I’m curious what he and Marcus know, but I’m afraid to learn that my father may have had any involvement in Connor’s mother’s disappearance or death.
The door behind me opens and a plume of steam drifts out into the hall surrounding me as Connor emerges from the bathroom.
I face him and try to smile, but it comes off as more like a grimace, and Connor calls me out for it.
“What’s wrong, Freckles?’
He pulls me to his chest, wraps his arms around me, and kisses the top of my head.
“Theo has something to tell us. Something about your mother.”
Connor loosens his hold and takes a step back.
“I think I need to be dressed for this.”
He gestures at the towel around his waist and I nod in agreement.
He heads to my bedroom to pull on some clothes and I wait in the hall, hoping whatever we find out isn’t the thing that takes him from me.
Connor finding out who my father is might be enough to have him questioning our relationship. Finding out that my father may have something to do with his mother’s death could be the end of us in a spectacularly complicated and dangerously messy way.
Chapter 25
Connor
I know this is what we came here for, but I can’t help the dread that fills me as I get dressed. I hadn’t meant to let my surly mood affect Ceara but it just kind of happened.
“You ready to do this, Freckles?” I smile, but it’s forced.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Seems like I’m not the only one dreading this. Looking around, I make sure the coast is clear and pull her into my arms.
“No matter what they tell us, babe, I love you. Nothing's gonna change that.” Dipping my head, I kiss her softly.
“You can’t promise me that.” She looks away nervously. “If my father has anything to do with this, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“It will be okay; I can promise you that. You aren’t your father and it’s not like you did it. C’mon, Freckles. Time to find out what they know.”
Grabbing her hand, I give it a gentle squeeze as I lead her down the stairs to the kitchen. The mood in there is just as somber as I look from each of the men sitting at the table. My stomach flip flops as Theo holds out his hand telling us to sit.
“Miriam O’Malley was from a rival family that came over from Ireland about thirty years ago. She fell in love with an idiot with a gambling problem and when her family cut him off, he came to Big Tom and started placing bets with his bookies. He got in over his head.”
This news isn’t so different than what I’ve heard from Uncle Ricky, but I have to ask the obvious question because I need to know what I’m dealing with here. “Big Tom is a bookie?”
“No, he’s so much more than that.” Marcus offers. “He’s the head of the Irish Mafia.” I slump back in my chair. I hadn’t expected that. I knew that Tom was a bad dude, but that hadn’t occurred to me in the least.
“I don’t understand. Uncle Ricky never said anything about my dad being in debt to the Irish mafia.” I scratch my head in confusion.
“Uncle Ricky?” Theo asks his brows scrunched down. “Ricky Callahan?”
“Yeah, he’s taken care of me since I was three; well that is until Max found me in an underground fight three years ago and participated in a deathmatch to get me out.”
“I hate to break this to you, kid, but Ricky Callahan is scum. He deals in human trafficking and is in no way related to you.” Marcus says softly. I nod because I’d guessed as much over the years.
“So, was it Big Tom that put the hit out on my mother and sold me to human traffickers?” I ask because I need to know if the father of the woman I love was responsible for my past.
“No, I may be a lot of things, boy, but I don’t put hits out on women and children.” I jump at the voice behind me and look over at Ceara with shocked eyes. Shit. Shit. Shit. “What the hell is going on here, Theo?”
“He needs to know the truth, Daddy.” Ceara speaks for the first time and even though she’s trying to keep her voice steady, it wobbles.
“Fine, but no good can come from this.” He rubs a hand over his face and sits in the seat Marcus vacates.
“Do you know who killed my mother?” I ask quietly. Hoping I don’t set the mafia boss off.
“That’s not an easy question to answer. The mother that you remember? I have an idea who killed her, but I have no clue who killed Mari.”
The confusion must be clear on my face. “Your mother went missing shortly after you were born. Her father hid you with an imposter. She was actually your nanny. That’s who was killed when you were three.”
“So why didn’t he come get me instead of letting me be raised by a human trafficking piece of shit?” I’m starting to get angry.
“The only way to know that is to go have a chat with her father, but I can’t permit Ceara to go with you. Even with guards, sending her to the O’Malley compound would be foolish. If you want to speak with him, it will be alone.”
I nod because I see the intelligence in his words, not because I want to go to some strange man’s home without her.
“That’s ridiculous,” Ceara fumes crossing her arms over her chest. Her pout is adorable, and I can’t help smiling.
“He’s right, Freckles. It’s too dangerous.”
“But what if something happens to you. We don’t know these people.” She looks worried.
“It will be fine, babe.” I hope those aren’t famous last words.
Chapter 26
Ceara
I’m worried about Connor going to meet with his grandfather alone, so I convince Marcus to follow him and make sure he’s okay.
“Cece, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to send one of your bodyguards away.” Theo has been trying to get me to call Marcus back to the house for the last hour.
“I do. I’m safe here, but Connor could be walking into anything. I won’t lose him because I failed to offer him protection when I could.”
“Fine. But I don’t like it.”
