by V Vee
Michele clapped her hands. “Let’s do this! We don’t need to let those Irish boys have all the fun. We regularly go in and clean up shit in this fucked up country.”
I sighed. “I know.” I rubbed my forehead. “That’s why I’m hesitating. We need to pick our battles. We’ve got elections coming around. You know palms have to be greased. We slipped up with the last one because everyone was so sure we had it in the bag.”
Natalie snorted. “I told you those white girls weren’t loyal.”
I shook my head. “Nah. The ones on our side were. They weren’t the problem. We got cocky. Remember what my grandma used to say: We hold the power, but we only maintain it…”
“By remembering to remain humble,” we all said together.
It wasn’t our official mantra, but it was one all my girls knew. Humility even when you had all the power was how you kept it, because it made those around you continue to underestimate you. When people didn’t see you as a threat, they were much more likely to show you their hand, show their weaknesses and expose their strengths, which made them vulnerable. It was how we stayed in power.
“So, are you going to give Andrew the information?” Michele asked.
I sighed again, then made a decision. “I gave him 48 hours. If he doesn’t have this in 24, then I will.”
“Sounds like a plan, Sis. Let us know when we’re moving in.”
I nodded. “I will. Keep your phones on. I have a feeling that shit is going to be moving fast. And let everyone else know too.”
Natalie agreed, stood, then left my office, but not before stopping to give Michele a hug. I loved my girls. We argued, we teased each other, but we uplifted each other. We encouraged each other. We supported one another. We had each other’s back. If one of us succeeded, we all did. And if one of us hurt, we all felt it. It was why I shared the power I had with them. I may be “Boss Bitch” but they were all just as “Boss.”
But that didn’t mean I was going to take them with me when I confronted Seamus. No matter what I’d said. This shit was between me and the pervert. Andrew may have killed his father, but the peeper creeper was all mine. He’d shot up my grandmother’s house.
It was time for me to return the favor.
I forgot how much it hurt to be shot.
I hissed in pain and ducked behind the wall of the outside of Seamus’s house. I wasn’t exactly sure how the little fucker had gotten the drop on me. Someone in our ranks wasn’t loyal, and I was going to find out who it was and drag their intestines from their body. It was the only way I could figure Seamus had known I was coming. I hadn’t told anyone. I’d looked up his address on my computer, taken my car, and parked a few streets over, and yet the fucker had been waiting.
“Come on out you fucking black bitch!” Seamus yelled. “Maybe I’ll let you bounce on this white dick before I sell you into slavery where you fucking belong.”
Oh, this bitch is asking for it.
I clenched my jaw as I slowly slid my jacket off. I pulled my knife out of my boot and cut the hem of my shirt, wrapping it around my left shoulder where I’d taken Seamus’s fucking bullet. It hurt like a motherfucker and burned like a bitch. But I’d come here to kill this little racist, creeper, perverted punkass and I wasn’t leaving until I’d done that.
“Ohh, is the little Negress scared now that the big bad white man shot her? I thought you were supposed to be a badass?” Seamus taunted me.
I rolled my eyes. Did he think I was stupid? How many people fell for that? I could hear him walking around his house, but I could also hear him reloading his weapons. Coming here alone was probably not the smartest thing I’d done.
“Should’ve brought the girls with me,” I mumbled.
“Or maybe you should have let your fucking man handle it,” a voice growled from me.
Fuck.
Andrew.
Chapter Eighteen
Andrew- The Irishman
I wasn’t sure what pissed me off more. Showing up at Seamus’s house and finding out that my woman was there already. Hearing the racist fucking shit that my cousin was saying to her or realizing—much later than I should have—that Kyra was hurt.
Okay, I knew which one. The fact that Kyra was hurt made me livid.
“Andrew…”
I held up my hand. “We’ll talk about you not trusting or believing in me later,” I growled.
She shook her head. “That’s not it.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “It’s not?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Hey!” Shannon’s voice reached us from where he crouched against the wall on the other side of the yard. “Can you have this marital spat another time?”
“Is that Shannon out there?” Seamus’s voice—which to me sounded a bit unhinged—floated from inside the house. “That must mean my dear cousin Andrew is here. Oh boy. Hey Andrew, how mad were you when you found out I was trying to kill you because of your little black whore, hmm?”
I growled and jumped up, only to be jerked down by Ronan—just in time—as bullets exploded rapid-fire out of the window.
“Did I get him?” Seamus asked, sounding a bit too excited for my liking.
“Nope. Sorry, Sea. Try again,” Bailey said with a grin. I threw up my middle finger at him, and he blew me a kiss.
“He never was all that good at video games if you remember,” Shannon said loudly.
“Hmm… you’re right,” Bailey agreed.
“That’s because you all cheated! You were always cheating!” Seamus screamed as more bullets exploded from within. I covered Kyra’s body with my own even though we were nowhere near the bullets. No wonder Seamus had to pay someone to kill me. He was a terrible shot.
How the hell had he shot Kyra? He must have been aiming for her head and gotten her shoulder instead.
