Chapter 13 Sully
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SULLY
Isat back, replete. “Damn fine lamb, Roisin. Never had one better.”
She smirked. “Years of practice.”
Autumn hummed around a mouthful. “So good,” she murmured.
Roisin beamed at her. She’d been doing that most of the day.
Feeding and beaming. Autumn, as I’d suspected, loved the barmbrack.
The tea. The cake Roisin insisted Autumn needed a slice of.
The sweets she put in a bowl, pushing her way every few moments.
Autumn adored listening to Roisin tell stories of my misspent youth.
“You’re hardly old enough to be his aunt,” Autumn insisted.
“But I am. I was much younger than Sully’s mum.
I was fifteen when he was born, and I’m sixty-three now.
I used to babysit the little shite.” She tsked.
“And what a little shite he was. Always in trouble—then when Niall and Finn were old enough, he taught them all his bad ways.” She laid a hand on her heart.
“My poor, sweet Niall led astray by this one. Such an angel, my boy was.” Then she laughed raucously.
“I swore the three of them were gonna be the death of me.”
“And yet, here you are,” I stated dryly, winking at Autumn.
“Niall and Finn are the same age but ten years younger than you, Sully?” she asked. “Is that right?”
Roisin nodded, answering before I could.
“I didn’t get married until I was twenty-four.
I didn’t want any of that shite,” Roisin explained with a laugh.
“A man to cater to and be told what to do? No thanks. But then I met Rory, and I changed my mind. We had Niall a year later. My sister had Finn. They grew up together. When she died, he came to live with us not long after.” She shook her head.
“His da was a right piece of work. Took his anger out on Finn. I wasn’t letting that happen.
” Her gaze softened. “My Rory was a wonderful man until he got hurt on the job. He was never the same, but I still loved him. He never recovered from it.”
Autumn reached across the table and clasped her hand. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Roisin smiled. “I miss him, but I have a good life. My lads all look after me. Niall and Finn bought me this house and made sure my best friends were right beside me. They’re gonna meet us at the pub later for drinks.”
I groaned. “Oh God. Not the troublemakers.” I looked at Autumn. “Maggie, Connie, and Roisin grew up together, lived close after they married, and now the three of them are legends. They exhausted Finn and Niall one trip with their demands and love of whiskey. Terrorized the hotel staff.”
“Pfft,” Roisin muttered. “Young pups canna keep up. And the staff loved us.”
I didn’t argue since it was true, but Niall and Finn had been grateful to send them home and get some semblance of normalcy back in their lives.
Autumn grinned. “I look forward to meeting them.”
“We’ll see if you think that way after they drink you under the table,” I muttered.
Roisin pretended to look shocked. “We would never.”
“Ha,” I snorted. “Famous last words.” I looked at Autumn. “And don’t believe a word of the shite out of their mouths about me. None of it.”
She grinned. “Oh, this should be good.”
AUTUMN
The pub was busy, filled with people talking, laughing, drinking, some even dancing.
It was loud and chaotic, the old wooden floors showing the wear and tear of thousands of feet stomping on the planks over the years.
The walls were covered in pictures and the windows heavy with condensation from the heat inside battling the cold wind that blew against them outside.
Roisin found us a table closer to the back, while Sully went to procure drinks. I excused myself to the restroom, and on the way out, a man stepped in front of me in the narrow hall. He swept his gaze up and down as if cataloging my body. His gaze made me shudder in revulsion.
“You’re new.”
“Yep,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’m here with friends. Excuse me.”
“Dance with me,” he ordered, grabbing my arm. His liquor-soaked breath washed over my face, and I stepped back.
“No thanks.”
He frowned, yanking on my forearm. “I said dance.”
I shook him off. “I said no.”
“Uppity bitch. Too good for the likes of me, are ya?”
“I am with someone. I don’t dance with strangers who accost me in the hall. Especially drunk ones.”
He narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak again, I ducked under his arm and hurried to the table, grateful Sully was already there. He regarded me with a frown.
“You okay, love?”
“Yep,” I replied. “Busy hallway.”
He looked over my shoulder, his gaze becoming frosty. I followed his glance to see the stranger staring our way. He turned and walked away, and I picked up my drink. “Now, ladies, Sully here assures me you have stories to tell. I’m anxious to hear them.”
That distracted Sully enough that he groaned.
Connie and Maggie looked thrilled and launched into story after story, Roisin often joining in. The three of them talked over one another at times, and their hands flew to make various points. I never knew who to look at, but the stories did make me laugh.
Sully putting a squirrel in the teacher’s desk drawer. She screamed and fainted, falling to the floor.
“Gave us a half day off.” Sully smirked.
“And yer ma tanned yer arse when you got home,” Roisin pointed out, while looking amused.
“Worth it. I spent the afternoon in the apple grove eating apples and pelting the cores at little arseholes who tried to bother me.”
Sully with Niall and Finn, sneaking into the school and releasing a goat in the headmaster’s office in the middle of the night.
