Braden: #5 (Kelly Clan)

by Madison Stevens

  “Look,” he said. She watched as he flipped a switch on the side of the gun. “Safety is off. Point and squeeze if anyone you don’t know comes at you. And if you can, hide.”

  Teagan stared at him. He was giving her lessons how to shoot someone in the middle of a battle?

  “I don’t understand,” she said softly. “Why are you doing this? Won’t you get in trouble with Ennis?

  Braden had turned to move away from her, but stopped at her words. He glanced back at her with his light hazel eyes and then turned to stare at her for a moment.

  “I know,” he said. His hand came up to the side of her face and cupped her cheek. The tender act was comforting. It warmed her in unexpected ways. “I just couldn’t let him…”

  Teagan was surprised when his mouth closed over hers. The kiss was far more intense than any she’d ever experienced. There was so much being left unsaid. Things she didn’t even know she could experience surfaced.

  His hand to her cheek, he pressed in softly as his lips plundered her own. His teeth grazed her bottom lip, and a tingle spread throughout her body. Teagan leaned into him and responded in the only way that made sense: with everything she was feeling.

  Braden jerked pulled away. The air between them grew cold.

  He stepped back slightly. He turned, leaving his face shadowed from her.

  “You can’t tell anyone,” he said and kicked the dead body. “Telling will put us all at risk.”

  Teagan nodded, slightly dumbfounded. “I promise,” she whispered. She reached up and brushed some of her brown hair out of her face. It’d been up in a bun, but several strands had come loose during the commotion.

  Braden stared down at her for a moment longer and then turned to fade into the darkness.

  That was how they had found her, gun in hand over a dead body. Well, at least mostly. It hadn’t been long after the kiss that Finn arrived.

  Not sure how to explain the gun Braden had given her, she slipped it inside her bra, making sure to click the safety back on before she did so. The last thing she needed was to shoot herself.

  As she thought about the end of the incident with Braden, Teagan sat up from the desk she had been working at and let her hands slide down to the drawer in the middle of her desk. She reached inside until the cool touch of steel found her fingers. Somehow touching the gun filled her with courage, made her remember that night and the conflicted way it made her feel.

  The weapon was her only connection now to Braden. Six months had passed since then, and she’d heard nothing from him.

  Even now, none of it made sense. Why would he save her? Why kill one of his own allies?

  The question had been knocking around in her head for some time. Maybe he felt some sort of brotherly affection. After all she’d spent so much time with him when Conor still worked for Ennis.

  But nothing about that kiss had been brotherly. She would know. She had a brother, and she’d rather light all her clothes on fire than kiss him like that.

  She sighed. It was pointless to think about it. It’s not like Braden would ever talk to her again, not while he was working for Ennis.

  Giving up on the sketch for now, she flipped open her laptop and clicked on the dating profile she’d recently started. She couldn’t wait around for Braden. And even if she could, it wouldn’t work out. Somehow she couldn’t even fathom telling her brother that she’d started dating a traitor like that.

  Teagan grinned at the heart icon indicating she’d gotten a message from her match.

  She clicked on the little heart and nearly fell off her chair as a giant penis filled her screen.

  “Holy shit!”

  Teagan minimized the picture and frowned at the message that followed.

  How do I measure up?

  Was this really how things worked? The guy sent you a picture of his junk, and you were supposed to measure him? She sighed and rolled her eyes.

  Teagan opened the picture back up on the screen. She snorted to herself. Maybe he thought it was kind to hold the Coke bottle next to himself so she could get a better idea. She didn’t have much experience to go on, but it seemed to her that he likely wasn’t nearly as impressive as he thought he was.

  She closed the picture only to find another message from Mr. Dick Pic.

  Nothing serious. Looking to make your pussy shiver and cum.

  She nearly choked on her own tongue. Her first experience with dirty talk, and she found it more funny than erotic. She composed her reply.

