She sat there as still as could be, as if remaining motionless would somehow call off the drone. She watched herself live as she sat in fear, wondering what was next.
“Luke, how well can you shoot in the dark?” she heard Liam say into his phone. “Get to the rooftop. I’ll have coordinates in a minute. You’re shooting blind.”
“City?” he hollered. “You okay, baby?”
“Uhhh, yeah.” Her voice cracked. “Just scared.”
“You’re okay, baby. He can’t hurt you. This is as close as he can get to you, okay?”
When she didn’t respond, he appeared in the living room, laptop in one hand, phone in the other as he rattled off coordinates to Luke.
“You’re going to hear shots fired. It’s just Luke,” he said to her calmly, his hands dancing over the keys.
When the first shot rang out, she jumped, letting out a small yelp of a cry. Liam paused what he was doing, ignoring his brother on the other end of the speakerphone, and he turned to her.
“You’re okay. I promise. This is all he can do. This is it. He isn’t hurting us. He’s just pissing us off.”
She looked him in the eye and nodded. He was right. Sure, she was mortified. Seeing herself in such a vulnerable state, so personal, broadcast for God knows who, was enough to make a person a little jumpy. But she was safe because of Liam, and she didn’t need to be afraid. She understood that the moment he said so.
Liam rattled off more coordinates as Luke fired back obscenities. He didn’t like missing a target, even if it was invisible. Luke stalled a moment to put on night vision goggles, hoping that, combined with coordinates from Liam’s radar, would be the golden ticket.
“Son of a bitch. I see him,” Luke said through the phone. “You’re coordinates are spot on, bro. I got the blinking light. Just needed to zoom in to see him.”
Liam turned to Felicity, “He’s going to fire again in three, two…”
Something in that moment left her feeling bold and brazen. She wouldn’t accept the humiliation Wells, or whoever it was, tried to force on her. Liam was right; this was nothing. They couldn’t hurt any of them. She turned to the glass balcony door and flipped off the night sky just as Liam had moments before.
Declan walked in the front door just in time to see Felicity on the wall sized television, flipping the bird, right before another shot rang out, and the video feed went dead.
“Bingo!” Luke yelled with a hoot. “Got’em! Sending your coordinates to Dace and Wylie for recovery. Then I’ll be down.”
Declan stood with his arms crossed and brow cocked. Liam was stepping back into his low-slung sweatpants so he could wrap Felicity in the blanket, which offered her a little more modesty. Luke walked in at that moment and took on a similar expression to Declan’s. The half-naked brother and blanket covering his t-shirt on the girl didn’t hide the fact that they both were a disheveled hot mess and still had that just fucked glow.
“Hacked your T.V., huh?” Luke decided to break the awkward silence. “Can you do anything with that? Find those little trails or whatever you said he leaves behind?”
“No, this is a little different. He used a signal, wasn’t really hacking into the T.V. itself. Well, not like how he tried to get into our mainframe and crap,” Liam rattled on. “I might be able to trace the signal, get a general vicinity? The drone might help with that because it had to receive the same signal. I’ll look for a pattern between the two and back into the frequency he was using, map it out…”
Liam paused a moment. “You have no idea what I’m saying, do you?’
Dace and Wylie walked in on the last part of the conversation and, just like the first two brothers, were immediately distracted themselves with their brother’s rumpled appearance and that of his guest.
“That would be a big fat, hell no, brother,” Dace chimed in. “You’re the only one who speaks geek. Well, besides City.” He winked at her, indicating he was teasing. “Hey, is that, uh…your shirt she’s wearing?”
“Nice, asshole,” Liam said, tucking Felicity behind him. “Set the drone on the table. I’ll take it apart in the morning. I doubt I’ll find anything though. He had to have known we’d shoot it down. He’s not stupid. He’s just…dumb.”
“Because those are different things?” Wylie laughed.
“Yes. He’s still playing games. This is all he has. New trick, old tech. Question is…is this as good as he gets, or is he trying to get us to believe that?” Liam questioned.
