by L. A. Casey
I frowned. “But what about if she is wrong—”
“No,” Dominic interrupted. “Do not talk back when she says something is fine; wait until she is calm to mention that she might be wrong. I usually wait a week before I mention things about past fights.”
“Okay, fine doesn’t really mean fine. Got it.” I waved my hand. “What else, love doctor?”
“Second word is ‘Nothing.’ By the might of God, when a woman says nothing is wrong, something is definitely fucking wrong.”
I looked at Keela. “I’m starting to believe that one.”
“The third word is ‘Whatever.’ This is another way for ladies to say fuck you.”
Keela giggled, making my brother grin as he popped up an extra finger. “The fourth is a sentence. When a woman says ‘It’s okay, don’t worry about it,’ you do worry about it. You worry a lot because she is thinking of a way to make you pay for whatever you did wrong.”
I was perplexed. “Why would they say that if they don’t mean it?”
“I think it’s some sort of mind trick.” Dominic shrugged. “They use that sentence as an illusion that things between you are okay, but when you least expect it, they strike like a viper and wound your soul.”
This was fucking confusing.
“Why can’t they just say what they mean instead of giving words a double meaning?”
Dominic shrugged again. “I know the real meaning of certain things women say, but I don’t understand why they give them a double meaning. That is beyond my area of expertise, bro.”
I looked down at Keela, eyeing her. “I don’t like this.”
She looked innocent, but I had no doubt she could mind fuck me should she choose to do so.
“Okay, listen very carefully to this two-word sentence. I’m serious, Alec. If you’re going to remember any of what I just said remember this—it might just save your life.”
I leaned forward, suddenly desperate to know this piece of information.
“When a woman tells you to ‘Go ahead,’ you do not under any circumstances go ahead. You’re retreat to a safe distance and observe the situation very carefully. She is daring you to do something, not giving you permission.”
Keela cracked up laughing, and it made me chuckle, and say, “I guess you laughing means all of that was bullshit?”
“No, the opposite.” She wiped under her eyes. “It was spot-on, and that’s why it’s so funny.”
I stared down at her, and it struck me at that moment just how little experience I had with women when it came to everything but sex. Dominic was right; if sex wasn’t on the table, I never had any kind of relationship with a woman. Now that I had a fake girlfriend, I needed to be on my A game. I didn’t want to fuck things up for Keela when she was showing this asshole Jason up. I wanted to be the best fake boyfriend she ever had. With my mind made up, I focused on Dominic, and said, “We need to have a serious conversation, little brother.”
CHAPTER SIX
Twenty-eight years old ...
Brandy Daley turning out to be Keela’s uncle was the biggest kick in the teeth I had received in a long time. The man was cold-blooded, vindictive, and not someone you fucked around with. Ryder had worked with him many times when he ran deals on this side of the world, and each time, my brother prayed it would be the last. Brandy knew we were Marco’s puppets, and he knew exactly what each of us did for him ... he knew what I did. That was why I wasn’t surprised when he wanted to speak to me on my own without Keela present. He was going to warn me to stay away from her. He was going to do something so severe that it would keep me away from the woman I had falling in love with.
I knew he would.
If there was God, he hated me. I had been through so much darkness that broke me down in my life, and I never even considered having someone who I could feel so deeply for. It was some cruel twist of fate. The unthinkable happened. I fell in love with someone so beautiful, so pure of heart, and now she was going to be taken away from me because someone else said so.
“Ye’ know what I’m gonna say, don’t ye?”
I lifted my chin. “I have a decent idea, yeah.”
“This is nothin’ personal towards ye’, kid,” Brandy said, leaning back in his chair. “Ye’ understand how important family is, which is why me niece isn’t remainin’ involved with the likes of you and your brothers.”
The likes of me and my brothers? We did a warlord’s bidding because we were trapped by him. Brandy did the things he did out of his own freewill. He was exactly like Marco, maybe even worse, and he thought we were someone Keela shouldn’t have in her life? The fucking hypocrite.
“She loves me,” I said, my chest warming. “And I love her, too.”
“I thought maybe she did.” Brandy sighed. “I’ve been watchin’ ‘er, and how she looks at ye’.”
“Can we not just come to some sort of arrangement—”
“I’ve already decided what’s goin’ to happen, Alec.”
My hearted dropped to my stomach.
“You simply leavin’ ‘er won’t cut it. I know two of your brothers are in relationships with the Murphy sisters who live in Old Isle Green. The eldest sister is pals with Aideen Collins, who just happens to be me niece’s best friend. If ye’ cut and run now, your paths will cross again, and I’m not riskin’ an reconciliation.”
Dread flowed through my veins.
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to devastate her.”
Fear shot up my spine. “What?”
“Me soon-to-be son-in-law has an odd relationship with me daughter, but she loves the little prick, so I’ve stepped back and let them lives their lives. However, I do know that Jason was involved with Keela for a time and played ‘er. While he was punished for that and won’t hurt ‘er again, I know she hasn’t recovered from that hurt he instilled within ‘er.”
