by LeAnn Ashers
We all walk outside, and I’m holding Liam’s hand. Alisha is on the other side, holding Techy’s hand, and she smiles at me. Alisha has been an amazing friend over the years. She is close to me in age. She was around twenty when she and Techy got together; he is a couple of years older.
She had a very rough childhood. Techy literally took her out of her fucked-up situation and gave her the life she deserves. She wanted to be a mother more than anything else, and she is doing exactly that, while her man worships the ground she walks on.
“Baby, do you want to order takeout?” I stop at the sight of a black SUV speeding by, the window rolled down. Liam presses my head into his chest then falls to the ground, breaking my fall with his free arm as bullets ring out around us, hitting vehicles. I look out from under Liam’s arm to see all the other ladies are covered the same way. Alisha has her eyes closed and her face in the crook of Techy’s neck. Dad is staring down at Kayla, his mouth moving to reassure her. I can see the slight panic on her face.
The bullets stop a few seconds later, and I hear the squeal of the vehicle driving off, then silence. I don’t hear anything but the sound of Liam breathing above me. “Baby?” I whisper. His hand cups my face, letting me know he hears me, before he looks up at everyone.
“Everyone okay?” Kyle asks.
I relax at the sound of everyone’s voices telling him they are okay. This was the cartel. I knew it the moment I saw the vehicle.
“We need to make a run and go to the vehicles. I don’t like being a sitting duck,” Kyle says. I can almost feel the anger radiating off of him.
“One, two, three. GO!” he yells and I am swept off the ground. Liam has me tucked against his chest, running with me.
My heart stops at the sound of gunshots hitting close to me and Liam. He runs faster and I hear his truck door open. He climbs into the passenger side with me in his lap. The door shuts and I can breathe. I look out the window, frantically checking on my family.
One by one they get in their vehicles. Bullets are hitting the windows but not piercing the glass. Thank God for the club updating the vehicles. Kyle’s vehicle is parked right next to ours, and he looks so fucking pissed off. He picks up his phone, and I hear Liam’s phone vibrating.
Liam takes it out. “We are heading to the back-up club. The kids are at the other one.” He scoots across to his seat.
Kyle drives out of the parking lot, not stopping even though the bullets are nailing his truck. We are the next to go, but I am not playing fucking games. I reach in the backseat and grab my AK. I roll down the window enough to shoot out of it; then I nail the fucking vehicle. I shoot out the passenger window and hit the gunman on the fucking arm.
Liam laughs loudly then puts the truck in park and scoots to the middle of the seat. He takes aim and hits the driver. I keep firing my AK, destroying the vehicle. Then I shoot the front of the vehicle, blowing the fucker up.
I hear a lot of yelling and whistles. I roll down my window and stick my head out, smiling at everyone and holding up my AK. The old me wouldn’t have done that, but I can’t stand the thought of my family getting hurt so I took it into my own hands and did what I thought was needed. I took them out.
Kyle has backed into the parking lot. “Let’s go to the clubhouse then.” He laughs and takes off again.
On the way back to the clubhouse, I notice another SUV and I know that this is another cartel vehicle. Rolling down my window halfway, I lift out my AK one more time and destroy their vehicle then lift my middle finger.
The women are not to be fucked with. I am tired of this shit, and I am not going to take it anymore. Ole ladies are not people to fucking mess with. I am tired of them messing with my family. It’s time that I fight back, and that’s what I am going to do and give them a taste of their own medicine.
Game on.
15
Paisley
A Few Days Later
The other ladies and I have decided to have a girls’ shopping day. It’s the first time we’ve done this in months because of everything that has been going down, and it’s much needed. I am also running out of underwear because Liam has a huge habit of tearing them off my body. We fuck a couple of times a day, and it seems that neither Liam nor I can get enough.
“This day was much needed!” Chrystal says and plops down in the chair next to me in one of the restaurants in the mall. From the corner of my eye, I see a man who looks like Liam. But when I look back he is gone, so I don’t say anything.