“I’ll help you pull it apart in the morning,” Luke offered. “It’s weaponized, might have live ammo.”
“I don’t understand why he isn’t using that?” Wylie questioned. “Why bring guns and not use them?”
“Because he needs her alive if he’s going to get what he thinks she has,” Liam said. “He fires on any of us, he risks hitting her.”
“Really getting sick of this hurry up and wait shit,” Dace mumbled.
“We’re going to get him. This is like any other manhunt we’ve launched. We’re just doing the chasing from a swivel chair rather than on foot.” Liam understood their frustration, they didn’t understand the chase like he did, not this kind of chase. So, he put it in terms they might understand. “Dace has been looking for Ivy for how long now? Years, right? She’s not even trained to fall off the radar, and he can’t find her. He will find her though, eventually, with the right leads and patience.”
“Low blow, Liam,” Dace said with a heavy glare for his brother. Ivy was off limits. She was the reason he disappeared, chasing ghosts of his own.
“But you get it now, right? This guy may not be good at a lot of this shit, but he’s good at hiding – probably in plain sight. We just need him to do what all of our marks do. Fuck up.”
A tear ran down Felicity’s cheek as she listened to Liam describe that it could take years. “Maybe I should go. This is getting too dangerous. What if he had fired that thing at one of you tonight? I need to lure him away.”
“Not a chance in hell,” Liam quickly interrupted. “You’re too vulnerable out there. Easier target. Here, all he can do is taunt you.”
“But he’ll follow me…” she started.
“Exactly! Bad idea. No, you’re not going anywhere. I can’t build walls around you out there. It’ll be harder to keep him away. We might not see him coming in time, especially since we still don’t know if Wells is Dunham or someone entirely different.”
“But…”
“You’re one of us, City.” Liam had had enough. He didn’t like how this was hurting his family. “We take care of our own. You’re family, understand? This isn’t your fault.”
“But I brought this here…”
“No, we brought it here,” Luke corrected, supporting his brother’s plea to Felicity. “We assumed he was out of the picture, trusted the confirmation without confirming ourselves. We made the mess; we clean it up.”
Liam held her face in his hands and held her stare as if they were the only two in the room. “I meant what I said. Nothing happens to you. We are in this together. I’m done running from my past. You’re done running from yours. I need you; we need you. So, we fight, got it? We fight.”
Felicity let out a small sob with a weak smile and nodded her head. Liam pulled her into a tight embrace and let out a relieved sigh. Each of his brothers stood by with satisfied smiles on their faces. Their brother had been lost for so long, and he was finding himself.
“Not much we can do tonight,” Declan interrupted. “We’ll be on our way.”
The other brothers nodded and headed for the door. Luke turned around and said, “Everyone’s here. Ronan and Ryker are around, and even Carter is headed back to Portland. If something comes up, we got your back, man. Yours too, City.”
Liam nodded. He’d expect nothing less from his brothers. That was just who they were, and he’d gladly drop everything for any one of them as they would for him. Family was everything to the O’Reillys, whether it be by blood or affiliatio
n. They loved hard. They fought hard. They took care of each other at all costs.
Wylie paused before getting to the door and turned to walk back to Liam and Felicity. He pulled her from Liam and wrapped her in his arms where he held her tight.
He kissed her cheek and said, “Thank you.”
Her eyes welled with happiness as the other three brothers offered the same thanks with a sweet embrace and a kiss on the cheek. They’d always been fond of her, but that fondness was more now. She helped bring their brother back to them. Their family was healing. Their brother was healing, and it was about frickin’ time.
Liam pulled the curtains closed and unplugged the television while Felicity saw the brothers out.
“He can’t get in. I’ll add layer after layer to everything, jam frequencies so his drones can’t see or hear anything. If they’re weaponized, they won’t be able to fire.” Liam ran down the list of promises, reassuring Felicity when they met in the middle of the living room. “Basically, they’ll fry if they get too close. He will run out of that small army of his; that’s the point. He’ll be left desperate and vulnerable, and I’ll take his ass down.”
