BROTHERS (Slater Brothers Book 6)

by L. A. Casey

  “Well, we won’t be late this time, so eat up.”

  I started eating my dinner just as Ace huffed and puffed from across the room as he tried to open a jar of carrots. Keela walked into the room, saw him struggling, and tried to help, but it wouldn’t open for her either. I stood and took charge.

  “I’ve got this.”

  She handed the jar to me, and when she realised I was having difficulty, she smiled, but said nothing ... Ares did, though.

  “Da, relax. You’re goin’ to burst a vessel.”

  I didn’t let up on trying to open the damn jar.

  “You don’t understand, son,” I huffed and puffed. “Opening sealed objects is one of the perks of having me as a husband. As a man, I can’t leave this bastard of a jar unopened. I’ll never get an erection again with it hanging over me.”

  “Oh. My. God.” Murphy laughed from the table. “Auntie Alannah is right; you’re out of your bloody trolley.”

  My ego breathed easy when the lid of the jar finally loosened, but somehow as I pull my hand away, the wrapping of the jar gave me a paper cut, adding further insult.

  “Ow!”

  It stung. It stung like a bitch.

  “Let me see,” Keela cooed as blood rose from the slit on my thumb.

  Ares took the jar of carrots from me as I focused on my wife. She got some paper towels and dabbed at my thumb, wiping away the blood, but it kept on coming.

  “Ow, woman.” I hissed when she squeezed my thumb. “Be careful.”

  Her lips twitched as she lazily patted at my wound.

  “Oh, sure,” I said. “Take your time, it’s not like I’m bleeding to death or anything, so please, go at your own pace.”

  Keela rolled her eyes.

  “Am I being passive-aggressive?” I asked. “I’m sorry, it must be a side effect of, you know, dying.”

  “Alec, it’s a bloody paper cut!”

  “Don’t you dare try to lessen the pain I’m feeling! It may as well be a bullet hole because it stings like fuck.”

  Keela laughed. “Don’t be a sissy.”

  “A sissy?” I admonished. “Sissy? Do you really think stinging pain from a paper cut is something to joke about? If you do, then I’ve truly married a monster.”

  Keela laughed as she got a Band-Aid, wrapped my thumb up, and sealed it with a kiss. “You’ll survive.”

  “Smartass.”

  She left the room with a grin.

  In record time, me and my kids had consumed our dinner, left the house, and headed to the Leisure Plex to have some fun. When we arrived there and I had parked the car, we headed inside, paid, and got suited up to kick some ass. Laser tag was only a new addition to the building, and even I had to admit that it was insanely cool. Each player was fitted with a vest that delivered a body tingling shock when a person was ‘shot’ and knocked out of the round. The guns were all black, and the styles were wide in variety. The tag room itself was a maze, and the lights were dim and the place was utterly silent during a round of tag, causing the players to play the game at full calibre in order to be aware of their surroundings as they hunted each other.

  My kids and nephews loved it.

  “It’s over for you little turds,” I said, stroking the barrel of my plastic gun. “I run laser tag.”

  “We’ll see about that, aul’ lad.”

  My eyes locked on Enzo. “You’re on my hit list.”

  “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that. Girls tell me it all the time, and not in the way you mean it.”

  Ares and Ace shared a look, rolled their eyes, then took off in opposite directions and got lost in the maze. I gave Enzo the finger, he gave it back to me, then we parted ways and waited for the buzzer to sound. Within the maze were large boulders to hide behind, as well as large plastic tubes that a grown man could crawl through to get to a different side of the room. I chose to hide behind one of the boulders until one of my offspring walked into my line of sight. I shot at Ace when he appeared, but he rolled on the ground and avoided the hit.

  “Da’s campin’!”

  “I’m not. I’m just lying here!”

  “That’s what campin’ is!” Enzo voice hollered from somewhere to my right. “Move around, don’t sit and wait for us to come to ye’!”

  God’s sake.

  “Fine!”

