Out of Darkness (26 page)

Without a word, he grabbed her hand and led her to the room that he called his. Shutting the door, he put a finger to his lips and then pulled out a device she had seen him use a couple of times. In minutes he’d swept the room for bugs.

“We’re clear, what’s up?”

“I had an appointment with my therapist this morning about the video. She wanted me to ask you something.”

“What’s that?” he asked, having a seat. The mention of the video still made his gut churn and still made him want to kill someone.

“Do you need to go talk to her? Alone? You know, about what you saw?”

That question floored him. He was actually speechless. He struggled to answer it.

“I mean, I don’t wanna put you on the spot. But I know it was a shock to you, and I know you weren’t expecting it. I wouldn’t think less of you if you wanted to talk to her. She just wanted me to throw that out there to you. It doesn’t matter to me what you decide.”

He realized that she was doing this for him, and that made his heart swell. “After this is over, I think I will. I think we both should together. But I wanna keep this anger for now.”

She could appreciate and live with that.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Thanksgiving

“A
re you going to be okay doing this?” Tyler asked as he and Meredith got ready for the big Thanksgiving dinner with the club.

“I could ask you the same thing, as well as Liam and Denise. Things are going to be fine,” she assured him.

Thanksgiving dinner was a huge tradition with the club. Given that so many of them came from broken homes, a lot of members wouldn’t have a place to go for the holidays. So the club provided the traditional meal.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go visit
your
family today?”

Meredith shook her head. The love she saw amongst this group of outlaws was more than she had seen in her family in a long time. “No, the only thing my dad’s going to ask me is if I’ve decided to put the college education he paid for to use again. My mom will just sit there and nod. I’d much rather stay here.”

Tyler didn’t have family, so he didn’t really understand the dynamic. “If you say so.”

“I do.”

They made their way into the dining area of the clubhouse. The large table that could hold everyone sat decorated, and Meredith had to hold the intake of breath. They really did go all out for this. They had good plates as well as tablecloths on the table. Each chair had a place setting, and it looked like there were even linen napkins as well. She noticed that every place setting had a cup except for Tyler’s. Jagger caught her eye and winked.

“If you want your mug, you’re gonna have to get it yourself.”

The group laughed, remembering the ‘curse of the skull mug’. Tyler’s laugh was full bodied, and she thought she saw tears at the corners of his eyes. They all had a seat and started passing around the food. Once everyone had their plate full, William stood at the head of the table.

“It’s a tradition here at Club Heaven Hill every Thanksgiving, we go around the table and tell what we’re thankful for. I’ll go ahead and start. I’m thankful for the prosperity of the club, and the fact that we’ve continued to stay relevant in a changing political and economic climate.”

Up next was Liam, who cleared his throat and put his arm around Denise’s shoulders. “I’m thankful for my new family and the friendships I’ve been able to maintain. Without that, my life wouldn’t be anything, and this year I figured that out.”

It went down the line to a few more people when it came to Drew. He fidgeted in his seat, playing with this glass. “What are
you
thankful for?” Denise asked, looking at her son.

“I’m thankful for Tyler agreeing to work out with me. I’m thankful for the new brother or sister I’m going to have. I’m thankful for us coming to this place. We’ve never really had a family before, and I’ve never had a dad before. I’m glad I have one now.”

That took the breath out of everyone. He had never called Liam Dad before, never even mentioned it.

“You sure?” Liam asked, shock and pride apparent on his face.

“I am, we both talked about it. You are our dad no matter what,” Drew motioned to Mandy who nodded.

She was the quieter of the two and almost always deferred to Drew when things like this came up. It was so good to see her agree.

“I’ve been calling you my kids to everyone but the two of you, so I’m glad you think of me the same,” Liam choked out.

He stood up and went around the table to hug both of them. Everyone watched the group, happy that so many had found happiness in their situations this year. The table came around to Meredith and Tyler.

Meredith cleared her throat. “I’m thankful this year for the trials and tribulations I’ve had. They’ve made me appreciate the good times, and they’ve brought me to this place and to this man who I care about more than I can say.”

Tyler wanted to tell William exactly what they knew and that he should enjoy his last holiday here with the club he supposedly loved so much. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not with the kids around and not before he had a chance to exact his revenge. “I’m thankful also for the universe bringing me this beautiful woman.”

Everyone raised their glasses in salute. When he saluted his, he looked straight at William, a smile on his face.

The group at the table sat around eating dessert and drinking coffee a few hours later. William had made an abrupt exit, and Liam got up on the pretense of having a cigarette. Minutes later, he texted Tyler to let him know that an unknown car had come to pick William up and had driven off down the road. Liam texted the license plate information to Rooster, hoping he could run a search on it. Everyone else went on with business as usual.

Beside him, Meredith crossed and uncrossed her legs, turning to face Jagger. “Did you invite everyone tomorrow night?”

“What’s she talking about?” Steele asked.

Jagger’s face turned red. “I hadn’t, but I guess I will now. I’m playing a show at
Wet Wanda’s,
and you’re all welcome to come if you want.” Even though he had played shows there before, he’d never actually invited everyone. This would be big if they all came.

“I’ve heard you sing when you think no one is around. You’re not half bad. I’ll be there,” Travis told him, nodding in his direction.

A couple of the other guys agreed, promising him they would fill the place up.

“No pressure or anything,” Tyler grinned, looking over at the younger man. “My lady has informed me that you’re good, and I’m muscling us up to the stage, so you better not disappoint.”

“Motherfucker, that’s a lot of pressure,” Jagger ran a hand through his hair.

Meredith smiled prettily at him and waved. “Aren’t you thankful I came into your life?”

The guys laughed as he shifted, uncomfortable. “You are going to get me killed by your boyfriend over there. That is, if I don’t die of nervousness first. Damn, I need a cigarette.” With that, he got up, almost running for the door.

“You’ve got him all tore up,” Tyler laughed, taking a drink from his infamous mug.

“I like to keep him on his toes. He’s fun to pick on,” Meredith shrugged. “That being said, I expect to see everybody at his performance tomorrow. It means a lot to him, whether he admits it or not.”

“Yes ma’am,” Liam saluted as he made his way back to the table.

He motioned to Tyler to check his phone. The name had come back from Rooster as well as a photo of the license of the person the car was registered to. When he opened the cell, he knew without a doubt something was wrong. The picture was of an African American man. They knew that the man who had raped Meredith was Caucasian. They had to do something and fast. They both knew that William could be on to them, and that would be a very dangerous situation.

Chapter Thirty-Six

M
eredith screamed along with the other women who surrounded her. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about a man playing guitar that women loved, but it was downright sexy. Never had Jagger looked more at home than he did up on stage. She really couldn’t believe this was the same man who was scared to death of the curse of the skull cup. She’d heard him humming and singing to himself a few times, but she’d never known his voice was so rich. As the crowd began to surge closer towards the stage, Tyler wrapped his arms tighter around her body. No one was getting in between the two of them, no one would separate them. She put her hands over his and squeezed, showing her appreciation of the fact that he wouldn’t let anyone encroach on their space.

The fact that she was even in this crowd, not freaking out, was amazing. After Jagger’s set, she turned around and motioned for him to bend down so that she could talk into his ear.

“I’m thirsty,” she shouted.

Her voice was hoarse, and he had to concentrate to hear her.

“You want me to go get you somethin’ or do you wanna come with me?”

She loved the spot they’d claimed at the side of the stage, they could see everything. However, her calves were starting to hurt, and she needed a break from the crush of the crowd. She knew another band would be playing after Jagger, but really he was all that she had wanted to see.