Brothers

by L. A. Casey

My mind was focused on what my nephew said. Indie was buying condoms for him and Georgie to use. Condoms. Every muscle in my body tensed to the point of pain. The urge to punch something was strong, and my heart was beating so fast I thought it might burst.

  “Yeah, he’s me uncle Gav’s eldest kid.”

  Bronagh suddenly gripped my arm when I turned and headed down the hallway towards the front door.

  “Don’t ye’ bleedin’ dare, Dominic!” She scowled. “Ye’ aren’t havin’ it out with Gavin because our kids are datin’.”

  “Dating?” I repeated. “They’re doing more than that. They’re having sex.”

  “Dominic, just listen to me.”

  I knew that tone, and it meant she disagreed with me.

  “No,” I said, refusing to look at her.

  I wasn’t letting her talk me around on this, not a chance.

  “Baby,” she pressed. “We need to discuss this.”

  “There’s nothing to discuss,” I answered. “She is fifteen. Fif-fucking-teen. She is not entering a relationship when she has no idea about how they work. No.”

  “Dominic—”

  “Bronagh, I love you to death, but do not ask me to budge on this. I can’t. She is my daughter, and fifteen is too young for a relationship. Sex shouldn’t even be on her mind.”

  My wife sighed. “You’re right, but we have to speak to ‘er and explain why.”

  I was too heated to go anywhere near the kid.

  “Unless it’s for school, she’s not leaving this house,” I stated. “She’s fifteen years of age, and she thinks she grown enough to have sex? Hell fucking no.”

  “Okay,” Bronagh acquiesced. “If you say she is grounded, then she’s grounded, but just let me go and speak to ‘er before ye’ go up there and raise ten kinds of hell. She’s underage, we know that, but this is ‘er private business bein’ discussed with ‘er father and cousin, and she isn’t down here to defend ‘erself.”

  I jerked my head in response, and Bronagh hustled up the stairs. I lifted my hands to my face and resisted the urge to scream. My entire world had been turned upside down, and I was infuriated that it was a Collins boy who caused it.

  “How long have they been dating?”

  “Indie says a couple of months,” Jax grunted. “It’s been a huge secret because Locke didn’t even know, and he’s always with Indie. I feel stupid for not coppin’ onto them sooner, but I honestly had no clue before yesterday. I never thought me cousins would look at Georgie in that way because they know I’d end them if they hurt ‘er.”

  I paced back and forth, feeling like a caged lion.

  “I’m fucking furious.”

  Jax nodded. “Ye’ look it.”

  “Bronagh will kill me if I kill this kid and get arrested.”

  Jax nodded. Again. “I’d be more scared of Auntie Bee than prison, if I’m honest.”

  I couldn’t even laugh. I felt sick to my stomach.

  “She’s fifteen,” I said. “Fifteen and having sex.”

  “In ‘er defence, Indie did say he was buyin’ them for their first time. He’s ‘er first boyfriend, so she’s still a virgin as far as I can tell.”

  My heart deflated. “Oh, thank Christ in Heaven.”

  I felt better but knowing that she was most likely planning on having sex still didn’t sit well with me at all. She was a child. Still a young girl whose mind shouldn’t be on something as grown up as sex. Fear wrapped around me because I realised that so far, I was handling this situation very badly. I reacted with anger, and if I continued to push that anger onto my child, she would rebel, and I’d definitely end up in prison to stop her from seeking out this little Collins bastard and his little dick.

  “She has four brothers and twenty male cousins ... you’re all supposed to repel any boy from sniffing in her direction. You’re all doing a terrible job.”

  Jax snorted. “Thanks, as if I didn’t already know that.”

  I shook my head, then leaned my back against the hallway wall.

  “She didn’t mean what she said, you know? She’s just upset.”

  “I know.” Jax nodded. “I still want ‘er to take it back, though. Pain sliced across me chest when she said she hated me. She’s never said that to me before.”

