THE CALLAHANS (A Mafia Romance): The Complete 5 Books Series

by Glenna Sinclair

  There was a collective intake of breath around the room. I glanced at Killian. I’d never heard this. Had he? But he seemed as confused as I was. And Pops…I’d never seen a person so pale manage to remain on his feet.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “She was murdered. And then Pops covered it up! He took her away from us. He hid her disease for weeks, and then he killed her the moment she asked to see us.”

  I shook my head, unable to wrap my mind around that idea. But Kevin wasn’t done.

  “You know she was in bad shape, but she wasn’t dying. She called us each in and talked to us. Talked about our futures. She wasn’t ready to go. She didn’t want to miss what was coming up in our lives. She told me…she wanted me to finish school. She wanted to see me graduate.”

  “She was saying goodbye,” Sean said—almost too low for us to hear.

  But Kevin heard.

  “She was hoping. You don’t hope when you know you’re dying!”

  “I don’t know what you think you heard or saw after Abigail’s death, son,” Pops said, his voice a little weak, “but I didn’t kill her. I wanted her to live. I pushed her to see more doctors, to find more hope. I wanted her to live.”

  “Don’t call me ‘son!’” Kevin spat on the floor at Pops’ feet. “You murdered the only person who gave a shit about me. So I’m going to make you watch as everything you ever loved, everything you put in front of Abigail and the family, disappears. I want you to see it implode. I want you to lose what matters to you.”

  “You’re barking up the wrong tree,” Kyle said. “Pops would never hurt Abigail.”

  “You should know that,” Killian added. “You were closer to Pops than anyone. You should have seen how much he loved her.”

  “He wanted out. Why do you think he married Cassidy so quickly?”

  “Five years. That’s not quick,” I pointed out.

  Kevin shook his head.

  “You’re an idiot,” Sean said. “You should have come to me. I was there.”

  “You’re the one who paid off the coroner! How could I trust you?”

  We all focused on Sean then, even Pops. Killian crossed his arms, his eyes moving between Pops and Sean, between Kevin and Sean. There was something not right about this.

  “What is he talking about, Sean?”

  Sean’s face seemed to crumple. He turned away for a second, dragged his fingers through his hair. When he turned back, he had control of his emotions, but just barely. It felt as though he was holding on by a string—and that string was threating to snap.

  “I did. I gave the coroner fifty thousand dollars to change his report.”

  “That…that was real?” Pops demanded.

  “It was.”

  “Why would there be fibers in Mom’s airway?” Killian demanded.

  Sean shook his head even as Kevin called out, “Pops smothered her! Don’t you see?”

  “It wasn’t Pops.”

  And that was when it all made sense. The hours and days after Abigail’s death were chaotic, confusing. There was so much going on. But I remembered thinking Sean was acting weird, that he was taking it harder than the rest of us. I remembered how he pulled away from the family and refused to stand with us at her burial. I remembered how broken he was for so long after her death, until Delaney, really. And it all just seemed to fall into place, like the last piece in a nearly complete puzzle.

  “She begged me to…”

  Killian took a swing at Sean, but Kyle grabbed his arm and yanked him back, pulling him completely off his feet. He fell hard to the floor, screaming as he fought to get back up. I jumped in front of him, grabbing his arm and pushing him back.

  And then the room filled with the most wretched of sobs. We stopped fighting, turned, and found Sean dissolving into grief in Pops’ arms.

  “It’s okay,” Pops said. “I know. She asked me, too.”

  And the fight just went out of Killian. It was as if she’d just died yesterday, the grief washing over us all again like a flood. She was the glue that held us together. Even in death, she brought us together, brought us back home to take care of each other. And now…our grief threatened to tear us apart, but the truth was bringing us back together again.

  She was in pain. Even I’d seen that. And she had said goodbye.

  “You shouldn’t have had to carry that burden alone,” Pops whispered to Sean as he continued to sob.

  “What the fuck!”

  Kevin screamed, fighting his bonds like a child having a temper tantrum.

  “He killed her! And you people are just standing around as if it doesn’t matter, like she didn’t matter! She was our mother! She was a fucking saint! How could you do that? How could you kill the only person who matter?”

  He was speaking so loudly, so quickly, that spittle was flying from his mouth.

  “You people don’t deserve to live! You ruined the best thing that ever happened to me! You took her away from me! You destroyed everything!”

  I didn’t even see the gun until it went off. Didn’t even realize what he was doing until it was done.

  Pops fired a single shot into Kevin’s head. He silenced him for good.

  “We all have our regrets. Things we wish we hadn’t done. Things we wished we said when we had the chance. But I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone use our weaknesses to tear us down ever again.”

  Pops holstered his gun and held out his free arm to Killian, Kyle, and me. We went to him, and he held us, his four grown sons, in his arms for a long time.

  We were a family. Abigail had seen to that. And she’d done good, bringing three good apples into the fold. There was only one abscess…and Pops had just taken care of that.

  Nothing else would ever hurt us again as long as we stood together.

