8
8
Liberty
The lunch crowd had cleared early, and that meant Shawn and I could take turns having a lunch hour. Monday nights weren’t normally busy, but you never knew what could happen. If I was released to go home early, then I’d have to suck it up and get another motel room for the night. I needed to find somewhere a little cheaper though. Seventy-nine dollars a night wasn’t awful, but it was more than I needed to spend. If I could find something for around sixty dollars, then spending a few dollars on some food wouldn’t cut into my savings too bad.
“Liberty,” Virginia called, and I turned to see her standing at the other end of the bar.
“Yes, ma’am?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t already sending me home. I needed today’s tips to cover tonight’s motel cost.
“I need to speak with you in the office,” she replied in a clipped tone, then turned to head back in that direction.
I glanced nervously at Shawn, who was watching me.
“Don’t look like that,” he said. “You’re the best employee they have. She’s probably going to give you a raise or some shit.”
Virginia had never liked me. She sent me home every chance she got, and if she did the schedule, I was barely on it. That didn’t really matter though because the others she scheduled more all ended up asking me if I wanted their shifts because they didn’t want to work so much.
I had done my best to win her over for the longest time, but eventually, I just let it go. I did my job and ignored her disdain for me.
“You know she’s not my biggest fan,” I said under my breath.
He grinned. “No, but Tom is.”
I shook my head and sighed before leaving the bar to go follow her back to the office she and her husband shared. If she had some reason to fire me, I was truly screwed. With no job, nowhere to live, no vehicle, and pregnant, I was going to be in trouble. Possibly homeless by next month.
The door was open, and Virginia was sitting on the edge of her desk, facing me, when I walked inside the room.
“Close the door,” she told me.
Dread pooled in my stomach as I closed it behind me. Taking a deep breath, I turned to look at her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her expression was tight, making the wrinkles in her cheeks more severe.
“Have a seat,” she said.
Every step I took felt heavy as I made my way to the faded blue sofa that sat across from her. Slowly, I lowered myself to sit, then stared up at her, waiting for whatever it was she had brought me in here for.
She stood up and let her hands fall to her sides. Lifting her chin a little higher, she cut her eyes toward me. “You’re a dependable employee,” she began. “I’ll admit, in the beginning, I was sure you would take advantage of my husband’s easygoing nature, but you never have, like many in the past did. I appreciate that. You work more hours than any other employee we have. Again, that is an asset most places of business do not have.”
She sighed heavily then, and the tiny bit of hope I’d suddenly gotten was dashed.
“I was even willing to overlook the fact that you are clearly pregnant.” She paused and looked at me pointedly, as if daring me to deny it. When I said nothing, she nodded once. “I’m right then. The bigger boobs, weight loss, looking pale after long shifts, getting sick out by the bushes before you come in to work. I know the signs.”
A cold sweat broke out on my skin. I didn’t know where she was going with this. She’d said she’d been willing to overlook it, but I was in her office for a reason.
“Today, a man walked into our pub, asking about you. Now that wouldn’t be an issue because, well, look at you. Many customers want to know when you’ll be working, where you are if you’re not here, but this man was different. You don’t run a place like this one in town and not know who to steer clear of. You recognize the kind you want as regulars and the kind that can cause problems. Liam Walsh is the president of The Judgment MC. Normally, that would be okay. The Judgment don’t cause issues here in Ocala, and although they own strip clubs and other ill repute businesses, they keep their hands clean for the most part.” She studied me. “How well do you know him?”
I shook my head. “Not very well.” My voice cracked. “He is dating my sister, but she and I aren’t close.”
Telling her he was the one who had gotten me pregnant wouldn’t help me save my job.
She leaned back against the desk again, sitting on the edge. “His daughter is married to the head of the Mafia. You don’t live in Ocala all your life and own a business without knowing that the Southern Mafia is based here under the guise of their wealth and racehorses. We want no connection to them. Not even a minuscule one. I’ve let someone go before for a much smaller connection to the Mafia than yours. You have family dating a man linked with the Devil himself. I can’t bring that to our doors. I’m sorry, Liberty, but I need you to get your things, and I’ll give you your last paycheck tonight. When you leave, do not walk back in those doors again. Not even as a customer.”
My throat felt as if I’d swallowed a ball of yarn and it was lodged inside. I was losing my job. This was real. All because of Liam. I wanted to argue my case and beg her to not do this, but I knew it would do no good.
I’d not known who Liam’s daughter was. We had never discussed it. Would this cause me problems? My baby?
Standing up, I struggled for words. I was in shock. Liam wasn’t just connected to the Mafia; he was linked by marriage.
Oh God. I swallowed.
“I … I didn’t know. I’m—I’ll go,” I stammered.
She nodded, and for once, in all the years I had worked here, I saw a touch of sympathy in her expression even if it was fleeting.
