“Thanks for doing all of this. I really appreciate it.”
He shrugged. “I do what I can, and to be honest, I have a little soft spot for Layne. We’ve been boxing for months now, and every once in a while, he’ll let slip some of the things that happened to him over there. I want to help him if I can, and if you think you have a plan to do that, then I’m all ears.”
The two of them walked through the front door without even knocking. That was odd for her, but she guessed that’s the way good friends who didn’t have to worry about paparazzi did it.
“You and your big ass feet have got to be quieter,” Liam grumbled as he came down the stairs, holding a whimpering baby in his arms.
Tyler winced. “Sorry, man. Didn’t even think about it. This is going to take some getting used to for all of us.”
“She just went to sleep two hours ago,” he sighed.
Jessica took in the appearance of the club’s president and almost laughed. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, his hair was untamed, sticking up in all directions, and he had a few days’ worth of beard growth covering his face. He wore sweat pants and a tank top, his bare feet sticking out from the leg bottoms. When his stark blue gaze pinned itself on her, she wondered if now really was a good time or not to ask questions of the man.
“I can come back if it’s not a good time.” She hooked her thumb behind her, back the way they came. “I figured she’d be asleep, because of what time it is.”
“Didn’t we all?” he grinned sardonically.
Denise gingerly came down the stairs, looking just as tired as Liam. “I’ll take her while y’all talk. It’s not a big deal. If she keeps crying, we’ll walk a little bit, and maybe that’ll put her back to sleep.”
Just when Liam was about to hand Tatum over to Denise, Tyler stuck out his huge hands. “I need the practice, and she needs to talk to you. Give her here, Denise; you go get some sleep, and the two of you go talk. We’ll be fine.”
All of them stopped what they were doing and looked at the big man, mouths hanging open. Liam laughed, shaking his head as he did so. “You have fun, buddy,” he said as he placed his daughter in Tyler’s arms.
They all watched for moments as she screamed bloody murder while Tyler bounced her slightly in his arms and spoke in soft tones. Within a minute, she was quietly laying there, gazing up at him.
“Motherfucker,” Liam mumbled, scratching his neck. “Man, I just don’t even know what to say.”
“Women love me,” Tyler grinned. “Even little ones who are only a few days old.”
“Before his head gets any bigger, why don’t we go in the kitchen, grab lots and lots of coffee, and you tell me what it is that you want to talk about,” Liam told Jessica as he put a hand on her shoulder and pointed her towards where the kitchen sat in their home.
Liam poured them all coffee and had a seat at his kitchen table, holding his head up with his hands. “What can I do for you, Jessica?”
Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure whether this was really a good idea or not. What if he said no? What if he thought she was a blooming idiot? What if he told her to get the fuck up from his kitchen table, out of his home, and away from his club?
“I’m not gonna bite,” he tried to make a joke.
“I know that,” she told him, moving her coffee cup this way and that with her hands. “It’s just hard for me to get this out.”
“We’re not going to know what you have to say if you don’t come right out and say it,” Tyler told her from where he sat beside her.
“Layne needs help,” she blurted out.
Liam and Tyler glanced at one another. It looked like they were having a telepathic conversation when Liam answered. “We know he does, but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.”
She put her hand up to her neck, showing them the bruises that had appeared. “He did this to me last night. Make him want to be helped.”
“Maybe it’s just my sleep deprived brain, but I’m not following what you’re wanting us to do,” Liam told her, taking a healthy drink of his coffee.
“Okay, I thought about this all night last night after I spoke with Bianca. Layne is ex-military. He’s used to taking orders…why do you think he joined this MC? Someone tells him what to do and he does it. It truly is what makes him happy.”
“He is damn good at taking orders,” Liam agreed. “But I’m still not sure where you think that can help him. You’re gonna have to spell it out for me, sweetheart.”
A smile crossed her face, one that had gotten everything she had ever asked for when she was in negotiations with studio heads. If he wanted to pull out the endearment card, she would pull out the big guns too. “Bianca told me about a Doc Jones.”
“That woman is the shit,” Tyler piped up. “I love her. She is the grandmother I never had.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Jessica nodded. “I want you to tell him that in order to remain in the MC, he has to go talk to Doc Jones. Obviously the VA doctors aren’t helping him. When was the last time he even went to an appointment with them? He used to tell me all the time he was going. I haven’t heard that from him in months.”
Liam scratched his head. “I really don’t remember either. It wasn’t something that all of a sudden happened, it’s like they just kind of tapered off a few months ago.”
To be completely honest, Liam felt uneasy about forcing one of his men to get mental help. On the other hand, he also felt like a good leader did what was best for them, and sometimes that got uncomfortable. What if the next time Layne was in a flashback Tatum was around, or Denise, Meredith, Roni, Bianca, even Mandy. What if they didn’t get to him in time? What if they couldn’t bring him out of it? It had taken both him and Tyler the night before. There were too many what if’s in this scenario for him to feel comfortable.