  I turned and zigzagged my way around as quietly as I could, and when I came up behind Enzo who was crouched as he shuffled forward, I felt a smug smile stretch across my lips. Without a word, I aimed my gun and shot my son in the back like a fucking marksman. Enzo grunted as his vest lit up red and delivered him a tingling shock. The red returned to blue, but Enzo only had two lives left, and he knew it.

  “Who’s your daddy?”

  Enzo slowly got to his feet and turned to face me.

  “Wow.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe ye’ shot me, Da.”

  My smile slowly slid from my face. “That’s the game—”

  “You’re me father,” Enzo spoke over me. “I trusted ye’. I trusted ye’ to love and protect me, and ‘ere ye’ are, shootin’ me in the back the second it’s turned.”

  Shame filled me.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, my shoulders slumping. “You guys told me not to do the camping thing.”

  “This is a betrayal I’ve never felt before,” Enzo continued, sighing. “This brings me pain, Da. Real pain.”

  “Son,” I stepped forward. “I didn’t mean to—”

  I jumped when my vest vibrated then turned from bright blue to red indicating that I was now out of the game. As an adult, I only got one life so I had to wait for one of my sons to win this round before I was back in the game. I looked up at Enzo and found him smiling.

  “Good job, Ace!”

  Ace cackled from behind me as he ran away in search of his next victim. I stared at my eldest son who looked so much like me but had the heart of a hell dwelling monster.

  “You played me.”

  “Ye’ played yourself by thinkin’ we wouldn’t gang up on ye’.”

  “You little bastard.”

  Enzo winked. “Who’s your daddy?”

  He turned and ran off, and I glared after him, considering putting rocks in a sock and beating him with it when he least expected it. Like when he was in the shower or sleeping.

  “Little punk,” I said, shaking my head as I chuckled.

  I took my phone from my pocket when it rang and answered it when I saw Damien was calling me.

  “What’s up, Damien?”

  He sighed, long and deep. “I’m in a bar with Dominic.”

  “Okay,” I began. “Are you both having fun?”

  I wasn’t sure what he expected me to say.

  “No.” He snorted. “Dominic plans to drown his sorrows, and he wants us to help him.”

  I paused. “What’s got him down?”

  “Are you sitting down?”

  I looked around and lied. “Yeah.”

  “Georgie has a boyfriend,” Damien grunted. “And the little fucker is Gavin Collins’ boy.”

  I fell. I dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes when my knees gave way from under me. I managed to keep a firm grip on my phone as I brought it back to my ear and snapped, “Murder. We have to murder the boy!”

  Damien laughed. “We can’t. Bronagh forbid it.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would she do such a thing?”

  “I don’t know,” my brother replied. “She’s not my favourite person right now.”

  Mine either.

  “What are we gonna do?” I demanded. “Georgie is our precious little flower cup. She can’t like boys. She’s ten!”

  “She’s fifteen.”

  Pain sliced across my chest.

  “I refuse to believe that. She is ten years old and always will be!”

  Damien laughed. “Are you coming to Croughs or not? I still have to call Kane and Ryder and give them this shitty news.”

  “I’ll b
e on my way soon,” I said as I continued to lie on ground. “I’ll finish up this game of tag with my boys soon. I’ll be there with fucking bells on.”

  I hung up on my laughing little brother and stared at the darkened ceiling above me.

  “Are ye’ havin’ a stroke, Da?”

  “No,” I answered Enzo. “At least I don’t think I am.”

  His face came into view as he stood over me. “Are ye’ still sulkin’ cause ye’ got knocked out of the game?”

  I had more pressing matters to worry about.

  “No.” I sighed. “I’m sulking because Georgie has a boyfriend.”

  I watched as fury blazed within Enzo’s eyes.

  “She has a what?”

  “A boyfriend,” I repeated. “An evil being that we failed to protect her from.”

  Enzo stared down at me, then without a word, he joined me in lying down on the floor.

  “I’ve a pain in me chest,” he said.

  I nodded. “That’s your heart breaking, son.”

  “I’m gonna kick ‘er arse,” Enzo suddenly warned. “She never told me she had a boyfriend.”

