Then she told her about falling in love with Liam and how he asked her to wait for him to go back to the states with her.
"That boy. He's a stubborn one when it comes to the people he loves. Ye'll not find a better man."
Izzy nodded in agreement and gave Maggie a half-smile. "I know he wants to help. He just wants to fix everything, but I keep thinking about what you said. About my problems dragging him down with me. I can't do that to him."
"Aye, I did say that, but what we have here is a gift, Izzy. I suspect yer situation is much different now that there's more than a friendship to lose."
Izzy shoved her hair back away from her face and looked up at the ceiling. The plaster was cracked in a few places, but she knew this house would be standing for a long time after she left. There would always be something to fix, but it would never fall as long as someone took care of it. Subtle changes would be made as time passed. Maybe a new color of paint or new cabinets. But it would always be the same house until someone stopped caring for it.
Everything can be fixed with a little love.
She tilted her head back down and gave Maggie a lopsided grin.
"I love him, Maggie."
"Aye, I suspect ye do. So, what seems to be the problem?"
Her smile faded. The problem was...
The. Problem. Was...
She couldn't think of an answer. No excuse or reasoning that would explain why she couldn't choose love over loss. And she suddenly knew exactly what she needed.
Liam.
Without him, life was meaningless. It was empty and cold. If she had Liam...
She gasped and pressed her hands to her cheeks. "Oh God, what have I done?"
Maggie exhaled and reached for one of Izzy's hands. "Ye've done what most of us are too afraid to do, love. Ye've tried to protect the man ye love by sacrificing yerself. That right there is nothing to be ashamed about."
"Do you think he'll forgive me for being so stupid?"
Maggie looked heavenward with a smile. "He'll move the earth to be with ye, so I suspect he'll accept a simple apology for being scared."
Izzy felt her heart soar and she stood from the table and leaned down to hug her friend. "Thank you, Maggie. All this is because of you. There's a reason this place is where I ended up." She straightened and saw the triumphant smile cross Maggie's face. She didn't want to wait another minute to find Liam. She would wait for him to come with her and they would go to the states together to solve whatever needed to be solved. They'd find a way because they had each other. "I've got to go."
She started for the door, but came to a halt when the phone rang. The sound made her whirl around in a panic. Maggie stood and walked over to the mangled phone.
"Wait!"
But it was too late. She answered with a confused expression and after a second, held the receiver out to Isabelle. "Tis a woman."
Izzy hesitated a moment before slowly stepping forward and taking the phone. "Hello?"
"Oh, Isabelle. Thank the Lord you finally answered. I've been trying to call you since last night."
"Neddy? What's wrong?" Izzy could hear the panic in her aunt's voice and had the sinking feeling that things were only about to get worse.
"I arrived back home yesterday morning and Trick told me you called. I called this number you left with him, all day yesterday. When I couldn't reach you, I called your mother."
Izzy dropped her head into her hand. It was Neddy that was calling the whole time, not Christopher.
"Isabelle, why didn't you call me sooner, dear? I would have never allowed your parents to put you in this situation, but I had no idea. Your mother told me everything and I want to strangle her more than I usually do."
"Is she alright? What did she tell you?"
"She is fine now, dear, but she needed a wakeup call and I gave it to her. You are not marrying that man, Isabelle. No way."
Izzy expected to feel some relief, but a part of her didn't think it would last long if it took her Aunt Neddy, that her mother despised, to finally penetrate that brain of hers.
"Tell me what's going on, Neddy. Why the sudden change?"
She glanced over at Maggie who gave her a patient smile that did nothing to help her nerves. Her grip tightened on the phone as she leaned back against the wall.
Neddy sighed. "The reason Marjorie and I don't speak anymore is because of this situation you've been brought into. I didn't agree with what they were doing and when I told them, your mother shut me out."
"Wait! You haven't really spoken to each other for a long time. How does that involve me?"
"Your father's company was doing very well, but there are always glitches. He was so busy running the company that he didn't know what was happening right under his nose. The Hamptons have always been on the other side of the line. Your father and Christopher's grandfather have been doing business together since Nick took over the company, but Nick kept his distance once he knew Christopher was taking over for his grandfather. You have to remember that it's not completely your father's fault, Isabelle. He did everything he could, but Christopher had him backed into a corner and he knew it. I told them to go to the police, but they were too afraid that it would ruin them. They were already in too deep."
Neddy proceeded to tell her that her father had caught one of his drivers transporting more than just simple produce. When he found out that there was cocaine and heroin being transported side by side with apples and oranges, he about had a conniption.
"The whole thing was a complete mess. Nick fired the driver, who he later found out was the one who loaded the drugs, and was about to launch an investigation to weed out any other employees that might have been involved, but Christopher got to him first."
