Brendan (The Doherty Mafia Book 4)

by Kasey Krane

  “Please, just sit down. Let me look at that leg, please,” I begged him.

  As much as he tried to hide it, it was pretty obvious to me that Brendan was limping. It was a gunshot wound to the thigh.

  Grumbling under his breath, he sat down on my couch, smearing his blood everywhere. I collected a first aid kit from the kitchen and brought it over.

  “I don’t want you to fuss over me,” he growled. I wondered if he was hiding his pain and to what extent. How much pain could Brendan Doherty actually endure?

  His leg looked pretty bad and if there was any chance to stop it from getting infected, he would need professional help.

  “I’m not a professional, but I’m going to do the best I can,” I said, elevating his leg up on the coffee table.

  Brendan grumbled a response.

  I had to clean up the site first. There was blood everywhere on his leg. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, and I didn’t even know if I was up for it. But it was the least I could do after everything he had already done to try and bring Davey back.

  “Can I ask what you’ve been doing?” I spoke. It was also an attempt to keep him distracted because I knew it had to hurt.

  “We burned down many of the Barons holdings,” he replied. As if I knew what he was talking about. I didn’t even know who the Barons were. It sounded like they were enemies. From what I gathered through the conversations Brendan and his brothers had—the Barons and the Dohertys were at some kind of loggerheads. But did it justify kidnapping a three year old kid?

  I looked up at Brendan. He had his eyes narrowed at me, and it didn’t seem like he was going to willingly offer up any more information.

  “Was there…did anyone else get hurt? Worse than you?” I asked.

  There was a bitter grin on his face.

  “Many men died tonight, Rosalie. More men than should have died if Aldo didn’t start this bullshit.”

  My blood ran cold. People died? At whose hands? I stopped working on his leg. Brendan lunged at me, grabbing me by my shoulders tightly. His green eyes looked dark and dangerous. What had I gotten myself into? I was the one who had put Davey directly in the line of danger by getting involved with Brendan Doherty all over again.

  But there was a part of me that didn’t care how dangerous it got, because no man would ever work this hard to keep my son safe as Brendan did. No other man would risk everything, including his life.

  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, about us, Rosalie. And you were right, you were both better off when I wasn’t involved in your lives,” he said, bringing his face very close to mine.

  His hot breath fell on my face.

  “There is nothing you can tell me about your life that will push me away. I’m done running from you,” I replied.

  Brendan sat back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling while I tried my best to dress the wound. It needed stitches which I didn’t know how to give him.

  “I’m sorry, this is the best I can do. Maybe we should go to a hospital,” I said.

  He let out a groan, sitting up straight.

  “I’ll be fine. Once we’ve found Davey, I’ll go see our doctor. He’s the family doctor. He’ll take care of it,” he said.

  I sat down beside Brendan and he took my hands in his.

  “You said you’re done running from me. Did you mean that, Rosalie? Because I’m never going to be done with you. I’ll never be done with Davey,” he said.

  I felt an unusual mixture of emotions. I was happy to hear what he was saying. It gave me some hope that we could have a future together, that Davey would have a father he could rely upon. But at the same time, Davey’s safety was on my mind. I couldn’t fully focus on what was being said between us.

  I nodded.

  “Davey needs you. If there’s one thing that is being proved today, it is that he needs you in his life,” I replied.

  Brendan almost smiled at that, and then he sighed. My hands were still in his, and in that moment it felt like that was where I had always belonged. But I wasn’t sure yet. I didn’t know how he really felt about me.

  He was a man who had recently discovered he was a father. He felt protective towards Davey, and that was natural. That was good. But did that mean he felt the same towards me?

  That he felt anything genuine for me?

  “And I need him in my life. I need you too. There is one thing that’s absent from my life and I realized that when I met you again. I realized it when we had breakfast together.”

  “As a family?” I asked in surprise.

  “A family with you, Rosalie,” he said.

  I inched closer to him and laid my head on his shoulder. I just wished Davey was with us. He would have been so happy to be there with both of us. He deserved this moment as much as I did.

  “Tell me about him,” Brendan said.

  I looked up at him in surprise.

  “About Davey?”

  “Tell me everything I don’t know about him. What was his first word?”

  I had to smile at that.

  “Potato. That was his first word,” I replied. Brendan smiled too.

  “That is the most Irish thing a baby could do,” he laughed.

  “And he has had this teddy bear since the day he was born. My mother bought it for him at the hospital. It is the most precious thing to him,” I said.

  Brendan nodded. This was calming. It was exactly what I needed. Probably what we both needed.

  “More, tell me more,” he said.

  I waited with baited breath while Brendan spoke on the phone with his brother Tristian. He’d been back for close to two hours and there was still no word on Davey. It was dark outside and I shivered every time I thought about how scared our little boy probably was.

  The call ended and Brendan turned to me with anger in his eyes.

  “They’ve got a tip off on where Aldo could be hiding. They’re going to check out the place. I think it’s a diversion,” he said, slamming the phone down on the table.

  “So what are we going to do?” I asked.

