“Fine. Not today though.”
“Give me a time, and I’m yours.”
She shouldn’t have been as pleased as she was by his words. He probably didn’t even mean it the way she took it, but she couldn’t help it.
“Are you ordering something, or are you leaving?”
He gifted her with the slightest of smiles. Yeah, he was staying.
Rolling her eyes—though she was trying her hardest not to be charmed—she filled a glass and set it in front of him, then walked away before he could engage her in conversation again.
Reagan could almost pretend that he wasn’t there. Almost.
But his presence was the least of her concern as the atmosphere changed when the door opened and a gust of wind blew in, men following close behind.
She didn’t have to look up to know that it was Liam—she could feel the change in the air. How the animated conversations had come to a standstill, or how chairs screeched as people got to their feet, tossing bills on the table, and headed for the door. He thought he was doing her a favor by keeping Rourke away? His presence alone was ruining her.
Casually maneuvering through the crowd of people, he didn’t stop until he was standing in front of the bar directly in front of her and right beside Niklaus. Though everyone on the barstools closest to Liam scurried out of the way, Niklaus remained where he was, utterly unaffected by him as he continued drinking his beer.
Liam peered over in his direction—probably wondering why he hadn’t moved like the others—and was about to dismiss him entirely, but then his eyes narrowed.
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
Niklaus placed his glass on the bar. “Doubtful.” That was it. That was all he said as though Liam wasn’t worth more of an effort.
Reagan didn’t know whether she was impressed or afraid that he seemed so unbothered by Liam’s quite obvious display of power.
Liam might have looked annoyed with the slight, but he chose to ignore it, turning back to Reagan. “We need to talk. Privately.”
Though the last thing she wanted to do was talk to him, she nodded anyway. Liam was a jealous man, and anytime he thought someone might have an interest in her, he made it a point to make sure they understood she was off limits. Sometimes it was just with words…other times, not.
She didn’t want to think about what he might do to Niklaus considering they’d had a relationship in the past—even if it was strictly sexual.
“Okay.”
“You sure about that?”
Reagan and Liam both looked to Niklaus after he asked the question, but he was focused solely on Reagan. He was trying to convey something to her, just with the look in his eyes, but she couldn’t decipher it.
“Oy, who in the hell do you think you are?” Liam demanded.
As Niklaus got to his feet, Reagan rushed around the bar. She stepped between them, her back to Niklaus, staring up at Liam. “Don’t. You promised me that my place was off limits to you and your brother.”
That was one of the few things that Liam had allotted her. Since he didn’t like her around his brother much—mainly because Rourke was a psychopath—he had told her during the beginning that he would make sure they kept all business away from her pub so she wouldn’t lose her business. Even if she had never witnessed it, teaching people a lesson in respect was one of their businesses.
“We can go in the office to talk.” It was beyond clear that he wasn’t done with Niklaus, but she refused to give him what he wanted. “Please.”
After a tense moment, he gestured for her to go ahead of him, and only when she was sure he wouldn’t do something when her back was turned did she disappear down the hallway with Liam at her heels.
They were barely inside with the door closed before Liam was in her face. “Who the fuck was that?”
She had seen him annoyed, sure. Frustrated. But never angry. And now that she was in the face of it, for the first time she felt fear of him.
Maybe it wasn’t just Rourke everyone needed to watch out for.
Swallowing, she met his eyes and said, “I don’t know.” Yes, she knew his name and knew more intimate details about him, but for what he really wanted to know, she didn’t have the answer.
“Then what’s he doing piping up at me? Trying to protect you?” He searched her face, his gaze narrowing. “Or you trying to protect him?”
Choosing to ignore his first two questions, she did answer the last. “Everyone knows who you are Liam and that makes them weary of coming here. My business is already suffering just because they think you might show up. If you actually hurt someone here, they would never come back.”
He conceded to her point, though this wasn’t vocalized, just a mere nod of his head. There was no need in arguing it further, she was just glad he was willing to let it go.
“Now, what did you want to talk about?”
“Jimmy.”
Her shoulders relaxed as she heard her brother’s name. “What about him?”