Theo’s phone chirps in his pocket and after glancing at it, he gives me a warning look. “I’ll be right back. Don’t do anything stupid Cece. Please.”
I wait a few minutes and then follow him; I see him enter my father’s office and I turn to go up to my room. My father’s voice stops me, drawing me closer to his office door.
“I want the boy taken care of, Theo. Tonight.”
“Are you sure about this sir? If Ceara finds out-” Theo’s questioning is cut off.
“She’ll never know. Make it look like an accident. Better yet, make it look as if the O’Malleys took him out. Let her hate them like she should. I won’t have one of them shacking up with my daughter.”
Shit. My father wants Connor dead, I have to warn him.
I gasp and back away, before I can take a step my father and Theo both enter the hall and see me.
“What are you doing, Ceara?” My father demands.
I shake my head, denying that he would really send someone to off the man I love. But I can see the truth in his eyes. I knew my father was an evil man, but I never realized that it extended into his personal life, that it extended to me. I had wrongly assumed it was only business.
I look to Theo and I see the regret on his face. He’s resolved himself to doing this.
“No! Theo, no! You can’t do this, Daddy!”
“Ceara, it’s for your own good. The O’Malleys are below us and I will not have them using this boy to get to you and my organization.”
“What are you talking about? Connor didn’t even know they existed until you told him. No one is using him!”
“Not yet, they aren’t. But they will, and that boy is desperate for family. He’ll do whatever they want.”
“You’re wrong.”
I refuse to believe that about Connor and I refuse to sit still and let him die by my father’s order.
I look behind my father to beg Theo not t
o go after Connor, but he’s gone. He must have left while my attention was on arguing with my father.
I glare back at my father and make the decision to warn Connor.
“If anything happens to him before I can get to him, I swear you’ll wish I had never been born.”
I turn and run to the front door, but before I can get there a strong arm bands around my waist and pulls me back.
I kick and scream at my father, demanding him to let me go. I exhaust myself in my attempt to escape his hold, but his strength is no match for me.
“I’m sorry that you had to see this side of things, Ceara. You’ll understand one day why I did this.”
He carries me to his office and pushes me inside the storage closet attached to the room, shutting the door and locking me in. I hear his footsteps move away from the closet, then the closing of his office door.
Tears stream down my face as I bang my fist on the door and scream until my voice is hoarse. Eventually, my legs give out and I slide down the door to the floor. Hugging my knees to my chest, I pray that if Connor dies tonight that somehow, I follow him.
Chapter 27
Connor
I almost don’t trust how accommodating Big Tom is being. He had no problem steering me in the direction of the O’Malley compound. It was almost like he wanted me out of the house.
Shaking off the paranoia, I grab my phone and dial the one person I trust to give it to me straight as I sit out in front of the black rod-iron gate in front of Aedan O’Malley’s home.
“Connor, how’s it going?” Max asks a little weary.
“Max, I may be in some deep shit,” I sigh into the phone.
“What’s going on?” I can hear the overprotective alpha male in his voice as he freaks out a little.
“I may have opened a bigger can of worms than I’d originally thought.” I huff out a breath.
“Do I need to call Buck?” He asks with a deadly calm that I rarely hear from him.
“Not yet, but I don’t know. I’m sitting outside of my grandfather’s mansion alone because he is a rival Irish mafia family from my girlfriend.”
“Explain.” His tone is hard, and I don’t hold anything back. The cursing on the other end of the line doesn’t make me feel any better. “I’m calling Buck. If I don’t hear from you in two hours, I’m flying out there and having the guys meet us. You shouldn’t be fucking with guys like this.”
“I’m not trying to. I didn’t know her dad was the head of a mafia family, or that my mother was a mafia princess. I might be in over my head, Max.” It’s the first time I admit it to myself. I hate being weak, or looking weak, but this is Max and he won’t judge me.
“Go meet your grandfather and get your answers, but I want regular reports.” Max warns me.
“I’ll text you every fifteen minutes.” I agree only because I’m scared. I’m not too tough to admit my fear. I’ve gotten myself into one hell of a mess, but it’s too late to back out now.
After I hang up the phone with Max, I put my car into gear and push the button on the intercom by the gate. A rough voice answers sounding weary.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Connor O’Malley. I’m here to see my grandfather, Aedan.” I say into the intercom, but the man cuts me off before I can say anymore.
“That’s impossible. Connor O’Malley was murdered sixteen years ago.” The man barks and I realize that I’m going to need to step up my game.
“No, sir. I was sold into a human trafficking ring.” I guess that explains why my real family never found me. They thought I was dead.
“Human trafficking?” He sounds uncertain.
“Yes, sir. I was raised by Ricky Callahan from the age of three until I was fifteen.” That must do the trick because the gate starts to open, and I make my way down the dirt road that leads to a huge house set back on the property.
When I get to the circle driveway there are three men on the porch of the white colonial looking at me with barely contained hostility.
Two of the men stand at attention with side arms on their hips staring me down while the other, who looks older like maybe in his sixties, stands behind them. His eyes sparkle as he watches me get out of the car.