“You still didn’t hit anyone, Seamus!” Shannon taunted him, gesturing to me to go around to the front of the house. I nodded and heard as he kept talking. “Maybe you should just put the gun to your head and shoot? Although with your aim you’ll probably miss and just shoot the wall.”
“Shut the fuck up, Shannon! Are you sleeping with the nig—”
I was glad I’d made it to the front of the house by that time because I was pretty sure that if I’d heard him call Kyra by that disgusting name, I would have blown his house up, damn the casualties.
I stopped in front of the door and took a breath.
“What are you waiting for?”
My eyes flew open and I stared at Kyra.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Really, Andrew?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m your ride-or-die. Your woman. We go into battle together.”
“Is that why you came out here all by yourself then?”
She lifted her hands in surrender, then winced. “Okay, that’s my bad.”
I snorted. “That’s a fucking understatement.” I shook my head. “No, Kyra. Hell fuck no. Stay your ass out here and let me handle this.”
My mouth dropped open when she pointed her gun at me. “Andrew. I love you. I do. But this bitch ass cousin of yours has been calling me every last racial slur in the book for over an hour now. He tried to kill me. He watched me shower. And I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t got the jump on him all those weeks ago? He would have raped me. He even threatened to sell me into slavery.”
“He. What?”
Kyra nodded. “I think him and his father were doing some really dark, fucked up shit behind your back.” She lowered her gun. “I’m going in there. He owes me blood and I aim to collect.”
I sighed and inclined my head. “Alright. But we do this together. And after we put this bitch down, you’re going to the hospital.”
She rolled her eyes. “We can just call the doctor to come over and—”
I grabbed the back of her head and yanked her to me, kissing her deeply, moaning as her taste exploded over my tongue. I bit
her lower lip and tugged on it gently, before releasing it and giving it a lick. I looked down into her dark brown eyes, letting my forehead rest against hers.
“Kyra, listen to me. You are my motherfucking world, okay? I knew it the moment I saw you. I am gone over you. I would kill every man who looked at you cross-eyed, burn the world down for you, capture stars for you. Hell, you see I’m willing to kill fucking family for you. You are my heart’s beat. I can’t breathe knowing that you’re hurt. Can’t focus. All I want to do is rip people apart because someone dared to spill your blood. Please. For my peace of mind, baby. Will you please go to the motherfucking hospital?”
Tears had filled Kyra’s eyes as I spoke, and she cleared her throat. I reached up to wipe her eyes with my thumbs, even with my guns in my hands.
“Yeah, baby. I’ll go.”
I nodded. “Good. Now let’s go kill my motherfucking cousin, huh?”
She laughed and I turned the doorknob, pushing Kyra behind me, expecting a trap. I was glad I did when an arrow whizzed passed us.
“Batshit crazy motherfucker,” Kyra muttered.
Agreed.
I led Kyra inside, and I could hear Shannon still taunting Seamus.
“Maybe if you had some good black pussy you wouldn’t be so fucking crazy, Sea?” Shannon said with a laugh.
“My father said sleeping with one of those animals makes you crazy!” Seamus screamed, shooting out of the kitchen windows again.
“And that’s why you were drooling over my sister in law right?” Bailey responded.
“I was not!”
“I beg to disagree,” Kyra stated angrily, causing Seamus to turn around.
Before he could raise his arms to shoot, Kyra and I raise our guns and fired. Without discussion, we’d both decided not to aim for his head, instead deciding to let him bleed out. Over and over again we let our bullets fly, ripping through flesh, muscle, tendon, and embedding in bone, neither of us aiming for his heart. When both of our guns were empty, we both walked over to where Seamus lay dying in a massive pool of his own blood, a sick smile on his face.
“She was right,” he said weakly.
“Who?” I asked.
“Charlene,” he coughed.
“Who the fuck is Charlene?” Kyra asked.
Seamus laughed, blood bubbling up out of his lips. “Your sister.”
Kyra shook her head. “I don’t have a sister, idiot.”
Seamus simply laughed again, took a breath, coughed, and the life left his eyes.
Kyra turned to me looking confused. “I don’t have a sister, Andrew. What the fuck is he talking about?”
“I don’t know, Baby. He was crazy.” I pulled her to me and rubbed my hand up and down her back.
“I think I know,” Ronan said, holding up a sheet of paper. I took it from him and started to read, the words chilling me to my core.
Hello Seamus,
You don’t know me and for now perhaps that is best. But one day, you and I will meet.
You see, my mother and your mother knew each other very well. They were sisters. But my father? My father was unwelcomed by your family because he was black. And he was married. But I am not here to talk about my parents or even yours. Or the sex slave trade you, your father, and your brothers are involved in. Naughty, naughty. No. I’m here to talk about something else. My sister. Kyra Bahmer. Your cousin Andrew has taken an interest in her. And if the two of them get together too many secrets will be revealed. Your secrets. My secrets. And many others. Not to mention they will be too powerful.
So we must help each other, Seamus.
You kill your cousin.
And I’ll take care of my little sister. Besides, I think it’s time she and I met, don’t you? She’s quite beautiful. A little slow to figure things out. But she could be such a problem if we don’t take care of her now.
Hope to meet soon.