  I knew it hurt him. Jax adored Georgie; she was his number one girl. She was everyone’s number one girl, and she knew it. She loved her brothers and cousins more than anyone could explain, so I knew that a tearful apology would be given to Jax later when her anger passed, and regret was all that remained.

  “She’ll take it back; just give her a second to calm down. She’ll come and find you when she realises what she said.”

  Jax only nodded, then turned his neck and looked up the stairs. I spotted a hickey on his exposed flesh, and my lips parted slightly. I knew from experience if kids were taking the times to give each other love bites, they took the time to do other stuff too.

  “You better not be having sex either!”

  Jax snapped his head in my direction. “What?”

  “You have a hickey on your neck. A big one.”

  Heat burned its way up said neck.

  “I’m not havin’ sex,” he answered, then cleared his throat. Twice. “I swear.”

  I glared at him. “You’re sixteen. You aren’t old enough to have sex either, so don’t think because you’re a guy, you won’t get into shit with your parents. You and Georgie are in the same boat here.”

  Jax swallowed. “Trust me ... I know.”

  He knows?

  I raised a brow. “What happened?”

  “Earlier today ... me ma and da walked in on .... y’know what? Never mind. I’m sure me da will tell ye’ all about it.”

  I was sure he would, and from how Jax’s face was burning red, I knew it was going to be a hell of a story.

  “Speakin’ of me parents,” Jax continued. “I was only supposed to come over ‘ere to talk to Georgie. I’m grounded.”

  “Does being grounded have anything to do with what your mom and dad walked in on?”

  Jax nodded, and I thought back to my conversation on the phone with him earlier in the day. When I called him, I heard him hush a giggling girl, and I put two and two together.

  “You were with a girl earlier when I called you ... is that what you parents walked in on?”

  Axel came down the stairs at that moment and grabbed Jax’s hand.

  “Mammy says I can go to your house to play with Eli if you’ll bring me.”

  Jax smiled down at his cousin, “‘Course I’ll bring ye’, cousin.”

  When he looked back at me, his smile faded.

  “I have to go home but tell Georgie that’s where I’ll be if she’s lookin’ for me. Later, unc.”

  Before I could reply, he was out the door with my son without a backwards glance. I knew whatever Kane was going to tell me about what he walked in on was going to be a story that was as rough for him as this situation with Georgie was for me.

  “Fucking teenagers, man.”

  I walked into the living room and fell into my armchair with a deep sigh. I leaned my head back and wondered if I was ever as nightmare inducing as this generation of Slater kids were, then I laughed to myself because me and my brothers were definitely worse when we were kids. We didn’t live in cosy homes with normal, loving families. No, we lived in a compound where disloyalty or hesitation would get a man killed. Our road to adulthood, and to reach the point we were all at now, was a rough one, and to be honest, I was surprised that the five of us survived it.

  God knows there were times were each of us didn’t want to.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Ten years old ...

  * * *

  “Dominic!”

  I jumped about a foot in the air the second my name was bellowed. I scrambled out of bed, stood straight, and waited.

  “Yeah?”

  My dad flung my bedroom door open, and it cracked against the wall with a thud. My heart pounded again
st my chest, and muscles all over my body tensed with apprehension. I swallowed as my dad, who physically reminded me so much of my older brother Ryder, glared at me with cool grey eyes. Eyes that my brothers and I inherited from him.

  “What did I tell you about attending your lessons?”

  I jerked my gaze to the black on the clock and winced. I was two hours late for math class. It was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays, we had a day-long math class to get us up to par so when we started working for Dad and his business partner, Marco, we’d have a foot in the door of understanding how they did business. Numbers meant everything to Dad and Marco, so it was vital to them that my brothers and I were smart and knew all there was to know about them.

  I looked back at my dad and felt myself shrink.

  “I’m sorry, Dad.” I tensed. “I forgot to set my alarm.”

  When he crossed the space between us and backhanded me, my eyes stung with tears, but I refused to let them fall. I stumbled back a few steps but quickly stood upright and tried my best to appear I was okay when all I wanted to do was get back into bed, hide under my covers, and never come out again.