  I’m sure you’ll find someone to do that with.

  Teagan hit the block button. She had a feeling that whatever else he had to say wasn’t going to be worth listening to.

  She closed the laptop and sighed to herself. Teagan supposed she was just destined to be alone. Not that it mattered. She had other things to occupy her time, and right now she needed to finish formulating a design for a dress.

  Mr. Dick Pic, she was sure, would be a great inspiration.

  Teagan laughed. It felt good. Sometimes she just needed to remember how lucky she was. Life would go on, and so would she. Even if it meant she went on alone.

  Chapter Three

  Braden grunted. The room stank of beer and sweat. It probably didn’t help that they had the heat up a bit too much. A little overcompensation for the increasingly cold season perhaps.

  He sat at a table in the corner of the dark and musty pool hall, loud rock music pounding into his skull. He dipped his head down as the waitress placed the beer mugs on the table.

  He thought back to the men who’d bragged about beating someone up in a bar the other night and bit back a snort of disgust. Hell, for all he knew, maybe they meant this place and just didn’t say it was a pool hall. Fortunately, no thugs prowled the room looking for a fight. Not that he wouldn’t be ready if they were.

  It didn’t matter. There was barely anyone else there, other than him and his friends. That was the whole damn point, after all.

  He nodded once to Finn, waiting for him to pay the waitress. The other man would pay in cash, just like he always did when they met. Nothing traceable.

  Who knew what kind of tracking Stefano and Boris had set up? Things were more complicated than in the old days.

  Boris made more than a few comments that suggested he had an in with some people who could help him track electronic payments. He’d mentioned it in the context of helping Ennis out with smuggling, but it didn’t take a tech genius to see how he could turn that around on enemies of Ennis and his Russian Mafia allies.

  Besides, it didn’t hurt to be careful. The cash was just like how they changed their meeting locations, never meeting at the same place twice in a row, if only to make it harder for anyone to remember them. Settling into a comfortable pattern would be stupid.

  They both needed to watch themselves. One slip up and Braden was dead, probably after being tortured for a long time. The local Russian Mafia had already demonstrated its willingness to go to cruel lengths against its enemies. Men in the Kelly Clan like Noel could attest to that personally.

  Honestly, Braden wasn’t that scared for himself, but if he were killed, Finn would lose his insight into the other faction.

  If Ennis and the Russians took Finn by surprise, then a lot of people might end up dead. At minimum, any chance of the city staying peaceful would disappear, and the few people Braden did give a shit about protecting would end up hurt.

  It was obvious now that Ennis couldn’t and wouldn’t rein in the Russians, no matter what lines they decided to cross. Hell, the lines they’d already crossed. It didn’t matter if it was from fear, a lack of caring, or something else entirely. In the end, it was the same result. Death was stalking everyone in the city.

  Braden took a few sips of his beer and stared at the two men across the table. It was strange to see Finn wearing such a nondescript outfit. Jeans and a T-shirt wasn’t totally crazy on him, but usually everything on his body was high-quality and designer.

  He took pride in his
appearance and more than a few people had described him as a slick-dressing mobster. He’d even done it himself a few times.

  The other man at the table, Conor, didn’t seem nearly as strange in the more casual clothes. The look fit him. If Finn was the natural king, Conor was the working-class foot soldier, a good man to have at your back, but not a guy who cared about expensive clothes.

  Braden waited for the waitress to walk out of ear shot before leaning in slightly to speak. Even with the loud music playing, he didn’t want to risk any information getting out.

  There was no need to beat around the bush. The quicker Finn and Conor knew what was going on, the sooner they could all come up with a plan.

  “They’re gonna put a hit on Teagan,” Braden said.

  All the color drained from Conor’s face as he sat back in the mauve-colored booth. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fuck.”

  Finn gave a small nod but didn’t say anything. Braden watched Finn as he seemed to stare into his beer. He’d learned that when his boss grew quiet, it meant he was formulating a plan.

