Heaven Hill Series - Complete Series

by Laramie Briscoe

  That revelation didn’t shock Liam as much as it should have. Rage and hurt did make an appearance, but he put it tightly under lock and key. This wasn’t about him. This was about Tyler and the woman who’d had her innocence shattered by a bastard with a vendetta.

  “She would have backed off if you would have just scared her. You didn’t have to ruin her life to do that,” Tyler’s grip tightened on the older man’s neck.

  “C’mon Tyler, show me some of that savage mentality that we all appreciate so much.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out a dollar bill, flinging it in Tyler’s direction. “You wanna hurt me son? Hurt me. I’m not one bit sorry for what I did.”

  Bringing his forehead close, he banged it heavily on William’s nose, feeling the bone break and blood spurt onto his face.

  “Motherfucker,” William groaned.

  Tyler leaned in close. “I want to mop the floor with your brains, but I don’t want that on my hands tonight.” Leaning back, he spoke louder. “You’re no longer my president, and you’re no longer fit to run this club. I say we take a vote right this fucking minute. Who’s with me?”

  The group was loyal, but William knew they were no longer loyal to him. Somehow in all of the time he had used plotting, these men had become loyal to someone else. It was apparent they were now loyal to Tyler and Liam. He looked around as all of them raised their hands in a show of support.

  Looking over at Liam, Tyler motioned for the knife he carried in his pocket. Liam threw it and watched as Tyler cut the President patch off the older man. “You aren’t fit to wear this anymore.” He tossed the patch to Liam and nodded his head. “Looks like your boy is about to take his rightful place at the head of this table. Any objections?”

  Not one person raised their hands. Tyler walked over to his best friend. “It’s up to you what we do with him, but that piece of shit sittin’ in that chair is mine.”

  Liam nodded as Tyler stalked over to the man in the chair. He pulled his head up so that they looked at one another. “Make sure you get a real good look at my face.”

  “Why?” the man asked, his words sounding muffled because of the swelling of his lips.

  “It’s the last thing you’re gonna see.” Tyler’s ravaged hands pulled out the gun he carried on him and put the barrel to the side of his head. Without a thought, he pulled the trigger, exhaling as the feeling of revenge went through his body. That feeling settled deep in his stomach. It felt like he could breathe again. The first real breath he had taken since Meredith had been attacked.

  “Get on outta here. We’ll take care of everything else,” Liam told him.

  Without a look back, he exited the warehouse, got on his bike, and headed for home.

  Meredith sat in Tyler’s dorm wringing her fingers together. Denise had offered to let her stay at her house, but Meredith had wanted to know as soon as Tyler came through the doors that he was safe. This is the part she hated about this life – waiting on him to come home, wondering if he was dead or alive.

  She knew that if she would have been asked months ago if she would be one of those women who would sit around waiting on this, her answer would have been a resounding ‘no’. Things had changed in her life in so many ways that she hadn’t been prepared for. Some for the worse and some for the better. She knew without a doubt the feelings she had for Tyler were the best.

  The door to the room opened, and she saw the man who had made everything right come through it. He was walking stiffly, and she knew the punishment he had put his body through this night had been completely for her.

  “You okay?” she asked him.

  “I’m hurtin’ pretty good, but it’s over. You don’t have to worry about that piece of shit anymore. I’m not sure what Liam is doing to William, I left that up to him, but your rapist is gone.”

  A sense of peace settled over her, one she hadn’t felt in months. “I know I shouldn’t be glad that another human being is dead, but I am,” she whispered.

  “I am too,” he admitted.

  She watched as he went around the room, taking off the clothes he wore and then immediately went to the shower. He was quiet, too quiet, and she was worried. Taking off her own clothes, she followed him, getting into the small space behind him.

  “I can understand if you look at me differently,” he told her, not turning around to face her.

  “What nonsense are you talking about?” she asked as she put her arms around his waist and hugged him to her.

  “You saw me beat a man almost to death tonight. I’m not going to lie to you, I shot him in the head, in cold blood. This is the man you’ve been taking to your bed. How does that make you feel?”

  She used her hands to turn him around. It took all her strength, but she managed to do it. “I hold no illusions when it comes to who you are. I’ve known that all along. Regardless of what you do, you are still one of the most amazing men I have ever met. One of the gentlest human beings I’ve ever known. You also scare the shit out of me with your intensity. Those are all parts of you. I can’t love one without loving them all. Do I agree with everything you do? No, but I understand the life you live. I’m not asking you to change. I know what I’m getting into.”

  For the first time since he had come home, he opened his arms for her and held her tightly to him, fisting her hair in his hand. “I’m just letting you know, I’m never letting you go. No one in this world has ever understood me more than you do, and I’m not willing to give that up.”

