Liam (The O’Sheas Fitheach #3)

CHAPTER 13

SERA

It seemed like no sooner had we sorted out the problems Liam had been having at the clubs and cleaned out the town than something else cropped up. And by something, I meant my annoying brother. I’d been ignoring calls from him for weeks now. I didn’t have it in me to deal with him and his asinine ideas that I’d come back to the family business after what he’d done to me, especially as I was happy where I was with Liam, his family, and my girls. I had no need to be anywhere else.

I’d also been getting calls from an unknown number that I’d been ignoring, thinking it was my brother calling from a different phone. Turns out it wasn’t. I found that out when I was walking from the café around the corner back to the office after I’d volunteered to go and put in our lunch order. I’d needed to stretch my legs and get away from the paperwork that JoJo kept harassing me about. If there was one thing I hated with a passion about being a business owner, it was the paperwork that had to be done. I’d walked past the large refuse bins that were used on this industrial estate; I’d said several times that they were a security hazard, and they were.

Not that the guy waiting behind them was very good at his job. I slowed down my walk until I was nearly at a crawl as I got to the bins. He swept his foot out, trying to take me down. Jumping over his leg, I turned and slammed my fist into his gut, then brought my knee up and hit him square in the nose. Hearing the crack, I knew it was broken.

I mean, this was way too easy. This guy was just a lackey and a weenie one at that. I was almost offended that whoever had sent him hadn’t done their homework on me.

“Want to tell me why you’re trying to attack me?” I ask curiously, my head tilted slightly to the side.

“Ow, you fucking bitch. You broke my nose,” he huffs, opening his watering eyes to look at me with anger. Not that I was that bothered; I could take this idiot with my eyes closed.

Even with the gun he was reaching for, I was still waiting for an answer, which I got as he pulled the gun from out of his pants. Stupid idiot.

“Your brother owes my boss money, and I’ve been sent to collect it from you,” he tells me, waving the gun at me and motioning it toward a vehicle down the road from the car park.

“Oh,” I say, feigning surprise, “do you want me to go towards the car then?”

“Yes, you stupid cunt. I’m the one with the fucking gun; I want you to go towards that car and get in. I’m taking you to my boss, where you can pay us either in cash or with your cunt,” he shouts, going red in the face.

I tut and take a step towards him. “You really need to learn better manners when speaking to a lady,” I tell him as I disarm him and then dismantle the handgun. His mouth gapes in surprise at my actions. “And I don’t know what my brother owes you, and I don’t care. I have no money for you, and I’d never pay off debts he ran up anyway. He stole my company and my parents’ house; he should have plenty of money.”

Hearing footsteps from behind me, I turn slightly so that I can see who is coming up and still keep an eye on the idiot standing in front of me, his mouth still wide open in surprise.

“There better be a good reason that you’re harassing my lady, Danny boy,” Liam growls as he comes to a stop next to me, standing shoulder to shoulder, and just like that, I relax, knowing no matter what, he’d have my back. I have no idea what my brother has gotten into, but the demand for money from this douche canoe wasn’t unexpected. Simon had always lived above his means.

The look of surprise on Danny’s face when Liam walked up next to me had me biting back a laugh of amusement. It just wasn’t his day, it seemed.

“Liam, this doesn’t concern the O’Sheas; this is between me and the lady here,” Danny stutters.

After the last few weeks, I know his nervousness is warranted. While the O’Sheas are now running legitimate businesses, they are still a force to be reckoned with. The respect I’ve seen shown to all the brothers while they cleaned their town up these last few weeks and sent warnings out that while they are legit businessmen now, they are still willing to get their hands dirty when needed. They’ve kept us women out of it for the most part, even JoJo, and we were happy for them to take care of business but let them know we were here if they needed our help. Once the warnings had gone out, JoJo had backed them with a warning of her own.

It seemed the warning hadn’t got to whoever this idiot’s boss was.

“I’m guessing you’re deaf as well as stupid, boyo. Did you not just hear me say that she’s my lady? Now, how about you tell me what this is about, or I can phone Big Roy and get it straight from the horse’s mouth,” Liam grinds out, taking a step toward Danny, who took a hasty step back. It wasn’t that I needed backup; I could have handled the idiot myself. I can’t lie, though; it was hilarious watching Liam frighten the little shitbag.