I nod, taking a drink of my water. “I needed this so bad, I needed some normal.”
The girls around me pipe up in agreement. We are not alone. Members of the MC are sitting all around us, at different tables, keeping an eye on us—but they are doing their own thing.
Liam is sitting two tables over, not bothering to pretend that he’s not keeping an eye on me. Everything that has been going on has him seriously on edge. I don’t blame him because, honestly, I am the exact same way.
Liam winks at me and finally looks away. As I turn back to the girls, I see a man ducking into the men’s bathroom. I could swear it’s the same man I saw earlier, the guy who looks like Liam. Eating my food I watch for the man to come back out, but he doesn’t. Why do I have a bad feeling?
Everyone parts ways as we finish eating. It’s safer if we don’t leave at once; traveling as a group puts a bigger target on our backs.
Liam and I are heading home to stay in bed for the rest of the day, watching TV and fucking. I can’t wait for the moment that all of this ends so I can marry him and have babies. I want at least two: a little boy who looks just like Liam and a sweet little angel. I know that Liam would be an amazing father. He had such a shitty childhood and he said, years ago, that if he became a father he would do everything in his power to be the best, and I believe him.
Liam has his hand pressed on the small of my back, and his head is swiveling in every direction, looking for any kind of danger.
“Do you want take—” I don’t finish. Hands are buried in my hair and I am pulled back hard, right out of Liam’s arms and onto the ground. The air is knocked out of my lungs. Someone is holding my throat—I cannot breathe. Liam is fighting six men all at once. Oh my god, we are being attacked.
Liam takes a hit to the face. He stops moving and wipes the blood off his lip and smiles. Oh fuck. He rolls his shoulder and then he explodes. I push myself up, ignoring the stinging on my bare arms and legs from fucking road burn, my head hurting like a bitch.
Another guy is running toward us, coming straight for me. I push myself up to a standing position, ready to fight. The guy reaches me, and I aim a kick straight for his nuts. He dodges and bends down, throwing me over his shoulder. I beat his back, pulling his grimy hair hard, and then he is running with me. I twist, pull, and hit with everything in me.
I look up and see Liam knocking out the last man. I scream and he looks at me in pure horror. He takes off after us, and I am thrown in the van and the door is slammed shut behind me.
It hits me like a ton of bricks: I have been kidnapped. I spin around and face whoever is in the van with me. I am face-to-face with the man I saw at the mall, the one who looks like Liam.
“What do you want?” I ask him. My voice is completely calm but, on the inside, I am anything but that. I am scared.
“I have a message for Liam.” The guy smiles, his teeth dirty. His whole face is dirty with god knows what, and his hair hasn’t been in a shower in a very long time.
I don’t say a word. I just want to hear what he has to say. “Tell Liam that I can take everything away from him just like he did me.”
The doors are opened behind me, and I see Liam. My captor is gone. Then I am pushed out of the van, right onto the highway.
Liam
“FUCK!” I yell at the sight of her hitting the fucking ground. I was going to take every one of them at the next red light, but they came to an almost-stop and threw her out. I put the car in park and run over to her. My han
ds are a fucking mess bleeding and cracked and my face is bleeding. I took on six fucking men who all wanted to fight at one time.
She is sitting up when I reach her. She lifts her arms, and I lift her off the ground and run back to my truck so I can get her out of the open. She sits in the middle of the seat, staring through the windshield, and her arms are messed up because of road burn.
“Baby.” I touch her face, not even caring that I have traffic backed up.
“He had a message for you, he wanted you to know that he can take everything away from you like you did him.”
What the living fuck is going on? I have not taken anything from anyone. I have been overseas for fucking years. I put the truck in drive and race for the fucking clubhouse, hitting the fucking alert button on the roof of my truck, letting them all know that shit is going down.