  Chapter 17

  Mia

  I was alone in the room Stacy had kindly offered to me, sitting on the window seat, looking out over the beautiful land that surrounded this old, comfortable home. She told me how Killian brought her here when they were running from one of Kevin’s schemes, how they married at the little church down the road and conceived their child in the master bedroom down the hall. It was sweet. Romantic, even. But I couldn’t stop thinking that this place we’d come to for refuge might be the place I’d be when I learned my life had ended with the death of my husband.

  I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. Kevin would get the better of them again and they wouldn’t come back to us. It was a stupid, illogical thought, but the more time went by, the more I was convinced I’d never see Ian again.

  Imagine my surprise when the door opened and he was kneeling beside me, his head in my lap. Tears of relief and pure joy began to flow, choking me as I struggled for my next breath. I ran my hands over his skull, searching for injuries, checking for substance. It was really him. It wasn’t some sort of mirage or a dream. It was Ian.

  He moved up the length of me and kissed me, the taste of dust and dirt on his lips. I didn’t ask, I just threw my arms around him and held as tight as I could. He lifted me and carried me to the bed, laying me down on the lovely quilt, his hands sliding under my shirt, seeking out my breasts with a determination that would have amused me under different circumstances.

  He pulled back, ran his hand lightly over the bruises on my cheek.

  “I’m sorry he did that to you.”

  I shook my head. “If I’d seen him coming, I would have given back as good as I got.”

  He smiled. “I’m sure you would have.”

  “I’m a Callahan. I don’t suffer fools lightly.”

  “I know you don’t, love.”

  He kissed me gently, nibbling at my bottom lip. It hurt because of the injuries Kevin had inflicted, but it felt so good that I really didn’t care.

  “I love you,” he said, growing so serious that I thought I saw the light film of tears in his eyes. “I will never allow anything like that to happen to you again
.”

  “I know.” I touched his face, drew him closer. “And I won’t let it happen to you.”

  “That’s a deal.”

  He rolled onto his side and pulled me with him, his hands under my shirt again. We made out like a couple of teenagers, touching each other without the need that had consumed us before, but with curiosity that refused to be sated. I lifted his shirt away and peppered his chest with kisses, sliding my hand over his hard belly, my lips tracing scars and tattoos that I hadn’t been given the time to memorize before now. I wanted to know everything about him, about these markings, but there was plenty of time for questions. Now, I just wanted to feel his hands on my skin, his teeth on my flesh. I wanted him inside of me; I wanted his kisses and his caresses. I wanted him…

  He pulled my shirt over my head, managed to undo my bra with one hand—he was quite talented!—and bury his face between my breasts, breathing in the scent of me, making me glad I’d taken a shower when I got here. At the same time, his hand wandered down my hip, his fingers pulling at the zipper of my jeans, tugging it away so that he could explore the delights hidden inside. He slid his hand over my ass, his fingers parting my folds and sliding into places that were never meant to be seen by anyone but him. My clit screamed for attention, and he finally offered it, moaning for me as my body let him know just how exciting his touch was to it.

  He climbed up on his knees and tugged my jeans from my body, laying me bare and then simply kneeling there to take in the view. I blushed, turning slightly to keep hold of some of my virtue. But then his hand slid between my thighs and my need overcame any desire to avoid vanity. I opened to him and watched the pleasure in his eyes as he finally had a full view of everything I had to offer him. He pressed his face to my belly, breathed in my scent, and worked his way slowly down until I was writhing against the mattress, begging him for release.

  He settled behind me after a time, pulling my hips back against him and filling me from behind. His fingers played with my clit, as his cock filled my cunt, sending an unending supply of pleasure up and down the length of my spine. I knew I was going to go insane; I knew that this would be the last thing I’d remember before my mind left me completely. I pressed my hips back against him, ground myself against him, and made him cry out as he charged toward his end. And then he filled me with life, and I couldn’t help but bite down against his arm, losing any semblance of control I might have had at that moment.

  **

  The reception hall was twice as big as the one we’d originally chosen because the party was twice as big. We’d waited a month, out of respect for the dead. But now…it just felt like the right time to celebrate and rejoice.

  The street war was officially over, with both sides wholeheartedly accepting the truce that Jack and my dad had worked out and held to even in the darkest hour. And now they danced together and sang, sharing glasses of champagne and heavy plates of chicken.

  “Congratulations,” people whispered in my ear as they pressed twenty, fifty, even hundred dollar bills into my bride’s bag.

  Happiness oozed through the room, even on Jack’s face, despite the loss that showed in his eyes. He was struggling. Despite his reputation for taking anything with two legs to bed, he missed the routine and the comfort of a long-term marriage. I saw him looking around for her from time to time; I saw him struggle to finish a sentence that she might have finished for him once upon a time. He seemed lost.