Felicity nodded, her smile convincing, which brought him relief.
“I will protect what’s mine. Protect what I love.” Liam was speaking from his heart and didn’t expect love to come out, but it did, and it felt good to finally say. “At all costs, City.”
Liam lifted her from the ground and wrapped her around his waist with a virile growl and took her to his bed. “Let’s finish our sleepover.”
City giggled when he laid her across the bed and stepped out of his sweatpants. “What about all that stuff you need to do…”
“It can wait.” His tone dropped to a menacing timbre as he stood at the edge of the bed, holding his steely length. “You look cute in my shirt, City. Take it off. Now.”
A breathy moan fell from her lips, and her cheeks flushed at his demanding tone. She tossed the shirt to the side and played along, letting her knees fall open with her back arched. Liam took his fill of the view she gave him when her hands dragged down her body, and she touched herself. With his hand slowly stroking himself, he shook his head and watched with a pleased smirk.
The moment was brief because seeing her like that brought out a primal need to take her, claim her. He pulled her to the edge of the bed and turned her to her stomach, pulling her ass in the air. In one vigorous move, he drove into her, her screams of pleasure satisfying.
He leaned over her, leaving trails of his tongue and mouth all the way to her shoulder where he whispered, “Mine…”
20
“I thought you said dad was eating brunch with us?” Reagan asked Felicity.
“He is,” she replied, “He said he would meet us up here. He had something to do.”
“Work,” Reagan deadpanned. “It’s always work.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Felicity giggled.
They rounded a screened pergola that bordered the grassy lawn in the center of the space and found a small bistro table set up, adorned with flowers, silver domed platters and a large glass carafe of chocolate milk. Seating for two. Liam was leaning against the pergola post, looking at his watch when he saw them come into view.
“I thought you were going to stand me up,” he said.
Reagan tossed a confused look at Felicity. With a quick kiss to her forehead, Felicity said, “Happy birthday, sweet girl,” before she left the two alone to enjoy their brunch.
With a thumb tossed over her shoulder, Reagan asked. “Where’s she going? She usually has breakfast with me.”
“She has party stuff to do. It’s just you and me,” he said, pulling out a chair for her. “You good with that?”
“Um, yeah, but…this is kind of weird.”
Liam shrugged. “Not weird, justnlong overdue.”
“O…kay.” Reagan looked at the plate when Liam removed the dome and gasped. “Your famous French toast? With extra powdered sugar?”
“Duh. It’s your birthday.” He laughed, pouring her a glass of chocolate milk.
“Oh my God.” Reagan stood quickly, her chair falling over behind her. “You’re sick. You’re…sick and you are trying to tell me!”
Liam’s jaw dropped. Not only was it ridiculous, but it was sad too. Their relationship was that broken that quality time equated to him dying and telling her on her birthday.
“No, no, no…” he said, propping her chair back up and urging her to sit. “I’m fine. Finer than fine. But…I know I haven’t been.”
“Dad…” She swallowed hard. “You’re wearing jeans though. I didn’t think you had jeans.”
“Jeans doesn’t mean I’m sick, kid.” He laughed. “I’m just…chillin’ out. Isn’t that what you kids say?”
“Yes. We say chill, but you really shouldn’t. It sounds like Uncle Wylie.” She laughed.
He took his seat across from her and just looked at her to the point she started looking over her shoulder. “What? Is there someone behind me? You’re being really weird, Da.”
Da – she said Da – not dad but Da. It had been so long since she had called him that he’d forgotten what it sounded like. Though born in the states, just like he had been, their Irish roots ran deep, and the sentiment, respect, that came with calling him Da wasn’t lost on him.
“No. There’s nothing behind you. I’m not sick. I’m just…trying to be better,” he said, pouring syrup over his French toast.
“Better?”
“Yeah, like us, better.” Liam’s shoulders sagged. He put his utensils down, and he tilted his head, staring at her for a moment. “When mom died…” He blew out a deep breath, hoping the right words would come. “I sort of lost myself. I was so sad and worried about you. I didn’t handle it very well.”
