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 done 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 you. 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.”
“Sometimes all the therapy in the world doesn’t help as much as a good cry,” Doc Jones smiled, showing him there was no reason to be embarrassed.
“I think you might be right,” he mopped up his face with his hands and shakily took another breath. “This is going to take me some getting used to, and I think I’d like to see you again, but I feel better.”
“You can gladly come whenever you need to.”
Meredith mumbled. “I think maybe the whole club needs to come after the stress and drama they’ve had the past few days.”
Tyler laughed loudly. “Yeah, can we get a damn group rate?”
“I don’t wanna go back,” she whispered as the two of them hopped on his bike.
“Me neither. It feels like it will be stressful if we do go back,” he agreed.
The dawning of December had brought with it cold temperatures. He had an idea, but there was no way they could take his bike.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “After all of the things we’ve been through the past couple of months, you’re gonna ask me if I trust you?”
“You have a point there.”
Without another word, he started up the bike and drove them to the clubhouse. Once there, he parked and got off, helping her like he normally did. “Go pack a bag for both of us. Enough for a couple of days. Make sure you grab us some warm clothing. It’ll be just a little bit colder where we’re going. I’m gonna take my truck up the shop and make sure it’s ready for a road trip. I’ll be back in two hours at the most.”
He didn’t even wait for her to ask questions. He was gone before she could open her mouth. This man never ceased to surprise her.
A few hours later he came back with the truck properly maintenanced. “You ready?” he asked her, throwing the bags she’d packed into the back of the quad cab.
“Yeah, but I’d really like to know where we’re going.”
“It’s a surprise,” he grinned.
This must be a big surprise because she had it on authority from Denise that he’d called Liam and requested to go silent for almost a week. As new VP, she knew that was serious.
“Okay, but I’m gonna figure it out sooner or later,” she taunted.
He didn’t say anything else as he helped her into the truck and then took his spot behind the steering wheel. They had obviously never done a road trip together and he was surprised when thirty miles from Bowling Green, she conked out in the passenger seat. He was excited about the impending vacation. After the stress of the past few months, he was looking forward to spending some time away from the club, alone with Meredith. That would be the best medicine of all.
Turning the radio up just a bit, he took the interstate south to Nashville and then took a turn east, heading towards Gatlinburg. Hopefully, when she awoke she would be just as excited as he was.
Chapter Forty
Five hours later, they entered the city of Gatlinburg. It was bordering on late night, but he knew exactly where they were going. He had called a friend a few hours before to make sure that the cabin he wanted was available. Snow had started falling the closer he got to the cabin, but that was why he had made sure the truck was properly maintained. A few miles ago, he’d stopped and put the snow chains on his tires. Meredith had yet to wake up. He reasoned that she probably needed this getaway even more than he did.
He parked at the cabin and was glad to see the stream of smoke coming out. His friend had obviously made sure there was heat, and hopefully there would be food because after driving all the way through, he was starving. Grabbing their bags, he took them inside before going back out to get her.
“Hey,” he nudged her awake carefully.
She snuggled deeply in his arms as he unbuckled her and carried her out of the truck. “Where are we?”
“Gatlinburg.”
She came awake quickly. “I slept the entire way?”
He chuckled. “You must have needed it.”
Rubbing her eyes, she took a glance around as he carried her into the cabin. “It’s a winter wonderland out here.” The pleasure was apparent in her voice.
“Sure is. I ordered the snow just for you baby.”
Her small hand smacked his chest lightly. “Sure ya did.”
He got the two of them into the cabin and set her down on her own feet. “I can’t believe I slept all that way. I didn’t even get to see the amazing views. Although,” she checked her watch, “with it being almost midnight, I’m sure you can’t really see them.”
“We can go see them in the morning,” he promised.
She turned around in a circle, admiring the cabin. “How did you get u
s this place on such short notice?”
It wasn’t grand like a lot of them in this area were. A bathroom and bedroom were the only rooms visible off this living area that boasted a kitchen. She wondered if there was a porch with a hot tub. That seemed popular with Gatlinburg cabins.
“This is a buddy of mine’s cabin. I called him and asked if he was using it, he wasn’t. So here we are. Do you want to look around? It’s not big.”
She shook her head in a no gesture. “I just have a question.”
“And I might have an answer.”
She poked his arm. “Smartass. Is there a hot tub?”
“Sure is, on the back deck. We’ll check that out sometime while we’re here.”
“Exactly how long are we here for?”
“Up to a week if you want to be.”
This was more than she could have ever asked for. This was exactly what she had needed. “I’m so happy,” she hugged him tightly. “We both needed this.”
“That we did. I’m gonna go take a shower, would you mind making some food? I’m fucking starving. I didn’t want to stop just in case the weather got worse.”
“Sure,” she walked to the kitchen as he walked to the bathroom.
Once there, she took stock of what they had. Someone had been kind enough to stock the pantry and fridge for them. Looking in the freezer, she saw hamburger patties. Tyler was hungry, and she couldn’t believe he hadn’t heard her stomach growl. Taking the patties out, she looked in the fridge and found cheese and bacon. A bacon cheeseburger sounded like the way to go. Chips sat on the counter as well as hamburger buns. She took that as a sign.
Walking out of the bathroom, Tyler ran a towel through his hair. He only had on a pair of boxer briefs, and she tried to hold back the moan, looking at his body. He really was a work of art.
“Food’s almost done,” she told him.
“It smells amazing. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m so hungry right now, I think I could eat shoe leather and it would taste amazing.”
Out of Darkness Page 17