  “Good,” she smiled at him as she pulled away slightly from his embrace. “Neither am I. We answer to no one about our relationship. And if you scared me physically, Tyler, you know I wouldn’t be here. I know that you’re dangerous, but I also know that you have boundaries. I know what those are just like you do. If I ever feel that you’re getting out of control, I’ll let you know.”

  He nodded and pulled her back into his arms. For the first time he really felt no remorse for taking someone’s life, and that did scare him. The only consolation he had was that he knew it was for her, and for her he would do anything.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The next morning, a soft knock sounded on the door of the dorm room. Meredith hadn’t slept well the night before as she watched over Tyler. She knew that he had been very conflicted last night and she hated that. Getting up quickly, she padded over to the door and opened it softly.

  “Hey,” she greeted Liam. “He’s still asleep.”

  “Just have him come up to the house whenever he gets up. Some major shit went down last night after he left.”

  She took a good look at the man standing in front of her. Her keen eyes noticed that he now wore the president patch. “Congrats Pres,” she grinned at him.

  “Thanks. I’m sorry about what William did to you, and I’m glad that we got it taken care of.”

  “I don’t hold it against you at all. I’ll let him know when he wakes up that you wanna talk to him.”

  She closed the door and quickly went back over to the bed, crawling in beside him and cozying up to the warmth of his body. He slept deeply, much deeper than she had ever seen him sleep before. It was almost as if this sleep healed him.

  “You’re not a bad person,” she whispered, running her hand up and down his stomach as she listened to the beating of his heart.

  “I’m a cold-blooded killer,” he argued, his voice rough with sleep.

  This confused her. This couldn’t have been the only man he had ever killed. The way he was reacting worried her.

  “No you’re not.”

  “Yes I am. I’ve killed before for my club, don’t get me wrong. I always had sympathy for those men. I said a prayer for them after they died because I did feel bad. I had to do what I had to do with every one of them. With all of those it was either kill or be killed. Last night? I did it and enjoyed it.”

  She grabbed his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. “Because this was personal. If I had been there, Tyler, I would have don
e the same exact thing. You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think of you any different. I swear.”

  He nodded, pulling her to his body and holding her close. “That would kill me if you thought of me differently. You know I would never hurt you.”

  “I do,” she nodded. “Liam was here earlier, he wants you to come see him. Apparently it has something to do with what they decided about William.”

  He sat up, running his hands over his eyes and sighed. This was definitely not something he wanted to deal with today. “Okay, I’ll go see him and see what’s up. Was he wearing a new patch?”

  “Yeah, he had a President patch on. So I guess William got voted out.”

  “Or killed,” he mumbled.

  She ignored those words and went about finding his clothes for him. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  “Nah, I gotta do this myself. My new Pres has requested my presence.”

  “Are you excited about Liam taking that role?” she asked as she watched him dress.

  He shrugged. “It’s something that’s needed to happen for a while now. William was getting sloppy and complacent. We need new ideas. I think this might light a fire under everyone’s asses.”

  Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back.”

  Tyler was not looking forward to this. Having not known what went down after he left was a huge disadvantage. Did Liam hurt William? Had he had to kill him? Was William allowed to even be a part of the club anymore? So many thoughts swirled in Tyler’s head as he made his way into his new president’s house.

  “Hey,” he called, seeing Drew sitting at the kitchen table.

  “Hey, Dad’s in the shower, he should be down in a few.”

  “What are you doing?” Tyler asked, having a seat next to the younger boy.

  Drew had a magazine and a pad of paper in front of him. “Comparing protein powders. Mom said she wouldn’t spend a ‘gazillion’ dollars,” he used his fingers to make quotation marks, “on stuff I might not like or might not need. The compromise is that I do my research and she’ll get me two of them. If I make bad decisions then I’m just shit out of luck.”

  “Language,” Liam warned, coming into the kitchen, rubbing a towel through his hair.

  “I know, I know.”

  “You wanna go have a smoke?” Liam asked Tyler as he motioned for the door.

  That was the universal code for they needed to be alone and talk business. “Sure, good luck with your research. If you want any help with that protein powder, I’ll stick around after I talk with your dad. I’ll show you what I used to help build me up. They may not have the same brand since I’m older, but we’ll try to find the correct percentage of vitamins you need.”

  “Would you really help me with that?” Drew asked, surprise showing on his face.

  “Dude, we’re buds. It’s totally not an issue.”

  Tyler and Liam walked out of the house and had a seat on the front porch. “My son is hero worshiping you, and I’m not sure if I like it.”

  Tyler laughed. “Go ahead, be jealous.”

  They sat there blowing smoke for a few moments before Liam spoke. “We turned William over to Rooster.” Funny how learning that he wasn’t really his dad was okay.

  “No. Shit?” Tyler said the statement in two words, slowly as he tried to absorb the words that had been spoken.