  Plans were good, because Braden sure as hell didn’t have a good one at that moment unless trying to gun down the entire Russian Mafia by himself could be called a plan.

  Finn looked up to him. “And how does Ennis feel about this?”

  Braden shook his head. “It’s not him, it’s that prick Boris. He’s the one that suggested it. Sadistic bastard.”

  Finn nodded. “And Ennis agreed?” He frowned. “Doesn’t really seem like his style.”

  “Not exactly. He told Boris and Stefano to do what they need, but he then specifically put her protection in my care.”

  “Well, I’d expected them to push him,” Finn said with a nod. “But at least he’s still got some sense if he’s using you to protect her.” He folded his fingers together and laid them on the table. “Anyway, this works in our favor.”

  Braden did have to admit that knowing Teagan’s care would be in his hands did relieve some of the tension in his shoulders. There was no way he would trust anyone else with her, short of her brother, and right now, Conor taking care of her would probably only increase the danger.

  “What do you mean this works in our favor?” Conor said to Finn, anger and pain evident in his face. “She’s my sister. She’s not some fucking pawn in your game.”

  Finn pierced Connor with a hard stare. “She’s already a part of this.” He heaved a large sigh. “You can’t protect her forever. She’s a part of this family, and just that fact alone puts her at risk. The sooner both you and Teagan realize this, the better. We’re only lucky this sort of thing didn’t come up before and that we have a head’s up.”

  Finn’s words settled over Conor, and he seemed to accept that there was no keeping his sister out of this dangerous situation.

  “How do we keep her safe?” Conor asked, his expression tense. “How do we keep them from getting their hands on her? Why don’t we just bring her in, keep her near us?”

  “That’ll just stir the pot more,” Finn said. “It’ll make things worse, make it more dangerous for her, really.”

  Braden nodded. “They wanted to hit Conor, but I convinced Ennis that it’d just bring more heat than they want.”

  “Then what the fuck do we do? And don’t tell me nothing,” Conor said. “I don’t give a shit if this entire city burns if my sister is killed,” he growled.

  Finn stared him down. “Don’t think I’m about to let her get hurt.”

  “Then what’s your fucking plan?”

  “We get her out of the way using a method that doesn’t draw them toward us.” Finn raised a finger. “We kidnap her.”

  Braden raised a brow. He had considered trying to slip Teagan out of town, but in order to do that, he’d need to get Ennis to give the okay. The other man might want to save Teagan, but at what risk?

  He seriously doubted he would save her if the Russians pressed too hard. He’d not even pushed back against the plan to their faces. But maybe this could work.

  “You’ve got to plant the idea,” Finn said to him. “Ennis needs to think this is his idea, or he’ll be on to us, and everyone’s fucked.”

  Braden agreed. Ennis was no idiot, and underestimating him would be their downfall. He furrowed his brow. “There are some other things I need to tell you.”

  Finn nodded. “Let’s make it quick.”

  “We’re getting a gun shipment at Port Fall in the next couple of days,” he said. “They started pulling the gun deliveries to outside of the city since the cops have upped their surveillance.”

  “I’ve heard as much from Charlie,” Finn said. “There’s been talk in the underground that there’s been a pinch on their profits. It’s not going so well for many of them, and when things like this happen, it gets real dangerous to be on the streets. It’s just a matter of time before things start getting really bloody again.”

  Braden nodded. The Russians were disrupting the peace in more ways than one, and it wouldn’t be long before all hell broke loose. A modest-size city like this one didn’t stand a chance to contain it.

  Local law enforcement wasn’t equipped to handle a battle that size, and by the time the Feds got involved in strength, too many bodies would litter the street, of people both innocent and not.

  He knew the thought of this weighed heavily on Finn. The more the men tried to pull away from a life of crime, the stronger it seemed to pull them back in. He wondered if they could ever truly escape what they’d been. No. What they were.