Paisley is curled into my side, her whole body shaking, and I fucking hate it. I hate that I wasn’t there to protect her. I fought off six fucking guys at once, and I thought she was hiding. Then I heard her scream, and the fucker tossed her into the vehicle. I never had a fucking chance to get to her.
“Don’t do that, Liam.” Paisley says, rubbing my chest. “Don’t blame yourself.”
It’s hard not to, when something like that happens right under my fucking nose, and who the fuck is this person? Is it someone I have tortured over the years? Did I kill someone they are close to?
I don’t fucking know!
I pull through the gate and vehicles pull in behind us. I look in the mirror and see my face is red with blood. One of the fuckers had steel knuckles, and it got me on the forehead. Paisley is unhurt besides her road burn.
I open my door and step out, and I reach in and pick Paisley up. Everyone surrounds us. It’s like a fucking dream; why the fuck are they going for her? I explain what happened, and I carry her inside the clubhouse. Guilt is eating me alive, because this is happening because of me.
Paisley
I can tell that guilt is eating him alive, but I won’t allow him to feel that way if I can help it. The person who attacked us is obviously crazy.
Myra, another ole lady, is cleaning my road burn. Liam should have been treated first because of his head wound, but he wouldn’t have it. He is glued to my side.
Kyle walks into the room and throws Liam a pair of keys. “Go to the mountains and hide out, the caretaker is stocking everything as we speak. We are going to find this fucker. In the meantime, you guys need peace.”
Myra finishes with me and goes to Liam. The cut isn’t that bad, but head wounds always bleed the worst. I grip Liam’s hand, and hope blooms in my chest for the first time in a while.
I can’t wait to get away from everything and just relax.
If only it were that simple.
16
Paisley
We got to the cabin a few hours ago. I am sitting on the edge of the bed with Liam on his knees in front of me, his head in my lap. My hand is running gently through his hair and down his back. His body softens, under my hands, for the first time in a long time.
It seems like, even in sleep, his whole body is hard and waiting for anything. I think being in this house in the middle of nowhere, under a different name, we cannot be found.
“You okay, Liam?” I whisper. I bend down and kiss the back of his head. His hand tightens around my hip, just holding me.
“I am fine, Baby.” He sighs loudly, his head burrowing between my legs, and I laugh because his nose is right at my crotch now.
“Baby.” I laugh and he laughs right along with me.
He shakes his head once again, and I open my legs, laughing even harder. Liam raises his head, smiling for the first time since everything happened.
I reach out and touch the side of his face. “Now that is my Liam.”
His face softens, smiling at me sweetly.
“I love you, Liam.”
His hand rests on my cheek and mine on his, before his forehead leans against mine. “I love you too, my baby.”
I know I will never tire of hearing those words. Every single time I hear them, I get butterflies. I know, deep down in my heart, that God has made him for me. Liam is meant to be mine. He is my whole heart, and I pray that everyone finds the kind of love I have. I wish everyone had this happiness; maybe the world would be a better place.
“Baby, I want to fuck you but I think I need to sleep and I want you to hold me.”
He nods and gets off the floor, and he strips down. I could fuck Liam twenty-four and seven, but I just want to sleep and feel safe. Liam is the kind of guy who radiates protectiveness and safety. I know that he would do anything to protect me and, even today, I knew he was coming for me. He was right behind the van and I knew, the moment we stopped, he was going to get me.
I pull the comforter back, sliding down the sheets, and close my eyes, relaxing. My body sinks into the bed, which rubs against my road rash, making me hurt.
“You in pain, Baby?” Liam asks me. I crack open one eye only to see him stark naked, and his dick is pointing in my direction.
“I am just a little sore, today has been a crazy day.”
Liam looks down at the ground for a few seconds, and I hate that he feels this way. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want him to feel any guilt at all. “Baby, don’t you fucking dare blame yourself!” I tell him once again, and he looks at me and rolls his eyes.
