Liam: Branded Brothers (20 page)

“As long as you kill them before they kill me,” she
whispered.

“I promise.” He pulled away from her and looked in her eyes.
“Now let’s go tell Jill that your sleepover is canceled. No one else is going
to be sleeping with you but me.”

Charla smiled before turning to lead them into the gym. They
walked through the double doors into the expansive foyer lined with glass. The
gym was more like a spa resort than a workout facility where people busted
their asses to get in shape. The only reason Charla could even take classes at
Equinox was because Jill gave her a screaming steal on classes.

“Some gym,” Liam said, looking around.

“Yeah, you should see Jill’s clientele,” she replied as she
walked to the front desk. “It’s all the rich business owners in the Chicago
suburbs, well actually, it’s mostly their wives. Their fat asses barely make it
to the gym, according to Jill anyway.”

Charla shook her head before she turned to the sleek woman
who sat perfectly perched at the front desk. “Hi Hailey, I’m here to see Jill.”

“Sure,” the woman said sweetly, cracking the pink shade
painted on her lips as she did a one-over at Liam. She hesitated, finding
pleasure in staring at the man next to Charla, before she pressed her
French-tipped fingernail against a sheet of paper and looked down. “Her
kettle-bells class is just ending in Paris. You’ll find her there.”

She popped her head up, looking at Liam again and added, “Who’s
your friend?”

“Liam Murphy,” he replied, holding out his hand. “And it’s
boyfriend.”

The woman’s face fell into an “O” shape of disappointment as
she held out her hand and met his. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same to you,” he replied as he let go of her hand and
wrapped his arm around Charla’s waist. Hailey gave one last meager smile before
they left her perched behind the desk by herself again.

“Boyfriend?” Charla whispered. “I don’t know that I agreed
to that. I’ve only known you for two days.”

“I think we got to know each other pretty well last night,
don’t you?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Besides, I don’t want any rich bastards
getting the wrong idea about you.”

“Please,” she replied, feeling the warmth of his hand
against her hip. She could definitely get used to that. She pointed to the
hallway on her right. “Paris is through here.”

“What’s with the name by the way? Are we getting on a
plane?” he asked, following her.

“Each room is named a different city. It’s meant to ‘bring
you to the ends of the world’ while you bust your ass.” She laughed as they
watched a handful of platinum blondes with high, perfectly shaped breasts
filter out of a room. “It’s crazy, I know. This is it.”

They walked through the doors to see Jill bending down to
pick up the equipment in front of a black and white photo mural of the Eiffel
Tower.

“Hey, Jill,” Charla called as they walked toward her.

Jill popped her head up and gave a small wave before she
picked up another weight. Her head shot back to them, giving Liam a double
take. “Oh, hey,” she said, putting down the weight and straightening herself
up. She eyed Charla before turning to the man next to her. “You must be Liam.”

“I guess I have a reputation around here already,” he said,
shaking Jill’s outstretched hand. “I hope it’s a good one.”

“Jury’s still out,” Jill replied carefully, turning to
Charla. “You’re here for the key.”

“Well, about that,” she replied. “I don’t need to stay with
you after all.”

“Oh yeah?” Jill said, eyeing her as she put her hands on her
hips. “Where are you staying?”

“With Liam,” she replied. Jill narrowed her eyes at Charla.
Jill knew, just like she always did, that something wasn’t right. But Charla
wasn’t about to send her friend into a crazed frenzy that would have her
marching straight to the police. It’s the last thing Charla needed.

“With Liam,” Jill repeated, studying him carefully. “Didn’t
you two just meet?”

“It’s only for the next few nights until I find a place,”
Charla said. “Plus, then you don’t have to deal with Aaron throwing a fit about
me staying on the couch.”

“I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman,” Liam replied,
putting his arm around Charla’s waist again.

“Right,” Jill snorted, turning back to the weights. Liam
jumped in and started to help her, carrying three at a time. She watched him
for a second before adding, “Somehow I don’t believe that, but whatever you
want to do Charla, you do it. By the way, I swore I saw Paul lifting weights
before class started.”

“You did?” Charla asked, rushing toward her. “You think he’s
still here?”