  In the end, the town needed a faction like the Kellys to hold everything together and keep the peace. Being on the other side of the situation with Ennis only made that reality much more clear to Braden.

  The cops wouldn’t be enough. They didn’t have what it took, and it was far too easy to corrupt them.

  “I’ll take her out of town with me,” Braden said. “Ennis keeps a house there on the water so business stops don’t seem so out of place.”

  Finn gave a sad smile. “He was always one for the details.”

  Braden nodded. Finn was their Stefano, but Ennis was a genius at making money.

  A shiver ran down his spine. He supposed that made him a Boris of the Kellys. Ruthless and cold.

  “Make it happen,” Finn said. “We are going to have to make a stand at some point, and we can’t be distracted with trying to protect our people at the same time.”

  Braden felt like he should feel some relief, knowing his time with the Russians and Ennis was coming to an end. But if the means for that to happen meant starting a war, he wasn’t sure how he could be happy.

  Mob wars didn’t always go well for everyone involved, let alone the innocent people caught in the cross-fire. People would die. In their case, it would likely be people they loved and cared about.

  “Keep her safe,” Conor said firmly. “I’m counting on you.”

  Braden nodded. “With my very last breath if I have to.”

  Finn’s second-in-command stared at Braden for a moment longer, likely trying to decide the truth of what Braden had said. After a moment Conor nodded and guzzled down the rest of his beer.

  “And so the war begins,” Finn said ominously.

  Chapter Four

  Braden yawned from the front seat of his car. The coffee in the console had long since gone cold as he sat outside Teagan’s little apartment during the cold night. The one thing that sucked about being on watch when the person didn’t know you were there was that turning on the car only drew attention to your position.

  Teagan couldn’t know, and the Russians certainly couldn’t. The only chance he had at protecting her and not being discovered as a double agent was taking anyone who showed up by surprise. Fortunately, any likely killers had no reason to suspect that anyone was on to their plan to go after Teagan.

  He wasn’t convinced they’d go after her immediately, but he wanted to be careful.

  So he sat in the frigid night for hours, watching, waiting, and hopi
ng he didn’t have to kill anyone. The only thought that comforted him was that at least it wasn’t hot and humid.

  Her lights were now off. They’d been on for hours that night. He knew that sometimes she worked late on her designs. He admired her work ethic and how hard she tried to find some sort of success and how beautiful her clothes were.

  It must have been nice to have something to throw yourself into that didn’t involve crime or violence, he thought. His line of work required hard work, but not as much thought, let alone respectability.

  Thumping heads together wasn’t exactly something he could hold his head up high about when at a high-school reunion. He was a roughneck. Always had been.

  Even as a kid, he had no problem teaching people a lesson if they needed it. Not that he went looking for fights. Going into a bar to knock some heads around didn’t make him feel good. At the end of the day, he kicked ass if he needed to, no more, no less.

  Still fights always seemed to find him. Even now, after all these years, he wasn’t quite sure about why.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t have some theories. Maybe it was because he was always quiet.

  People seemed to find his quiet nature unsettling, and because of that assumed he was plotting against them. Or maybe it was his large size. Like somehow challenging the biggest person was a great idea. It didn’t matter though. Each one of them he’d taken down, whether as a kid or an adult.

  * * *

  A few hours later in the morning, he snickered slightly as he thought about his past. He had never planned to go into the family business. Being a distant cousin, he didn’t have to deal with the burden of obligation hanging over some of the others. He could have gone into a different line of work, whether as a friend to the Kellys or something totally legitimate that had nothing to do with them.

  It didn’t matter in the end. The work suited him, and all the other plans he’d had before just faded away when his parents wished him well in his new life.

  They all just assumed that it was what he wanted, and who was he to disagree? God had a plan for everyone, and maybe this life, however twisted and violent, was part of that plan. Or so they’d said.