Chapter Fourteen
Tyler
Tyler bounced Xavier gently, trying to get him to fall asleep. It was time for his nap, but it was very clear that the baby didn’t want to sleep. His big eyes kept fluttering closed, only for him to spring them back open and release a protesting growl. Tyler half-expected for smoke to start blowing out of his mouth, although Xavier was far too little for his fires to have sparked yet.
The doorbell rang and, hoping to stop it from ringing again and startling Xavier, he hurried to answer it. Gilbert stood on the other side. He grinned at Tyler and the baby.
“Come in.” Tyler stepped back to let him in. “What’s up?”
“I’m just wondering if Polly is working today.”
Tyler couldn’t help but get a wicked grin at that question. “Oh, so you came all the way over here instead of just phoning to see if she’s here? Planning on asking her out on a hot date, are you? Well, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your intentions before I can give her the day off.”
Gilbert rolled his eyes. “Yes, that’s exactly it. I’m looking for a hot date in the middle of the day. No, Ty, I’m not going to ask her out.”
He petered out, looking over Tyler’s shoulder. Tyler turned to see Polly in the living room, dusting. Tyler grimaced but sighed in relief when he saw that she was wearing earbuds. So, she wouldn’t have heard any of that. Good.
“Polly!”
She jumped and turned. Fishing one of the earbuds from her ear, she cocked a brow at him. “Yeah?”
“Come over here, Gil has something to ask you.”
Polly’s brows pulled into a deep V, but she marched over. She gave Gilbert a wide smile. “What is it?”
“Well… well, my housekeeper quit last month. I’ve been trying to keep things orderly by myself but the mess is starting to overwhelm me. I was just wondering if I could hire you for the day to come help me out.”
Oh, brother! Yeah it was a huge house and that was difficult to keep up with, but this was the fourth time this year. He needed to just admit that he wanted to spend time with Polly and that this whole housekeeper business was just an excuse.
Apparently, Polly had similar thoughts. “This is the fourth housekeeper this year that has either quit or you've fired. I think you need to start examining the common denominator in this equation and figure out why you can’t keep them.” Polly shook her head, not looking very happy. Which was odd, because she was usually more than happy to help Gilbert out. “I’ve got a lot of work around here, with Bernie and the baby—"
“And you know Bernie would be horrified to hear you talk like that.” Tyler frowned. “She does a lot of work. Just yesterday, you were complaining that she does so much that you’re running out of work to do.”
Polly sighed. “Sorry. I’m just not in a very good mood today. Yeah, I’ll come over and help you clean up, Gil. But seriously, you need to get something figured out. I can’t keep working for free for you. Unless you want to start paying me or marry me, you need a full-time housekeeper.”
Gilbert shifted from side to side and let out an embarrassed laugh. “Please, if I married you I wouldn’t expect you to clean house. You’d be free to follow your other interests.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I have any.” Polly closed her eyes for a moment. “Sorry. Bad day. Let’s go.”
“Polly—” Tyler was about to tell her she didn’t have to go if she didn’t want but his phone started ringing at that moment. He answered it quickly. Xavier’s nose wrinkled and he grumbled but relaxed back to sleep. Tyler rocked him gently as Gilbert and Polly left and he answered the phone. “Hello?”
“Ty, you gotta get down here.”
It was a familiar voice. Tyson? One of the members of his club. “What’s happening?”
“There’s a vote going on at the club right now. Since you haven’t been around lately, Bill’s making a motion to kick you out. You gotta get down here right now. He’s being weirdly persuasive.”
Bill, persuasive? That was a laugh. And yet, Tyson sounded sincere. Furthermore, if it was Tyson and not Jackson calling, that meant Jackson wasn’t there. It could be that none of Tyler’s friends were. And if they weren’t there, then Bill might get the votes necessary to get him expelled.
The club was the closest thing to a clan he was going to get. He couldn’t lose it like this. Not to some idiot who thought that he was the most important person in the world.
