Page 7 of Liam

“Are you good?” Draco asks, concern clear on his face. Immediately, I know what he’s asking; my heart warms at the concern in his voice. Why couldn’t my brother have been like Draco? He cared more about my wellbeing than my own blood. And it seemed the Crows and the O’Sheas were closer than I’d realised. That alone made what had happened this afternoonwith Liam easier to deal with; I’d never felt anything like this before. I’d assumed instant attraction was a myth, but it seemed not. You just had to be in the right place at the right time.

“It hit me like a freight train,” I tell them. “I wasn’t expecting it. I mean, the man is fucking delicious.

“Oh, stop,” I mutter when they both squirm slightly at my words. “He didn’t even seem to notice my scar or the size of my arse. I’m still reeling at the fact that he’s interested in me at all. I mean, I’m not the most feminine woman out there, and looking like he does, I’m sure he has plenty of company when he wants it,” I tell them, still feeling slightly confused at the events of the afternoon.

“Sera, you are more than your scar,” Reaper informs me seriously. “And as for the other bit of that sentence, you’d better not have been putting yourself down. Because let me tell you, there are a bunch of men here who’d tell you that it isn’t about how you look but about how you are as a person and how you treat others. Our ladies would be pretty pissed if they heard you putting yourself down about your size.

“There’s no rule that says men should prefer one body type. Yes, there are men who want women like that, but I’m sure they are pretty shallow men themselves. Like goes for like.

“I can assure you that most of us are pretty simple; we want a woman who will stand by us through thick and thin and be able to handle the hard shit when it hits the fan. Someone we can laugh and have fun with and know, no matter what, you’ll be there no matter what life throws at us. That’s what most of us want.

“I can assure you that Liam took one look at you and knew you were that person for him. Don’t start sabotaging yourself now with doubts, because trust me, you being you is exactly what heneeds. He has a hard job as the leader of his crew, and he’ll need a strong woman to help him. From what I know of you, you are all that and more.”

“Well, fuck,” I mutter, wiping at my eyes. “I think I’ve laughed and cried more today than I have in a month. Thank you, Reaper; those words mean a lot.”

Reaper nods in acknowledgement, “Good, and while I’m sorry for how you ended up here, Draco and I are also glad because we’ve missed having you lot around. I know we didn’t serve together, but we saw each other often enough that we all came to care for you and your squad. Don’t overthink this thing with Liam. Have a good time tonight. You won’t regret being part of the O’Shea’s; I can promise you that.”

“Here come your girls,” Draco interrupts as a rumble of bikes comes down the road. It’s not long before my girls’ squad is pulling up in the garage, JoJo on the back of Evie’s bike so that I could use the Jeep today.

“We’re just going to go and grab some of our stuff,” Ange tells me as she hurries past us with the rest of the girls, who all call out greetings as they pass us on their way to the cottage. We watch them for a minute until they disappear. I know it won’t take them long because we haven’t unpacked, knowing this was just a temporary place to lay our heads down.

“Are you moving?” Draco asks with a small frown.

Shaking my head, I tell him, “Not yet, but Adam wants to talk to the girls about doing some work for him while we set everything up, and because it will be late, he and Tilly arranged for us to sleep there.”

“I notice you said, ‘not yet,’” Draco grins at me.

Blushing, I lower my head, “I’m going to take your word for it and stay with Liam for a while to see where this will go. It may be a stupid idea because it looks like I’ll be going into business with them, but for once in my life, I’m going to say screw it and just go with the flow. I’m not going to worry about anything except enjoying life.”

“That’s it, girl. Life is too short not to,” JoJo agrees with a nod as she walks up to us, an overnight bag over her shoulder. A tinge of sadness crosses her eyes, and my heart hurts for my friend. “Now, I need to know all about this hunk of deliciousness that seems to have turned my usually level-headed friend on her head.”

Amusement whips through me at her words, and I laugh out loud and then even harder as both Reaper and Draco make a hasty retreat, obviously not wanting to hear what I have to say about Liam.

“I think I’ll wait until you meet him in person so I can get your opinion without mine colouring it,” I grin when JoJo growls and jokingly stamps her foot, playfully pouting at me.

“Here,” I say, handing her my Jeep keys, “I’m guessing you’ve had enough of bikes.”

“You think right, my awesome friend. I don’t know how you all do it. My arse was hurting ten minutes into the ride,” she grumbles as she climbs into the Jeep.

It doesn’t take long for the others to join us before we’re off, with me leading as I more or less know where I’m going. Adam meets us at the gates and lets us through. I wonder at the security and the warning signs but figure they’ll tell us eventually.

CHAPTER 4

LIAM

It doesn’t take long for Adam and Johnny to start taking the piss out of me, and I can’t blame them. I’d teased them a little when they’d got together with their ladies and how they always seemed to need them nearby.

I wasn’t one to usually be all over a woman in front of family, probably because I’d not had a proper girlfriend since senior school. Don’t get me wrong, I had needs and had a mutual understanding with a few ladies that knew the score, but I didn’t flaunt it.

I’d never wanted a relationship because whoever I ended up with would have to be a particular type of woman. She’d need to be strong enough to help me keep hold of and build our businesses as well as be comfortable helping with running the crew of men and women that worked for us. While we were no longer running guns, we still got our hands dirty if we needed to, and whoever I was with would have to be comfortable with that. Somehow, both my brothers had found women that didn’t judge the way we worked if it came to the safety of those around us.

While we didn’t have the same amount of crew around us like we used to, there were enough of them that I still had to keep an eye on all of them to ensure that they were doing okay. We were afamily, if a slightly dysfunctional one. It helped that most of the crew worked for us in various capacities.

It was lonely at the top making all the decisions, and while Johnny and Adam both helped, I didn’t want to lean on them too hard, so I tried to keep the pressure off by juggling as many plates as I could while keeping an eye on the bottom line so that nobody went without. For the most part, we were doing okay.

Sera had been an unexpected surprise but not an unwelcome one. I wasn’t going to be stupid and turn her away. If there was one thing about being quiet and observant, it is that you learned pretty quickly what to do and what not to do when it came to the women in our lives. I’d watched my three brothers, my cousin Tommy, and most of the Crow men as they fell one after the other for their ladies.

Before the night ended, I’d ensure that she knew she was my queen. If that meant I took a bit of teasing from my brothers, then that was fine too.

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