  “Get showered, dressed, and get your worthless ass to your lessons. Now.”

  I bobbed my head.

  “Answer me with your words, boy.”

  “Yes,” I squeaked. “I understand you. I’ll get to class right away.”

  He was going to hit me again, I knew he was, so I tensed my body to prepare for it.

  “Dad,” Ryder’s voice suddenly spoke. “I’ll deal with him.”

  Dad, who was in the middle of raising his hand, paused.

  “You said that the last time, and here he is, flaking on lessons.”

  Ryder spoke softly as he stepped into view and walked up behind our father. “He is ten.”

  “I don’t give a fuck if he’s five!” Dad bellowed when my brother stopped at his side. He shoved Ryder whose entire body was now rigid. “When I tell him to do something, I expect him to do it. If he slacks on attending lessons, he’ll slack when he’s on a job when he’s older, and that is unacceptable.”

  “Like I said,” Ryder said gruffly, this muscles in his jaw rolling side to side. “I’ll deal with him.”

  Dad looked back and forth between us, shook his head, then left the room without a second glance my way.

  “Fucking useless pieces of shit,” he called back. “You’re on thin ice, Dom. Get your ass to your lesson. Now!”

  I gritted my teeth. I hated when he called me that. He was the only person to call me Dom as a nickname, and I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand when he called me Dominic either ... He made me loathe my name because of how much hate he poured into it when he spoke it.

  “Hey,” Ryder said, gaining my attention. “You okay, bud?”

  I nodded but winced when he reached out and brushed his thumb over my cheek where our dad had struck me.

  “It’s swelling already ... How hard did he hit you?”

  Ryder was angry, I could feel it radiate from him in waves.

  “I’m okay.”

  I wasn’t okay, my face was throbbing, but I had to be strong and show no weakness. I wasn’t allowed to.

  He grunted. “You don’t have to be tough in front of me and our brothers, okay? We talked about this. It’s a safe space with us, so you don’t have to pretend to be okay when you’re not. Not with us, buddy.”

  I hated when my lower lip wobbled. I hated crying. I hated showing any sign of emotion because I knew my parents regarded it as weak, but with my brothers ... they didn’t make me feel weak. They made me feel like crying whenever I was hurt or sad was a natural reaction, and it was just one of the many reasons I knew I couldn’t live without them. They were my rocks. When I lowered my head, my chin touched my chest, and that was when I began to sob. Ryder quickly hunkered down, put his arms around me, and tugged me against his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my forehead against his shoulder. I loved hugs, and I think it was because I rarely got them that it made each one from my brothers special.

  “Ry?”

  He squeezed me. “Yeah?”

  “Why don’t Mom and Dad love us?”

  Our dad was always so mean to us. No matter what we did, it was never good enough for him, and our mom ... she only thought of us as a bother. She didn’t like hugging or kissing us; she didn’t even like being around us. She’d told us that so much that we’d stopped asking her to spend time with us a long time ago. Our parents weren’t like normal parents; they only had me and my brothers so their business had a future. The only love they had was for each other and their empire ... We were just pawns in a twisted game that they played.

  Ryder didn’t answer me for a long time. He only held me until my tears subsided, and I was no long shaking in his arms. When my brother leaned back, he moved his hands to my shoulders and looked me in the eye. It was weird, but I could almost feel how sad my question made him. He went out of his way to make me and my brothers smile and feel loved, and I hoped he knew that we loved him just as much as he did us.

  “They just aren’t like every other mom and dad, buddy,” Ryder eventually answered. “But you know that I love you, don’t you? Kane, Alec, and Damien love you, too. The five of us are an unstoppable team, right?”

  “Right.” I nodded firmly. “It’s us against the world.”

  “That’s right, buddy.” Ryder smiled. “Us against the world.”

  I returned his smile.

  “C’mon,” he said. “Grab a quick shower and get dressed, then I’ll walk you to your lesson.”

  “Ryder.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I love you, too.”

