He shuts off the water and carries me to bed just as the doorbell rings. “Get dressed, baby, and meet me downstairs.”
I can’t resist tilting my head to the side so I can check out his toned butt. “Eyes off the goods, woman!” Ethan shouts over his shoulder as he shuts the bedroom door with a click. Giggling, I go to my closet and get an old pair of shorts and an old tee.
I walk to Liam’s room to let him know to come get some pizza. I hear him tell me to come in after I knock on his door.
“Pizza is here.”
He nods and puts the Xbox controller back onto the bed.
When I get downstairs, I see Ethan taking three plates out of the cabinet. “What do you guys want to drink?” I ask.
“Soda,” Liam says at the same time as Ethan says, “Water.”
I grab two sodas and a water. Soda may be bad for you, but sometimes you have to live a little. I went without this stuff for years.
I set them on the table and pull out a chair then put a slice of pizza on my plate. Liam and Ethan are already sitting down, stuffing their faces.
“Liam, we need to go and get you registered for high school tomorrow,” I tell him as I grab a second slice before the pizza is gone.
“Okay.” Liam smiles with a mouth full of pizza.
Laughing, I grab my slice and take a bite. Ethan laughs too because we aren’t used to Liam being goofy, nor did we expect it.
We finish our meal in silence. Liam offers to do the dishes, and who am I to object? Ethan grabs my hand and leads me to the couch in the living room. Seeing another Dog the Bounty Hunter episode on, I see Leland first thing. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I smile at Ethan sweetly. He rolls his eyes and sets the remote back down, as he was about to change the channel.
Liam walks into the living room. He stands looking at us, uneasy and unsure what to do. I pat the couch beside me, motioning for him to sit down.
“Dog the Bounty Hunter?” Liam asks me incredulously. I shrug my shoulders and lay my head down on Ethan’s shoulder. Not ten minutes into the show, I’m out.
Braelyn
A few days have passed since the day I took Liam shopping. Today is the day he starts school. Ethan and I are both taking him. When Liam hops out of the car and waves at us before walking up the steps to the entrance of the building, I watch as teenage girls stop and stare at him, while the guys the girls are with glare at him. He notices and winks at the girls, who immediately start giggling, causing the guys to glare even harder, which in return makes Liam smile cockily.
He is dressed in a new pair of jeans, a gray shirt with a leather jacket over it, and a pair of biker boots.
“We are in trouble, aren’t we?” I laugh as I watch him walk into the school with a crowd of girls following him.
“Oh, yeah.” Ethan chuckles with mirth in his eyes. That kid is handsome. Smiling, I motion for Ethan to drive me home so I can get my car before work.
~*~
Someone tried to break in again at work today, but they didn’t even get into the building and were picked up by Ethan. Now, everything is locked up even tighter. The ladies were shaken, the kids even more so, and that’s where my job comes in.
I love my job and I love helping these kids overcome their pain and fear. Some of the things they have seen will haunt them for the rest of their lives, but I help them understand it doesn’t have to control their life. They control their own fate.
I leave work at 2:30 p.m. and head to the school to pick up Liam. I am about twenty minutes early, but I wanted to make sure I was there on time. Torch is behind me on his motorcycle; he has to pick up his daughter too. When I pull up in front of the school, I spot Liam instantly.
He is fighting a man. Not a student, a grown man. I hop out of my car and run over to him. Just as I reach him, Liam throws the right hook that knocks the man flat out. His hand is still clenched to his side. His face is full of rage, which is kind of scary, so I take a step back.
He doesn’t acknowledge me but runs over to the side of the building.
“Liam!” I yell, afraid he is running away.
When I follow him, I see a teenage girl with her shirt torn around her breasts, bruising on her wrists, and dirt caked all over her body. I check her jeans and am relieved to see them perfectly intact. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
The girl has a busted lip and a black bruise forming around her eye. Torch is standing behind me, unable to see because Liam is blocking almost girl’s the whole body; I can see because I’m to the side of him.
He slips his arms under her legs and around her back, lifting her off the ground. When he turns around with her in his arms, Torch’s whole entire body stiffens before he roars, “NO!” and runs to Liam. It hits me then: this is his daughter.
Oh my God! My hand flies to my mouth at seeing Torch’s expression. Liam tightens his grip. Torch grabs his phone and calls his MC buddies to get down to the school, giving them only a short explanation. Then he takes his daughter from Liam and kisses the top of her head, whispering, “He will pay for this, baby.”
His jaw is clenched and his eyes are dark as he stares at the unconscious man. Why do people want to hurt someone like this? Especially a little girl who can't be more than fifteen years old.
A huge roar of motorcycles fills the air a few minutes later. My eyes widen at the sight of the thirty or so motorcycles pulling up in front of the school.
The man who attacked Torch’s daughter starts to come to, and Liam walks over to him and kicks him in the face, knocking him out again.
I can’t wrap my head around what has happened. I can’t believe this. I snap out of it and go to Torch so I can check on his little girl. She is crying against his chest. My heart breaks at the sight.
Kyle walks up first with all the men behind him. He takes in what happened and snaps his gaze to Liam and me, then to Torch. He points at Liam. “Talk.”
Liam explains, “I noticed this fucking janitor following Paisley around all day and got the creeps. I was at my locker, which is right by the entrance to the school, when I saw Paisley walk out the door. I’m assuming because he was picking up her up.” He points at Torch.
“Then I saw the janitor walk around the school a minute later in the same direction Paisley went. I got a bad feeling because of how he’d been staring at her. So I ran after them.”
He stops and rubs his face. Pain is written all over him as he braces himself to talk about the next part. My hands are itching to hug him.