  “You’re not going to do anything. You’re going to stay here and wait for Davey.”

  “And you’re going to go out and burn a few more warehouses? Kill a few more men?” The words slipped from my tongue before I had a chance to stop them.

  Tensions ran high. Talking about Davey had given us a few minutes’ peace, but it also reminded us that he was missing. How much we missed his presence.

  “The only way to smoke Aldo out is by forcing him to see that we will destroy everything unless he hands Davey over,” Brendan growled.

  “And what if you’re just pissing him off? The more property of his you destroy, the more people you kill…what if he just decides to do something…to hurt our son to teach you a lesson?” I hissed.

  Brendan glared at me, with rage pouring out of every inch of his skin. I challenged him with my eyes.

  “Okay, so why don’t I do what the cops are doing? Nothing. Maybe I should just kick back and relax. Wait for Aldo to get bored of Davey in, I don’t know, a couple of months with any luck.”

  “I think you’re not thinking straight because of…your history.”

  Brendan’s shoulders heaved. I knew I made him madder. It wasn’t helping my case. Just when things had started to improve for us, I made it worse. But I had to say something.

  “You’re making this about what happened to your brother. It’s a cruel coincidence that this is happening to your son too, but don’t you think you need to think about this calmly? Rationally?”

  Brendan’s mouth was set in a bitter firm line. I was afraid he would lash out. Punch a wall. Break my table.

  He opened his mouth to say something but his phone rang again. We both looked at each other and then he grabbed it and answered the call.

  “What?” he growled.

  I couldn’t sit still. Every time the phone rang I expected the worst news. It reduced me to tears and I had to do everything in m
y power to not break down again.

  Brendan’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the caller’s voice. I didn’t know what was being said, but by the look on his face, it seemed that he was intrigued.

  “Where are you?” he asked. When his eyes met mine, I noticed the look of relief.

  What did it mean? I jumped up in anticipation and he ended the call.

  Slowly, he slipped the phone into his pocket, looking at me.

  “What? What’s going on? Please, tell me!”

  “Someone has him. Some chick called. She said she works for Aldo but managed to escape with Davey. She wants us to go pick them up. Our son is safe,” Brendan replied and I fell to the floor with tears of joy.

  Twenty-Eight

  Brendan

  Rosalie insisted on going with us to meet the girl and Davey. This time I knew I had no chance of leaving her behind. She was determined to be there to see her son. Our son.

  I called Tristian and gave him the location the girl had given me. Even though it seemed genuine, I knew there was still a chance this was all a hoax. Maybe Aldo just wanted me alone where he could make me pay for all the destruction I had caused that night. And if that was the case, then I was driving Rosalie right into the mouth of the beast.

  Rosalie and I sat in silence while I drove us out of town. The location the girl had given me was that of an abandoned barn. Apparently she was hiding out there with Davey for over an hour and she wasn’t sure how much longer she had before the Barons found her.

  “Brendan…” Rosalie began to say. I glanced at her and then stared back at the road.

  Things seemed too complicated between us now. Neither of us seemed to know the right thing to say.

  “I’m sorry about what I said back there at the apartment,” she continued in a soft voice.

  I kept driving in silence. Maybe she was sorry, but she meant what she said. And I had to grudgingly admit to myself that there was some truth to it. There was always a chance that Aldo would lose his shit when he realized he was losing the battle.

  “Did you hear what I said, Brendan? I’m sorry for doubting you and questioning your system. You have clearly been in this…business…long enough to know what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t know everything,” I snarled bitterly.

  “You were and you still are doing everything you can to bring Davey back. I was just frustrated. I didn’t know what was happening. We hadn’t…” Her voice quivered, she was upset, she was embarrassed. But she didn’t have to be.

  “Rosalie,” I said firmly and she looked at me pleadingly. “Stop apologizing to me. You had an opinion and you voiced it. Stop apologizing for having an opinion,” I said.

  She looked shocked at first and then a soft smile emerged on her face. She drew in a deep breath and then nodded.

  “I’m glad you’re here with me,” she said so softly that I barely heard it.

  That brought a smile to my face too.

  We arrived at the barn at the same time that Tristian pulled up. Rosalie leapt out of the car in an attempt to go running into the barn and find Davey.

  “Hold her back while I go check out the place,” I said to Tristian.

  “No! I want to go in with you!” Rosalie screamed. Tristian grabbed her by the arm while I started to walk away.

  I didn’t clearly hear what he told her, but it seemed effective. Rosalie stopped fighting him and trying to come after me.

  I trained my gun forward while I slid open the barn door.

  “Hello? Davey?” I shouted.

  That was when I heard a sob. It unmistakably belonged to a small boy.

  “Davey! It’s Brendan. Where are you kiddo?” I shouted.

  Inside the barn it was pitch-black. It seemed like there weren’t even any windows there to let a dot of light in.

  “Brendan Doherty?” A female voice called out.

  “Come towards me, keep your hands up,” I shouted, swinging the gun in every direction. “Davey, come towards me, kiddo.”