  “I doubt she would have advertised she’s dating a Collins kid to you Slater kids.”

  “A ... a Collins kid?’ Enzo repeated on a whisper. “She’s goin’ out with one of Jax’s cousins?”

  “Uh-huh,” I answered. “Gavin’s boy, the eldest I imagine. What was his name?”

  “Indie,” Enzo all but growled. “His name is Indie.”

  “Indie,” I repeated. “This little shit has infiltrated our family.”

  “I’ll take care of this, don’t worry.”

  I snorted. “Bronagh said no one is allowed to hurt him, so I assume that means we aren’t allowed to break them up either.”

  “So what the heck is gonna happen? She’s just allowed to have a boyfriend?”

  “Looks that way.”

  Enzo was silent for a moment, and said, “Are ye’ gonna go and make sure Uncle Nico doesn’t go and beat on Indie?”

  “Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “He’s in a bar, and I’ll be joining him and the others after I take you guys home.”

  My son didn’t respond. However, he remained lying on the floor with me while the laughter and screams of his brothers sounded around us as they shot at each other and continued the game of tag, blissfully unaware that our family had just been turned upside down. I turned my head and looked at Enzo. He had his eyes closed and looked both irritated and defeated at the same time, making me want to laugh.

  I looked back up at the ceiling and smiled.

  I knew my younger brother would be heartbroken that his baby girl was growing into a young woman—I was too—but knowing that all of our kids were healthy and happy enabled me not to dwell on it too much. I had my sons, my wife, my sisters-in-law, my nephews, and my niece. Life was good, and I knew we’d deal with this curve ball that was thrown at us just like we dealt with everything.

  As a family ... and if all else failed, I’d scare the shit out of the Collins kid, so he wouldn’t look in my niece’s direction again. Either way was cool with me.

  Part III

  KANE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Present day ...

  Nothing was more sickening than a stranger being in your home.

  I gestured for my wife to be silent as I nudged her behind my body. Aideen and I had just gotten home from grocery shopping. It was a rare time when we didn’t have any of our kids with us. They were down in their uncle’s apartment a few floors below ours, which gave us time to quickly get some errands done. When we exited the elevator and entered our penthouse apartment, I heard muffled voices coming from one of my son’s bedrooms.

  I quietly reasoned with Aideen to return to the lobby and contact the building’s security, but of course, she didn’t listen to me. We both lowered our bags to the floor as silently as we could. My wife remained rooted to my side, her hands gripping my waist as we investigated the noise. I grabbed a steel baseball bat from the hallway closet that I had just in case of a situation like this. I gripped it firmly.

  “How did they get up ‘ere?” Aideen whispered, a tremor of fear in her tone. “It’s impossible without our code to the elevator.”

  I had no idea how to answer her question because no one should have been able to get into our apartment without the code. Many years ago, after Aideen pleaded with me not to buy a house as she loved our home, I decided to convert the five apartments on the top floor of our apartment building into a penthouse for our family. The elevator opened into our living room, and only our family members had the code to reach this floor. The fire stairwell was designed as an exit, not an entryway. Then there was the added security of the lobby entrance password, the patrolling security guards, and the cameras that pointed at every entrance and exit.

  No one should have been able to reach my apartment ... unless they knew the codes.

  “Be quiet,” I said to Aideen as we approached Jax’s bedroom. “They’re in here.”

  “Oh, God.”

  Her hold on me tightened. I exhaled a breath, raised my hand, and pounded on the door.

  “You have two seconds to get your asses out here so I can put my foot up them!”

  I heard a female scream, and a male curse.

  “Wait!”

  I froze, then choked out, “Jax?”

  Aideen rounded on me and flung the door open once she realised the intruder was our eldest son. It took two seconds for me to realise just how fucked the situation had rapidly become. My wife screamed, then the teenage girl who was hiding her naked body with my son’s bedcover screamed, then Jax paled as I roared, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  He was naked as the day he was born, and the only thing saving his mother from dropping dead with shock was that fact that he cupped his meat and nut sack. It did a shit job considering his penis was erect, no doubt from the activities myself and Aideen had clearly interrupted.