“You might have a point here, but we’re going to have to be smart in how we approach him. I don’t want him to feel like all everybody thinks is that he’s a live wire, ready to go off at any moment. I don’t think that. I’ve been around him a long time, and he’s not ever done this before. There’s something about you,” he pointed at her, “that brings this out in him. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but he obviously has some hang-ups where you’re concerned. Having said that, you better help him work through this. Don’t puss out when the going gets tough.”
She could tell that he was serious in the way his eyes turned hard. “I promise you that I won’t.”
“You break that promise to me and, Hollywood starlet or not, your ass will be out of here faster than you can snap your fingers. Dishonesty and disloyalty do not get far with me. It would be good if you remembered that.”
“Understood.” She nodded. “So you’ll help me?”
He took a deep breath and glanced at Tyler. She saw Tyler nod in his direction and knew at that moment that she had won.
“We will, but I’m warning you, he’s gonna be pissed about this.”
She knew that without a doubt. “Are you going to tell him that I’m the one who asked?”
“No, but I’m just letting you know, he’s gonna be a mean-ass fucker to put up with,” Liam chuckled. “I hope you’re ready for it.”
She would be ready for anything, as long as it meant that she wouldn’t have to live in fear of what he would do again and who he would do it to.
Chapter Fourteen
Layne was nervous as hell. He’d been summoned to meet the pres. He could count on one hand how many times that had happened since he had become a fully patched member of the Heaven Hill MC. Had he done something wrong? Come to think of it, they hadn’t asked him to do anything specifically for the club since the break-in with Jagger at Money Bags’ house. Then there was the worst thought of all that crossed his mind. Were they going to kick him out over what had gone down the night before? It had killed him when he realized he had hurt Jessica, and if the other guys in the club thought badly about him because of it…what
the fuck was he going to do now? He didn’t have the military; he didn’t have family besides this club anymore. Just what in the fuck was he going to do?
“Hey, Liam’s ready for you, my man,” Tyler told him as he sat on the front porch of the pres’ home. That was another thing that had struck him as odd. He hadn’t been called to the clubhouse for this meeting. He had been called to Liam’s home—where his family lived, where he laid his head at night. That seemed personal to Layne, and he hoped that this wasn’t going to be as personal as it seemed to be. Nodding, he stood up and followed Tyler inside and towards the back to Liam’s screened-in porch. This was a favorite spot of Liam’s, and that made Layne even more nervous.
“You want me to stick around?” Tyler asked as he looked at his best friend and then shifted his eyes back to Layne.
“Nah,” Liam smiled. “We’ll be good.”
Those words calmed Layne down and allowed him to release some of the tension he held in his shoulders. Those words gave him hope that this wouldn’t be bad, that maybe he had let his imagination run wild and it wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it would be.
“Then I’m out.”
Layne watched the big man leave, and it was then that he realized how uncomfortable he was here, alone with the leader of their gang. It felt like he was about to be reprimanded, and he didn’t like the feeling at all. His eyes followed the movements of Liam’s hands as he reached over to where a pack of cigarettes sat to his left. He watched as Liam pulled one of the sticks of tobacco out and lit it before offering the pack to Layne.
“You might need it for what we got to talk about here.”
Dread rolled up in Layne’s stomach at those words. Liam may as well have told him that his life was over. That’s the kind of feeling that overtook him. Nausea welled up in his throat, and he breathed heavily through it, trying to get his mind to slow down. With hands that were sticky with sweat, he did what Liam told him, and then lit the end before taking a long exhale.
“Are you kicking me out?” Layne finally asked. His voice was rough as he pushed the words past his throat. It had taken almost everything he had to ask them aloud.
“What?” Liam shook his head. “No, but we do need to have a talk.”
Relief washed through him as he heard those words. “Well then, what did you call me here for?”
There were a million things that came to Liam’s mind as he thought about how to approach this with Layne. None of the words that came seemed right, so he went with his gut and decided to speak the truth. “I’m scared for you—and to be honest, I’m slightly scared of what you’re capable of.”
Those words were a kick to Layne’s gut. That was not at all what he had expected. All he could do was swallow roughly and nod. “I understand, sir,” he whispered, stoic as ever.
“No, you don’t,” Liam argued. “I can see it in your eyes. You’ve shut down and closed off. That’s not what I want you to do.” He pointed at the younger man. “I want you to listen to me with an open mind.”
Layne wasn’t sure what an open mind meant anymore. Did he really want to sit through the load of bullshit he knew was about to come his way? “This is how every fucking conversation starts where people tell me I’m a threat to myself.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not telling you that you’re a threat to yourself,” Liam told him quietly. “You’re a threat to others, and therein lies my dilemma.”
“I’m not following,” Layne shook his head.
“As a member of this club, you are invaluable to me. I need something to be done and I know that I can ask you. It will be done, and it will not only be done to the best of your ability, but you will make sure that shit is right. You don’t come to me with fucking excuses—you don’t half ass a damn thing either. You do your shit, make sure it’s correct, and then move on to whatever else I might need you to do,” Liam praised him.