I felt like I was going to be sick.
“Keela trusts you even though she knows with your background that ye’ could hurt her worse than Jason ever could, and that is what you will be doin’.”
My lips parted, but no words left my mouth.
“She knows ye’ serviced Everly when ye’ were an escort, and she knows ye’ fucked Dante when the thought tickled your fancy. Both of them have already been informed of the playdate the three of ye’ will have.”
I jumped to my feet. “No!”
“Sit back down,” Brandy said, his tone turning dangerous. “Now.”
I wanted to rush to his side and slam my fist into his jaw, but I didn’t. I was rigid as I lowered myself back to my seat. I looked at the two men who had been leaning against the wall on the far side of the room, and when I saw they had guns in their hands, my pulse quickened.
“I can’t do what you’re asking, Brandy.” I said, focusing on him. “I can’t.”
“Sure ye’ can.” He tilted his head to the side.
I gritted my teeth. “And if I just don’t do this?”
“How much d’ye love your brothers, Alec?”
I froze. “My brothers?”
“Your brothers.” Brandy nodded. “How much d’ye love them?”
“More than my life.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he said with a sinister grin. “I’d hate for somethin’ to ... happen to them if ye’ weren’t to follow a direct order from me.”
The threat was plain as day, and it caused my insides to crumble. If I didn’t hurt Keela, the woman I loved, in a horrid way, then my brothers would pay for it with their lives. I wanted to scream until my throat went raw. This wasn’t a choice; this was as death sentence for me. No matter what decision I made, I would be heartbroken with the result, and Brandy knew that. I thought of Keela and how much she had come to trust me, and hope flared within me.
“She’ll realise that I would never do this willingly,” I assured Brandy. “When she thinks about it hard, she knows I would never ever do this to her.”
“Oh, I know that,
Alec,” Brandy acknowledged. “But the damage will be done by then. Whenever she knows ye’ were forced or not, she’ll still have the visual in her head. Always.”
First the first time in a long time, I wanted to cry.
“Please, don’t make me hurt her like this,” I pleaded. “I’ll leave her life, I swear I will.”
“No,” Brandy answered. “This way will ruin your relationship and her trust in ye’.”
My body began to tremble.
“I don’t like havin’ ye’ raped like this, Alec,” Brandy commented. “Marco bragged on how people have used and abused ye’ over the years, so ye’ don’t have to have actual sex. I’ll settle for oral, either giving or receivin’ on Dante, and that will hurt me niece just as bad.”
Bile rose up my throat.
“Why not on Everly?” I asked. “Why Dante?”
“Because she’ll question whether ye’ could be attracted to ‘er when you’re intimate with a man as pretty as Dante. I know me niece, Alec. She is a beautiful girl, but she doesn’t have self-confidence.”
I felt like the walls of the room were closing in around me.
“You’re her blood,” I pressed. “Why do you want to hurt your blood?”
“To save ’er pain and heartache in the future,” Brandy answered, his voice rough. “You ... your family. You’re tainted by Marco, and ye’ always will be. Me niece deserves better, and she’ll get it.”
“Please, sir,” I pleaded. “Don’t make me do this to her. I’m begging you.”
Brandy dismissed me when he stood.
“Time’s wastin’, kid.” He turned and walked towards the exit. “Do what ye’ve been told, or ye’ll return to Ireland from this sunny trip to the Bahamas to bury four people. The choice is yours, Alec. Make the right one.”
I already knew what choice I would be making, and that was why when the doors closed behind Brandy and his men, I lowered my head and cried not only for the pain I would have to bring to Keela, but for the agony I would bring to myself in hurting her and letting her go. I had found my forever in her, and that forever would be ending far too quickly ... and all because another evil man took my choice away from me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Present day ...
“Dinner is on the tabl—what are ye’ thinkin’ so hard about?”
I looked up at my wife as she entered our bedroom and crawled up onto our bed next to me.
“A lot of things,” I answered. “The good, the bad, and ugly.”
Keela sat on her behind, cross-legged, and took my hand in hers. There was a hint of worry in her eyes but understanding and compassion shone within them too.
“Anythin’ ye’ want to talk about?”
I shook my head. “No, because we already got through everything that we once needed to talk about.”
Keela frowned. “Is this because of the nightmare I mentioned earlier?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “I was just thinking of the shit I dealt with when I was younger, then when I met you and all that ... poison happened.”
“Hey.” My wife squeezed my hand. “Ye’ can’t change the past, and if we could, we probably wouldn’t have the present. We probably wouldn’t have our sons or our life together. Hell, ye’ probably would have never come to Ireland.”
I reached forward and pulled her on top of me so her body was lying on mine. Her cheek rested against my chest, and I closed my eyes, basking in her scent and presence.
“You’re right, of course,” I mused. “Sometimes when I think about everything, I just have a moment of disbelief that we went through everything thrown at us and made it out to the other side. It seems so surreal that we’ve lived the life we have.”
“We survived it, though.” Keela raised her head. “You, me, and the others got through all the bad things we encountered, and d’ye wanna know why?”