  “Mama, I’m sorry!”

  Aideen didn’t reply. She gripped the handle of the door and pulled it shut.

  “Ye’ call ‘er mama?” the girl asked Jax in a panic.

  “Me da is American and so are me uncles,” Jax said in a hurried breath. “I’ve picked up on some of their terms, but I rarely call ‘er mama ... just so ye’ know. She’s normally just ma to me.”

  I looked at Aideen, and we shared a ‘bullshit’ look. All of our kids, and my brother’s kids, called their mother ‘mama’ when they wanted something, or when they realised they fucked up. It was something me and my brothers did when we were little, too.

  “Ten seconds, Jax,” I warned him. “Ten fucking seconds.”

  I pounded on the door in anger.

  The girl shrieked. “Where are me knickers?!”

  Aideen placed a hand on her forehead. “Omigod.”

  I resisted the urge to kick the door open.

  “It’ll be okay,” I told my wife.

  “She has no knickers on,” Aideen scowled. “What part of that is okay?”

  Not a single fucking syllable of it.

  “He was havin’ sex,” she whispered. “Kane, what if he wasn’t wearin’ protection?”

  My heart dropped as the two teenagers rapidly dressed on the other side of the door.

  “Daisy, I’m sorry about this.”

  Aideen and I looked up when the door to the bedroom opened and stood the black-haired girl, now fully dressed, but had a face so red her skin looked crimson. She looked at Aideen, then at me, and for a moment, she didn’t look in shock about what was happening. She looked at me like she was checking me out, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or shout at her, but she didn’t give me a chance. Instead, she ran by us without a single word and fled our apartment. Aideen and I focused on Jax whose face was still pale as he sat on the edge of his bed. He had jeans on but remained shirtless with his hair wild.

  “What d’ye’ have to say for yourself, Jax Daniel Slater?” Aideen demanded. “We
ll?”

  Jax frowned. “What d’ye want me to say, Ma?”

  “I want ye’ to man up and tell me if I need to ring that girl’s parents so they can bring ‘er to get the mornin’ after pill.”

  “No, please.” Jax choked. “Both of ‘er brothers will kill me. They’re in their mid-twenties.”

  I cut in. “Not if I kill you first.”

  Jax ducked his head and tried to avoid what I knew was a murderous gaze that I shot his way.

  “Look”—he swallowed—”ye’ both came home before I could ... ye’ know.”

  “Thank God.” Aideen breathed, placing a hand on her chest. “Oh, thank you, Jesus.”

  The relief that fell off my shoulders was instant.

  “Good,” I clipped. “You don’t deserve to know what it feels like yet, you little fuc—”

  “Kane.” Aideen shook her head.

  “Give me five minutes with him. I’ll break it so this won’t happen again.”

  Jax leaped to his feet, rushed forward, and hid behind his mother.

  “Ma!”

  Aideen turned and raised her eyebrow. She looked up at Jax who was already four inches taller than her at sixteen years old.

  “I’m very disappointed in ye’,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “Ye’ promised me ye’ would tell me when ye’ started to take a physical interest in girls. Ye’ promised.”

  At that moment, Jax wasn’t sixteen anymore. He was a little boy who realised he’d upset his mother.

  “Mama,” he said softly. “I’m ... I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinkin’.”

  Aideen shook her head and looked away from our firstborn, tears glazing her eyes. “I’m goin’ to go and tidy up before the boys get home from Harley’s.”

  I frowned as Aideen turned and walked away.

  “Ado?” I called after her.

  Her sniffles were audible then, and it tore me and, from what I could see, my son apart.

  “I oughtta kick the shit out of you, you selfish little asshole!” I lowly bellowed at Jax when Aideen was out of earshot. “You’ve made her cry.”

  Jax didn’t flinch. “I hate me too right now.”

  “I don’t hate you, and neither does your mom,” I scowled. “We’re just furious with you. What the hell were you thinking?”