Protector (The Brannock Siblings Book 4) (10 page)

Footsteps pounded down the hall and down the stairs before
the front door opened. Then he heard his son shout again. "I'm going to be
a father!"

He assumed the entire neighborhood would hear him and Ash
and Lucas would be there any minute, ready to help celebrate.

Izzy

Izzy couldn't stop smiling.

Nine days in Ireland had already made the difference she
needed. She could practically reach out and grasp her freedom and the worries
she'd come here to escape were no longer in her view.

Liam was there every day, ready to show her anything she
wanted to see. He'd taken her to the Selskar Abbey in Wexford and the Nineteen
Arches Bridge in Arklow. They spent countless hours walking the streets and
just admiring the land around them. Isabelle couldn't remember the last time
her breath had been taken away by a simple view.

When Liam brought her back to the house each night, she
couldn't help but feel saddened that she would spend a few hours away from him.
Just his company had become something she longed for and something that she
didn't want to imagine
not
having. He made her laugh and he listened to
every word she spoke, as if they were words that would change his life. The
heady feeling she got whenever he looked her way, the smile that he would give
her when they were talking about absolutely nothing; it was so different from
anything she knew before him.

It was real.

His small touches became more and more frequent. A light
touch to her arm to get her attention, a hand on the small of her back to lead
her through a door, the brush of his leg when they sat together. If she didn't
do something about it soon, she might just explode.

She'd felt desire before. In fact, her boyfriend through
high school had turned her on like a light bulb, but it was nothing like this.
All the kissing and necking in the world back then couldn't have compared to
the flutter she felt when Liam Brannock touched her so innocently.

Izzy's smile nearly cracked her face wide open when she
thought of the night before. The best night of her life so far started with the
simple moment he'd held her hand as they walked to a nearby eatery in town.

They crossed the street and Liam absently entangled his
fingers with hers in an attempt to lead her to the building. He kept hold of
her hand when they walked in and didn't let go until they were seated and
forced to separate. She easily caught curious gazes being sent their way, but
the grin on Liam's face took all of her attention once they say down. The rest
just fell away into the background.

They ordered some food and drinks and once the waitress
stepped away from their table, Liam leaned forward and smiled. "I feel
like I've been talking nonstop, Izzy. Will you tell me more about yer
family?"

She looked down at the worn wooden table and nervously ran
her fingers along the grain. They had talked about his family a lot and Izzy
felt like she knew them already without ever seeing them. As far as her
family... well he asked about them as subtly as possible and she only gave the
bare minimum. Talking about them would bring up all the other issues she was
trying to avoid.

"What do you want to know, Liam?" she asked
quietly without looking up at him.

She sensed his movement, but didn't expect him to lift her
chin with gentle fingers, bringing her face up until their gazes locked. By the
time she realized what was happening, she was already breathless. Those deep
blue eyes of his sent her stomach fluttering all over again.

"I want to know whatever ye are willin' to tell me.
Anything that tells me more about ye."

His thumb moved slowly across her chin before dropping away
just as quickly. He cleared his throat and raked a hand through his hair before
settling in for whatever she had to say.

What was the question?
she thought to herself. The
distraction of his touch was overwhelming enough for her to forget why he was
even touching her in the first place.

The waitress returned with their drinks and quickly walked
away, probably sensing Izzy's nerves, which were about to explode.

Izzy tugged roughly on her ear and tried to breathe through
the anxiousness. "There isn't much more to tell you. I am an only child and
my parents are just parents."

"This company that yer father owns, what is it
exactly?"

She took a deep breath and held it in for a few long
seconds. Discussing this was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew that
she should if she was going to be spending any more time with him. It wasn't
fair to him if he was the only one giving. Friendship or not.

"Simmon's Transport. It's a trucking company that moves
goods to almost anywhere in the United States. It's the most well known
transport company in Ohio so needless to say, my father gets a lot of
business."

Liam raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Why is it not
named after yer father?"

She shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "Before he
bought out the old owner years ago, he'd already helped build up the company's
reputation and take it to a whole new level. Changing the name was too risky if
it was already so well known."

"And yer mother? What is her hand in the
business?"

Izzy rolled her eyes and chuckled dryly. "She doesn't
do anything for the business. She just sits back and looks pretty."

Regret swamped her the second the words were out of her
mouth. Her mother actually did a lot for her father and she shouldn't downplay
how much Marjorie supported Nicholas from day one.

"And this man yer meant to marry. What is his position
in all of this?" he asked, watching her face closely and narrowing his
eyes when she stiffened at the mention of Christopher.

She took another sip of her drink almost knocking it over
when she set it back down. Her fingers trembled and her stomach churned. What
would he think if he knew what she had agreed to? If he knew
who
she had
agreed to marry?

"His intention, from what he tells me, is to save my
father's company. I guess Dad ran into some trouble in the last couple years
and things have gone from bad to worse. Christopher's family has been connected
to the company on the receiving end in several locations. I don't know how it
all works, but they want to merge the two to make one giant entity to pretty
much rule the world. Or at least the United States."

Izzy didn't miss the darkening in Liam's eyes when she said
Christopher's name for the first time. Up until now, he was just an idea. Now
he was a real person.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the last part of her
explanation already obvious.
That's why I'm supposed to marry him.

The waitress suddenly arrived, setting their plates down in
front of them. She made small talk for a minute before leaving them to eat.

Izzy glanced at her food, no longer interested in eating. It
was then that Liam reached across the small table and took her hand in his. His
touch made her hand tingle and the heated expression on his face made other
parts of her tingle.