Izzy felt the color drain from her cheeks and she stumbled forward, almost missing the chair as she fell into it. Maggie took her hand and squeezed tightly, offering any comfort she could while Izzy listened to her aunt completely change everything she thought she knew.
"He manipulated your father into continuing the transport of the drugs under the threat of losing the company. He threatened their lives, Isabelle, and at that point, they didn't think they had any choices. Your father invested his life in that place. If he didn't continue the shipments..."
"How is this possible? Why didn't my father just go to the police and explain everything?"
"That is exactly why your mother no longer speaks to me. Or at least, she wasn't. She told me all about what was happening, but she was too worried about losing the company and their precious house to go to the police. Christopher covered his ass very well and any investigation would have led the police straight back to Nick."
"Oh, my God. So my father has been a mule for Christopher this whole time. Where do I come into this, Neddy? I thought the only reason I was involved was to save the company."
"Save the company? It's a load of bullshit. Simmon's Transport is doing better than it has in years. Christopher had Nick by the throat, but he wanted more."
Neddy paused and drew in a long breath. It was in that moment, Isabelle realized that Christopher Hampton was not only a manipulative bastard and a dirty businessman; he was more dangerous than she had ever imagined.
"Then he saw you," Neddy added softly, as if she was afraid to say the words too loudly.
Isabelle felt the knot in her stomach twist and turn. "Me?"
"I didn't know, sweetheart. If I knew, I would have stopped them. I would have given up any relationship with my sister to save you from that life. When I spoke with Marjorie last night, she told me everything."
"So, I'm just another pawn in this sick game."
"Isabelle, Christopher is very dangerous. You need to stay away from him. Do whatever it takes. Stay in Ireland. We've already contacted the police and they are looking into everything. Your mother and father are finally done with all of it and they aren't going to stand by and watch him destroy you."
Isabelle lifted her eyes to Maggie, who looked like she wa
s deep in thought. "Neddy, where is Christopher now?"
"I don't know. The police are looking for him as we speak. I know your flight is in a couple of days, but unless we know he's been arrested, don't get on that flight, sweetheart. Just stay there a little longer. I'll take care of your ticket or anything else you need, if I have to."
Isabelle jumped when there was a knock at the door and her heart immediately started racing.
"Liam."
"Who?" Neddy asked.
"Neddy, I have to go. I'll call you back, I promise."
"Stay there. Don't come back."
Izzy hung up, too distracted to listen to anything else. She needed to tell Liam what was happening. Through all the devastating information she had just received, she felt her lips pull into a grin thinking of him on the other side of the door. He came back early and for that she was grateful.
"What is going on, child?" Maggie asked, standing and following after her.
"I'm staying," Izzy stated then pulled open the door.
Nothing could have prepared her for that moment and her face blanched when she saw who was standing on the porch. "No."
Christopher.
Chapter 12
Liam
Liam didn't even need to walk through the door to know there was something wrong. All the lights in the house were off even though it was already dusk. He saw no sign of movement as he walked up to the front door, sure Izzy would already be on the porch to greet him by the time he got to the first step. But she wasn't and that made his instincts kick in.
The door creaked loudly as he pushed it open and silent shadows were all he could see. He switched on the lights. Everything was in perfect order. Even the blanket they had used to cover themselves the night before was folded and stretched across the back of the sofa.
"Izzy?"
Silence.
She wouldn't have left the house knowing he was coming back tonight. Would she?
Unless she didn't believe he was coming. Thinking back to the night before, he couldn't find a single moment that warned him she might run. They were both upset, but Izzy knew he was only giving her some space to think.
"One day."
It was one of the longest days of his life and he spent it fighting with himself about letting her go back to the states. Forcing her to stay would do just the opposite and no amount of arguing with her would make her forget about her undeserving parents and what they put her through. Those were some of the things he loved about Isabelle. Her willingness to forgive and her resolve to make things right.
So, he'd made his decision. He was going with her whether she liked it or not.
He called out her name again and made his way up the stairs, passing the small kitchen on the way. The half filled coffee mugs still on the table were almost a relief to see. He knew Maggie was going to be stopping by for a visit earlier in the day and it was the only thing that kept him from coming back to her sooner. That and the plans he started to make.
He found a buyer for his truck. A truck that his father gave him for a job that he no longer gave a damn about. There was no work anyway and with his father's blessing, he was selling it and using the money to buy a one way ticket to America. With enough left over from the money he had already saved, he could support him and Izzy with the basics for a few days until he found another job. But in order to do all of that, Izzy needed to agree to marry him. He already spoke to Brian's friend at the US Embassy. Once they were in the states, he would apply for a fiancé visa which would take care of everything else.
That's what he'd been coming here to talk to her about. If she said no, he would go with her anyway and he would keep asking her until she said yes. She may not like it, but that was the only plan he could come up with for the short amount of time he had.
He stopped in her room and when the light came on, his stomach dropped to the floor.
