Page 20 of Liam

“A Viking,” he mutters a little louder.

“Ooo, who’s a Viking?” Ange asks, walking up behind us.

Grinning, I point at Liam, “Ally and Jeanie are dressing him up as a Viking.”

“Yep, I can see that,” Billie agrees. “I hope that Sera can keep her hands off you long enough to get around all the field with the girls. She’s always had a thing for Vikings.”

Now it was my turn to blush. She wasn’t wrong; they’d always fascinated me, and now it seemed my fantasies may come true.

Liam cocks a brow at me when he notices my red cheeks. “Really,” he says with intrigue, then smiles when I nod.

“Yep, all true,” Ange says as she starts to load the cart with the stock we brought. “So, let’s hurry up, and then you can get to the raiding and pillaging,” she snorts a little as she laughs. I slap at her shoulder, my cheeks feeling like they are on fire, and I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit to myself that my panties were a little damp at the thought of Liam dressed as a Viking.

“I wonder how hard it would be for us to find shieldmaiden costumes this late a date,” Billie muses. “Can you imagine if Liam arrives with all of us dressed as shieldmaidens?”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” I suggest. “I’m sure if we let JoJo know, she’ll be able to find some material. We all have leggings and long boots; we can get big sheets of cardboard and paint to make shields. If you really want to, we can do it.”

“Yes,” Billie pumps her fist. “I’ll message JoJo now.”

“We’ve lost her,” Ange chuckles as Billie takes off for the club, phone to her ear.

We’re finally finished filling up the cart and are pushing it towards the back door of the club.

“Wait until you see inside, Se, it’s gorgeous,” Ange tells me as we walk through the passage from the back door and towards the main part of the club. I’d been expecting dark and dingy—no clue why, but I had. Instead, the passage was painted a bright white and had paintings hanging up. An autumnal one caught my eye; stopping, I had to get a closer look because the detail on the leaves was phenomenal. Stepping closer, I studied it, and my eyebrows rose when I caught the signature.

L. O’Shea

Like I’d thought, my man was a man of many layers. I made sure to look at all the paintings a little closer and wasn’t surprised to see that they all had the same signature.

I came to a stop just as I was about to enter the main part of the club, my mouth gaping open in awe as I looked around. It was gorgeous—not like anything I’d ever seen before.

There was a bar in the centre of the room with high-top tables interspersed around it. The walls were a dark purple with flecks of shimmering silver. And when I tilted my head back to look at the ceiling, I noticed that it had hundreds of lights set into it. I bet they looked like stars when they were all switched on. Over on the far side of the room, there was a slightly raised seating area with comfortable-looking couches. Wondering where the dance floor was, I walked around the bar, and there it was—also slightly raised, with the words ATOMIC in purple lights lighting up the back wall with the DJ booth in front of it but behind a large glass panel.

“Wow,” I mumble, turning slowly around on my heels to take it all in.

“This isn’t all,” Ange says, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards some steps, each lit with a line of purple lights. We walk up them and into what I can only assume was the VIP area. It had its own bar; this one was up against the far wall and was slightly more traditional, with barstools surrounding it. From here to there, there was comfortable seating spread around. It was as I looked around that I noticed the glass cages suspended from the ceilings.

“Is that what I think it is?” I ask, pointing towards them.

“Yes, it is,” Ange nods. “Can you believe it? I’ve never seen anything like it in a club in the UK. No wonder this club is sofucking popular, even with the cover charge. They don’t strip, but he does have professional dancers, both male and female in them, and that one,” she points at a large glass cube, “that one is big enough for a couple. I can’t wait to come here with the girls.”

I laugh at her enthusiasm, but I have to agree I’d love to come with the girls one night. “Do you know what the other one’s like?” I ask.

“Adam says it’s smaller and they have a cheaper cover charge; it’s in town and draws a younger crowd, so they keep it reasonable. This one gets some pretty high-flyers. Liam’s also pretty crafty in that they can buy VIP yearly passes, so even if they don’t use the club regularly, the O’Sheas are still making money.” She lowers her voice, motioning for me to lean towards her, which I do, “Did you notice the signature on the paintings?”

“Yeah, I did,” I reply.

“Your man has many layers, my friend, and I have a feeling under all that broody gruffness is the soul of a poet who was forced to do stuff that isn’t in his nature. It makes me want to hug him for all the hurts he’s suffered. I think you’re just the right person for him because, with you, he couldn’t be safer, and with us around, we’ll make sure he can go back to doing what he’s good at.”

Wrapping my arms around my childhood friend, I squeeze, “Love you, Ange. And yes, we will protect him and get him back to doing what he’s good at. It may take time, but we’ll make sure of it.” Letting her go, I tell her, “Come on, let’s get this stuff installed so we can go and have some fun.”

We find Liam and Adam in his office, conveniently built at the back of the VIP bar, with a door that is locked with a code. I was glad to see he took his security seriously. Walking into his office, I was surprised at all the wood panelling on the lower walls, butin a way, it suited him; above the wood, the walls were again painted a bright white. The paintings hanging in here were a little darker than the ones in the passageway but still beautiful in their way.

Liam looked up as soon as we walked in, and sauntering over to him, I pushed him slightly back from his desk before sitting down on his lap, much in the same way as I’d seen the Crow women do. I understood why they did it now; it was a sure-fire way to stake your claim as well as a comfort, especially when Liam immediately wrapped his arm around my waist to settle me more comfortably.

On his desk, spread open, were drawings of the floor plan for the club. I had a quick look, and before long, we had a plan on where the cameras would fit best. Billie was back from her call with JoJo and assured me they were all in for Halloween.

After finding out what Liam and Adam knew, which was surprisingly more than I’d expected, I broke us up into teams. It took us four hours, but by three that afternoon, the club was wired and connected to screens in Liam’s office. For now, we’d take turns watching them to see what we could find. We’d go to the club in town on Monday. As Johnny hadn’t had any problems at his club, The Lounge, we’d do that at a later date.

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