She gazed across the table at him, noting the neatly trimmed
scruff on his jaw. He may be just a few years old than she was, but he looked
like a man who experienced enough in life to know right from wrong. He was
strong and compassionate and in the short time she'd been in Ireland, he took
care of her. Fed her, entertained her, gave her the company she didn't realize
she needed.

Now he was going to tell her the one thing she just wasn't
sure she could accept as true.

"Ye don't have to marry a man just because yer expected
to, Izzy. Ye deserve happiness and love."

The way his lips wrapped around the word
love
. It
really made her want to believe him.

"Have ye thought a way out of it yet?"

She shook her head.

"I know ye will. Yer a smart one and beautiful. There
isn't a man on this earth that does not see that."

He pulled her hand to his mouth, pressing his soft lips to
her knuckles before smiling and releasing his hold on her.

They spent the rest of the night talking about anything and
everything that didn't have to do with what was waiting for her back home. When
he took her hand as they walked out the door of the restaurant, those curious
eyes still on them, she could swear his breath faltered when she was the one
who tangled their fingers together. Neither one of them made a move to let go
until they reached the house.

"Sleep well, Izzy," Liam muttered quietly before
kissing the back of her hand once more. "I'll be thinkin' of ye through
the night."

She held her breath and her heart beat wildly when his lips
touched her skin. She couldn't count the minutes she already spent staring at
them. She wanted him to kiss her, to hug her or hold her. Anything to relieve
the ache in her body for a bolder touch. Her tongue darted out to wet her own
lips and Liam's eyes flickered down and watched. Instead of leaning forward to
take her mouth in a kiss she knew would never compare to any other, he released
her hand, nodded his head, and walked away.

She watched him until he turned and waved her into the house
with a grin. He never left her sight until she was inside, but he might as well
have been miles away.

Was it because she told him she was technically engaged or
was it because he just wanted to be a friend in the short time she was in the
country?

There was never an awkward moment between them, even in
silence. Never a topic that they couldn't speak about with the exception of her
situation back home, but that was only because he didn't flat out make her talk.
And their conversation that night was like a weight being lifted off of her
shoulders. He knew a little bit more about her and he was still with her. The
more and more Izzy spent time with Liam, the more she lost her will to keep
that life separate.

Nothing was different that next morning or afternoon. Liam
tinkered around the house for an hour or so before taking her on a picnic by
the Vartry River and exploring the Wicklow Gardens. He held her hand again
whenever they walked beside each other, but nothing more.

He was gentle with her, patient with her clumsiness, and
amused by her enthusiasm about flowers.

"If I didna know any better, I would say ye've never
seen a flower before now," he teased her.

"Not like this. Not in a place so beautiful and
peaceful," she replied with a coy smile.

Liam had nodded and pressed his lips together. It looked as
though he was resisting the need to say something and he never did say it, to
Izzy's disappointment. Maybe it
was
the fact she was supposed to marry
another man that made him pull back whenever they started to get close. Perhaps
it was for the best.

After Liam brought her home, Izzy found herself staring at
the ash in the fireplace. She still needed to find out what was really
happening with her parents and Christopher. Aunt Neddy would be the one to find
out if she didn't know already. There just hadn't been enough time to contact
her aunt since she spent the days with Liam and the nights sleeping like the
dead. The only phone calls she made were to Christopher, every other night.

Those conversations left her feeling like she was sucked
into the deep water all over again. He never neglected to remind her about
their agreement. One she suddenly didn't think she could avoid any longer.

If she'd never followed him into that room in the first
place, she would have never discovered that Christopher Hampton was into a lot
more than shipping and receiving. She saw with her own eyes the familiar way he
inhaled that white powder and she wasn't quick enough to walk away without
being seen.

The first few weeks of their relationship felt normal, for
the most part. He'd picked her up for dinner or a show, her parents doted on
him and welcomed him into their home so easily. Sometimes a little too
brightly, as if they felt the need to do everything in their power to please
him. Isabelle still wasn't serious about dating him, but she had no other
prospects and her parents were quite pushy about her spending time with
Christopher.

It was the day she found out about the whole arrangement her
parents had agreed to that she caught the man doing drugs in their home. She
overheard a stilted conversation between Christopher and her father about the
consequences of backing out of 'the deal'. When her name came up a few times,
she got the gut wrenching feeling that this so called
deal
was about
more than just the company. So, she followed Christopher into her father's
office meaning to confront him.

She never expected to find him getting high, only to watch
him turn around and sneer at her before smacking her across the face for spying
on him.

"You will keep your mouth shut, Isabelle. You'll do it
to protect your parents because without me, they will lose everything."

She'd been too stunned and in too much pain to understand
what he was telling her. It didn't take long for her to discover that her father's
company was in jeopardy and Christopher was going to save it under the
condition that Isabelle marry him.

There was no
need
for a marriage to implement this
deal that would keep her father afloat and save thousands of jobs. Isabelle
knew that. It was just some sick game that Christopher had manipulated her
parents into believing.

This information came straight from the devil himself and
there wasn't an ounce of remorse or regret to be shown from him. He knew she
was stuck. Knew that no matter how hard she fought, her parents would choose
the company first.

After all, it's what brought in the money. They always chose
the money.

Izzy rubbed her temples and told herself to stop thinking
about it. She loved her parents and she knew they loved
her
. Just not
enough.

It was late in the afternoon and she didn't know if Liam was
coming to see her again or not. So she decided to just get that stupid phone
call over with for the night. She still had a few hours before Christopher
would be expecting a call, but she didn't want to end the day with him. At
least then maybe she could go to sleep thinking of Liam instead of everything
else.