“It shat on everything in sight,” Sully said, sounding proud. “The man was an eejit. No one—not a single person—ratted us out.”
“How did they know it was you?”
He grinned. “They didn’t until years later when Niall let it slip.”
Our good time was interrupted by a woman’s raised voice. “I said no. Get off on yerself!”
We looked over, and I saw the same man who had pestered me leaning too close to a woman. Roisin rolled her eyes. “Talking about eejits.”
“Who is that?”
“His name is Kevin.” She lowered her voice. “One of O’Leary’s boys.”
Sully pursed his lips as Roisin stood. “I’ll be getting more drinks soon. Dance with yer girl, Sully.”
He rose, offering me his hand. He pulled me to him on the dance floor, leading me in a fast sort of jig. It made me laugh, but he was sexy as hell to watch. Then the band played a slower number, and he held me tight, his hand in my hair.
“Told you she’d love you,” he murmured in my ear.
“I see why you adore her.”
He nodded, pressing a kiss to my skull. I felt him tense as someone walked past. “Keep yer eyes off her if you know what’s good for you,” he snarled.
I didn’t have to look to know the eejit was close. I heard his drunk laugh as he walked away. “Fecking prick,” he muttered.
Sully tensed, but I gripped him, not wanting to cause a scene.
We kept dancing, then I heard Roisin’s voice over the music. “Stop that! I saw what you did.”
Sully was moving away before I could blink.
He rushed over to where Roisin stood, protecting someone at the bar and berating Kevin and two other men I had spotted earlier with him.
I hurried to follow him. Sully stepped between them, putting his big hand on Kevin’s chest. His voice was low and cold.
It was a tone I had never heard from him before.
“I suggest you back up. Right the feck now.”
He glanced at Roisin. “What happened?”
“He was bothering Kerri here. And threatening Tommy.”
“They’re harassing all my customers,” Tommy offered. “Spilling drinks on purpose so I have to come from behind the bar and get them cleaned up. Trying to grab bottles. Get his hand in the till. I told them to leave already.”
“Not harassing anyone,” Kevin sneered at him.
“You harassed me in the hall. Grabbed my arm and refused to let me go by,” I stated.
Sully’s expression turned murderous. “Your night is over. Get out.”
“And who the feck do you think you are to order me around?”
Sully smiled. It wasn’t pleasant or warm. It was cold. Furious. It made me shiver.
“My name,” he announced in a dark tone, “is Sullivan Black.”
The change in the man he was in front of was so drastic, it made my head spin. He paled, stepping back, as did his friends. He held up his hands. “We’ll leave.”
“Don’t come back.”
“No, sir.”
They turned and almost ran from the bar. Sully frowned and looked at Roisin. “Take Autumn to the table. I’m going to make sure they leave.”
I was so shocked by what I had witnessed, I didn’t protest. I sat down, and Roisin pushed a drink my way. I took a sip, sputtering at the whiskey I swallowed. She shook her head. “You needed that, lass. You were white as snow.”
“What just happened?”
Connie cackled. “Sully did. Brilliant.”
I shook my head. “Why did they suddenly all look so frightened?”
Roisin smiled, although it looked forced. “Local legend.”
I looked to the door. “Where is he?”
“He’s fine.”
I slid off my stool. “No, I’m going to check on him. What if they jumped him or something?”
Roisin looked as if she was going to argue, but she let me go.
I pushed open the door, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold wind hit me.
The parking lot was empty, and I grew even more nervous, suddenly scared Sully was lying around the corner, beaten.
I raced to one side, then the other, stopping as I found him.
His back was to me, and he was on the phone.
“One of your lads.” He listened. “Hassling the barkeep and customers. Including my woman. Back-talked my aunt. You allow this shite, O’Leary?”
I could hear a voice but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“He put his hands on her. I wanted to kill him. But I held back.”
I stepped back in shock, my hand covering my mouth.
He was kidding, right?
I must have made a noise because Sully turned around and saw me there. He regarded me for a brief moment. “Clean up your crew,” he hissed, then hung up.
We stared at each other, and he strode forward, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “Autumn, you’re freezing. Let’s go inside.”
I looked down and saw red on his knuckles and grabbed his hand. “What happened?”
“Eejit took a swing. I swung back.”
“Who were you talking to?” I demanded.
“His foreman. He needs to know what disrespectful arses are working for him.”
“Were you serious?”
He sighed. “I was angry. He might have a black eye, but he is very much alive.”
“You said—”
He interrupted me. “I was furious. I’ll apologize for upsetting you, but not for defending you. Did he hurt you?”
“No. He annoyed me. I told him off.”
He smiled, this time one of the smiles I was used to seeing from Sully. Wide and proud. He kissed my head. “That’s my girl. Let’s go inside and warm up.”
I followed him, but the rest of the evening, I had to force myself to be present. I kept seeing his face, that frightening smile and hearing his words.
I held back.
I had no idea what to do with how I was feeling.
But I didn’t like it.