  He came running out of the dark when I least expected it. He was crying and threw himself at me with such force that the gun nearly went flying out of my hands. Then, into the light of the open door, the girl emerged.

  I lifted Davey up in my arms, hugging him close while he sobbed on my shoulder. I kept the gun trained on the chick.

  She had her hands up just like I told her to.

  “Explain yourself. What are you doing here? How did you get Davey out?” I growled.

  “I…work for them. I worked for him. But I wanted to leave. I couldn’t keep doing the stuff they wanted me to do, and when they brought Davey in, I knew I had to save him. I couldn’t stand watching a little boy being held against his wishes for the sake of some war between two mafia families.”

  As the girl spoke, I heard footsteps behind me.

  It was Rosalie and Tristian.

  Rosalie had clearly escaped Tristian’s grasp and she came running to us now. She saw Davey in my arms and broke into tears.

  Davey wriggled out of my arms. I helped him slide down and he went running to his mother. They were both crying. Tears of joy. Sadness. Relief.

  I turned back to the girl who seemed to have tears in her eyes too.

  I didn’t know if we could actually trust her. I had no means of corroborating her story. She stepped towards us.

  “Please, you have to help me. They’re looking for me. If they find me they’ll make me pay for escaping, for taking Davey away from them.”

  I looked over at Tristian.

  “Handle this. I’m going to take Davey and Rosalie back,” I said and he nodded.

  Rosalie and Davey were stuck to each other. She was whispering and apologizing to him while he clung to her. He still didn’t know who I was. This was my son. My own flesh and blood. I had helped to create him.

  And now he was safe.

  I was never going to let him out of my sight again.

  Rosalie sat in the backseat with Davey. It seemed like she didn’t want to let go of him or let him out of her sight either.

  “Are you hurt, honey? Did they hurt you? Did they do anything to you?” she asked as I started the car.

  I looked in the rearview mirror. Davey sat with his head on his mother’s lap, looking tired. She stroked his head tenderly and at that moment I knew he was lucky to have her.

  I couldn’t have asked for a better mother to my kid. Rosalie was perfect and she deserved everything she wanted. I wasn’t sure she wanted me. Why would she want to be associated with me especially now, after everything that had happened to her and Davey because I came into their lives?

  “No, they played games with me. I had cookies and milk for dinner,” Davey replied, and I was relieved to hear that.

  Rosalie smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

  “Were you scared, honey? It’s okay, you can tell me how scared you were. I want to hear everything you’re feeling.”

  “I was scared, Mommy. I just wanted to be with you and Brendan,” he replied.

  I felt an ache in my soul somewhere.

  This kid actually liked me. He trusted me. It was like he knew through some sixth-sense that we were connected somehow. That I had the responsibility of protecting him.

  “I know, Davey. They were bad people, the men who took you. It never should have happened. I should have kept a closer eye on you. But you’re safe now, honey. You’re with us.”

  Davey nodded, hugging his mother harder. It looked like he was ready to fall asleep. I didn’t even want to imagine the fear he would have experienced, the uncertainty and helplessness.

  “I’m taking you guys back to my place. I don’t want you staying at that apartment,” I said.

  I caught Rosalie’s eyes in the rearview mirror and she nodded.

  I didn’t want them to spend the night alone. I didn’t want them to spend any night alone. Whether Rosalie decided to be a part of my life or not, I would make sure they were watched by someone from the family at all times.


  My son’s life wasn’t one I would ever risk again.

  By the time we got to my apartment Davey was already asleep. I carried him up to my place while Rosalie followed close behind.

  I made sure all the doors and windows were locked and then I sent a text to Killian to tell him to send someone over to keep an eye on the apartment building.

  Davey would never be taken away from us again.

  We tucked Davey in the spare room’s bed that had never been used by anyone before. I didn’t exactly entertain guests regularly.

  Rosalie had the presence of mind to bring the teddy bear from her apartment when we went to pick up Davey.

  I was worried he’d feel uncomfortable or strange in a new apartment, in a room he had never been in before—but either he was too exhausted to care, or he was just happy to be with us.

  Davey fell asleep quickly while Rosalie told him a few bedtime stories. We didn’t have any books to read from but it didn’t seem to matter. Davey held both our hands on either side of him as he drifted off to sleep.

  Rosalie and I sat there by his side for ages, neither of us were saying a word.

  I knew this had been a nightmare for her. One she never wanted to relive. To me it had felt exactly like I had relived my own nightmare from the past.

  Eventually, we slipped our hands away from him and left the room. He needed sleep and we needed to talk.

  Now that he was finally safe and home with us, we could focus on the things we’d brushed under the carpet so far.

  “Do you think he’ll remember this when he grows up?” Rosalie asked as we made our way to the living room.

  “Tristian barely remembers the night he was kidnapped, and by the sounds of it, Davey was treated well by Aldo and his men.”

  “I just hope he doesn’t feel any long lasting effects after tonight,” Rosalie said.

  I grabbed some beers from the fridge and brought them over to her. She took one from me and drank the beer greedily. Like she hadn’t even realized how thirsty she’d been.