He went red in the face.
I turned back to Fergus. "Here's the thing. I appreciate you coming in person. I do. And I understand that from where you're sitting, this looks like stubbornness. But I've been here long enough to understand what Ballybeg is, and it's not a site. It's not a footprint. It's not a phase of a development plan." I leaned forward. "Shamrock Global will find a better return on its investment somewhere that wants what you're selling. Ballybeg isn't that place."
"You're walking away from a very significant return yourself," Fergus reminded me carefully.
"Like my girlfriend here said, I’ve got a lot of money.”
Cillian made a choking sound, which I enjoyed hearing.
Yeah, asshole, I’m richer than you, better looking than you, and my dick is bigger, I can guarantee it.
Fergus gave me a measured look. “Mr. Gilbert Hampton sends you his regards.”
As threats went, his was effective. Big Gil wasn’t walking away. I didn’t need Fergus to tell me that.
The bell had rung, and this wasn’t going to be a friendly spar.
The silence stretched.
Then, from somewhere near the bar, Liam Murphy's voice bellowed, I'd like another Smitticks when you get a moment, love."
Fergus closed his briefcase. He was a professional; he knew when a room had gone against him. He shook my hand, nodded to Dee—with more respect than he'd arrived with, I noticed—and left.
Cillian lingered a moment longer. He looked at Dee with anger. “You sleeping with him now?”
"Aye," Dee agreed pleasantly. "Feck off, Cillian."
Before he could say something, I stood in front of Dee and looked down my nose at her ex.
Hey, guess what, I was taller than him. By two to three inches.
“I really want to rearrange your face, O’Farrell, so I’d listen to Dee and leave before I run out of patience,” I said, smiling brightly.
The man wasn’t entirely stupid because he left, huffing and puffing like a toddler.
The pub exploded.
Not chaos—Ballybeg chaos, which was its own thing.
Cheers and pint-raising and Seamus pounding the table, and Paddy appearing from nowhere (I had no idea when he'd slipped in) with his hand on my shoulder saying "that's the lad, that's the lad," and Mrs. Nolan telling anyone who'd listen that she'd known from the start that the Yank was the right sort.
Dee stood beside me in the middle of it.
I leaned down close to her ear. "You knew about the eagles."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Yank, I know everything about Ballybeg.”
I wrapped an arm around her and dropped a kiss on her hair.
“What was that about Gilbert…Whatsisname?” she asked.
I squeezed her arm. “That was a warning. Fergus will go back and regroup. The county vote is still coming."
CHAPTER 32
Jax
Iwas a man on a mission, and when I had a mission, there was no backing down. Not on the golf course, and sure as hell not here in Ballybeg.
