“I can make this look purposeful, beauty. Like you were doing what I guided you toward.” He leans over to kiss my cheek, and I can hear my brother’s footfalls as he makes his way across the room to us. “Trust me.”
I feel Rafferty’s hand on my shoulder. I sigh heavily and look up to meet his concerned gaze.
“Thank you for giving me some time,” Liam tells him as he rises. “This is all my fault, Rafferty. But, I can still fix this.”
Raff cocks his head to the side, unsure of what Liam’s words mean. Hell, I can’t help him because I’m equally confused. He studies Liam’s face. Then, he turns to me. “We should head home, Tare Bear. I want to get you out of here before Da has a stroke.”
I nod as I stand.
“I’ll be in touch,” Liam tells me.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Rafferty’s words are a sigh. There’s no heat behind them. He sounds as defeated as I feel.
Liam winks at him and Raff’s mouth drops open. “It’s honestly the best idea I ever had. I don’t intend to give up on it now.”
Raff shakes his head. “Leave before you start a fucking war, McGuiness.”
“I’ve got your back, beauty,” Liam tells me once again as he heads toward the door. “We’re inevitable.”
LIAM
“What the fuck was that?” Darragh hisses at me as we make our way, once again, down the corridor to leave the O’Toole estate.
“I’m going to marry that girl, Darragh,” I tell him flatly. “She will bemy wife. If you or anyone else think I would just walk out while she was getting her ass handed to her by three men in the O’Toole clan, then you don’t know shit about me.”
To my utter shock, Darragh laughs. “You’re not right in the head, boyo. I know that much.”
I nod at this. “No, I don’t suppose I am.”
I climb into the driver’s seat, while Darragh folds his big body into the passenger’s side. “We should probably discuss this with your Da, since you think you’re still getting married.”
“Where the hell did he go?”
My father peeled out of the O’Tooles’ circular drive so fast, he left skid marks. Two of his men flanked him as he left, muttering curses the entire way.
Darragh pulls up his phone. “He’s headed to your place.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Text Ryan.”
Darragh sighs, but does as I ask. My brother will want to make himself scarce if our father is en route.
“I appreciate that you all think I’m an idiot,” I tell Darragh evenly. “But, for the life of me, I can’t comprehend why you’d call Taryn and me there if you weren’t going to let either of us speak.”
“What would that have solved?” He asks the question with no malice. He’s absolutely serious. Jesus Christ.
“I know about the money,” I snarl at him. “I understand the investment, how it got there, and why it was created. I’m involved.”
“What the fuck, Liam?” Darragh shouts.
“I kept saying you were making a mistake, but you wouldn’t shut your fucking mouth.”
“Why didn’t you force the issue? Dear fucking god. This is a mess.”
I sigh. “Oh, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.” I turn to glance at him as I change lanes. “And if you ever liked me even a little, try to remind the old man that I’m his heir, alright? Don’t let him kill me. At least, not today. He should really sleep on it first.”
“Fucking crazy ass kid,” Darragh mutters before he starts texting God knows who.
I sigh. The truth is: Taryn is the kind of beautiful that makes men stupid, and I’m the worst of them. I may have just made a very bad decision on this one, but I don’t think I’m wrong here.
