Liam

by Madison Stevens

  He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

  “I’m sorry for what she told you,” he said.

  His mother shook her head. “I’m not.” She took his hand and squeezed. “She loves you and just wants to make sure you’re happy.”

  “By hurting my mother?” he bit out.

  “She didn’t hurt me,” his mother said. “That was done a long time ago by a not very nice man.”

  “Eva,” Finn said, after clearing his throat. “Maybe you should tell him.”

  Liam furrowed his brow. “Tell me what?” He turned to his mother.

  “It was Meg that figured it out.” She twisted her hands. “You know what happened to me, but what you don’t know is that Shane Kelly didn’t like having loose ends.”

  Finn gave a hollow laugh. “A specialty of fathers.”

  Liam saw red. “Did he threaten you?”

  His mother shook her head and looked down at her hands. “He paid me off,” she said quietly. “Each month he would send money.”

  Liam frowned. “Well it must not have been much.”

  Finn laughed, and he glared at him.

  His mother took his hands again. “I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. The idea of that man getting his dirty hands on you just made me ill,” she cried.

  Liam swallowed and took in a deep breath. “What are you trying to tell me?”

  His mother leaned over and pulled out a bag from the side of the couch.

  “It’s not like I could just spend his dirty money.” She busied herself with the bag. “I thought about donating it, but really, it was never my money.”

  She sat the bag in his lap. Liam shook his head. She couldn’t have. His hands shook as he opened the bag. It was filed with stacks of money.

  “Ma, how much is this?” Liam asked. He closed the bag and sat it on the floor.

  She shook her head.

  “A hundred thousand,” Finn said from the chair. “This is what Dale was after. We thought he was just looking for revenge and something on you, but he must have been looking for this. I’ll give the son of a bitch credit. He managed to not spill the secret to Noel and me.”

  “One hundred thousand?” Liam echoed. “Well, that’s not so bad. We’ll figure it out. A hundred thousand isn’t so much to deal with.” He looked to Finn. “Think we can clean it?”

  Finn grinned at him. “We could if it was just that.”

  His brows furrowed. “Ma,” he said to her. “How many bags you got?”

  She looked up to him. “Twelve,” she said.

  “Twelve?” he said in disbelief.

  “One point two million,” Finn said. “Nearly your share of the estate.” Finn stood and looked down at him. “I’ve contacted my lawyer. We can make this work. All we need is a DNA test to make you legally my brother. Then, the money would just be child support.”

  “It’s that simple?” Liam asked.

  Finn shrugged. “That’s what my lawyer seems to think.”

  Liam looked over to his mother. “Are you okay with this?”

  She sighed, and he suddenly realized that she was aging faster than he ever thought.

  “Keeping this from you was not easy.” She sighed. “But it’s yours, and so is your right to a brother. It’s nice to have people you can count on.”

  Liam looked up to Finn. “Yeah.”

  “Even better to have someone to share it with,” she said quietly.

  His head shot up. “Meg,” he said. “She’s going to the airport.”

  Finn grinned at him. “Well, then you better go and get your woman.”

  Liam looked between them both. For so long he had felt apart from everyone. Always looking in on the happiness of others. For the first time, he was the one with happiness, and it was because of her. He kissed his mother on the cheek and pulled her in for a big hug. He looked to Finn.

  “I owe you.”

  Finn nodded. “That’s what family’s for.”

  Liam pulled back and nodded. He was right. That was what family did.

  “I still want the job,” he said firmly. “Together we can make this a better life.”

  “That’s a deal,” Finn said. “Now run.”

  Liam laughed as he raced for the door. Out of all the stunts he had tried, this was about the craziest, but she was totally worth it.

  *

  Meg groaned as she walked quickly to the doors of the airport. She was afraid that if she stopped, she just might beat her brother. When he caught up with her, he was out of breath and breathing heavy.

  “I’m sorry, Meg,” Cage panted.

  She shot him a dirty look as she made her through the sliding doors.

  Her head ached from the exhausting day. Despite knowing how he would react, it had still hurt when Liam tossed her out. All she wanted was for him to be happy.

  Meg sighed. It wouldn’t do any good to get upset over it.

  She stopped in front of the flight board. Flight 2059, right on time. Well, that was one less thing to worry about.

  “So are you planning on ignoring me?” Cage asked.

  She turned to glare at him. “When are you going to grow up, Cage?”

  He grinned at her. “You love me, and you know it.”

  She groaned. For someone that was older than her, he certainly liked to think of himself as the baby.

  “Meg!” a heart-wrenching voice yelled.

