Free Liam by Madison Stevens Page A

recently.
    “Mom,” he said, his tone a clear warning.
    “Fine, fine,” she dismissed him. “I won’t harp. I called to see if you want to come for dinner Friday.”
    Liam thought for a moment. “I can do that,” he said. “See you in a couple days.”
    He barely waited for a reply before stepping out into the night.
    “Took you long enough,” Finn said at the door.
    Liam walked past his brother into the main hall.
    “Mom,” he said and held up his phone.
    Finn closed the door and moved to stand in front of him. “Does she know you know about your true father?”
    Liam shook his head.
    “You’re going to have to tell her eventually when you become my first,” he said.
    Liam grinned at him. “So certain I’m going to?”
    Finn grinned back, his green eyes bright. “We are brothers after all.”
    Despite himself, the smile slipped a little. It was still just weird to say it.
    “We’ll see,” Liam said. “So what’s the meeting about?”
    “Mainly to keep the men on our side,” Finn said as they walked to his office. He closed the doors behind him. “But also to see what’s going on with Meg’s break in. We can’t discount that the Russians are involved.”
    Liam shrugged. “Not a lot. We’ve seen someone break into the place, but that’s about it. Seems like they are looking for some sort of paper.”
    Finn frowned. “For what?”
    “Don’t know.” He shrugged.
    “Does she have anything of value?” Finn sat in his chair, and Liam sat across from him.
    “Not that she can remember,” he said.
    Finn scratched his chin in thought. “It sounds like someone has it out for her. What sort of detail do you have? I’ll put up a man if you’d like.”
    Liam shook his head.
    “She’s mine to protect,” he said firmly.
    Finn nodded to him. “Just remember, I’m here for you. I’d like to make up for lost time.”
    Liam swallowed the lump in his throat. Growing up, he had always wanted siblings, and now he had them. Granted, it wasn’t the way he had expected, but sometimes the unexpected was the best way.
    “Thanks,” he said, his voice low with emotions.
    Finn nodded his understanding. It hadn’t been an easy run for him, having his brother Ennis turn on him and try to take over the family, only to find out that he had more than one brother and his dad was more an asshole than originally thought. To Liam, things were strange, but Finn was dealing with a whole new level of fucked up.
    “All right.” Finn stood, clapped Liam on the shoulder and grinned. “Let’s get this meeting over with, so you can get back to your woman.”
     
    * * *
     
    When Meg entered the living room, her mother and Harley had already gone to bed. She swallowed as she looked at her dad.
    “So,” he said and laid down his evening paper. “Things are all clear at the house?”
    Everything raced through her mind, but nothing good came up.
    “Sort of,” she said and sat hard on the seat next to him.
    “So does that mean you should or shouldn’t be going over there?”
    “According to everyone, I’m not allowed to go anywhere.” Meg sighed. “I just want to go back home, Dad, and have things be normal.”
    “Are you sure that’s even possible?” He stared at her with such intensity that she knew he suspected something was going on.
    Meg leaned her head back against the chair. “I’m not sure of anything,” she said.
    “I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told your brothers.”
    Meg lifted her head and looked at him with surprise. She didn’t think there was much of anything he didn’t share with her brothers.
    “Your mother wasn’t interested in me when we first met,” he said quietly.
    Her eyebrows shot up with shock. “But that’s not how Mom tells it,” she said.
    He chuckled. “Because it wasn’t love at first sight for her.”
    Meg leaned forward a bit more. “But it was for you?”
    She watched as his eyes glassed over a bit, like he was seeing her for the first