Page 12 of Liam

Ally’s eyes dart to her mum, and Jeanie shifts closer to her sister. I have a feeling this is not about a father who died over there but something else. Catching Liam’s gaze, he looks grim. Adam has stopped packing the dishwasher and moved up behind Tilly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. His other arm wraps around both his daughters.

At Ally’s question, Johnny hurried to Maya’s side and was with her and Jackson both in the same way. When Emy’s lip starts to quiver as the tension in the room ratchets up, even as young as she is, she knows something’s wrong. Liam picks her up out of her highchair and cuddles her close.

Even with the tension in the room, I still can’t help that my ovaries want to stand up and clap an ovation at the way he looks holding a baby.

“Who was your dad, honey?” I echo Evie’s question.

“Troy Rhodes,” it’s not Ally who answers but Tilly through tight lips. I sit back, understanding crossing my face.

“Ah,” Ange nods, “you don’t need to say more. Yes, sweetheart, we knew him.”

“And he isn’t our dad,” Ally declares fiercely. “Adam’s our dad and Uncle Johnny is Jackson and Emy’s. He was just someone who made us. I only wanted to know because I needed to find out if you liked him or not.”

Taking her hand, I squeeze it gently, “No, honey, we didn’t like him. He wasn’t a very nice person. But I promise he’s gone.”

“Oh, we know,” Jeanie nods her head. “He can’t ever hurt us again. My dad and my uncles made sure of it.”

Confused, I raise my eyes to Liam’s. “I’ll fill you in later,” he mouths.

Nodding that I understand, I say, “It’s good that you have uncles and a dad that love and take care of you.” My gaze doesn’t stray from the girls opposite me, who both look relieved that I didn’t like their biological father.

I sit back in my chair and decide to change the subject to another topic completely until I find out what is going on. Turning to my squad, I tell them, “Adam wanted to know if you’d like to pick up some work while you’re looking for something permanent. Apparently, they have a waiting list of installations to be fitted. What do you say?”

“Not me,” JoJo replies, holding up her well-manicured hand. “These hands are not made for manual work.”

“How you and I are twins, I’ll never know,” Evie chortles.

“Don’t worry,” I tell JoJo, “I’ve volunteered you for the administration side of the work.”

JoJo takes up the conversation, knowing we need to change the subject from the seriousness until we can find out what exactly had happened with Troy. We’d all been friends long enough to read each other’s cues.

“Now that I can do,” she agrees. “Also, I need to get hold of Kate tomorrow. I found a property I’m interested in. It’s in the industrial area, but it looks like it’s being converted into residential. It’s a warehouse conversion, by the looks of it, near a small river.”

“I know it,” Johnny says, “it’s within walking distance from the security office. They’re pretty pricey,” he warns, “but they’d make a good investment.”

“That’s what I thought,” JoJo replies, then hums a little as she takes a sip of coffee. “The one I’m looking at has four flats in a block, each with three bedrooms. The girls and I’ll need somewhere to stay soon, and I figured that would do for us for now.”

“JoJo, you don’t need to be spending your money on us,” Ange protests. “We can rent for a little bit.”

“And if I don’t spend it on my sisters, who the hell else am I going to spend it on?” JoJo demands. “Bry would want me to invest it, and you know he’d love that it was invested with you girls in mind. So that’s what I’m going to do,” JoJo declares, blinking rapidly to clear the film of tears that has gathered in her eyes. “Besides, it will piss his father off.”

“Well then, by all means, spend away, sister dear,” Evie declares dramatically. “Anything to piss off that c… um, cookie,” she quickly changes her words when she realises how many little ears there are at the table.

Even Jeanie and Ally laugh with us at her quick change of wording. I guess it was something we’d have to think about. Weall swore, but if we were going to be around the little ones, I’d ensure we all made a concentrated effort to do better.

“Well, now that that’s decided, I’ll see if Kate can get us in there to have a look,” JoJo nods decisively. “What are you lot going to start with?”

“I’d like it if you could put cameras up in the nightclubs,” Liam says as he walks back around the table, Emy still in his arms but now looking decidedly sleepy, and sits back down next to me. God, this man. I had a feeling if everything worked out between us, it wouldn’t be hard for him to persuade me to have a baby. There was just something about a strong man and a baby that got to me every… single… time.

“Why? What’s going on that you need security in the club? Is it drugs?” Billie asks.

“Nah,” Adam shakes his head. “Dealers know to stay away from our clubs. We’re losing money in the nightclubs. Not a lot, but enough to be annoying, and we just can’t figure out how it’s being done. We have a camera on the bar and the tills but haven’t found anything. But then again, the staff know the cameras are there. I want to put up hidden cameras when the club is empty of staff.”

“Good idea,” Evie nods. “We’ll come to the office tomorrow and have a look at everything, make sure you have enough stock and such for the jobs. We’ll get it sorted, don’t worry. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for bed.”

“Me too,” Tilly agrees. “Come on, I’ll show you to the static caravan. Maya put clean bedding on the beds. It has three bedrooms and a sofa bed in the lounge.”

“Sounds good to me,” Billie says, getting up with the rest following suit. Goodnights are said, and hugs are dispensed to their grandad, who’d been suspiciously quiet, but I had a feelinghe missed nothing of what was going on. Soon my girls were out the door following Adam, Tilly, and their girls, who were going to show them to the caravan before going on to their house. Johnny and Maya had disappeared with their small brood. It was just me, Liam, Colm, Tommy, and Lana left at the table.

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