  “Yeah, needless to say, he’s doing some hard time for the shit that was on that cell phone.”

  “And this isn’t going to blow back on the club.”

  Liam’s eyes hardened. “If William wants to die, then he can try to cause problems.”

  That scared Tyler. The look in his friend’s eyes. “I don’t want this to make you into someone that you’re not, Liam.”

  Tears pooled in Liam’s eyes, and he didn’t even bother to brush them away. This was his best friend. Only with Denise could he be more honest. “That man is not anything to me. He makes me sick. If we can’t trust our leader, then who can we trust? I don’t recognize him as any kind of family anymore. Now that I have my own, I can see that he never treated me or Roni the way he should have. You should never choose money and power over your family. That won’t be happening in this club again.”

  “So what do you think we should do?”

  “We’re gonna have a meeting. We’re gonna discuss as a group what we want to do. I think we all like the protection runs and its good money. We keep our hands pretty clean and make enough for everyone to live pretty fucking comfortably. We keep the shop and continue to fix cars, but I’m through with the drugs. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take anymore, especially not with the baby coming. Wanda has contacted me too, she wants us to provide protection at the strip club when the girls leave at night. Apparently a few of them have been harassed.”

  “So we can still be hard-asses,” Tyler grinned.

  “We’re all always going to have a part of ourselves that aren’t fit for the rest of society, but there is no reason we can’t live amongst them.”

  Tyler could get behind that. It felt like they were coming just a little bit full circle. Many of them were becoming family men, and while they still had a part of their personalities that couldn’t be tamed, there was a part that needed to be. This was a good compromise, and he knew that Liam was the man to take them into this new phase of their club.

  “You know I’m behind you completely without question.”

  “Good, because I need a kick-ass VP to help watch my back.”

  Vice President had never been something that Tyler aspired to be. He had never even thought about it. But if this is what Liam wanted, if this is what he needed, then he would gladly watch the back of his friend, his brother.

  “Nobody’s gonna hurt you on my watch. That I can promise.”

  They clasped hands, sealing their bond.

  “Now before we start leaking like fucking women, let’s get back inside. I think you have some more hero worshiping to attend to with my son.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Fuck you too, man.”

  Laughing they went back inside, each of them looking forward to what this change would bring. For the first time actually looking ahead to a future they could both get behind, not worried they were heading in the wrong direction. Moving forward and not backward.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The events of the last few days had been hard on everyone. Liam and Roni had gone to speak with their mother, explaining what had gone on with William. They had come back both red-faced and subdued. A few of the older members had decided to leave the club. What remained was a young group of men who were ready to take on a new world. Ready to make a new destiny for themselves.

  Tyler sat on the couch of Meredith’s counselor’s office, his hands between his knees. “What do you want me to say?”

  “What do you want to say?” Dr. Jones asked.

  He turned his head to face Meredith. “I’m not sure that I like when she answers a question with a question.”

  She grinned. “Sucks when someone does that to ya, huh? Remember that for when we have our own conversations.”

  Slinging his arm over the back of the couch, he playfully pinched her shoulder.

  “Seriously, Tyler. How do you feel?”

  He opened his mouth a few times to speak, but found there were no words. “I don’t know. I’ve done many things in my life that I’m not proud of. But this felt different. This scared me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it felt so cold-blooded. I’ve never had anyone in my life who made me want to protect them the way she does.”

  Meredith couldn’t help but beam as those words came out of his mouth. There was something so gratifying about hearing him say that. No one in her life had ever wanted to protect her.

  “That’s scary, huh?”

  “Fucking terrifying.”

  Doctor Jones leaned forward, putting her hand on Tyler’s knee. “That’s what happens when you love somebody. Now, I’m not gonna lie to y
ou. Most people don’t put a gun to someone’s head and pull the trigger to show that love, but you aren’t most people.”

  That was the understatement of the year.

  “It just feels so overwhelming,” he admitted.

  “Again, that’s what love is. It’s an overwhelming emotion that can drive some people insane, but you have to know that emotion is shared with you.”

  “It is,” Meredith agreed. “I love you too. I know that’s something you aren’t used to.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  He had spent the first part of their session describing his lonely childhood and teenage years. The fact that he hadn’t ever had a family to claim him. His only family for so long had been his club.

  “You are loveable, Ty,” Meredith whispered, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

  That sweet, simple gesture opened up a floodgate of emotions in him, and she was surprised when he turned his face into her neck and she felt wetness there. He held onto her as his body shook.

  Shocked, she shared a look with Doctor Jones, who looked shocked as well. Neither one of them had expected this out of Tyler.

  Long minutes later, his grip on her loosened and he pulled away from her. His eyes and nose were red, his face a bit pale.

  “Do you feel better?” Meredith asked, brushing his hair back from his forehead.

  He inhaled and exhaled heavily. “Yeah, yeah I do.”