My mouth opens in shock that he would roll his eyes at me. “You didn’t just do that,” I hiss, pretending to be mad, wanting to draw him out of this mood. I turn onto my stomach and lie with my head on the pillow, and he crawls into bed with me and smacks me on the ass.
I laugh and scoot over to lie on his chest. The heat radiates off of him immediately, making my day so much better, and I feel safety coming off of him in waves.
“It just fucking scares me the thought of something happening to you,” he whispers and turns off the light, bringing us into complete darkness.
I run my hand down his side. “Baby, I love you so much and I knew you were coming for me, but you’re not Superman. You’re the only man I know who could take on six men at once with barely a scratch.”
His head tilts to the side and he kisses my forehead. “Still doesn’t make it easier on me, Baby.” His fingers are buried in my hair, which is sore from the hair pulling I got earlier, soothing me.
“Baby, I can’t stand you being hurt, it fucking kills me on the inside. It goes against everything in me for you to be in danger, it’s against my very core.”
Tears pool behind my eyelids and I try not to cry. When you love someone it’s so hard to think about them being hurt, and I hate the thought of Liam in danger. I wanted to help him so badly today, but I learned a long time ago to let him handle it, rather than distracting him and making it worse.
“You know I can’t wait for the day we are living in peace. We can get married and have a bunch of babies,” I pipe in, wanting to break the mood.
He bursts out laughing, kissing the side of my head once more. “I will have to fucking hide for a year because your dad will try to kill me.”
I laugh loudly at that because he is not lying. My father never took to me dating in the first place, and he gave Liam a hard time. Liam made it worse on himself because he never gave a fuck if my father harassed him. He would laugh, which pissed my dad off worse.
I also know that, deep down, Dad actually likes him. Dad bought Liam his first bike when he was seventeen and pretended it was a club thing. Liam saved me. He saved me from something that would have forever affected my life, if I’d survived. I could have killed, or god knows what else could have happened to me. I might never have been found. If it weren’t for Liam, everything would be so different. My life wouldn’t be my life. Liam is my life, and he has been since I was sixteen years old.
“You know Dad never found out that you used to sneak in my window almost every night.”
Liam laughs. “Well, I would probably be dead becaus
e your dad would have shot my ass for sneaking in his daughter’s window.”
I agree. “Well, I loved the thrill of it.”
“I bet you did, mean ass.” He smacks my ass once more and continues cupping my ass cheek.
“I loved every moment I had with you, especially right before you left. I missed you so much, and I counted down the days until you were home.”
He holds me a little tighter. “Baby, you’re the one thing that kept me going while I was over there. With the shit I’ve seen and done… It was you who made me go to sleep smiling because it would all be fucking worth it in the end, because I would have you.” He stops for a few beats, pulling me even closer. “Over the years I would come home, and I would see the changes in you, you turning into the most beautiful woman.”
He pushes me onto my back and looks down at me. “When I first met you, I made a promise to myself that I would make myself worthy of you. I knew that I never would be, but I vowed I would never fucking give you up.” He kisses my forehead before letting his head rest against mine. “You’re my Paisley.”
I put my hands on either side of his face. “You’re my Liam.”
He closes his eyes. I do the same, just feeling him and enjoying the amazing feeling of loving him and him loving me back. It’s the best feeling in the world.
The Next Morning
Liam and I are cooking breakfast together. The windows are open, letting in the early morning breeze, and we’re enjoying the peace. A song comes on the radio, “You Make It Easy” by Jason Aldean. Hands are on my waist. I turn around and he pulls me into his arms. I lay my head on his chest, hands on his ass, eyes closed, and he sways us side to side listening to the words.
God, I love him so much.
I open my eyes, looking up at him, and he smiles and touches my cheek. “I have something for you.” I leave him standing in the middle of the kitchen, and I run upstairs to my suitcase and pull out the journal.
