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    Peyton... Protected
    Peyton... Protected
    Peyton... Protected
    Ebook203 pages3 hours

    Peyton... Protected

    By Heather Mar-Gerrison

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    About this ebook

    Peyton is the owner of the swanky new nightclub, Studs and Steel. He's already been involved in a hit and run and was lucky to come away from that with nothing more than a broken leg.
    Now he's been shot at point blank range and is recovering in hospital.
    He's got an ex-girlfriend and a son who could also be in danger, an ex-boyfriend that he's desperate to find and now to complicate matters even more, he's got a hotter than hot bodyguard watching his every move...
    This is the first in a new series from the author of the Boys Next Door series.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHeather Mar-Gerrison
    Release dateJul 18, 2019
    ISBN9780463807620
    Peyton... Protected
    Author

    Heather Mar-Gerrison

    I love to write M/M romance and as a sucker for a HEA, you're guaranteed one in my books. #happyheatherafters

    Read more from Heather Mar Gerrison

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      Book preview

      Peyton... Protected - Heather Mar-Gerrison

      Peyton… Protected

      (Studs and Steel #1)

      Heather Mar-Gerrison

      Fabulous Front Cover by BeeJavier

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright Heather Mar-Gerrison 2016

      Revised 2021

      No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

      "Please don’t leave me." Sam whispered, breaking my heart and making me wonder just what the hell I thought I was doing.

      But I knew I was doing the right thing. There was only one way forward for us and that was for me to go crawling back to Dad. I’d made my money. I could make something of myself and then I’d go back and find Sam – and I’d get him out of that awful place and I’d look after him…

      "I have to, Sam but don’t give up on me. I’ll come back for you – I promise."

      I broke that promise, not on purpose. I went back and he’d gone and I had no idea where to find him…

      Prologue

      Four years ago

      Peyton

      I melted into Sam’s warm hug. I had an awful feeling that this might be the last time I saw him. But no, I refused to think that. I would make things right and I would come back for him...

      He might have been younger than me, but he was definitely the stronger out of the two of us. My life was the way it was out of some stupid choices I’d made a few years back. His life, by comparison, had always been shit.

      I can honestly say that I lived only to be with him, once we’d met. Despite his hard life, there was something almost magical about him – and his brilliant smile became my sole reason for existing. He was a light in my otherwise dark world.

      My life was a total mess. I’d known for a while that I preferred guys to girls. It hadn’t stopped me from trying my best to be ‘normal’ and to date girls, though. And I really did love Siobhan, my girlfriend and she loved me too but we definitely loved each other as friends more than anything else – and our one night together as lovers had been a massive mistake on both of our parts. Even if we hadn’t discussed it, she already knew I wasn’t really straight. We were both drunk and young and stupid and believed ourselves to be feeling things for each other that weren’t really there. For her part, she was still hurting over her boyfriend dumping her for some other girl that couldn’t possibly have been a better option and she’d turned to me, her best friend, for comfort. For my part, I was young and horny and was quite happy to get my end away anywhere I could… Shameful? Opportunistic? Yes, totally – but it was a one-time thing. It was over and done with by the time we could really comprehend what we’d done and we vowed never to repeat it – and never to talk of it again. Jeez, we were so naïve back then…

      Siobhan wasn’t fond of the guys I hung around with. I didn’t blame her, they were pretty awful but they’d welcomed me into their fold – probably because I had some good ideas as to how they could make a shed-load of money and they saw their profits go up when they put my ideas into practice. So, when I wasn’t making them rich, I was with Siobhan or I was hot-footing it across the city to see Sam.

      I’d met Sam through his uncle. He’d come to stay while his mum was away on holiday for a week or something. I remember him being a thin little thing – all big eyes and hollow cheeks. I think, looking back, part of me fell in love with him at first sight.

      As soon as he walked into the room I found myself unable to look away from him. Hey. I smiled at him, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.

      He smiled nervously back at me, Probably not. He said, I’m Grundy’s nephew – Sam.

