"You okay?" Denise asked her daughter as they sat in what looked to be an empty warehouse. It was dark, damp, and a little chilly—even with the hot, sunny day they'd left in the outside world. She glanced around, seeing Christine, Jessica, and Tatum huddled together too."Scared," she whispered. "What do they want with us?""I don't know," she whispered back. "As far as I knew, this shit was over, but don't worry, the guys will find us. They're good at that. They've rescued a few of us more than once."Mandy hoped like hell her mom was right. She was worried, not only for herself, but for Tatum and her own unborn baby. Crossing her arms over her stomach, she did her best to control her breathing, to stop the shivering of her chin, and the trembling of her whole body. She kept telling herself her dad, her brother, and the love of her life would be there for her. They wouldn't let her stay here too long.The door to the warehouse opened and a man walked in. He had an air about hi
"That was the weirdest situation I've ever been in, in my life," Mandy admitted as she lay in bed later on that night with Dalton. "He never actually threatened us, wasn't particularly mean or rude, but he went to all that trouble."Dalton tightened his arms around her. "That situation was exactly why I pulled away from you all those months ago. Why I worried myself sick, but I should have known you were stronger than that. I think Tyler was right. What he wanted to do was prove he could. Maybe he has other plans up his sleeve, maybe he's planning on hitting a bigger club in another city. Either way, they let us leave, they didn't hurt y'all, and tonight everybody's safe. That's all I can ask for. Calvert's a wild card. Sometimes things set him off; sometimes he's in it for the shock value. I kind of think he did this so he could say he was in charge. Ya know, he took you all, and then it was up to him to let you go. He chose to do it, which gives him power over Liam. Not directly, b
The fallout from the girls being taken had affected everyone in the club differently. Liam kept watch over his daughters and wife a lot closer, the guys kept their wives closer, and it looked like Tatum and Remy were spending a few afternoons together a week. Dalton noticed Remy was the picture of a gentleman. Him, though? He'd been thinking more and more about the land he'd intended to purchase. It was still for sale, and he had a meeting scheduled to get approval for it."You leavin' early today?" Liam asked as he came to sit next to Dalton.They were all taking a break from the work at the shop. A huge thunderstorm had rolled in, and the group of them sat in the garages, drinking Cokes and shooting the shit while they waited for the lightening to subside."I am. Thanks for letting me go on such short notice, by the way." Dalton took a drink and wiped his mouth. "I'm going to the bank to see if I can get approval for the land in Barren County and financing for a house."Liam
"I don't understand why I'm wanted at the clubhouse and why you're forcing me to wear this dress, Tatum," Mandy moaned and groaned a few days later.She'd been busy with Dalton, moving into the new modular home that had already been set up on the property. They hadn't had much stuff between them to move out there, but with her having limited capabilities of movement, setting up house was taking her a while. And today, while she'd been in the middle of it, Tatum had showed up with a dress, telling her to fix herself up nicely and come with her to the clubhouse.Who in the fuck had time for this?"My enormous tits are going to fall out of this dress," she complained as she put on the one good maternity bra she had left, before putting the dress on. The color was gorgeous, a pink that set off the pregnancy glow she still had, along with her dark hair, and dark eyes."Would you stop complaining?" Tatum chastised her. "I'm wearing a dress too if it hasn't escaped your attention. We'
Dalton knew he'd never held anything more precious in his arms than he did right now. They'd handed his son over to him so he could walk out and greet the family that had gathered. His arms shook because he held them so rigidly, but he was scared to death he was going to drop him."Go straight out those doors and an entire waiting room is there to see you," one of the nurses told him. "I don't think I've ever seen this many people so excited for the birth of a child."It filled his heart to know that his son was already loved by so many people. It gave him hope and made him believe maybe this was the end of the cycle. Perhaps he had broken it by having his child and bringing it into this group of people who would love unconditionally no matter what."There he is." He could hear Drew as soon as he opened the doors and stepped out. He was bombarded.Liam, who'd already met his grandson, stood to the side, letting everyone else get a turn. The questions were frantic as Dalton trie
Two weeks into their role as new parents, Dalton realized they were getting a new routine. They'd both been peed on, spit up on, cried at, and they'd had lots of sleepless nights. For a while, he was almost sure Walker hated both of them. But tonight, he seemed pretty happy."You think he's getting used to us?" Mandy asked as she had a seat on the couch next to Dalton.Walker lay in his car seat—where he seemed to be the most content—on the coffee table. They were looking at the creation they'd made together, both amazed they'd managed to make it two weeks."I hope so." Dalton yawned, scratching his beard growth. Shaving was one thing gone by the wayside as they figured out their new parent routine. "I'd love to get some sleep." He put an arm around her shoulders.A knock at the door interrupted them. She got up and went to open it, exclaiming with excitement when she saw her mom and dad. "What are you two doing here?" she asked, escorting them in."We came bearing food." Her
VOLUME TEN: A HEAVEN HILL CHRISTMASAuthor's Note: These Christmas Novella's are in no particular order – they aren't even in chronological order of the series. It's just one Christmas I picked out of every couple's lives and wrote about it.JESSICA & LAYNELayne O'Connor parked his bike in the back of his wife's downtown office. It was dark, but the snow falling against the brick building and the accumulation that had already gathered on the pavement, lightened up the night considerably. Wanting to make sure he wasn't too far off-base on what he was about to accuse her of, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Twenty-two hundred hours. This was getting fucking ridiculous – especially since it was the fifth night this week. Using the keypad lock Travis had installed, he entered his code and waited for the dead-bolt to disengage. He ducked inside, out of the cold, and gave himself a moment to acclimate to the dim light of the stairwell. The soft glow was still brighter than t
"This is really good," Jessica moaned as she tore into the second half of her sandwich. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but forgetting to eat wasn't unusual when she got deep into the flow of her story and hated to let it go. Seeing and hearing her characters wasn't always the easiest part for her – she was more of a storyteller – so, when the characters spoke to her, she had to run with it as long as she could."I'm glad to see you actually eating something."Layne's condescending tone caused her to stop chewing and lift her eyes to his. They were shadowed in the muted light of the studio, and she didn't necessarily like what she saw there. Where she normally saw love and understanding, tonight there was barely leashed anger and possibly a little fear and frustration."I eat," she defended herself."Not when you're holed up in here for days at a time," he raised an eyebrow, daring her to argue with his words.Confronted with a truth she didn't really want to face, sh