Making the only father we ever knew prouder than he could have ever been.
“Flynn, the finance books are all electronic. They’re on my laptop I’m leaving behind. That’s the only thing on that laptop, though. Nothing else. It hasn’t even been connected to the internet,” Brody said.
“An air-gapped computer. I know. Trust me, it won’t get connected. And if I do my job right, I won’t even need them,” Flynn said.
“But if you do, the password is ‘Callaghan,’ but backwards.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
“I put my calendar out for you to take a look at. There are some important operations meetings coming up. A couple of interviews for bodyguards. You know what to look for,” Gael said.
Flynn nodded. “I do. I’ve got this, guys. I’m not the youngest, and I’m even further from the dumbest.”
I grinned. “We know. That title’s reserved for Gael.”
“Both of them,” Brody said, chuckling.
He sighed. “I’m not stupid. I just don’t enjoy pointless conversation.”
“You are the youngest, though,” Flynn said.
“So you idiots keep telling me,” he murmured.
“Are you really wearing a suit to fly?” Brody asked as he turned to me.
“I wear a suit wherever I go. And one day, I’ll even get married in one,” I said.
“Before having sex in one,” Flynn said, grinning.
“Gael, you said you grabbed our suitcases?” I asked.
“Already in the car. We need to go. The tarmac is twenty minutes away, and that’s if we don’t hit traffic,” he said.
We all said our goodbyes to Flynn before heading out to the black SUV. Tinted windows. Bulletproof. Everything we needed to stay safe in our industry. Running one of the most prominent Irish mafia syndicates wasn’t easy work. It required long hours, a steel stomach, and the ability to get ruthless when necessary. The brothers and I rode in silence, but the tension was palpable.
Someone had fucked with our family.
And for that, they would pay with their lives.
“Do we even want to entertain the idea that Richard is dead?” Gael asked.
Brody and I slowly looked over at him before I licked my lips.
“Not particularly,” I said.
“There is a possibility, though,” Brody said.
“What are we going to do about Mom if he is?” Gael asked.
“What? Are you talking about bringing her back to Ireland or something?” I asked.
“No. I’m talking about the position that will put you in. You leaving Ireland to take Richard’s seat,” Gael said.
“He’s right. You’re the heir to the Stateside throne. That changes a lot of things on the Irish end,” Brody said.
I crossed my leg over my knee. “We’ll deal with that bridge if we come to it. But, for now, we operate as if he is alive.”
“So, cautiously,” Gael said.
“And under the radar,” Brody said.
I grinned. “Always under the radar.”
The SUV pulled us straight onto the tarmac and we hopped out. Gael grabbed our things as I headed straight for the stairs. I needed to inform the pilot that we needed to get into Chicago as quickly as possible. As fast as he could fly this thing. The stewardesses were there. Both of them, employed full-time. Able to get dressed and work at the drop of a hat. No questions asked.
They were worth the big bucks we paid them.
After talking to the pilot, I put in an order for a fruit plate and some champagne. The three of us needed a way to wind down and clear our heads. We had a seven-hour trip ahead of us. Plenty of time to rile ourselves up if we didn’t take it easy. Brody helped Gael shove shit into the overhead bins. Then, snapped them shut.
And a few minutes later, the plane taxed on the runway.
“Should we inform Abby?” Gael asked.
I looked over at Brody. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “Not our place.”
“She is technically our sister,” Gael said.
“Step-sister. Who we’ve never met,” I said.
“Does that mean she shouldn't be privy to this information? Richard is her biological father,” Brody said.
I held up my hand. “That is a decision for Mom and Mom alone. I don’t know what kind of relationship this girl has with our mother if any. For all we know, she’s never met this elusive daughter. Just like we’ve never met her. That is the least of our worries right now.”
Gael nodded. “Very well.”
Brody sighed. “You know it’s one of the families.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions.”
“My money’s on the Daly Family. They’ve been crawling down our throats lately,” Gael said.
“I don’t know. The Maguires haven’t been the happiest of people lately. You know Richard never got on with—”
“We jump. To no. Conclusion,” I said curtly.
