CHAPTER 14
LIAM
The anger that coursed through me at fucking Danny even thinking he could touch Sera had me seeing red. I had very few triggers, but anyone threatening Sera was one of them. It didn’t matter to me that she was more than capable of looking after herself and was probably more deadly than me. Anyone meaning her harm had me behaving in ways that I hadn’t done since I’d protected Rhett.
I can’t say that I’d enjoyed the last few weeks of violence. It reminded me too much of our past, and I’d worked hard to get us away from that. But we’d got the job done, and word got out that just because we were retired didn’t mean that we were going to put up with shit in our territory.
We’d all been working overtime in getting everyone who had thought they could encroach on our territory without consequences removed. Unfortunately, there were more than any of us had realised.
After two weeks of blood, violence, and knocking heads together, we’d removed everyone who shouldn’t be in our territory. The situation was now back under control, and not only because we had made it clear that they weren’t welcome, but JoJo had stepped in and made it known that we had the full backing of the Wise organisation. Who’d have thought that we’d ever have an ally like JoJo Wise?
I’d spoken to her brothers-in-law, who were admittedly a little concerned for her. They’d offered to send her protection, but she’d put them off, telling them that she had more than enough protection already and that me, my brothers, our crew, and Sera’s girls’ squad were more than capable of handling whatever came up. She wasn’t wrong; we were. What we were dealing with were those low on the totem pole, they were more annoying than anything, but I also knew if they weren’t stomped on now, it would get worse. So, we’d done what we did best and stomped on them and made them bleed.
And now this turd-burgling worm had decided to put his hands on Sera. Fuck that!
I shouldn’t have worried, though; my woman was a queen, just like I’d known she’d be. The way she handled him had me rock hard, and I’d not been able to hold back telling her I loved her. Some might think that me telling her those words while she had blood on her shirt from stabbing someone that I’d physically threatened wasn’t romantic, and it may not have been for most, but it was perfect for us.
I’d been hard-pressed not to strip her down and fuck her against the wall; it was only the peanut gallery and the fact that we were in broad daylight that stopped me. I’d never let anyone but me see her come apart like she did. Dragging my mouth from hers, I looked into her eyes, which crinkled slightly at the corners with how wide she was smiling, and her words settled something in me—something that I hadn’t even realised was missing. As soon as her ‘I love you too’ left her lips, it was like a huge boulder lifted from me, and I could breathe easy.
Ignoring her girls’ squad, my brothers, and the phone call I still had to make, I took her lips in another hard kiss before pulling back slightly to whisper in her ear, “Marry me, become my queen for real, have babies with me that we can teach to not only be artists but also to kick arse when needed.”
“I’d love to,” she smiles at me, “but first we need to kick my brother’s arse and get whoever this Big Roy is to back off.”
Snorting out a laugh, I tell her, “Trust me, Big Roy isn’t going to be a problem. And as for your brother, he’s a big boy; he can take his punishments as they see fit. I don’t really care. He lost his right to your sympathy the day he took your company, but I understand he’s your brother, so if you want me to talk Big Roy down, I will, and we can make a plan to pay back whatever he owes.”
I hadn’t finished talking and Sera was already shaking her head, “No, like you said, he’s a big boy; he made his bed, he can lie in it. The only thing I do ask is that they don’t kill him. They can make him hurt, though; maybe he’ll learn a lesson that way.”
“Okay, a stór , you go into the office for me. The boys and I’ll sort this, but tonight you’re mine. Best you tell your girls that.”
“I will,” she grins up at me, pressing a kiss to my cheek before slipping out from between me and the wall I’d had her pressed up against, walking towards where her girls were waiting with a swing in her step that had her hips rolling in the sexiest way.
Biting my lip, I groan and adjust myself, not caring if Adam and Johnny see; they both had shit-eating grins on their faces at my predicament. Johnny held out the phone as soon as he got to me, his eyes turning a little serious, “It’s Big Roy.”