“We all had a hard time,” she said, trying to comfort him.
“No, what I did was more than a hard time. I just sort of stopped. And that wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair to you; it was just…not cool.”
Her voice was small, sentiment weaving through her words. “It’s okay, Da. You loved her too. You knew her the longest, and…”
“No, Rage. It wasn’t okay. If I was as smart as everyone thinks I am, I would have taken notes from you and found a way to keep her with me instead of trying to forget.”
“Like the letters.”
“Yes, Rage. Like the letters. And you. And all of the things we all used to do – I just pretended none of it mattered so it wouldn’t hurt anymore, but all it did was hurt worse.” He cleared his throat, shoving the threatening emotions down. “I’m going to do better, okay? Things will never be the way they used to be, but that’s okay. It wouldn’t be the same without her anyway. So we start fresh. We work hard at being better.”
Reagan’s smile warmed his heart in a way that he couldn’t stop his feelings from being known.
“I think that sounds awesome.”
“Totes awesome, or just awesome, awesome?” he asked.
“Oh my gosh…no…don’t say that.” She laughed. “Start with the jeans, and we’ll go from there.”
“Are we good?” he asked, his smile timid.
“We were always good. We just didn’t know it. And you totally ruined your French toast with syrup. It’s extra butter and powdered sugar that rocks.”
“Says you,” he teased. “This is the bomb.”
“Seriously.” She laughed. “Stop. You sound…”
“Cool?” he asked.
Reagan tossed her head back and laughed. “No. Like an old dude trying to sound cool.”
“Old dude? Just for that…” He reached across the table and stabbed a strawberry from her plate with his fork. “I’m taking this!”
“Hey, guys,” Felicity interrupted. “This just came.”
She held a long garment bag from a hanger and handed it to Liam. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“What’s in that bag?” Reagan said with big eyes.
“I don
’t know…just something I thought you might like.” Liam hung the bag from the nearby lattice and unzipped it, revealing the party dress she had been looking at online. Her high-pitched shriek told him it was a move well played as he sat back down with a proud grin on his face.
“Da! That’s it! That’s…the dress.” She stood with her hands covering her mouth in surprise. She looked to him. “Where? How? It was online, and it said like two weeks, and I didn’t think…”
“Two weeks? You forget who I am…” He laughed. “Just kidding. City helped me find it closer to Portland. Uncle Dace went to get it.”
“On the motorcycle? I bet that looked funny.”
“Nah. He was in Seattle for a few days and brought it back this morning.”
“Looking for Ivy?” she asked between bites of breakfast, her eyes never leaving the dress.
“What do you know about Ivy? You were too little…”
“I’m not little, and I remember everything.” She shrugged. “So, the dress. Where should I uh…wear it?”
Liam’s attention stayed on the French toast. He shrugged his shoulders as if it wasn’t a big deal, but really it was, and he was a ball of nerves. “I don’t know. Thought maybe that dance at your school Friday? I mean, if you want to go, and you can wear jeans instead if you…”
“I’d love to!” she shrieked, clapping her hands. “Jeans? To the dance? You do have some catching up to do! I’ll wear the dress! I need shoes though, and I know just the ones.”
She continued on, discussing shoes, hair, whether or not she should wear make-up, if it was okay to wear make-up, and so on. His head was spinning, but he was enjoying it. He’d missed this. He’d missed her.
The brothers stood around the rooftop, surrounded by a mob of hormone raging tweens for Reagan’s big party. Liam brought the guys up to speed about the dance and what that meant from a security perspective. Though they grunted at the thought of spending a Friday night with this crowd of kids, times ten, they were pleased that they were going because he was going.
It was a beach themed party with blow up floating mats, inner tubes, and beach balls – no pool though. They built the closest thing to a bonfire in their gas fire pit, and barbequed tween friendly food like hotdogs and hamburgers. Felicity saved the day, however, with the vegan dogs and bean burgers with gluten free alternatives – it was Portland after all.
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 48