I nodded.
“Because we’re strong, and nothin’ can or will come between us.”
The knot that had formed in my chest over the memories flooded through my mind faded until only warmth and love remained.
“How did I get so lucky to find someone as perfect as you to marry me?”
Keela’s lips twitched. “Alannah says I was dropped on me head as a child and that I don’t know any better.”
When I laughed, I quickly covered my mouth and widened my eyes.
“Don’t tell her I found that funny,” I pleaded. “She’ll think she’s a god or something.”
My wife chuckled. “I’ll take it to me grave, playboy.”
I hummed and slide my hands down her body until I palmed her ass.
“What do you say we finish what we started in the kitchen this morning and—”
I was cut off by a large, fluffy monster as he dived onto the bed and rolled around, thinking it was playtime.
“Junior,” I scowled. “Down.”
The spoiled dog didn’t budge. Instead, he just rolled on his side and licked my face, making Keela laugh.
“He is exactly like his daddy.”
I grimaced as I wiped my face dry. “Storm learned his boundaries, though; Junior jumps over them without a care in the world.”
Keela chuckled as she reached over and scratched his belly. “I miss your daddy, baby boy.”
I placed my hand on my wife’s thigh when she straddled me so she could reached Junior easier. I looked at her face as she smiled down at our dog. There was hurt in her eyes whenever she looked at him, but that hurt was fading as time passed. Two years ago, the first member of our family passed away. Storm lived until he was seventeen years old, and he led a good life for a dog. He had survived being shot ... and attempted murder by Aideen Collins on many occasions.
Not long before he died, we decided to see if we could breed him. He had been our only pet, and we had never wanted to add more of them to our family once we had so many kids. We had always planned to get Storm neutered, but we never got around to it, having always been busy with our children, our jobs, or both.
It took one try with a breeder we found. Storm sired a litter of four full-breed German Shepherds like himself and as we had pick of the litter, we chose the only male. Junior earned his name because he was a carbon copy of his father. There were no differences between them, so much so that Aideen Collins believed Storm was born again and that his bloodline was cursed. He was two years old and was already as big as Storm was when he reached adulthood.
“Junior!”
Junior’s head shot up when he heard Murphy’s voice holler from downstairs. A second passed before he scrambled off the bed, out of the room, and zoomed down the stairs. I heard my second born yelp, followed by heavy laughter.
“Murph loves him somethin’ bad,” Keela said as she turned and looked down at me. “He still misses Storm.”
All of our kids loved Storm, but Murphy had a close bond with him, and had formed a brother-like connection with Junior not long after he was born.
“He’ll always miss him, we all will, but we had a long time with him. We have a lot to look back on and smile when we think of the beast.”
“Yeah.” Keela smiled fondly. “He was pretty great.”
I tugged her down until her face was an inch from mine.
“If I get you out of those clothes, I’ll make you feel pretty great.”
She chuckled. “Ye’ promised the boys yr’d bring them to laser tag today.”
“I did?”
“Ye’ did.” Keela nodded. “Enzo reminded me about it when they got back from their football games.”
As if on cue, Enzo shouted, “Da, hurry up! The next session starts in half an hour.”
Keela laughed when I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. She rolled off me, then pulled me out of our bed with her. She got a kick out of me keeping her close as we descended the stairs of our house. We both looked at Miller when he met us at the bottom of the steps.
“I don’t wanna go play laser tag.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
/>
“I wanna stay with Mammy.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause she said she’d give me a big cookie after dinner if I did.”
I scowled. “You’d ditch me for a cookie?”
With a straight face, my son said, “Every single time, Daddy.”
Keela burst into giggles and lifted Miller up into her arms. I steadied her when she struggled slightly in hosting him up, and it made her huff.
“You’re gonna be a little man before I know it, baby.”
Miller put his forehead against his mom’s, and said, “No, I won’t.”
“That was cute,” I said. “If the other women were here, they’d be hounding my brothers for more babies.”
Keela snorted after she kissed Miller’s cheek.
“Not likely. We all agreed that five is our number. We’re too old for more kids.”
I raised a brow. “You’re forty-one, and I just turned forty-six. I don’t think that’s old.”
“It’s not,” Keela agreed. “But me body can’t carry any more babies. It would break me back.”
I placed my hand on her lower back and massaged it, making her melt. She went into the living room with Miller while I went into the kitchen, looking for my other sons. I slid my arm around Ace’s waist when he reached for the refrigerator, making him laugh.
“You’re always eating,” I told him when I released him.
“‘Cause I’m always hungry.”
I snorted and looked at Murphy, Enzo, and Ares, who were sat at the kitchen table eating their dinners. Junior was lying at Murphy’s feet, relaxing. I quickly reheated my food and joined them.
“Eat fast,” Enzo told me. “We don’t wanna be late this time for tag.”
I rolled my eyes. “Last time was an accident.”
“Ye’ mixed the slot times up by four hours, Da.”
“It could have happened to anyone.”
“No, it couldn’t.” Ares chuckled. “It only ever happens to you.”
Little shit.