“Roy,” I growl as the haze of anger returns now that Sera wasn’t near me and grounding me.
“Look, Liam, I had no idea when I sent Danny that she was your woman. If I’d known, I would have come direct to you.”
“Makes no difference, Roy, you shouldn’t have sent someone into our territory without first asking us as a courtesy. This could have been avoided, and Danny wouldn’t be on his way home to you with a wound through his hand where my woman stuck him with her knife.”
“But you guys are retired,” Big Roy stutters in confusion.
My eyebrows rose. “Have you been asleep these last few weeks, or is your head so far up your arse that you’ve not heard that we’ve been cleaning our town? We may be retired, Roy, but Fitheach is O’Shea territory; it always has been, and it will continue to be as long as O’Sheas live here,” I roar at him. “Next time, you call first. And, Roy, this ends here. Don’t try and get any money out of my woman. You get it from her brother like you should have done in the first place.”
“He hasn’t got it,” Big Roy protests indignantly.
“Not my problem and not my woman’s problem. You can take it out of his hide for all I care. My woman has one request: that if you do that, you don’t kill him.” I go to hang up on Roy’s sputtering, but then I decide to give him one more warning.
“Oh, and Roy, my woman isn’t weak; she spent ten years in the military as a sniper, and she comes with her own protection. My woman doesn’t need me to protect her; she can do it herself, and I assure you, she and her girls’ squad are a lot more devious in their violence than we’d ever be, so best you pull back whoever else you sent because I won’t hold her back if you come for her again.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I press my fingers to the bridge of my nose as the familiar feeling of pressure bears down on me. I wasn’t finished yet, though, “Do you understand what I’m saying, Roy?”
“I do, Liam. I’ll pull everyone back, and I’m sorry we stepped on your toes. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Be sure that you do,” I order him, ending the call and handing the phone back to Johnny.
“You okay, Liam?” Johnny asks, concern on his face.
“Yeah,” I nod, my gaze lifts to find Sera in the doorway of the office watching me. The tension melts away as our eyes meet, and my shoulders relax. “Yeah, Johnny,” I answer, clasping his shoulder. “I’m okay. Sera agreed to marry me.”
Johnny looks stunned at my words, and Adam starts to laugh, “Only you would ask a woman to marry you while you’re both wearing the blood of your enemy. But somehow it fits you both perfectly. I’m happy for you, Liam,” Adam says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and slapping my back. “She’s perfect for you. I can’t wait to tell Rhett when we see him on Saturday that the last of us has fallen. I mean, we can’t count Andy because he’s still on my shit list, but the rest of us, yeah, we all found good women.”
On impulse, I wrap an arm around each of their shoulders as we walk towards the office, “Long time coming, brothers, a really long fucking time coming. But we are three lucky fuckers because we’ve landed some truly amazing, beautiful women who are willing to put up with your surliness, Johnny’s constant fucking cheeriness, and my moodiness. So, I’d say not only are we lucky, but we’re also fucking blessed.
“Now fuck off because I need to get my woman home before Da finds out we’re getting married, and I don’t get to see her for the next few hours.”
Adam and Johnny start to laugh because they know it’s true — Da’s a romantic, and as soon as he finds out we’re getting married, he’ll want to get in on it all, and I’ll be hard-pressed to get any time with Sera.
I can’t help but join them in their laughter, me in the middle with my arm around the shoulders of each of the brothers I was closest to. We’re laughing hard.
It was only later that we found out about the picture that Sera took, capturing that moment of pure happiness and the love my brothers and I had for each other.
It was that picture that we had each hung on a wall in our houses. You can feel our happiness just from looking at the photo. And it was a good feeling to have.
It was a photo we all cherished because it was fitting that out of everything we’d been through, somehow, we’d ended up here.
Still alive, still able to laugh, and live our lives, with women so different from each other but perfect for each of us. Who loved us and stood by us no matter what.
And the families we had and would hopefully continue to build. It was a great place to be.