Liam stared at the bottle clenched in both hands, the cold seeping into his body to chill him to the bone. Or maybe it was the memory of the attack. The feeling of helplessness that had the bile rising to the back of his throat. Liam had been in only a handful of fights in his lifetime, and he’d never been outnumbered like he had been yesterday.
“I promise, not a word to Sven. Though, I’m really hoping you’ll tell him. He’s a good friend, and I’d hate to keep this secret from him.”
Rowe’s gentle words brought a smile to his lips. “I’ve never been a fan of keeping secrets from my brothers.” He paused and gave a shake of his head. “Came out to them first.” Closing his eyes, Liam took a deep breath and slowly released it. “I plan to tell Sven. Just…after he’s home from his honeymoon. He doesn’t need this ruining his time with his new husband.”
When he opened his eyes, he found Rowe frowning, but the man nodded in agreement.
“Then what are we dealing with? Angry ex?”
Liam wanted to laugh at the idea of Ford attacking him over the ruins of their relationship. Ford had been the one doing the leaving and wasn’t the type for physical attacks. He preferred petty displays on social media that would earn him more sympathy and an angry mob attacking on his behalf.
Time to stop dragging his feet. Liam launched into a quick explanation of his new flower shop and the attack that happened yesterday. There weren’t many details, and so much of it just didn’t make sense to him.
Rowe remained quiet during his entire story, though it wasn’t incredibly long. There was no expression on his face besides concern. No looks of disgust that Liam didn’t do a better job at defending himself. No confused expressions regarding his choice to be a florist in the first place. Everyone seemed to take one look at his size and assume he was a bodyguard just like his little brother.
When Liam was done speaking, Rowe pushed to his feet and walked around his desk. He dropped into his seat and grabbed a pen. In a no-nonsense tone, he quickly noted the names he knew—Bill and Buzz—which wasn’t much. He also wrote down Gerald’s contact information.
“Loan shark,” Rowe grumbled before dropping his pen on the blotter.
“I can’t believe Gerald borrowed money from this…this Bill.”
Rowe’s frown deepened. “Did this guy say how much Gerald owed?”
Liam shook his head. “Just said it was a big debt.”
“How much money did Gerald give for his share of the shop?”
“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Rowe whistled and reclined in his seat. “If he borrowed a few thousand, I can see the shark and maybe a couple of goons appearing to rough him up.” Rowe stopped and rubbed his jaw, seeming to stare off into space as something rattled around in his brain.
“What? You think it’s more?”
“Could be. If he borrowed the bulk of what he owed, then it’s likely your friend had to go to someone a little bigger. You can’t hit a small-time criminal for that kind of dough. That means, Bill, Buzz, and their other friend are all muscle for someone else.”
Liam’s stomach sank like a stone. “That’s bad.”
“Very.”
“What should I do?” Liam demanded, barely noticing that his voice broke on the question. “They said if I went to the cops, they’d kill me. I’m afraid they’re going to burn down my shop and come for me at home.”
“Never gonna happen,” Rowe said. He sat up in his chair and picked up his pen again. “No one is gonna touch you again. I promise.”
“Rowe, I appreciate whatever you’re thinking, but I can’t afford to hire you. My finances are stretched paper-thin because I’m still trying to get the shop up and running, they destroyed a good chunk of my stock, and now apparently my business partner has fucked me. I—”
“You’re family,” Rowe simply said.
“I—”
Rowe reached over and picked up his phone. “Or I can call Sven right now and get his advice on this. I’m sure he’d love to know his brother is being threatened by some mob asshole and is turning down help.”
Liam’s mouth fell open. “Dick!”
Rowe’s grin grew wider. “When I need to be. You gonna let me help?”
“You’re not giving me much choice,” Liam snapped.
“Neither are you. I care for Sven like he’s my own brother. How am I supposed to let his family walk out of here and knowingly put himself in danger when I can do something about it?”
Okay. Rowe had a good point. If their roles were reversed, there was no way in hell he’d let him walk out of the office without some kind of protection in place.
“You’re right,” Liam said with a nod.
Rowe threw his hands up in the air. “God! There are two words I never get to hear enough of!”
Liam laughed and it felt like his first one since his brother’s wedding.
“The family I’ve got,” Rowe started. “Not a fucking one of them ever wants to admit anyone is ever right.”
“Do you?”
“Hell, no!” Rowe shouted with an unrepentant grin.
“What are we going to do?”
“You’re going to sit down with one of my tech geeks and give a thorough description of the three men who paid you a visit. They’re going to do some research. Try to find out who your friend borrowed the money from. We need to know how ugly this could get.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
Rowe turned toward his computer and started clicking on the mouse. “I’m also going to assign someone to watch your back.”
Liam’s heart skipped a beat as he immediately thought of Seth. That would be bad. He couldn’t have Seth acting as his bodyguard. That would be a nightmare. They couldn’t possibly spend time together again. Not when Liam so desperately wanted another night together exploring that perfect body.
But there was no way it would happen.
Rowe had to have at least a two, maybe three dozen bodyguards working for him. The odds of it happening were impossible.
Grabbing up his phone, Rowe tapped a button and waited. A slow smile spread across his lips, and Liam could guess who he’d called before he even said a word. “Hey babe,” Rowe drawled, his rough voice growing warm. “I saw that Garrett isn’t on the schedule for the next few days. I was gonna use him for a special project. Are you—”
His words cut off as he listened to his boyfriend’s reply, while Liam tried to ignore the heavy weight of disappointment resting on his chest. He hadn’t met Garrett, but Sven spoke very highly of him. Liked him a lot. Said he was incredibly skilled. He’d be perfect to help Liam.
So why the hell was he so disappointed?
“He was called out of town for what?”
Liam’s head popped up, and his heart gave an excited flutter. Garrett was out. Rowe turned to his computer and made a few noises as he continued to listen to his boyfriend. “Yep. Sounds good. Thanks!” Rowe hung up the phone and pushed to his feet, smiling at Liam. “I got just the bodyguard for you. He’s good at staying low-key and in the background, which I’m sure you’d prefer at the shop.”