The closet was empty, the bureau drawers were empty and left open, and her luggage was nowhere to be seen. The bed where he had spent the last several nights holding her and making love to her was still unmade and her floral scent lingered in the room along with another scent he couldn't identify.
"Fuck!" He raked his hands through his hair, dropping his head and resisting the urge to throw something. "Get a hold of yourself."
His rational mind said she wasn't gone, but it didn't stop the panic. Where could she have gone? If she went to Maggie's...
No, he would have known.
He hadn't spoken with anyone in his family since this morning, but he couldn't imagine she would have taken her luggage with her if she was just going for a visit.
He walked out of her room, wandering through the top level of the house. There was no sign of her anywhere and everything that Isabelle brought was gone. The house was empty.
Liam's mind raced with the possibilities. She wasn't supposed to leave for a few more days and he couldn't imagine her up and leaving without seeing him first anyway. Izzy wasn't like that. She wouldn't have left on her own. Not without feeling like she didn't have a choice.
He darted out the front door to his truck, determined to find her any way he could. He would need his father's help, but first, he needed to find Maggie. The woman knew everything and doubting her before was always a mistake.
She had to know where Izzy was since she would have been the last person to see her.
His truck barreled down the road, barely coming to a stop in front of Maggie's before he jumped out at a dead run.
"Izzy? Are you here?" He burst through the door only to find a few patrons looking at him like he'd lost his mind and his Aunt Aivy behind the bar looking solemn. "Is she here?"
Aivy opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it and shook her head.
"Liam."
He spun around to find Maggie standing at the window looking like she was about to be sick.
"Where is she?"
"She isn't here, love. We've been searching for you all day."
"She's not at the house. Did she say anything when you-"
"She's not coming back to the house, Liam."
"What's going on, woman? Tell me where she is."
Her forehead creased and her lips thinned, deciding whether or not to tell him what he wanted to know.
Frustration took over and if he didn't love the woman so much, he would have strangled her. He buried his fingers in his hair and pulled, making sure he wasn't having a warped nightmare.
"A man showed up at the house while I was there," Maggie finally said, her voice resolved and anxious. "A right dodgy man that looked like he could purchase the whole of Ireland if he wanted to."
His nostrils flared when he thought of what that could mean. "A man?"
"Aye, my boy. She looked like she'd seen a ghost when she opened that door."
Christopher. There wasn't a doubt in his mind now that the son of a bitch had finally come to take Isabelle. Liam's stomach rolled and he couldn't catch his breath.
"I couldn't do anything, Liam. I argued with the man and tried to stall but it was no use. Izzy begged for me to leave. To let her go."
He spun on his heels and strode back out the door. "I've got to find her."
"William, listen to me," Maggie demanded, chasing after him. She never called him by his full name and in his whole life he'd never heard her sound so frightened.
"I've got to-"
"Stop and think. This man is dangerous, I could see it in his eyes."
"I don't care."
"There's more, boy. She was on the phone with a woman, speaking about her parents and Christopher."
His head snapped up and his eyes bugged out. "She told you?"
Maggie nodded and rubbed her forehead. "She told me everything."
"And?"
"And she was going to stay."
Liam's shoulders sagged and he stumbled back a step before catching himself. His chest... God, his chest hurt knowing that. What if he was too late?
"I've got to find her."
"There's more."
"I don't care."
"Well, you should!" Maggie shouted. "You've got a family to think about."
Liam felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. "Do not ask me to let her go, Maggie. I can't."
Her expression filled with pity and it made Liam want to scream.
"You are a dense man, William Brannock. When did I ever give you cause to think I didn't want you with the bird. She's the only woman who'll take care of you and deal with you at the same time."
"Then I need to go."
"You'll make a hash of it if you lose your head before you even find her. You need to think about your family. What would happen to them if you were hurt or if this man turned his sights on you instead of Izzy? Go into this prepared."
He gritted his teeth. Once again, his aunt was right.
"She argued with him. Saying something about the police arresting him for what he'd done to her parents. Now, she's still in Rathnew. I overheard the snake saying that their flight leaves in the morning, but I suspect he doesn't wish to go back to shackles."
"Did you hear where he was taking her?"
"Aivy was in town when she saw him and Isabelle walk into the Grand. I imagine they'll stay the night at least."
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to keep his head. "I need to call Da. This man is taking her against her will."
"Aye, he is," she replied before giving him a cheeky smile. "And I imagine he'll pay for it."
Within an hour, Liam's father and his brother, Brian, were following him into the hotel, prepared to do whatever damage they needed to. With his father in uniform and several guards waiting outside, they were getting Izzy back one way or another.
When they approached the front desk, the flirty blonde from the pub in Dublin greeted him with a lascivious smile that quickly faded when she saw his father at his side.
Protector (The Brannock Siblings Book 4) Page 18