That felt good, someone telling him that he was excelling at something. Never mind that he was excelling at criminal behavior and activities, it was just nice to be needed. To get that positive reinforcement that he had been missing so much. “Thank you.”
“Having said that,” the pres continued, but this time he closed his eyes and took a moment. “Jessica seems to have set off something in you that none of us realized was there. She’s made you much more volatile than you’ve ever been before. I’m not going to lie to you, man, last night scared me. We’ve got a lot of women in this place who don’t trust men or have been hurt at the hands of men. We’ve also got a lot of women who don’t know how to take men like you.”
That feeling of dread was there again. Had he just been built up to be taken down a few notches? “Just be straight with me, Liam. Please? All this gives me a headache, and I don’t know how to read people when they start talking in circles about me and my mental stability. Just tell me what the fuck you want me to do. Do you want me to turn in my patch?”
“Not at all,” Liam reached over and put his arm around the other man. “What I am saying to you is you’ve got to get your shit under control.”
How many times had Layne heard that? How many well-meaning people had told him those same exact words, all with a laugh in their throat or a smile on their face? They all thought it was so easy, that it was a switch he could flip on and off. Like he was a light switch that could pick what kind of mood he wanted to be in. This shit pissed him off. “You don’t think I know that?”
“No I know that you know it.”
“Well thanks for not treating me like a fucking idiot,” Layne mumbled.
The mumbled words under his breath sounded to Liam too much like a teenage Drew back talking, and that shit did not fly with him. “What did you say to me?”
“Nothing.”
“No, you think you’re man enough to say it under your breath, you say it to my face. Don’t make me treat you like my teenage son, because I’m telling you right now, that’s what you’re acting like.”
“I said,” he bit out between clenched teeth, “thanks for not treating me like a fucking idiot.”
Liam threw his attitude right back at him. “I never said you were a fucking idiot, but you are a douchebag if you can’t see that there are a lot of people here that want to help you. You throw that attitude at them, and they’re likely to knock you flat on your ass.”
The patience that Layne had when he walked onto this porch was running thin. “Can you just tell me what you called me here to tell me? Getting my shit together means I need to be honest with you, and I’m about to blow my top. So can we get this over with?”
“Fine, you little shit. As your president, I’m ordering your ornery ass to see Doc Jones.”
Glaring at Liam didn’t scare him, but Layne gave it a good run for its money. He ground his back teeth together. “For how long?”
Throwing a glare back at him, Liam could feel his blue eyes go hard. “Until she tells me you’re good.”
Pushing the chair back in annoyance, Layne got up. “Is that it?”
“No, it’s not,” Liam softened his voice. “I’m doing this because I like you. Layne, you’re an integral part of this family, but I can’t have you going off on my infant daughter when you’re stuck in a flashback and don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. You can’t expect Jessica to keep coming back to you when she wakes up with your hands around her neck where you tried to squeeze the life out of her while you had a bad dream.”
Those words hit Layne hard in the chest. “I know.”
“You’re a damn good guy and one I’m proud to call my brother, but you’ve got to get it straight up here.” Liam put his finger to Layne’s forehead. “You’ve got to make peace with whatever it was you did or saw. Until you do that, you can’t be a complete man. So I’m laying this down to you right now. You go get this help that Doc Jones can give you, and I’ll gladly keep you on with us. You refuse, and you give that patch back.”
Giving the patch back meant more than just giving
back his cut. It meant giving back his tattoos, losing the family he’d gathered, and saying goodbye to his friendship with Jagger. The patch on his back and the bike he had were everything to him at this moment in his life. He couldn’t give it up. He was scared to know what would happen to him if he did. “I’ll do it, then.”
Those were the words Liam had wanted to hear come out of the younger man’s mouth. “I’m so glad you decided to do this,” Liam told him, pulling him into a hug.
Layne’s body was tense at first, obviously not used to the human interaction, but the longer he stayed there, the more he relaxed. Finally he enveloped Liam in a corresponding hug. “When do I have to start?”
“She’s waiting for you right now. I don’t want you to put this off and think that you’ll be fine tomorrow. I think we both know you won’t be. Jessica’s gonna stay in the other room until you invite her back.”
That hurt, but was a relief at the same time. He wasn’t sure he could face her right now, not after what he had done to her the night before. “Then I’m gonna head over there, I guess.”
“Do you want me to take you?” Liam offered.
Layne shook his head. “I don’t want to bother you with this anymore than I already have.”
“I hope you know it’s not a bother, it’s me wanting my guys to be okay.”
They broke apart as Layne nodded. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the front of the house to where his bike sat in the driveway. He would have to leave now or he was scared he wouldn’t go. As he breached the front door and walked down the front steps, he saw Jagger standing there against Bianca’s car.
“Thought you might need a ride,” he grinned at his friend.
Overcome with emotion, Layne nodded. “I would like that.”
Worth The Battle (Heaven Hill Series) Page 9