      I raised my eyebrows, Cool. I said, I’m one of his mates. It’s really nice to meet you – how old are you? He looked young but with a sort of worldliness about him that made him appear older. I’d pegged him for being around the same age as myself.

      He looked panicked at my question, Uh, I only just turned sixteen…

      I nodded, disappointment flooding through me that he was so much younger than I was. Recovering myself quickly, I chuckled, No gambling or drinking for you tonight then.

      He laughed along with me, then – almost relieved that I’d meant nothing more. No, nothing like that. He agreed.

      Throughout the next few weeks we spent almost all of our time with each other – seemed his mother’s holiday had gotten longer, which was fine with me...

      His smile, every time he saw me, got more and more blinding. By the end of his stay, I was totally hooked on him and I found myself asking him where he usually lived. There was no way I was waiting until his mother was away again to see him. I was nineteen, I could drive. I’ll grant you I didn’t have a car – but hell, I could ‘borrow’ one. Sam may well have been far too young for me for us to ever be anything other than friends but that was fine by me. I just really enjoyed his company. He may never want to be anything other than friends either and that was okay too. This wasn’t about getting him into bed anyway; there was just something so vulnerable about Sam and that vulnerability spoke to the protective part of me and I just wanted to protect him. It really was as simple as that.

      Over the next few months, we met up a lot and got a whole lot closer. His life was hard, much harder than mine was and I wished on more than one occasion that I could get him away from it – but I wasn’t able to offer him anything much better than he already had. My life was hard, too – and much harder than I was used to. My parents had thrown me out a couple of years before – and I started out by sleeping on some guy’s sofa. His name was Callum and he seemed kind of cool to begin with. He was wild and fun and I was drawn to his dangerous attitude. It was through Callum that I stupidly got involved with the rest of the guys he knew. They were, for want of a better description, a gang. I hung around with them for protection from the other gangs in the area as much as anything else.

      I knew things were bad for Sam. I could see it in his whole demeanour. He didn’t tell me everything that was going on in his life – well, that was fair enough because I didn’t tell him everything about the stuff I did either, but it was obvious that there was some really bad shit going down and I wished there was more I could do to help him.

      Anyway, back to Siobhan and I. Remember that drunken night I told you about? Turns out it was a bit harder to ignore and never speak of again when she came to me, crying her eyes out, Oh, God, Peyton, I’m so sorry. I’m pregnant…

      Well of course I was as horrified as she was to find that our stupid drunken night together had resulted in a baby but he was ours and I was determined to protect them both the best I could – and to provide for them both too. I needed money for that and I needed it fast.

      I’d always been a troublesome kid. My parents weren’t exactly what you’d call affectionate but they were decent people, if conservative in their views. Dad was particularly stuffy and he was horrified that I’d fallen in with the wrong crowd in school. He always wanted to blame everyone else. It never occurred to him that actually I was the bad lot. I had to be – trouble followed me everywhere. Still, Siobhan needed me now and it was at that point that I really had to start turning my life around. So, I stopped doing drugs, which had to have been the most stupid thing I’d ever done and I started to concentrate on making money.

      I could have got a job in Dad’s firm but I figured I’d probably just cause him grief that way, so, instead I started to organise the gang members into what I considered to be their best roles and we started to build ourselves a business.

      On reflection, I guess I should have gone home at that point and promised Dad that I’d conform to his ideals but I just couldn’t do it. Particularly now that I knew I was gay. It would probably have been easier to go home with Siobhan in tow. I’m quite sure getting the girl pregnant would have horrified them and delighted them in pretty much equal measures. But I didn’t do that either. I just couldn’t…

      And neither could I stay away from Sam… I returned to see him time and again even though Siobhan and I had decided that we were going to try to bring the baby up together.

