Page 33 of Irish Fury
To each their own, he supposed, except Denny and Josh had an odd sexual chemistry…between just the two of them. He and Daniel avoided them. Always.
“Daniel. Jonathan,” Josh hailed.
As Jonathan was turning to greet them, he noted Mags’ grimace when she watched the brothers waltz up to the bar.
“Back in Dublin again, I see,” Daniel commented. He kept his voice neutral, neither caring nor uncaring of their presence.
“Yeah,” Denny grinned as he sidled up to the bar, “we got into a spot of trouble. It’ll blow over in a few more weeks.”
“Dad won’t let us come home for another month, though, the cranky bastard,” Josh said with a shrug and smile.
Jonathan hadn’t a clue how he and Daniel had ever tolerated them. The creepy vibe they gave off was beyond off-putting.
“I see you two are here for the same reason we are,” Denny snickered and glanced over his shoulder—at Mags.
Jonathan felt Daniel go stiff beside him. Jonathan set his water down but didn’t say a word. Yet.
Josh turned toward Mags then as well, making a show of checking her out. She wore one of the pub’s t-shirts tucked into a pair of well-worn jeans. Her ratty tennis shoes were some he’d seen her wear over the last couple of years. The outfit should have appeared comfortable and nothing more, except that the simple clothes hugged her body to perfection. Her perfectly rounded breasts, tiny waist, and firm, round ass were allmouthwateringly highlighted. And these two pieces of shit were ogling her as if they had the right.
“We saw her first,” Josh announced as he turned back to them, smiling. “So far, she hasn’t been swayed by our charm and big tips, so Den and I decided that tonight we wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s right,” Denny agreed. “We don’t take well to a ‘no.’”
Jonathan didn’t think, his body lunged without thought of consequences. He slammed his fist into Josh’s face since he stood closer to him. The filthy prick dropped to the ground, screaming about a broken nose.
Denny landed beside his brother a second later after Daniel’s fist connected. Mags had run up to them by that time, her eyes wild with worry.
“What happened? Oh my God, you guys, my boss is already calling the gardaí.” And then she briefly touched Jonathan’s arm and then Daniel’s.
A determined look came over her face, and she placed her hands on her hips. “Call your fathers. Both of you. Right now.”
Jonathan knew it was the smartest thing to do, though they’d both be catching hell for this.
Their dads answered almost simultaneously. He and Daniel explained the situation and suggested calling Dagr in for legal counsel, giving them Denny and Josh’s family name so they could work on a plan while they drove to the bar.
While they waited, a few patrons helped Denny and Josh to a couple of chairs, and a waitress gave them a rag with ice for the swelling. He noticed the waitress didn’t look pleased to be helping them. The brothers didn’t appear to leave good impressions anywhere, it seemed.
Jonathan watched as Mags nervously shuffled her feet and wrung her hands. He wanted to comfort her. At the same time, he said, “Mags,” Daniel said, “They deserved it, Mags. They weresaying disgusting things about you, basically admitting they planned on following you tonight. I don’t believe they planned on giving you a choice.”
Her face turned pale at the news. “They’ve been coming in off and on for a few weeks. I admit, they’re horrible. Oh God, I hope you don’t get into any trouble.”
She gave Daniel a quick hug and then turned to Jonathan, but hesitated. He didn’t give her a chance to back out on the gesture. He pulled her to him and held her head gently against his chest. It took her a moment before she returned the hug.
Their dads, Dagr, and Ulf walked in while she was still in his arms. His father raised his brows in surprise. The entire bar was entranced by the spectacle. Seeing five big men with white hair gathered together didn’t happen every day, at least for them. It happened most days for Jonathan.
Mags started to pull away from him. He panicked at the thought of her walking away. It was fully sinking in what Josh and Denny planned on doing to Mags, and Jonathan needed her to stay safely at his side. He couldn’t prove that they wouldn’t have walked away if she told them no, but everything pointed to them not listening to her.
He leaned close to her ear. “Stay by me.” At her startled look, he added, “Please, Mags.” She settled at his side. He liked that. A lot.
Daniel finished giving their family the rundown, including rumors they’d heard about the brothers. The gardaí arrived and took statements from those involved and witnesses. Josh and Denny had already been moaning that they wanted to press charges for assault and battery.
Dagr had been on the phone but joined them once more. At hearing that Josh and Denny wanted to press charges, he only smirked, saying, “Wait for it.”
They watched as Denny, the oldest brother, answered the phone. He winced at whatever was being said on the other end. His face went white and then red and then white again. He gripped his brother’s arm and shook his head no.
Denny put his phone away and approached the officers. “I’m sorry for the trouble. My brother and I had too much to drink before we got here and said some pretty stupid things to the O’Faolains. We absolutely do not want to press any charges, and in fact would like to pay the owner of this establishment enough to cover the inconvenience and lost sales.”
Mags poked his side and grinned at him.God.It had been almost three years since she’d directed one of her smiles at him.