“There’s no need for that now, Liam. I didn’t know that she was yours. I’ll be sure to let Big Roy know. Her brother is the one that sent us to her.”

Liam looks over his shoulder at me. I shrug, holding my hands up, telling him, “It seems he owes them money and expects me to pay it. Not sure with what as he stole the company from under me. I’d just suggested to the gobshite that he’d be better off trying to wring water from a dry cloth than to get money out of me. If Si owes them money, they can take it out of his useless hide. I’m not interested, and I’ll not be paying any of his debts. Nor will I be paying his debts with my body, as Danny suggested.”

Liam’s face tightens, and if possible, he seems to grow even bigger. Danny swallows so loudly I can hear the gulp from where I’m standing as Liam turns to him and wraps a hand around his neck, picking him up off the ground and slamming him against the wall. I wince involuntarily, knowing that must have hurt.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I hastily turn again, then relax when I see Adam coming towards us.

Stopping next to me, he tilts his head, asking curiously, “What’s the amadán done to piss Liam off?”

“Told me I could pay off my brother’s debts with my body.”

“Ah,” Adam nods, “that would do it.”

I was starting to get a little concerned; the last thing I wanted was for Liam to get into trouble, “Do you think we should stop him? Danny boy’s turning purple?

“Nah,” Adam assures me, looking unconcerned. “Liam won’t kill him, but he’ll be sending him back to Big Roy with a message.”

“Okay.” Folding my arms, I decide to wait to see how this plays out. Liam wasn’t saying anything, his face impassive as he played with Danny, letting him get a breath before choking him again.

Out the corner of my eye I see Johnny driving into the car park and reverse into a parking spot. Getting out, he bites into an apple before ambling over to watch the show. It was hard not to laugh; they were so casual.

“Why’s Liam playing with his food?” Johnny queries casually before taking another bite of his apple.

“Danny stupidly told Sera she could pay off her brother’s debt with her body.”

“Mmh, stupid, she’s an O’Shea woman,” Johnny continues. “Maybe we should put out the word that we have women and that they are off-limits to any idiot stupid enough to go against us.”

“Not a bad idea,” Adam agrees.

“I’ll get on that,” Johnny says cheerfully, finally finishing his apple and calling out to Liam, “You may want to let him catch his breath, brother; he’s not going to be carrying any message to Big Roy if he’s dead. I’ll put the word out that Sera is one of ours; I’ll be adding her girls to that list. And if her brother owes anything, they can take it out of his hide.” Johnny slants a look at me from the corner of his eye. “That good with you, deirfiúr bheag? ” he asks.

“No idea what you just called me, but yes, I’m good with that. Also, best you let it be known that I can take care of myself, and I won’t be polite about it. The next one who comes at me gets to be used as a pincushion.”

“I’ll let it be known,” Johnny agrees with a cheeky grin. I had no idea how Maya put up with him. He was always so bloody cheerful and loud. So, fucking loud. Give me my broody Liam any day. “Did you get what the lady said, Danny boy? Nod if you understood. Eh, Liam, let the sap breathe so we can send him on his way, will you? Oh, and deirfiúr bheag means little sister,” he informs me, still smiling.

The warmth that fills me from his words surprises me, and as I wasn’t one for words, I gently bump into his shoulder with mine. Johnny just shakes his head and laughs softly.

Liam drops his hand from Danny’s throat, and as it was the only thing holding him up against the wall, he fell like a tonne of bricks to the ground, gasping for breath.

Squatting in front of Danny, I pull my knife from my boot and use it to tilt his head up towards me.

“Now Danny, I don’t know you, but you were rude to me, wouldn’t you say? Talking to me like you did. Nod if you agree.”

Danny didn’t waste any time in nodding. “Good,” I say softly as I slap a hand over his mouth and stick my knife through the hand that is still resting on the ground. His screams of agony are muffled by my hand. “That was just so you know I’m not joking when I say I can look after myself. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate my Liam and his brothers stepping up because I do.