      It was never going to last. I was living a lie with Siobhan. My life was a total car-crash. I was twenty years old. I had a pregnant girlfriend and I was in love with a semi-suicidal sixteen-year-old guy. I was stressed out to hell. Something had to give…

      I never expected it to be my relationship with Sam that would end, though. I thought we were solid. I honestly thought we’d end up happily ever after – only trouble was, his dreadful, drug-addict mother thought otherwise when she found us together. We were only kissing but she went ballistic…

      After I was banned from seeing Sam and he disappeared off my radar altogether, I decided that going back home with my tail between my legs, with Siobhan at my side, was probably the only sensible thing left for me to do. So, after having a massive bust up with the guys – they really didn’t want to see me go since they’d never been so well off – that was exactly what I did. But there was only one thought in the back of my mind. I was going to make sure Siobhan and my baby son were going to be looked after forever and then I was going to find Sam again. I was going to find him and I was going to make him mine – someday…

      I’d always been into the club scene. Dancing was my way to get rid of all the stress I felt from living as a criminal. I’d made all of us a load of cash but where Callum, Rudy and Danny loved to snort coke and therefore spent most of what we made, I had a shitload of money hidden away in various places that would enable me to buy a small pub… and that was where it all started.

      I refused to use Dad’s money even though he was delighted to have Siobhan and I back in his life. I didn’t want to owe the old bastard anything after everything he’d put me through, simply because he couldn’t understand my ‘life choices’. He clearly thought I’d been going through a phase and that I was totally straight again now. I know, tell me about it. It’s hard to believe how fucking ignorant some people can be...

      Still, with Siobhan safely homed in a very nice little terrace and grandparents on hand to tend to her every whim, I was free to live my life in relative peace. Of course, having spent most of my late teens high on drugs, stealing and being pretty much the foulest creature known to man, peace wasn’t all that easy to find. I might have wanted to leave that life behind, but the other members of the gang I’d been in didn’t share my aspirations.

      "You’re going straight? Rudy looked at me incredulously, What the fuck, man?"

      I smiled, Hey, I punched his shoulder, You and Danny can easily carry on – you’re the top guys around here.

      He shrugged and looked at Danny. Danny grinned, He’s right – we are – and we all knew he’d move on eventually.

      Rudy sighed, Yeah, but... he whined, I hate things changing. He stubbed the toe of his very expensive trainers against the kitchen counter.

      I shrugged, Things change every day. I said, It’s just the way it is.

      Callum burst in at that point. High as a kite with a big smile on his face, Guys! He said in his unusually high, reedy voice, Good to see you all.

      "Peyton’s moving on. Rudy said, So the cannabis operation is yours."

      His face fell. He looked at me, I can’t do that on my own.

      I shrugged, Get George to help you. George drifted in and out of our lives from time to time. He wasn’t really what you’d call reliable but he could plant up a few cannabis plants – and the house we used was rigged for it already – we made the best part of fifty grand a year from that operation.

      It would be fair to say that they resented the fact I was leaving. And they were definitely resentful once I purchased the pub. Callum tried and failed to get me to allow him to peddle his drugs in the bathrooms but I was never having anything to do with that way of life again. This was my business now. I was going straight.

      I’d invested my money wisely for a future that didn’t include them. Rudy, Danny and George were happy enough with that. It was just Callum that turned up every now and again like a bad penny. He didn’t manage his money well; he used as many drugs as he sold and I guess he must have thought that because he gave me a place to stay when I was at my lowest, I owed him something, somehow… It never occurred to him that I’d repaid him in spades over the last couple of years.

      I’d managed to get Siobhan and my boy, William, to safety for the time being. I was hopeful they would remain anonymous enough to remain safe for a good while so I could concentrate on finding Sam. I had no idea where he’d gone. By the time I managed to get back to the estate he lived on, Grundy’s flat was empty and no one had any idea where they’d gone – or if they did, no one was talking. One guy did give me something to go on but it was very vague.

      You okay?

      I jumped and turned. I’d gone disguised as best I could. I had a hoody and a peaked cap on. I’d been ringing the doorbell of Grundy’s flat without success for a couple of minutes or so and was just deciding to get the hell out of the area again as soon as I could, when this older guy came shuffling along. I nodded, Uh, yeah – I’m an old friend of Grundy, I nodded to the front door of what I was absolutely certain was his flat, has he moved on?

      He shrugged, Dunno what happened to him really, he scratched

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