“I turned the corner and saw him pinning her to the ground. She was begging him to stop, pleading and sobbing.” He clenches his jaw and shakes his head.
“He told her, ‘It's okay, baby, it’s better to get you broken in before I turn you over to the guys to sell.’ He taunted her. He had her hands above her head.”
“I tore him off her and we started to fight. I knocked him out and Brae and Torch showed up,” Liam finishes with his eyes on Paisley, who is hugging her father tighter at hearing what happened and having to relive it all over again.
“Boys,” Kyle snaps his fingers and motions for them to take the man. Two men walk up. One grabs his arms and the other grabs his feet. I watch as they carry him to the van. I know not to ask questions.
“Techy, clear the cameras,” Kyle orders another man.
“Torch, take your baby girl home. We’ll be waiting for you.” Torch grins evilly and nods.
Kyle looks at Liam for a few seconds with his head tilted. “How would you like to be a prospect?”
Liam looks shocked for a second before he grins from ear to ear. “Yeah, man. I’d like that.” He steps forward and shakes Kyle’s hand.
What are they going to do to that man? Nothing good, obviously, but I can’t bring myself to be seriously worried. We all know what he was planning if Liam hadn’t stopped him. The thought of what could have happened makes me sick to my stomach. I know it will haunt her, no matter nothing more serious happened..
Torch walks up to me still carrying his daughter. “Will you take us home?”
“Of course!” I look at Paisley while my heart breaks for her. School is supposed to be a safe place.
My bug is small, but it has a backseat. Liam pushes the passenger seat up so Torch can step in. He bends down and gets in easier than I expected.
The drive to Torch’s house is silent as we are all lost in thought. Liam looks out the side window the whole time. I sigh and tighten my grip on the steering wheel.
We pull up in front of Torch’s house. I’m instantly in awe of it. It’s huge. A huge log cabin that probably has ten rooms. How can he afford this? Then I remember the MC owns almost forty businesses throughout the state of Texas.
Liam gets out and lifts the seat back up. Torch steps out with ease. He had Paisley when he was just eighteen years old and has raised her alone since. “Hey, Torch, if she needs to talk, have her call me.”
He nods and walks up to the front door of his house. Liam gets back into the car and pushes the seat back so he can sit comfortably.
“I can’t believe this shit,” he groans and rubs his face in frustration, then looks at me with a sad expression I can see out of the corner of my eye. “I will never ever forget her screams. And that man…” He stops as his voice hitches.
I pull over to the side of the road and wrap my arms around his shoulder. His body is shaking with emotions. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Liam.” I kiss the top of his head.
My phone ringing has me pulling away. Liam wipes his eyes and rests his head against the back of the seat.
“Hello?”
“Hey, baby. I’m off work and heading home. Wanna go out to eat?” Ethan asks.
“Sure, but something has happened,” I tell him and cringe slightly, knowing he’s going to go all alpha until I get to explain.
“What?” he growls deeply.
I explain everything.
“I’m starting to really like that fucking kid,” he says loudly into the phone. Liam hears him. He grins but then quickly hides it.
I laugh. “I’ll be home in a little bit. See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, Ethan.”
I hang up and start the car. Butterflies swarm in my belly at the thought of seeing Ethan. I still get nervous before I see him.
Ethan’s police cruiser is already in the driveway, and he is standing on the porch. He walks down and opens my door. I greet him with a kiss before I head inside. I want to change my shirt before we go out to dinner. Ethan takes that moment to smack me on the butt. I can feel it jiggle
“Ethan Blane!” I squeal and look back at him, shocked. He grins that cocky grin that would melt the panties off a nun, and he knows it too. That smile can get him out of everything. Not that I would tell him that though.
I am looking at Ethan so I don’t watch where I’m going. The front of my foot hits the steps and I fall forward. Ethan catches me by the back of my shorts.
“You’ll be the death of me someday,” he growls loudly and lifts me off the ground, carrying me into the house.
“Love you too, Ethan.” I grin at him.
He shakes his head and smiles. “Love you too, mean ass.” He reaches forward to smack my butt again. I jump back. He narrowly misses me.
“Ya’ll are like fucking rabbits,” Liam huffs and walks toward the kitchen.
Laughing, I run up the stairs to get ready for dinner. Ethan is right behind me. He needs to change out of his police uniform. Liam is raiding the refrigerator.
Braelyn
Two months later
Life couldn’t get any better. It’s perfect. Ethan is perfect. Every single day I fall more in love with him. Sydney and Kane have adopted a little girl, who is the sweetest little thing. Liam is prospecting for the MC club. Most people would cringe away from them, but while they may be hard around the edges, they have good intentions.
Ethan has branded himself into my soul. When we’re apart, it feels like my heart is missing a part of itself. He owns the other half of it. The way he smiles, laughs, holds me at night protectively. He makes love to me like it’s his last day on earth.
If you had asked me a few months ago what my life would be like in the future, I would have said I wouldn’t be here. I never expected to live past the next night, sometimes even the next hour. The life I was living was dangerous. I was lucky to have survived as long as I did.
I never expected to fall in love, have a job, or be happy without the fear of what has been done to me weighing me down.
Hands touch my hips. I jump and look over my shoulder at Ethan, who is resting his chin on my shoulder, his arms wrapped around my waist.
“What are you thinking about so hard over here?”
Shrugging, I turn around and wrap my arms around his belly with my head on his chest, breathing in his scent.
“Just thinking,” I mutter nonchalantly.
“You sure?” He tightens his grip around me.
“Yes, baby.” I lean back and smile at him. “Sydney wants to have a night out. Kane, Chase, and Isaac are coming as well.”
“Okay. When do they want to leave?”
I check the clock. “In an hour. I better go get ready.” I lean up and kiss him.