The Aftermath (The Hurricane, #2)(15)

“What? It would’ve hurt a lot more if he’d done it!” he said in response to Tommy’s wounded expression.

“It’s a good buy,” Liam told me. “Property is a good investment so at least you know your money is safe. Plus you’ll save rent on your crappy place. You do realize though that you could have the same size place with much less hassle if you bought flat.”

I looked up wistfully toward the house. “I know,” I answered, “but I don’t want a flat. I want a place that’s mine from the roof to the foundation. I want a home.”

Kieran nodded, knowing exactly what I meant. I spent what I guess would pass as my childhood bouncing between the haven of Kieran’s ma’s house and the pit that was my alcoholic mother’s house. Em’s shithole flat was the nearest thing I’d had to a home, but that was only because she was there.

Liam looked over the house with a careful eye, and I hoped he could see the potential that I could. Of all of us, he was the most experienced in construction. When I’d worked full-time, I did mostly carpentry. Kier was a general builder like Liam, while Tommy worked in plumbing and heating with his dad.

“We’ll need to find an electrician,” Liam pointed out. “This place is definitely going to need a rewire.”

“How about Big Joe? I’ve worked with him before, and he’s bloody good. I hear he’s looking for a new gym as well since Joe’s burned down. If we could talk Danny into letting him train at our place, he’d probably give us a good deal on the electrics,” Kieran suggested.

“Wait, didn’t Tommy f*ck and dump his sister?” I asked.

“Who’s Big Joe’s sister?” Tommy said. Though I wasn’t sure a first name would help him pick her out of the sea of women he’d slept with.

“Evelyn. Wasn’t that the redhead you met in Brady’s? The one who acts like you’ve got some nasty venereal disease whenever you see her, which you probably have,” Kieran told us helpfully.

“Wait. I didn’t f*ck her, and I don’t have VD.”

“Yeah, try telling John that when we’re doing up Con’s house together,” Liam chuckled.

“Fuck. Can’t you find someone else?” whined Tommy.

“We’ll see,” I told him, though I liked the idea of working with someone who would keep Tommy’s mouth in line. “If you didn’t sleep with her, why does she hate you?” I asked.

“None of your f*cking business,” he returned.

Now I was intrigued. Usually Tommy didn’t give a crap who knew his business. This girl must be special if he was clamming up. I shrugged like I wasn’t interested. I’d just ask Em about it later. She’d get it out of Tommy soon enough.

*



An hour later everything went to shit. I’d stopped by our place to grab a snack before going to collect Em from the cafe. Out of habit I emptied the mailbox but as soon as I saw the brown padded envelope I knew it was another gift from Frank. It was addressed to Em but I tore it open anyway. Out fell a polished wooden box and I opened it to see a diamond ring that looked pretty f*cking expensive. In with it was another typed note that simply read:

I WAS SAVING THIS FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY



I never made it up the stairs. Slamming the box shut I headed straight for the police station.

*



“Tell me you’re f*cking joking,” I said to the pale-faced policeman opposite me.

“Please don’t swear, Mr. O’Connell. We’re on the same side you are, but there really isn’t anything we can do. The hallmark on the ring tells us who made it, but we’ve telephoned the company and they sell thousands of these rings every year. They keep track of sales but not who purchased each individual product. We can test the box for fingerprints, but given that Mr. Thomas’s fingerprints didn’t appear on the letters you’ve brought it, it’s unlikely that we can trace this back to him.”

“So he can just get away with harassing my wife like this?” I shouted.

“If you can get some proof that the harassment can be traced back to Mr. Thomas then we can assist you in taking out a restraining order, but that’s really all we can do. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to refrain from telling him to go f*ck himself.

“Can you test it for prints anyway, please?” I said finally.

“Of course,” he agreed, taking the ring box back. “I’ll let you know if we find anything.”

I walked out of the station and called Kieran from my new phone, a perk Em had insisted on after my title win.

“Can you do me a favor and give Em a ride home from work tonight? I need some time in the ring,” I asked him.

“No problem. I’ll see you later,” he agreed and hung up. There was no way Em was finding out about Frank’s latest stunt but f*ck knew I needed to hit something if I had any chance of hiding this from her.

*



The thump of the bag echoed across the nearly empty gym. I’d been smacking the shit out of this thing for over an hour but it wasn’t working. I was still as pissed off and as pumped up as when I started. To calm my rage, I needed the satisfaction that only the crack of knuckles across flesh would give me. Ignoring the gloves by my side, I stuck with the dirty wraps I’d found at the bottom of my locker. They didn’t smell too good but they protected my knuckles at least. I needed Kieran or Liam to spar with me to take the edge off but the place was empty. Heath Earnshaw chose just that moment to walk out of Danny’s office. He’d do nicely.