Free Meant To Be (Heaven Hill Series) by Laramie Briscoe Page A

he told her. “You don’t know anything about your son, and you especially don’t know anything about our relationship. You’re the one that left.”
    Tears sprang to her eyes and she turned away, hiding her face so that he couldn’t see. That was the one thing she hated. He always brought up what a bad mother she was. They could never stay on good terms for more than a few hours, and usually those hours were spent between the sheets. It didn’t help that ultimately she knew the words he spoke were true. She was a mother of the worst kind, not even able to be called Mom .
    “Because you won’t let me know about your relationship,” she whispered, letting warm tears trail down her cheeks.
    The bed dipped as he got up, and she could hear him put his clothes back on. His anger was obvious in the sound of the fabric slapping as he covered his body.
    “I gotta be gettin’ back to the clubhouse. Do you need any money?”
    Add that to the list of things she positively hated. He got what he wanted, and then he had the nerve to ask if she needed money. Like she was his whore, like she didn’t still wear his ring on her finger. Like in the eyes of the law and God they weren’t still married. She may have given up on their children, but she hadn’t given up on him. “Keep your damn money. I don’t need it.”
    Paper money fluttered as it hit her shoulder and she flinched. Refusing to turn over, she heard the door slam on his way out.
    “Lauren, when are you going to stop doing this to yourself?” she whispered as she rolled over and grabbed the money that sat on the bed.
    She counted $400 – enough to pay almost all of her rent. It never failed to strike her as shitty that both Liam and William owned their own homes, even Roni had been left out of that. They each had motorcycles and cars, it didn’t look they wanted for anything. While she struggled. Both financially and emotionally. The little apartment she rented was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The pipes froze at least once a year, and the shower never seemed to have hot water. Her thirteen-year-old car was on its last legs, and her bank account could use a few thousand dollars so that she could get a little spontaneous with her spending. She sighed deeply, brushing the moisture from her face. This was not how she had ever though her life would turn out, even in her wildest dreams.
    “Mrs. Walker, it looks like you’ve got yourself a healthy baby boy.”
    Her heart sank in what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life. In a flash, she saw this little boy’s future, and she was scared. For herself, her husband, her older daughter, and this innocent little boy who had no idea that his future had just been sealed.
    William and his friends had started a motorcycle club that was quickly turning into something very illegal. When she had become pregnant, she had prayed every night that it would once again be a little girl. This boy would be heir apparent to those illegal activities and that motorcycle club. There was nothing about this that she liked.
    “Thanks for giving me a son, Lauren. The next generation is well on its way.”
    His eyes shone brightly with pride as he held the tiny bundle of joy in his arms. Any love that he felt for the child she had just birthed was replaced with greed for more power and the guarantee of the line of succession for Heaven Hill. She realized at that moment that she would have to leave. Her throat tightened as she fought to hold back the fear that she already felt. She would take whatever time she had with this son of hers, and it would have to last her the rest of her life. She knew that as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the east and set in the west.
    Shaking her head, Lauren got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. Reaching into the shower, she turned it on and waited for it to warm – as much as it ever did. While she waited, her mind worked overtime.
    “He will not be a member of