  Her stomach turned. She spun to face Liam.

  He plodded across the airport in his heavy shoes. Several people eyed them with interest as he approached.

  “Meg,” he panted. “I need to talk to you.” He nodded to Cage.

  “Flight’s going to be in soon,” Cage said and eyed Liam. He hadn’t been too happy when Liam broke it off with her.

  “Just five minutes,” Liam pleaded with her.

  She tried not to look into his eyes, but it was no use.

  Meg turned to Cage. “Could you just give us a few minutes?”

  Cage shrugged and went to sit in the seats near them.

  She turned back to look at Liam. It had only been an hour, but he was looking far less stressed.

  Meg crossed her arms and waited for him to start. He shifted nervously from foot to foot.

  “So,” he said. “I guess that bastard actually did something good.”

  “It would seem so,” she said and glanced at the flight board.

  “Yeah.” He rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. The thin t-shirt stretched over his taught muscles. “So, that’s it then? Just going to head out of here?”

  She opened her mouth to answer but stopped when he started talking.

  “Not that I can blame you,” he said. “I’ve been such a fucking idiot, Meg.”

  Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded. He had been an idiot.

  “God, Meg.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. Without warning, he took her hands into his. “Don’t go.”

  He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her.

  “I need you,” he said against her stomach.

  “What about before?” she asked quietly.

  He looked up at her. “Keeping you safe has always been top for me, and now I have the means to do it.”

  Meg stepped back a little. “I just…” Her voice quivered as she spoke. “I don’t know how I can believe you. You’ve changed your mind so many times.”

  Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a pretty gold ring.

  “So marry me,” he said quietly.

  “What?” She choked out the words.

  Liam straightened up and took her hand. “Marry me, Meg Allen.”

  She stared at him.

  “I—I,” she stuttered.

  “I love you, Meg,” he whispered. “Marry me.”

  A tear leaked down her face. “I love you too,” she whispered.

  Liam stood, and she looked up to him.

  She took the ring from him and slipped it on her finger. “Yes,” she whispered.


  Several nearby people cheered and clapped.

  Liam grinned from ear to ear and lifted her up into a hug. He spun her before setting her back down again.

  “Meg,” Cage said. “It’s time.”

  She nodded. “Okay.” She smiled.

  Without warning, she was being lifted into the air and flung over a pair of hard shoulders.

  “No way,” Liam said and strolled to the front door.

  “Wait, Liam, you aren’t understanding.” She wiggled for him to set her down.

  “No way. I let you go, and you’ll be running off to London. Right now I’m taking the woman I love home to make love all night long,” he said.

  She blushed at how loud he was being. Meg struggled to get free and jumped when he smacked her ass. Heat rushed to other parts of her, deepening her blush.

  “Be good,” he mumbled as they came to a stop.

  He slid her down his body.

  “It’s been too long, Meg,” he growled in her ear. “I’m going to take you home and make sure that nine months from now we’ve got something to celebrate.”

  Her heart caught in her throat.

  He leaned in and kissed her softly.

  “Let’s get married soon and have lots of kids,” he whispered. “Then you won’t ever try to leave again.”

  Meg smiled and wound her arms around his neck.

  “I wasn’t here to go to London. I was here to pick up John and Nicolas.”

  Liam frowned and leaned back. “The gay couple?”

  Meg nodded and grinned. “I wasn’t planning on letting you go again this time.”

  Liam leaned his head against hers.

  “No more chasing,” he whispered. “Let’s go home.”

  A Note from Madison

  Thank you for reading Liam. If you enjoyed this book, please consider reviewing it. We authors live and die by reviews.

  The next book in the series, Ryder, is scheduled to be out in the next couple months.

  Author Bio

  Madison currently lives with her husband and two children in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. After leaving the frozen tundra of the north, she was more surprised than anyone with how much she has enjoyed living in the desert. Seeing as she stated on more than one occasion before moving to Arizona how much she hated heat, it was an odd move, but it seems her hatred for sub-zero temperatures and ice has won out in the end.

  When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying time with her family. Madison and her family frequent festivals in the area, as well as local cultural events, and spend time with family in the area. In the summer, she is most likely to be found in the pool with the family and in the winter by the fireplace. Since both her children are autistic, days can be a little chaotic, but with her husband beside her, there’s nothing she can’t handle.

  Madison has a full schedule of releases planned for 2014 listed and updated on her blog: http://madisonstevens.blogspot.com/

  She can be contacted at madisonstevensauthor@gmail.com

  You can join her mailing list at http://eepurl.com/OX9r5

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