard, and my legs are wrapped around his waist.
Oh my god! I can’t believe this is happening. I am engaged to the man I fell in love with eight years ago, the person who saved me from a horrible fate—god knows what would have happened to me.
The man who was my first kiss.
My first everything, the man I love with all of my heart.
‘“I love you so much,” I whisper, tears falling down my face. My whole body feels like it’s about to burst.
“I love you too, my love.”
The room is completely quiet. All of the ladies are crying, and the men are staring at us. We probably look like loons, but he is my loon. I love him so much. He is my life. I couldn’t imagine a day without him, and the wait for him was worth every single minute because, in the end, I have him. This is the man I am going to marry, and we are going to have babies and build an amazing family. A family that I will cherish with all of my heart. My kids will grow up being around the best kind of family. The kind that will take care of you, love you unconditionally, and protect you above everything else.
That is family.
That is Liam.
This is my everything.
Liam
She fucking surprised me. I never expected for her to do that for me. She got me the bike I have been searching for forever. She did that for me. Nobody has done anything like that for me, cared that much, or put in that much time and effort. I am so fucking blessed to have her in my life. My fiancé. I bought the ring a long time ago. I have been waiting for the perfect time and I knew, in that moment, that it was time.
I am so surprised by everything she’s done. I love that woman with all of my heart. More than life itself. I would do anything for her, and I love her more every day. Call me a pussy or a bitch but I don’t care, because I love her. If that makes me a pussy, I will gladly accept that name.
The cartel has been hidden for a long time, but we brought the war to them the moment they perched on club territory and went after Paisley twice. The first time I was there and they never touched her, but the second time they threw fucking acid over the gate. That shit hurt her bad. She was in horrible pain and bedridden for a long time.
She still hasn’t gone back to work, and I hope she doesn’t because I want her barefoot and pregnant. Plus I am fucking scared of what could happen when she is at work. I can’t control what happens to her there.
That shit kills me.
I am not scared of fucking anything, but I am scared of one thing, and that is losing her. The sight of her lying on the ground, not moving and passed out, will forever haunt me. I have nightmares of losing her. I can hardly stand being away from her. That shit is smothering me.
My whole fucking life I just had to worry about myself. Then, when I was seventeen, this blond, blue-eyed angel popped into my life, and it was forever changed.
Fuck me.
She is lying on the couch watching TV in underwear and my shirt. I am standing in the entrance to the living room, just staring at her like a creeper. She looks up and sees me staring at her, and she waves me over. “Come. Cuddle, Baby.”
You know what I am going to fucking do? Go cuddle.
Well, maybe not so much fucking cuddling, I have other things in mind.
13
Paisley
A Week Later
What the fuck?
In my locker at work there is a letter, and I have no clue how it got there. The letter says: He is going to pay. Is this the cartel?
I get a text from Liam letting me know that he is outside. I slam my locker closed and stuff the note in my purse. I will show Liam once I am in the truck.
I keep my eyes peeled, looking for anything and everything out of the ordinary. I am scared; my heart feels like it’s about to burst.
Having been burned like that has me on edge constantly. I am scared that something like that will happen again, and I can only relax when I am with Liam. He makes me feel safe and so secure. It’s something that I can’t describe.
Through the sliding glass doors, I see Liam waiting at the entrance. I let out a deep breath, trying to control myself. I don’t want to show my panic just yet. I walk outside, and Liam wraps his arm around me, as usual, hurrying to the truck. He is super happy over his bike, but he doesn’t want me on the back of it until everything is settled, and I understand why. It’s dangerous.
I just want things to go back to normal. I want to go on bike rides with Liam. I want to go places alone without worrying about something happening. I just want as normal a life as possible, but we all know that’s not going to happen.
Liam helps me into the truck and shuts the door. I stick my hand in my purse and take out the note, hating to show it to him because our lives have been q
uiet and peaceful. Liam stares at me, and I look out the windshield. “Baby?”
I close my eyes, hearing the concern in his voice, and my stomach twists. The cartel has gone after me twice; why the fuck are they doing it again? What do they want with me?
I hand the note to Liam and watch his expression as he reads it. Just as I expected, he is extremely pissed off. He starts the truck, and his hands clutch the steering wheel tightly. The veins in his arms are straining from the exertion, and his jaw is clenching and unclenching.
“Let’s go home, I will call the guys over.” He takes my hand and kisses the back of it. I scoot toward him, close my eyes, and lie on his shoulder. Everything will be okay. This will all end someday—it can’t last forever.
It can’t.
I am drained; I am so tired of all this stuff. It’s been going on for months, and as soon as we get a break, they start up their shit again.
“It’s okay, sweet girl, but I don’t think it’s safe for you to go back to work unless you let me put someone on you.”
I want to work—being a nurse is what I have wanted for so long—but if it means endangering my life or someone else’s, its best to take some vacation time. “I will call tomorrow and let them know.” I can hear the sadness in my voice. I hate that they are taking this away from me.
“I am sorry, Baby, but I can’t risk something happening to you,” he whispers.
I squeeze his hand tighter. “I understand, Baby.” We sit in silence for a few minutes, thinking of all the shit that has gone down. I notice a beat-up old van on my side of the vehicle. I sit up higher in my seat. I have a bad feeling.
The driver’s window slowly moves down, and the barrel of a gun sticks out. I grip Liam’s leg. “Liam!” I yell. He looks over as a shot goes off, the sound loud and thunderous. The bullet hits the window but doesn’t pierce it.
Thank God every vehicle we get the for the club adds a lot of safety features. The moment a bullet hits the window, the club is notified. Liam pushes me onto the floor and puts a bulletproof vest between the door and me.