The man who I assume is Aedan takes a step forward, a gasp leaving his shocked face. “Connor, it’s really you? You look exactly like her.”
It takes a second for me to realize who he’s talking about. From what I remember of the woman who took care of me until she died when I was three, she looked nothing like me but thinking back to the missing person’s flyer she looked enough like my real mother to pass.
“Hello, Mr. O’Malley. I’m here because I need some answers about my mother.” I say politely because I don’t know what else to do. There is a familiarity he thinks he has with me that I don’t feel. Maybe, if everything doesn’t turn to shit, I will be able to get to know him better. That may be a pipe dream, but one can only hope.
“Nonsense, if you are my Connor, you may call me Pop or Aedan, but quit with the formalities.” Aedan comes down the steps toward me with open arms. It’s like he can’t stop himself from moving closer. His eyes search mine as he watches me.
“Thank you, Aedan. I have some questions for you, if you have some time.” I continue politely but the older man continues to look at me strangely.
“Yes, absolutely my boy, come in.” He gestures for me to follow him as he passes the two hulking bodyguards still positioned on the porch.
I follow as Aedan leads me into a large sitting room and I’m momentarily worried about getting anything dirty. The room is done in all white including the big overstuffed couches that he leads me to.
“Mari was my only child and when she married your father, I knew there was going to be trouble. She was so in love with him that she refused to see his faults for what they were. He got into business with the Kennedys and I tried to warn her no good would come from that, but she was a new mother and only saw what she wanted to see in her new family. She loved you so much.” He sighs with tears glistening in his eyes as he takes a shuddering breath and continues his story.
“Mari sent you to me, along with the nanny I’d hired to help her. I should have known something was about to happen. When she became a missing person, I knew something awful had happened to her. She never would have left you with Elizabeth for long.”
My breath catches in my lungs when he mentions the name of the woman who raised me until I was three. I’d thought she was my mother, but now I’m finding out she wasn’t. It’s hard to wrap my head around all the crazy that was my life as a baby.
“When Mari went missing, I sent Elizabeth away with enough money to sustain the both of you in a modest lifestyle until you were old enough to protect yourself. I never thought the Kennedys would find you both and kill Elizabeth. I thought you were dead.” A single tear falls down the old man’s cheek and I have the need to comfort him. It’s weird. I don’t know the man at all, but at the same time he feels familiar to me.
“Why did you think I was dead?” I ask, because it still isn’t adding up.
“Elizabeth was killed in a fire. I thought it took you, too.” He rubs a hand over his face probably to stop anymore tears from falling.
“Elizabeth didn’t die in a fire. She was already dead.” My nightmare comes back to me. “I don’t remember a fire, only the man who took the only mother I’d ever known away from me.” I shake my head. There is so much I don’t know, but at the same time, I know way more than I ever did before. A sense of peace washes over me and a smile crosses my face as I look over at my grandfather.
“Thank you. I have been having nightmares for years about what happened, and I honestly feel like now, I have closure. I feel a lightness in my chest like I can move on from this and finally put these demons to rest.”
“I’m glad, Connor. I hope you will stay now that you’re here. I would like to get to know my grandson.” He eyes me with a hopeful expression.
�
�I’m sorry, Aedan. I’m staying with my girlfriend’s father. I really should get back to her.” I reply as I stand. “But I will give you my contact information. I would love to know my family, too.”
“Girlfriend?” There’s a glint in Aedan’s eyes as he asks the question, but I know my next words will probably make him angry.
“Her father is the one who told me about you, but he wouldn’t let her come with me to get the answers I needed. Her name is Ceara.” I wait for his response, but his face hardens just before he puts his mask back into place.
“Kennedy,” he spits the word like it’s disgusting. “I have no problem with the lovely Ceara, but her father was behind the death of my daughter and that is something I can never get over.” He growls.
“I understand, please don’t be a stranger. I wasn’t lying when I said that I would love to get to know you.” One of the men hands me a pen and a piece of paper and I write my name and phone number on it before shaking Aedan’s hand and leaving the room.
Chapter 28
Ceara
The closet is dark. Not because there isn’t a light, but because I refuse to turn it on. I’m not going to sit in here and act as if everything will be okay once my father lets me out.
I can’t believe I didn’t see him for what he really is until too late. I know Marcus and Theo have been afraid of him for as long as they’ve been my bodyguards, but somehow, I never let myself see Big Tom for who he was. I just wanted him to be my dad.
I sniff and wipe away tears with the sleeve of my sweater. The sweater I wore because it matched Connor’s eyes. That thought wrenches a sob from my chest.
I finally found someone to like me for me, not because they were scared of my father or trying to get on his good side. I finally found love and Big Tom Kennedy decided his organization was worth more than his own flesh and blood’s happiness.
I clench my hands into fists and beat them on the hardwood floor. When that doesn’t ease my growing hatred and frustration, I take to hitting the door.
I’m screaming again. I’m screaming so hard the sound cuts in and out, eventually turning to heaving sobs.
Fighting Chance (Rock Hard Gym Book 5) Page 7