  When my brother looked at me, it was with a bright smile on his face. The very first time I had said I love you to a grown-up, I was met with laughter and rejection, but whenever I said it to my brothers, I felt their love for me returned tenfold. With them, I was never met with heartless laughter or rejection, only love and acceptance. That was why I really believed it was me and my brothers against the whole world. Once I had them, I didn’t need anyone else. I would follow the code we believed in, and for them alone I would live my life with love and loyalty because it was hard to find one person to love you for who you are, let alone five.

  It really was us against the world.

  And you know what? Fuck the world.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Fifteen years old ...

  * * *

  “Dominic?”

  I closed my eyes and placed my hands on the tank of the toilet in front of me. I heaved once more, vomiting into the bowl. I willed my stomach to settle, but I kept puking until nothing else came out. I blindly grabbed some tissue, wiped my mouth, tossed it into the toilet, and flushed. I stood upright and placed my hands on my hips as I took some slow, deep breaths.

  “Bro? Are you okay?”

  I opened my eyes, turned, unlocked the door of the toilet stall, and stepped outside. Ryder, Alec, Kane, and Damien were standing in the public bathroom of the fancy club we were in. Each of my brothers were frowning at me. I met each of their gazes and forced a smile that I knew they could see through without having to try. I couldn’t look at Kane for too long because I was worried I’d break down and cry. His new job required him to be physical with people, and if he didn’t do what he was told, he was severely punished.

  On his first job, he couldn’t go through what was asked of him, and he was lashed until he passed out. His face ... his face had been marred, along with the rest of his body. In total, he had been whipped with a wire over twenty times, but even though his wounds had been stitched and were now healing, they were still such an angry shade of red. I wondered if they’d ever lighten in colour ... For my brother’s sake, I hoped they would. He was never a people person, but I knew everyone staring at him like he was something out of a horror film hurt him.

  “Dominic?”

  I closed my eyes once more, and in my mind, I laughed. I hated my name. I hated it so
much that I only ever answered to anyone when they call me Nico, which I preferred, but my brothers were different. They knew I hated my name because of our father. He never said it, though; he always spat it as if it was something sour in his mouth. When he said it, it was with heartfelt hate behind it, but when my brothers said it, it was with love and acceptance. They were the only ones allow to call me Dominic, though ... No one else would ever be special enough to call me that.

  No one.

  “I’m okay,” I answered Ryder, opening my eyes to find his staring at me. “I’m just really fucking nervous.”

  “About the fight?” Alec quizzed. “I’ve researched this joker, and he won’t go toe to toe with you. You’re gonna clown him easily.”

  My shoulders slumped. “I’m not a real fighter, though ... I just lost it when Trent hit Dame. What if I fight this guy, and he beats the shit out of me? I don’t care about getting hurt. I care about what Marco will do if I don’t perform like he expects me to.”

  “Listen,” Kane said, getting my attention. “When you’re fighting this guy, it’s just the two of you. Forget about everything and everyone, and focus on him. Watch his movements, learn his style, and then counter his moves. I’ve been practicing with you since we all landed these bullshit jobs, and I know how good you are. Believe in yourself because we believe in you.”

  I knew they believed in me, and I tried to turn that into positive energy, but it was hard.

  “Let’s just get out there,” I said, flexing my hands, feeling how comfortably tight my hand wraps were. “I want to get this shit over and done with.”

  When we exited the bathroom, my brothers flanked me as we entered the club. Music was blaring, and the dance floor was cleared, the occupants of the club were over at the platform that Marco said would be my base of operations for the next few years. I already knew that Marco had me booked to fight in different countries, but I tried not to think about that. I did what Kane said—I focused on this fight and blocked everything else out.

  A bellowing voice announced my entrance to the club, and I was met with booing and obnoxious laughter. I was expecting that. I was a lanky kid, and the guy I was fighting was twenty-five ... the same age as my eldest brother. If I were part of the crowd, I would probably laugh, too. They didn’t know that the dude I was fighting was doing so for money, while I was fighting for my brother’s life.