Tyler hurried upstairs and put Xavier in his crib and woke Bernie up from her nap to briefly tell her he was going out. Then he rushed to his bike and drove to the bar. When he raced up the stairs to the club’s space, he froze in the doorway. It was utterly empty.
His fires blew low. So, it was a trap. Great.
Something hard hit him in the back, causing him to stumble forward. When he turned, Bill with a half-dozen of his cronies streamed into the room. Bills face twisted into a leering grin as he rolled his shoulders.
“Now, Freeman, we’re going to take care of you for good.”
“Thanks.” Tyler’s voice was somewhat dry. He swallowed hard. “But I’ve already got a girlfriend, I don’t need to be taken care of at all.”
Bill snarled as he stalked forward. “I am sick and tired of you running your mouth off, Freeman. You think you’re so smart, you think that you control everything just because you know people’s secrets. But you’re nothing more than a pathetic loser who bullies other people to make himself feel more powerful.”
“Funny, I was going to say the same thing as you.”
Bill cracked his knuckles. “I’m going to enjoy teaching you a lesson. You’re going to get what’s coming to you and then we’ll see who’s running off his mouth.”
Tyler backed away, keeping an eye on Bill’s cronies as they all came forward. He couldn’t afford to focus all his attention on Bill, otherwise, he’d end up flanked. He was already outnumbered. His fires burnt harder. This was not good. Not good at all. He swallowed as he shot a glance at the windows. He’d be able to get there, wouldn’t he?
“If this is about Bernie still, she made it very clear to you that she doesn’t want you, Bill. I know you had your heart set on her but in the end, she didn’t choose you. Be a gentleman and bow out, okay?” Tyler tried to keep his voice low and soothing. “It sucks to be rejected. I know that. But there are lots of girls out there and there are lots of them that would climb all over themselves in order to get your attention.”
Bill twisted his shoulders from side to side, limbering up his spine. He didn’t reply to Tyler. He leapt forward suddenly. Tyler tried to avoid the massive fist that came to his face but was unable to do so. It hit him hard in the stomach, making him hunch over. All the air left his lungs and he wheezed.
“Here’s the thing, Freeman. You’re too weak to protect her. She belongs to me, whether she likes it or not.”
His flames roared. Smoke curled from his nostrils as Tyler straightened. His fist swung, cracking Bill in the chin. Though his lungs still ached and he couldn’t expand them properly, he followed it up with another blow to Bill’s stomach. He aimed too high and his knuckles crunched against Bill’s ribs instead. Pain rang through his hand.
Bill’s cronies jumped in. Two fists dug into his kidneys, making white spots explode before his vision. They kicked his legs out from under him and twisted him to the floor, holding him in place as he kneeled before Bill.
He had to get away from here. Tyler yanked on his arms, trying to twist and free himself like Shane taught him. He ought to have paid more attention to those lessons. He never thought he’d need them.
Bill’s foot connected with his chest. The blow nearly yanked him from the cronies’ grips but they tightened as Bill started raining blows down on him. His vision was white and black streaked with red. He felt bones snap under the relentless pounding. His heart skipped beats, stalled and pounded hard. He couldn’t breathe. The world was spinning out of control around him and all he could think of was them.
Bernie and Xavier. His girlfriend… his mate… and his son. They had just reconnected, they had just started to find a way to be together. And now this big, dumb asshole was going to take it all away from them.
With a roar, Tyler threw his head back. Flames burst from his mouth. They burned the insides of his cheeks and scorched his eyebrows. But Bill stumbled back, yelping. Tyler reached deep inside, fanning his fires hotter. Scales covered his skin and his clothing started to pull apart at the seams.
“Stop!” someone shouted behind him. The cronies were yanked away and Jackson leaped over his head to punch Bill in the face.
Tyler collapsed onto the floor. It was over. At least, he thought it was until he heard someone speak.
“Call the woman. This will be resolved and she needs to be here to bear witness.”