  Maybe it was good that he’d decided to retire. He handed the reigns of MCorp over to Brian with the promise that Brian would leave the other stuff—the Irish mob business—to the younger guys. And he handed the reigns of the mob to Sean, which surprised just about everyone, because Sean had always been sort of on the outside and he’d expressed a desire to join a proper law firm and be a proper citizen. But this thing with Kevin had changed a lot of people’s minds about a lot of things.

  I’m not sure how Delaney felt about it. But she had other things on her mind right now. Sean had finally proposed, and she was planning the perfect wedding, one that I dearly hoped would far surpass mine.

  “Dance with me.”

  Daddy came over and held out his hand. I followed him to the dance floor, glancing over my shoulder at Ian. He followed, my mother’s hand tucked in his.

  “You look beautiful.”

  I glanced down at the simple white gown I was wearing. I hadn’t wanted to wear my wedding dress again—I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to look at it again. But it felt as though the occasion required a white dress, so I’d bought a lovely white chiffon gown that made my waist appear smaller and my bust bigger than it ever had before—as if I needed help in that department. Ian loved it—big surprise there—but some of the male guests at our little party were having a hard time keeping their eyes were they belonged. I was contemplating borrowing a sweater from my Aunt Mary, the nun.

  “You would say that if I was wearing a burlap sack.”

  “Because you’d be just as beautiful in a burlap sack.”

  I laughed, leaning my head back as my daddy caught me in his arms. I couldn’t begin to express how wonderful it was to finally get this dance with him.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “Without you, I never would have met Ian. I never would have gotten to know him or fallen in love.”

  “You wanted to kill me when I first told you what I wanted to do.”

  “I know. But I’m glad I didn’t.”

  He kissed the tip of my nose. “Me too.”

  Then he twirled me around. For a big man, he was quite light on his feet. He pulled me back in and held me close for a moment.

  “I adore you. You were always my favorite.”

  “Just don’t tell Seraphina, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  I laughed, a full gut laugh. And then Ian was there, slipping me from my dad’s arms as he slid Momma over.

  “My turn.”

  He danced me away, holding me tight even though the music had changed to something a little more upbeat. I ran my hand over the back of his neck.

  “Do you think we should tell them?”

  “Not yet. I want to keep it to myself for a little while longer.”

  “You like your secrets.”

  “No. I just know that when this little peanut is born, everyone will want to hold her and love her. And I want to be the first to do it without any interference.”

  “How do you know it’ll be a girl? Right now it’s just a blue line on a stick.”

  “I just do.”

  I reached up and kissed the tip of his nose. “I love your confidence.”

  The cake came out a few minutes later. We cut it amid calls for him to smash a piece into my nose. But he was nice. He only wiped a little bit of frosting across the end of my nose.

  And then we were rushing off to the airport, old cans clanking off the back of his Mercedes. It was such an archaic tradition, but it was funny just the same. The flight was long, but we rested our heads close together and giggled over the stupidest things.

  “I love you,” he whispered late that night as we lay under the Italian stars, waiting for our hearts to slow to a normal beat.

  I kissed his shoulder. “Not as much as I love you.”

  “Is everything a competition to you?”

  “Must be the Rossi side of me.”

  He just laughed. “I hope our daughter is just like you.”

  “There you go again….making assumptions.”

  Epilogue

  Brian

  I tugged Cassidy against my chest and wrapped my arms around her.

  “Just one more.”

  “Don’t rush Brianna. She’ll find love when she’s ready.”

  “Don’t look now, but I think maybe…”

  I gestured toward the back of the reception hall where Brianna had been talking to Sam for the better part of an hour. Cassidy groaned a little, but it was a happy sort of groan.

  “I hope
he’s good to her.”

  “If he’s not, I’ll let him know about it.”

  Cassidy turned in my arms and looked up at me. “It’s been quite a ride these last couple of years, hasn’t it?”

  “It has. And I’m sorry for my part in it.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t you know? I’ve loved you since the moment you came up to me at that bus stop. I couldn’t stop loving you, even when I wanted to. When you chose Abigail over me, there was this part of me that hated you. But there was this little part that respected you for it, that loved you a little more because I knew why you did it.”

  I brushed a small piece of hair away from her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “Despite everything, despite how much I loved Abigail, I never forgot you.”

  “I know.”

  “And I’m looking forward to growing old with you.”

  She slapped my arm. “Who said anything about getting old? I feel younger now than I did in my teens.”

  I laughed. “Okay. Maybe we’ll just find a way to grow younger? How’s that?”

  “Exactly.” She reached up and kissed me. “As long as we do it together.”

  “Always.”

  ***

  Killian

  David bounced against my knee, struggling to get down on the floor. I would have let him, but Stacy had already made it clear that she didn’t think it was a good idea.

  “Too many people.”

  But the poor kid had just learned to crawl after much trial and error, and now she wanted to tell him no? What a confusing message for such a smart kid.

  “Maybe we should slip out. Ian and Mia are gone, so there’s really no reason to stay.”

  “That might be the best idea you’ve had all day.”

  There was exhaustion in her voice, and I could see it in the lines of her face, too. I reached over and ran my thumb over the curve of chin.