“Maybe. I think he came over his lunch break, but it’s a
little after one now.” Jill stopped and held a weight in her hands. “You want
to meet him or something? He’ll probably make her head spin at all the geek
talk.”

“Let’s go, Liam,” Charla said as he put back the last
weight. He walked over and gave her a questioning look. “Trust me, you’re going
to thank me if he turns out to be who I think he is.”

“Who do you think he is?” Jill asked, putting her hands on
her hips. “What the hell is going on? How are you going to find him?”

“What color shirt is he wearing?” Charla asked.

“Blue.”

“That’s all I need. We’re going to head to the gym to see if
he’s still here.” Charla grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him toward the door.
“Don’t worry, Jill, I’ll fill you in later.”

“You know I hate not knowing,” Jill called after her. “Paul’s
probably the youngest guy in there.”

“You have to trust me on this one,” Charla said over her
shoulder.

Jill muttered something Charla couldn’t make out. Then she
yelled, “Well, I guess it was nice meeting you.”

But Charla and Liam were already half way down the hall,
headed toward the main gym.

“What is it?” Liam asked, jogging to keep up with Charla as
she turned the corner into a bigger hallway. She stood before a glass wall,
scanning through the handful of men lifting weights.

“There,” she said, pointing to a man in his early twenties
wearing a blue shirt doing bicep curls in the mirror. It had to be Paul. The
rest of the men were silver-haired with pot bellies. “I think that’s Brody.”

“You said his name was Paul,” he said, gazing through the
window with her.

“I know, his name is Paul,” she replied, waiting for him to
turn around. He had the same dark hair as Liam, but his build was much smaller.
He was lean, almost verging on thin.

“I don’t see how…”

“His adoptive parents must have changed his name,” she
explained. “Jill told me he has the tattoo. Well, she said he has a tattoo with
interlocking circles.”

“I’m sure other people have the same tattoo. It’s not that
uncommon,” he said with speculation in his voice, looking back as Paul put down
the weight. He pulled up his baggy sleeve and flexed his small muscle in the
mirror. “That can’t be my brother.”

“It’s over his heart, and it’s small.” She turned toward
Liam and met his eyes. “Like he didn’t have it redone. It’s worth a shot. What
do you have to lose?”

“Nothing I guess,” he said, pulling the door open and
letting her walk through first.

Charla smiled politely at the watchful eyes of a few men as
they made their way to Paul who was bending down to pick up his dumbbells
again. She studied Liam standing next to Paul in the mirror. They were
definitely mismatched, their sizes throwing her off. She studied their faces,
trying to find a resemblance in them, but Liam’s was thick and filled out while
Paul’s was thin and had more pointed features. Maybe she had been wrong…

“Are you Paul?” Liam asked as he curled his right arm up. He
let out a puff of breath as he lowered his right arm and curled up his left.

“Yeah,” he said, still alternating pumps. Charla noticed the
twenty pound marker on the weights. Paul definitely needed some more time in
the gym if he wanted to look anything like Liam. He puffed out another breath,
still looking at himself in the mirror as he pumped. He was only on his sixth
rep when he stopped and put the weights in front of his feet. He looked at
Charla in the mirror before turning to Liam.

“Someone told us that you have something we might be looking
for,” Liam said.

“Oh yeah,” he replied, looking at them thoughtfully as he
put his hands on his hips. “People usually don’t want something from me unless
it’s money or software, and usually they don’t look anything like either of
you.”

“It’s definitely not software or money,” Charla replied,
stepping in. “My friend Jill is a personal trainer here. You might have seen
her - pretty with honey-blonde hair and a tight body. Drill sergeant type
during workouts.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen Jill around,” he said, nodding his
head.

“Well, she mentioned you have a tattoo on your heart,” she
replied. “A Celtic symbol.”

“You mean this?” He lifted up his shirt and pointed to a
distorted tattoo not much bigger than the size of a quarter. The lines of the
circles were so faded, it was difficult to determine where one ended and
another began. “Jill saw this?”

“Yeah,” Charla replied, leaning in closer to get a better
look. As distorted as it was, she could still tell it was the same one as Liam’s.