“Obviously, my brother hasn’t filled you in on where I’ve been the last ten years. Maybe you should ask him because the horrors I’ve seen are nothing on what you’ve even dreamed of. I didn’t get this scar on my face by going to cream teas and dances. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.” When he nods again, tears streaming down his face from the pain, still talking softly, I continue, “Now I’m going to take my hand off your mouth and you’d better not scream, or you won’t be going home, and I’ll pay your boss a visit myself, which trust me he doesn’t want.”

Looking over my shoulder, I see the brothers impassively watching me. “Can you grab the first aid box for me, please?” I ask Adam. “I don’t want him in the office, but I’ll also not send him off so he can bleed to death.”

Adam nods and lopes off towards the office. It doesn’t take long for him to get back with the big medic box that Evie filled for us. Squatting down next to me, he opens it up and whistles when he sees how stocked it is. My friend doesn’t fuck around when it comes to making sure we don’t bleed out.

Pulling my knife from Danny’s hand, he again screams against my hand. Only when I’m sure that he’ll be quiet do I remove my hand, slip on some gloves, and start cleaning and packing his hand.

“There you go,” I tell him when I’m done. Evie would have done a better job, but this will do. “Remember now, anybody comes after me, that’s the type of treatment they’re going to get.”

Standing, I rip the disposable gloves off my hands and ball them up to dispose of them later. Adam closes the first aid box before he stands up. Offering his hand to Danny, he pulls him up.

“Off you go now,” Liam informs him. “We’ll be calling Big Roy, but you’d best make sure that you pass the message on, Danny. And you’d best let anyone know that coming after Sera means taking your lives into your hands because not only is she deadly, she comes with four others just like her, and then there’s us,” Liam waves his hand at Adam and Johnny. “You know what the O’Sheas are like when it comes to those we protect. Just because we’ve gone legal in our businesses doesn't mean that we’ve forgotten where we come from. Best you all remember that. I’d hate for us to come out of retirement. We’ve only just finished cleaning up one mess, but we’ll be happy to start another if it means our family is left alone.”

Silently, we watch as Danny hurriedly gets to his vehicle that he’d parked down the street and gets in before taking off at speed, wheels spinning in his hurry to get away.

“Give me ten minutes and then get Big Roy on the phone for me, Johnny,” Liam orders, turning from his brothers and towards me, knowing that they’ll do what he asks.

I look him defiantly in the eye, wondering if this is when he says he can’t be with a woman who can handle herself. How wrong I was, though.

Once he is sure his brothers are walking away, he walks up to me, wrapping his arms around me, his mouth hard and hungry on mine as he walks me back until my back hits the wall, his cock hard against my belly. Oh, it definitely doesn’t bother him, it seems. Quite the opposite. Not that I was going to complain because the man could kiss.

Finally, we had no choice but to come up for air, gasping as I rip my mouth away from his.

“Fuck, mo chroí, never stop being you. Do you know how hot it was watching you? It’s one of the things I love most about you. You don’t need me to take care of you, but you don’t mind when I do. Fucking perfect for me,” Liam mutters in a guttural moan as he presses a kiss to my throat.

We are so into each other that I don’t realise we have an audience until JoJo says, “That’s hot; I think I need a Liam.”

“I’m more interested in the fact that he’s just told her he loves her and she’s so hot and bothered she’s not realised,” Evie chortles.

My brain comes back online at those words, and I open my eyes and look over Liam’s shoulder to see my friends lined up watching us. Liam’s shoulders are shaking, and I realise he is laughing, his head buried in my neck.

Ignoring my friends, I cup his face with my hands. Pushing his face away from my neck, I softly say, “You love me?”

Liam’s eyes soften as they look into mine, “I do, mo chroí, very much.”

“Aw fuck, I think I might cry,” Ange mutters.

Ignoring the peanut gallery, I smile wide, happiness lighting me from the inside out. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but I wasn’t going to look for excuses as to why this wasn’t a good idea.

“I love you too,” I smile at him. This beautiful man who had, from the start, made me feel special in ways I didn’t even know I needed. It had taken me a while, and I’d had to move to the other end of the country from where I’d grown up, but I’d finally found my home. Mum was right; home wasn’t a place—it was a person or the people you surrounded yourself with.