Page 12 of A Very Un-Shakespeare Romance
Robbie turned and gave him theI’m the oldest brotherlook. “Come on. You know he’s right.”
“You planning on putting away your grumpy OCD tendencies?” Billie’s smile showed teeth. “Because if I have to stop saying fuck and throwing things, then you’re going to have to quit your gruff and surly moods from not getting laid enough.”
Hadn’t he equated putting bad guys in jail with being as good as sex? But he wasn’t going to let the other hit land. “Gruff and surly, my ass. I’m a cop in Southie. What the hell am I supposed to say when I go through the door to apprehend criminals? Oh, I’m so sorry your mother didn’t love you, and I’m sure you didn’t mean to beat up that old guy for his TV?”
“This is going nowhere,” Tim said, cradling his beer between his hands. “All I’m trying to say is that we should each do our part to set a positive example for the girls. This is heavy stuff. Their dad getting kicked out and their mom taking off and leaving them with the three of us, two of whom are apes. Put yourself in their place.”
Robbie gritted his teeth alongside Billie. “Fine,” they both said at the same time.
“But what are we going to do about the cat?” Billie asked, his jaw knotted. “Because that pussy hates men.”
“You’re only upset because your wiles don’t work on Miss Purrfect.” Tim’s lips twitched, and then they were all laughing.
Billie was the one who sobered first, possibly because Robbie had just toed his shoes off. “All right, do we talk about it now? What Tara’s got herself into? And Robbie, for the love of God, put your shoes back on. Your feet are rank.”
Robbie ignored him. Setting his beer on the glass table, he leaned back, closing his eyes. “Getting real is probably a good idea. I wish we could know for sure Pop made it to Ireland.”
“No reason to think he wouldn’t,” Tim said with his usual gravity. “It scared me something bad when you said you thought he needed to get out of town because of the Kellys.”
The earlier tightness in his diaphragm returned with a vengeance. “Pop is getting up in years. I was worried the Kellys might go by his house and maybe rough him up, ask him about Tara, me, or the girls. Everyone knows we’re her main family.” He’d go to his grave before admitting it, but he’d also worried about his little brother’s safety. Tim wasn’t a fighter, which was another reason he’d had him come along.
“Jesus, Tara’s in a mess.” Billie’s feet landed on the coffee table. “I told her on her wedding day Scotty was no good.”
“And she retaliated by not talking to you for six months.” Robbie pressed his hands to his face, remembering having to intercede at Christmas and lock them in a room together to work out their issues, something their mother had resorted to when they were growing up.
“She’s been so stubborn and independent, ever since we started kindergarten together.” Billie’s eyes narrowed, and for the first time Robbie could see the pinch of worry on his brow. “That’s what I keep telling myself when I start going crazy about her being all alone out there. Any idea where she went?”
“No, and we don’t want to.” Robbie sighed. “Look, all I want to do is find her and wrap her up in my protection.”
“Our protection,” Billie said, flexing his massive guns.
“Right. But she was smart to pay attention to all my stupid criminal videos and what I always say about how people get tracked down.”
“Who knew those gems would save the day?” Billie held up his hands. “Yay!”
“Oh, stop poking at Robbie,” Tim broke in, setting his beer on his knee. “He’s as upset as the rest of us, but Tara does know how to handle herself. I mean, look at the way she set things up. She even got you a burner phone, Robbie, and I imagine she got one for herself. That’s smart.”
“Right, but we’re men. We’re used to kicking bad guy ass when needed. Me at my car shop. Danny at the bar. And Robbie at the precinct. Tara shouldn’t have to do that. Especially alone.”
Billie’s omission of Tim was like a stink bomb, so Robbie shot him a look before saying, “If Tara thought she had to separate herself from the girls to keep them safe, then we’ve got to respect her decision and support it.” Even if he hated sitting in this saccharine beach rental until “something gave,” as Tara called it.
“So we support her like we did when she married Scotty,” Billie added. “That worthless sack of—”
“Leaving Reagan and Cassidy for two weeks—with us—is one hell of a gamble.” Tim’s heavy sigh carried across the low lamplight in the room. “It’s going to eat her up, being away from her babies.”
“Then we do everything we can to treat them like princesses and give them the time of their lives.” Billie’s feet landed on the floor then, like he’d come to a big decision. “Dammit, I know I’ve been an ass, but taking care of these kids is nothing in comparison to what Tara is going through.”
“On that we agree.” Robbie sat up. “All right. So we’re here in the Outer Banks for two weeks or until the case breaks and we can all go home.”
“That fancy computer from Internal Affairs is our only window to the outside world,” Tim said wistfully.
“Yes, and I plan on checking it every morning. I’m not even risking using the burner because—”
“Everything can be tapped,” Billie finished for him. “I watch your stupid criminal videos too. Plus, some of the guys who work for me at the shop are ex-cons. A few of them got caught making stupid mistakes.”
“We won’t make any.” He glanced at both of his brothers. “Tara deserves some credit. She picked the perfect place. It’s the end of tourist season, so there are fewer people around us. We’re just three brothers—”
“Correction,” Billie pointed out. “A divorced dad with his two brothers along to help with his girls he has shared custody of. We need to get our story straight and stick to it.”
