Page 30 of Liam

Shaking my head, I slap the papers down on the table to the side of the room. Nodding at Evie, I tell her, “Do what you got to do, then take them. They’ll be working off their debt in the Wise organisation cleaning toilets in the club.” Turning back to the girls, who’d gone pale at my words, I tell them, “You really fucked up; you’ll be paying off this debt for the next five years. While JoJo has dealt with you, I’ll be dealing with your brother.” Not taking my eyes from the girls, I casually say, “Adam.”

“On it, brother. Seems The Hole will be getting a workout tonight.”

Adam and his crew left swiftly. Billie washed the thieves down with water, getting rid of the worst before Evie heated the ring with the large W and pressed it to their biceps, making them both scream with pain. Ange bandaged and dressed both wounds, Sera joining them to help as they stripped them of their clothes and dressed them in the tracksuit pants and T-shirts that we kept on hand in case we needed a change of clothing. The fight seemed to have completely left them as they signed the paperwork JoJo had sent. I felt a twinge of sympathy for them but instantly squashed it. I’d been in this game long enough to know that sometimes you had to make a stand and protect what was yours. It seemed that this was our stand.

An example would have to be made, and this was the way to do it. I hated it but also knew that it was the life we’d been born into, and even though we were no longer part of it for the most part, there would always be someone, somewhere trying to gain a toehold. It was time to stop being nice and start to bust some heads O’Shea style.

Once the girls left, Johnny, Sera, and I cleaned up The Hole after Adam notified us that Harvey had done a runner. We’d find him and we did.

It was a bloody two weeks, but we made sure that everyone was aware that while we might now be legitimate business owners, this was O’Shea territory and not to be fucked with.

Through it all, Sera stood by my side, helping, strategizing, and making sure I didn’t lose myself.

Every night as I sank into her body, taking comfort from knowing she was mine, grateful that somehow she’d found her way to me.

CHAPTER 13

SERA

It seemed like no sooner had we sorted out the problems Liam had been having at the clubs and cleaned out the town than something else cropped up. And by something, I meant my annoying brother. I’d been ignoring calls from him for weeks now. I didn’t have it in me to deal with him and his asinine ideas that I’d come back to the family business after what he’d done to me, especially as I was happy where I was with Liam, his family, and my girls. I had no need to be anywhere else.

I’d also been getting calls from an unknown number that I’d been ignoring, thinking it was my brother calling from a different phone. Turns out it wasn’t. I found that out when I was walking from the café around the corner back to the office after I’d volunteered to go and put in our lunch order. I’d needed to stretch my legs and get away from the paperwork that JoJo kept harassing me about. If there was one thing I hated with a passion about being a business owner, it was the paperwork that had to be done. I’d walked past the large refuse bins that were used on this industrial estate; I’d said several times that they were a security hazard, and they were.

Not that the guy waiting behind them was very good at his job. I slowed down my walk until I was nearly at a crawl as I got to the bins. He swept his foot out, trying to take me down. Jumping over his leg, I turned and slammed my fist into his gut, thenbrought my knee up and hit him square in the nose. Hearing the crack, I knew it was broken.

I mean, this was way too easy. This guy was just a lackey and a weenie one at that. I was almost offended that whoever had sent him hadn’t done their homework on me.

“Want to tell me why you’re trying to attack me?” I ask curiously, my head tilted slightly to the side.

“Ow, you fucking bitch. You broke my nose,” he huffs, opening his watering eyes to look at me with anger. Not that I was that bothered; I could take this idiot with my eyes closed.

Even with the gun he was reaching for, I was still waiting for an answer, which I got as he pulled the gun from out of his pants. Stupid idiot.

“Your brother owes my boss money, and I’ve been sent to collect it from you,” he tells me, waving the gun at me and motioning it toward a vehicle down the road from the car park.

“Oh,” I say, feigning surprise, “do you want me to go towards the car then?”

“Yes, you stupid cunt. I’m the one with the fucking gun; I want you to go towards that car and get in. I’m taking you to my boss, where you can pay us either in cash or with your cunt,” he shouts, going red in the face.

I tut and take a step towards him. “You really need to learn better manners when speaking to a lady,” I tell him as I disarm him and then dismantle the handgun. His mouth gapes in surprise at my actions. “And I don’t know what my brother owes you, and I don’t care. I have no money for you, and I’d never pay off debts he ran up anyway. He stole my company and my parents’ house; he should have plenty of money.”

Hearing footsteps from behind me, I turn slightly so that I can see who is coming up and still keep an eye on the idiot standing in front of me, his mouth still wide open in surprise.

“There better be a good reason that you’re harassing my lady, Danny boy,” Liam growls as he comes to a stop next to me, standing shoulder to shoulder, and just like that, I relax, knowing no matter what, he’d have my back. I have no idea what my brother has gotten into, but the demand for money from this douche canoe wasn’t unexpected. Simon had always lived above his means.

The look of surprise on Danny’s face when Liam walked up next to me had me biting back a laugh of amusement. It just wasn’t his day, it seemed.

“Liam, this doesn’t concern the O’Sheas; this is between me and the lady here,” Danny stutters.

After the last few weeks, I know his nervousness is warranted. While the O’Sheas are now running legitimate businesses, they are still a force to be reckoned with. The respect I’ve seen shown to all the brothers while they cleaned their town up these last few weeks and sent warnings out that while they are legit businessmen now, they are still willing to get their hands dirty when needed. They’ve kept us women out of it for the most part, even JoJo, and we were happy for them to take care of business but let them know we were here if they needed our help. Once the warnings had gone out, JoJo had backed them with a warning of her own.

It seemed the warning hadn’t got to whoever this idiot’s boss was.

“I’m guessing you’re deaf as well as stupid, boyo. Did you not just hear me say that she’s my lady? Now, how about you tell me what this is about, or I can phone Big Roy and get it straightfrom the horse’s mouth,” Liam grinds out, taking a step toward Danny, who took a hasty step back. It wasn’t that I needed backup; I could have handled the idiot myself. I can’t lie, though; it was hilarious watching Liam frighten the little shitbag.

“There’s no need for that now, Liam. I didn’t know that she was yours. I’ll be sure to let Big Roy know. Her brother is the one that sent us to her.”

Liam looks over his shoulder at me. I shrug, holding my hands up, telling him, “It seems he owes them money and expects me to pay it. Not sure with what as he stole the company from under me. I’d just suggested to the gobshite that he’d be better off trying to wring water from a dry cloth than to get money out of me. If Si owes them money, they can take it out of his useless hide. I’m not interested, and I’ll not be paying any of his debts. Nor will I be paying his debts with my body, as Danny suggested.”

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