Out of Darkness (29 page)

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

T
he 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