Yours,
Charlene O’Sullivan
Chapter Nineteen
Kyra- K-Love
I was trying to pay attention to the doctors and nurses moving around me. Trying to listen to what they were saying, but all I could keep thinking about was that letter. I had a sister. Half-sister, but still. In my community, “half” didn’t mean shit, they were still family. Hell, for some of us stepsiblings were still family. It was why so many people had an issue with the Maggie and Jackson relationship on Grey’s Anatomy™. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to me. If I’m in a hospital, I’m gonna think about Grey’s.
But I knew that wasn’t the only reason. I was trying to distract myself from… her.
Charlene.
The song by Anthony Hamilton started to play in my head and before I realized it, I was humming along.
“Baby, you alright?” Andrew’s voice pulled me out of my head, and I blinked up at him.
“Hmm? What? Yeah. I’m okay.” I nodded.
He gave me a look as if he didn’t believe me, but then turned his attention back to the nurse who was explaining about caring for the bullet wound. I tuned them out once again, my mind once again returning to the startling revelation that I had a half-sister named, Charlene, who apparently wanted me dead, only to snap back into the conversation at the word: pregnancy.
“I’m sorry… did you say pregnancy? Who’s pregnant?” I asked looking around.
Andrew looked down at me with a smile, his hand caressing the top of my head. “I knew you weren’t paying attention, Baby. If you had been you would have had some sort of reaction.” He chuckled and squatted down next to my hospital bed, looking me intently in my eyes. “We’re having a baby.”
I shook my head. “No, we’re not.”
He laughed. “Yes, we are. They ran tests and discovered that you’re pregnant.”
I blinked at him. “But… how?”
The nurse laughed. “You don’t know where babies come from, sugar? Looks like you guys have a lot more to talk about than just the fact that she’s having a baby.”
I cut my eyes at her and looked her up and down. “I know where babies come from, thank you very much. And why are you still here? Can I have some privacy with my man? Or do you need to be all up in our business?”
The nurse, whose nametag said Paige, and had blonde hair, a thin frame, and looked as if she should be modeling “Sexy Nurse” costumes rather than being an actual nurse in the hospital, narrowed her eyes at me. “I was just leaving.”
“Good. See that you do.” I waited until she was almost out the door before I muttered, loud enough so she could hear me. “Bitch.” She froze in the doorway but kept walking.
That’s what I thought. She don’t want none of this.
“Glad to see you’re still as feisty as you always are,” Andrew said with amusement.
I turned my attention back to him. “That’s never gonna change. Now, what’s this about me being pregnant?”
Andrew nodded. “Happened either the first or the second time we hooked up.”
I raised my hands in the air and made air quotes. “Hooked up? You mean fucked?”
Andrew growled. “I have never fucked you baby. I have screwed your brains out. We have definitely made love. But we have never fucked.”
I tilted my head to the side. “And why not?”
He smiled at me. “Because you’re not ready for that yet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Try me.”
Andrew rose and leaned down to kiss me deeply. I moaned as the taste of him flowed over my tongue. We broke apart after a moment, and he rested his head on mine.
“We’re having a baby,” he said, resting his hand on my stomach.
“I guess we are.” I bit my lower lip. “Are you happy?”
“I’m ecstatic. I always knew you were going to be the mother of my children. We’re just getting started on it a little bit faster than I planned on. But I’m going to take care of that.”
I frowned. “What? How?”
Before Andrew could say anything else Michele walked in, followed
by Manus, Riley, Ludwig, Shannon, Bailey, Nia, Carrick, Cavan, Ronan, Tierney, Harper, Brodie, Galvin, Declan, Mia, Kynan, Charlotte, Olivia, Ava, Victoria, Natalie, Chloe, Zoey, Luna, and Grace. The room was packed, and I didn’t think anyone else would be able to fit, but just as I opened my mouth to ask why all those motherfuckers had come to my room—big and private though it was—a priest stepped in. I looked up at Andrew and he nodded at the older man.
“Thank you for coming, Father. You can begin.”
A part of me wanted to protest, it really did. Who just springs a fucking wedding on someone? And in a hospital of all places? But the rest of me? It already knew that all of me belonged to Andrew. And I was having his baby. We were a family. All of us. We were just making it official. So when it was my turn, there was no hesitation on my part.
“I do.”
“You’re the one I trust and no one else.” I ran my hands through his hair as he looked up at me. “You’re the only man I want to touch me; the only one I want to learn how to please. I want to be yours in every way, every single day.”
Andrew moved me closer to him and positioned me between his legs. His hands traveled up my stocking leg to the garter belt on my waist. I’d been released from the hospital, and my new husband and I were finally having our wedding night.
In an expensive hotel suite.
In Ireland.
He unclipped the clasps. “You’re the one person I know I can fully trust. You’re the only woman I see. The only one I want to touch me. The only one I want to touch. I already know I please you, but I want to continue to learn how to do so. And you please me more than you know. You’re already mine in every way, every single day, forever; just as I am yours. This is forever, Baby. No getting out of it through divorce or walking out. Gang rules apply. We only get out of this shit in a box.” He looked up at me and held my eyes before winking at me.
