Page 28 of Liam

Evie and Ange nod in agreement at Billie’s words.

“Yep, I’m pretty excited to cause some mayhem. Come on, girls, let’s evict these two. Nobody messes with our family,” Evie directs Ange and Billie.

With those words, the three of them leave. Going to my desk, I pick up my keys and grab my jacket, turning towards Sera,who is waiting for me at the door. So far, she’d been quiet, and I wondered what was going through her head; she didn’t look upset or worried, though.

We’re just about to leave when JoJo calls my name, “Liam.”

Turning towards her, my eyebrows raise in question, thinking that she may need clarification on something. It wasn’t clarification, but her words surprise me.

“If you ever get pushed by anybody from the Wise organisation or their allies, you let me know, okay? I’ll handle it.”

Surprise shot through me, and Sera makes a choked sound. The Wise organisation was one of the biggest underground organisations around, known mostly for being loan sharks; they did have their fingers in many other pies, though. It was then that I remembered her surname was Wise, and I realised exactly who she was.

“I appreciate that, JoJo; I won’t take advantage, though.”

JoJo smiles, and for the first time, I could see why she’d been the most feared woman in the underground until she’d disappeared after her husband had died of a terminal illness, leaving the organisation to be run by his brothers.

“I know,” she replies. “It’s why I offered. You keep treating my girl like the queen she is and giving my sister and the squad what they need while still living good lives, and I’ll do everything in my power to ensure this town stays clean. And my power is considerable, even if I’m retired. To protect family, I’ll come out of retirement if I have to. Now off you go because the girls have just loaded your thieves into the van.”

With those words, she swings her chair back towards the monitors, basically dismissing us.

I had to chuckle at being dismissed from my own office, but in a way, I was grateful because having JoJo Wise at my back was no small feat.

“Fuck,” I say softly as Sera and I walk down the passageway. “Did you know?” I ask Sera.

“Of course,” Sera replies. “Bryson was at school with us. JoJo and he were together from the age of fourteen, much to his dad’s disgust. He didn’t like that Bry had made his choice so early without first sampling other wares, as he put it.” Sera rolled her eyes and shuddered. “His dad is a real dick. They never let it bother the two of them. The rest of his family love JoJo, and they couldn’t have asked for a better woman for him because once his dad retired, the two of them built themselves an empire. JoJo is seriously smart when it comes to business. When Bryson got sick and they realised he'd not make it, the two of them ensured that his younger brothers were capable of running it. JoJo is still on hand if they need her, but when Bry died, she decided to retire. That’s not to say she’s not still got power, though, because she does.”

“Jesus,” I retort as we reach the back door of the club. “Fate really knew what she was doing when she sent you all this way, didn’t she?”

“Yep,” Sera agrees, walking towards her bike, and I follow her to mine. We’d taken to riding together when we could. “I’m warning you now, Liam, I’m not happy with the way Adam spoke to you. And neither will the girls be, especially knowing that you never put yourself first. If he doesn’t apologise when we get home, he and I are going to have words. I don’t care if he’s your brother or not because I know you had his back when Tilly had her issues.”

My heart warmed at her words, although I knew that Adam and I would be okay. I understood where he was coming from, and it wasn’t all his fault. I’d been protecting them for so long, and I shouldn’t have. We worked better as a team. I knew that when we got home, Adam would apologise; he’d have done it immediately if I hadn’t been so angry and put the phone down.

And I was right; Adam was waiting for us in the garage where we parked when we got home. I’d no sooner taken my helmet off than he was apologising. “I’m sorry, Liam, you’re right. But, brother, you need to stop protecting me and Johnny. You have to let us know if you’re getting pressure. We work better as a team and I’m happy to pound heads if I need to.”

Getting off my bike, I held back a laugh at Sera’s slight huff. Walking towards Adam, I pulled him into a hug, pounding a hand on his back.

“I know, Adam, and thanks for the apology. I’ll let you and Johnny know from now on. I’m sorry I haven’t; some things are hard to let go of.”

“I get you,” Adam replies, and out of all my brothers, he’d probably be the one that understood the most, as we’d lived the most violent lives out of all of us. Softer, he asks, “Do I need to worry about your queen? She’s looking at me like she wants to gut me.”

Chuckling, I pushed him away, holding my hand out to Sera to take, “No, you’ve apologised, so all’s good.”

Adam had her softening further when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and bussed a kiss along her cheek, “Thanks for looking out for him, Se.”

Her shoulders slumped slightly, “Well, fuck, now I can’t kick your arse because I promised if you apologised I wouldn’t.” Then she straightened her shoulders to look Adam in the eyebefore continuing, “But Adam, I’m warning you now, don’t ever disrespect Liam like that again. I understand siblings argue and shit like that, but when it comes to business like this, you always have his back. Liam calls me his queen, but what you have to realise is that he’s my king and will always come first for me, even before my girls. You’d best let the rest of your crew know that Liam and I come as a team and I’m more than capable to kick arse if I need to.”

Her words had me hard as a rock, knowing that she felt the same way about me as I did about her.

Adam nods, taking her at her word, “I know, Sera, you’re right, which is why I apologised. I’m happy to know Liam has you behind him, ready to kick arse if needed. How we all managed to find women that slot into our family like you all have, I’ll never know, but I’m not going to knock a gift like we’ve been given in any way. We’re lucky fuckers and we know it.”

“I’m glad you know it,” Sera retorts with a smile.

I was glad that she wasn’t the type to hold a grudge; as far as she was concerned, now that Adam had apologised for what she saw as a slight, all was good.

Adam hugged her, then let her go with a soft laugh, saying, “Come on, your girls are here already. I had my crew show them the way to The Hole. I don’t think I’ve ever had it oohed and aahed over, though. I left them to get our guests comfortable.”

The three of us made the short trip to The Hole and descended the stairs to find the girls had already started on their guests. The look on Sera’s face as she looked around had me and Adam exchanging amused looks. Johnny and Adam’s closest crew were leaning up against the wall, watching the girls with slightly raised brows but also hints of admiration.

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