“If you can, stay clear of him. For your own good.”
I should never have thought my situation couldn’t get any worse. It had just spiraled to a new level of low.
“Okay,” I replied in a whisper.
She picked up something off her desk and held it out to me. “Tom wanted to add some extra to it.”
I glanced at the check to see that it was one hundred dollars more than it should be. Every little bit helped at this point.
“Thank you,” I said, the words feeling thick on my tongue.
Turning, I left the office and headed for the room where we kept our personal items while working. Both my suitcases and my purse were in there. I felt like I was functioning on autopilot. Distress, shock, fear all battled for first place, and I didn’t have the energy to fight them.
I rolled my luggage to the employee entrance, then glanced back once. It wasn’t that I loved my job, but this had been my one small shred of security I clung to, and now, I didn’t have it either. I shoved the door open with my shoulder and pulled my luggage out one at a time before letting it fall closed with a heavy thud behind me.
Not wanting to stop and linger, I kept walking, unsure if I was going to go all the way to the bus or to the nearest motel. I had a little over a hundred in cash from tips tucked in my pocket. I could use it to get a place for today and perhaps look for a job the rest of the afternoon.
“Are you pregnant?” a deep voice demanded.
Startled, I swung my gaze over to the parking lot to see Liam standing beside his Charger instead of his Harley, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, his leather biker vest, and a pair of jeans. His jaw was clenched tight, and although I couldn’t see his eyes behind the glasses, I felt the threatening scowl directed at me.
“Leave me alone, Liam. You’ve done enough,” I said as my own anger began to burn inside my chest.
He was the reason this was happening.
He took a step toward me, and I refused to back away like a scared little girl. It wasn’t like he was going to hit me. I squared my shoulders and glared at him.
“Are you pregnant, Liberty?” he asked again.
“Why do you want to know? I seriously doubt Sissy is interested in my life,” I snapped.
“Answer me,” he said, his tone going a touch more intense.
“Yes!” I all but shouted.
He might as well know. It wasn’t like he was going to help me, and even if he wanted to, I wasn’t sure how safe that was. His connection to the Mafia didn’t make me feel comfortable.
“Is it mine?”
Of course he would ask me that. His opinion of me was pretty low, and I would blame that all on Sissy, but I was the one who had opened my legs for him hours after meeting him.
“Does it matter?” I asked him.
He stalked toward me, and I backed up until my back hit a tree behind me. Liam stopped inches from his chest touching mine. I tilted my head to stare up at him. I could feel the anger pulsing from his body.
“Maybe not to you, but it does to me,” he snarled. “Is it mine?”
I could lie, but then I feared the repercussions if he ever found out the truth.
“Yes,” I bit out.
My heart was hammering against my chest as panic began to build inside me. What did this mean now? What was he going to do?
“You could be lying,” he said in an accusing tone.
God, this asshole. He had asked me, and now, he wanted to claim I was a liar.
“If you weren’t going to believe me, then why did you ask?!” I shot back at him, then shoved against his chest, wanting some space. He didn’t budge.
“I want a paternity test,” he said, then stepped back and grabbed the handle on my luggage I’d left when I backed away from him. “Get in the car.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He picked up both suitcases. “Yeah, you are,” he replied, then began walking toward his car with my things.
I hurried after him. “Put them down! You can’t force me to do anything!”
He didn’t even slow down. His long strides only quickened.
My mind was racing as I tried to think of a way to stop this. I didn’t need a paternity test. I hadn’t had sex with anyone but Liam in the past four months.
Wallace’s lack of interest in having sex with me should have been a clue that our relationship was going downhill. But we had both been busy, and there hadn’t been much time—or so I had thought then. I hadn’t been off my birth control when I was with Wallace, and I’d had two periods since the last time I’d had sex with him.
Liam wasn’t going to believe me even if I told him all that. To him, I was a woman who fucked strangers that picked me up at work.
“Why do you want a paternity test? I’m not asking for your help. I didn’t plan on demanding anything from you.”
He opened the trunk of his car and slid a suitcase inside, then put the other in before closing it, barely looking at me. I stood there, watching him, waiting on an answer. I did not want to get in that car.
Jerking his door open, he looked at me finally. “I take care of what is mine. What we did was reckless, and I’m old enough to know better than to fuck some bartender who has no self-respect. But I did, and if you’re carrying my kid, then I will take care of both of you. I’ll take full responsibility. Now, get in the goddamn car before I put you in it myself.”
I glanced at the pub, knowing there was no help for me inside there. In fact, if Virginia saw Liam, she’d be even more determined to get me out of here. She’d probably shove me inside his car herself.
He had my things, and right now, I had nowhere to go. I was out of options.
Giving in, I walked over to the passenger door, opened it, then climbed inside.