“Did she like it or something?” A flash of hope sparked in
his eyes. It was obvious that Paul wasn’t exactly killing it with the ladies,
although Charla wondered why. Sure, he was thin, but he had a similar look she
found attractive in Liam. Paul was younger, almost with a boyish edge, but the
look was still in his eyes. Pair that with a fat stack of cash, and she was
sure women would be flocking to him.

“I have the same one,” Liam said, lifting up his shirt to
expose his chiseled chest of ink. He pointed to his heart. “And I don’t think
it’s a coincidence that we both have one.”

Paul gave them a blank look. “What are you trying to say?”

“You got a couple minutes?” Liam asked, putting his arm
around Paul’s shoulder.

“Sure. I’m going to finish this rep and then I’ll meet you
at the cafe,” Paul said. “But I only have about twenty minutes before I have to
get back to work. Development doesn’t wait.”

“See you there in a couple of minutes. I’m Liam by the way
and this is Charla,” Liam said. As they turned to go, he added, “And if you
want to get some added work in, you should squeeze on the way up and lower
slowly.”

“Got it.” Paul shot them a smile before lifting the
dumbbells back up.

***

“So that’s it,” Liam finished,
leaning back into the leather chair across from Paul.

“You’re telling me that Paul is not my real name?” he asked,
sputtering out some of his whey-protein drink.

“That’s what I think,” Liam replied. “But there’s only one
way to find out. Your parents still alive?”

“My mom is,” he said. “But she’s never told me anything
about my biological parents. I don’t think she knows.”

“She probably doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t know
your real name. She might have changed it,” Liam said, propping his elbows on
his knees again. “Maybe she just had a preference for Paul. Are you an only
child?”

“Yeah,” he said, sliding his glass on the coffee table
between them. “My parents always wanted a kid of their own, but couldn’t have
one so they adopted me. My dad traveled around the world when I was growing up,
so they didn’t want to have more. It was me and my mom a lot.”

“You think she would tell you the truth?” Liam asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Paul said. “I’ll talk to
her tonight.”

“Well, I was thinking you might want to come to my place
tonight,” Liam said. “I have someone coming over that might have some answers
to our questions. Ronan is going to be there, so you’ll have a chance to meet
him as well. I live above the Dirty Leprechaun.”

Charla shot Liam an incredulous look. Paul seemed like the
last guy that should get involved with hunting down an Irish mafia drug lord.
There was no way this guy had come close to even holding a gun.

“I’ve heard of the place,” he said, nodding his head. Charla
was sure he was lying. She guessed Paul didn’t go out at night because he was
pecking away at his computer. He turned to Charla, “Is Jill going to be there?”

“Sorry to break it to you, but Jill’s getting married next
month. You never saw the ring?”

“Guess not.” He laughed and turned toward Liam. “So, who’s
this guy with all the answers?”

“His name is Jerry,” Liam replied.

“He’s a bondsman,” Charla added, emphasizing the last word.

“A BONDSMAN?” Paul asked, stretching forward so far to the
edge of his seat she thought he was going to fall off the chair.

“Yeah,” Liam sighed, shooting her a sideways look of
contempt. “He’s a good guy, and he knew Jack.”

“How do you know Jerry?” Paul asked.

“Liam’s a bounty hunter,” Charla replied for him.

“A BOUNTY HUNTER?”

“Keep it down.” Liam motioned his hands down while looking
around the room.

“A bounty hunter,” Paul repeated in disbelief as he hit the
armrests. “God damn, this day is turning out to be all right. I’ve always
wanted a little more excitement in my life.”

“You’re telling me you can’t buy excitement with your
millions of dollars?” Charla asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I guess you could…”

“You ever shoot a gun?” Liam asked.

“Just a BB gun back in middle school,” he replied with a
smile. “Does that count?”

Liam ran his hand through his hair before getting up. “That’s
what I thought.”

“I’ll still see you at five above the Dirty Leprechaun, right?” Paul
asked, shooting up in the chair.

“See you at five,” Liam replied, taking Charla’s hand. “And
keep the BB gun at home.”

***