The brothers fell silent and I gazed out the window. I sighed heavily as the stewardesses delivered our fruit plates along with our crystal glasses of champagne. I watched the clouds roll by as the afternoon sun crested the sky. Barely over the morning tide, and we were already in emergency mode. Such was life when embroiled with the mafia.
Especially when we were the most powerful family.
“You remember when Richard officially adopted us?” Brody asked.
“Not particularly,” Gael said.
I sipped my drink. “You were too young. It doesn’t shock me that you don’t remember.”
“Yeah, well. I was too young to remember our bullshit biological father, too,” Gael spat.
“Richard was a son of a bitch,” Brody murmured.
I held my glass up. “Here, here for that. But, yes. I do remember the day he adopted us. The day he offered us his last name. The day he truly brought us into the fold of our future. It takes a special man to love our mother. To take on the four boys she had with a man who she had no business being with.”
Brody held up his glass. “To Richard. May we find you alive.”
Gael followed our movements. “And to Mom. May she get through this if he’s dead.”
I shot him a look, but we cheered the sentiment anyway. Because it was true. If someone had grown the balls big enough to slit the throat of our stepfather, war was coming. I downed the rest of my champagne. I nodded as the stewardess refilled the glass. I reached for the bottle, motioning for it with my hand.
“You can leave this with us. Thank you,” I said.
And without a word, the two stewardesses left us alone.
“I think my favorite memory of Richard is the time he caught us to play rugby,” Brody said.
I chuckled. “Mom was so upset that Gael broke that man’s collarbone.”
Gael shrugged. “Everyone’s always underestimated me. I got to teach someone a lesson.”
I snickered. “And here, you’re only in charge of operations management.”
“You really should be head of security,” Brody murmured.
And when Gael chuckled, I drank it in. The sound. The look of entertainment on his face. Gael had always been so stoic. So emotionally removed. Cold to the world around him. It made sense, though. I understood why he was that way. I understood why we all turned out the way we did. Brody, with his easy-going nature. Flynn, with his serious “take no shit” attitude. And me, with my poise. With my tailored suits. Constantly projecting an air of business and sophistication, no matter where I went.
We were products of our circumstances. Of the positions we had been groomed for. The roles we had been born to take. From the second Richard offered the power of his last name to us, we had become his. Heir-apparents to the throne he had ruled all his life. He offered our mother the world. Kept her happy. Kept her full. Kept her clothed, smiling, and romanced. We owed our future to this man. We owed our mother’s happiness to this man.
“No matter what it take
s, we find our stepfather,” I said.
“No matter what it takes, we protect our mother at all costs,” Brody said.
“And no matter what it takes—if Richard is dead—we make the family responsible pay with their blood,” Gael said.
Here. Fucking. Here.
2
Declan
Present Day
We all sat around the dinner table. Myself, Gael, Brody, and Mom. She spooned her soup and ate it silently with her eyes cast to the table and her shoulders rolled back. Timid, which wasn’t like her. Of all the things our mother had been in our lives, timid was never one of them. She had to survive our father, Seamus. A drunken abuser who did nothing but smack her around. His smacking her around almost cost us Gael, our youngest brother, too. Because she almost miscarried after one of his beatings. It was no wonder he came out so emotionally removed. Because he suffered the most trauma even before he was ever born.
Our mother was a strong woman.
And to watch her silently cry into her soup was devastating.
“Mom,” Gael said.
He slipped his hand under the table and she sniffled. I peeked under to see Gael holding her hand. Slowly bringing down her walls. Despite his cold, removed demeanor, him and Mom always had a connection, one none of the other brothers really understood. They were a lot alike, in a lot of ways. And Gael looked the most like her, too. While we all took after our father in our builds, he took after Mom. Tall, sure. We were all tall. But he was slender. Not lean and toned, like Flynn, but proper slender. Brute strength didn’t look like his specialty until he channeled all that anger he had inside him. We all had Mom’s dark hair. But he was the only one that came out with Mom’s dark eyes.
The rest of us came out with our father’s blue eyes. Except for me.
My eyes were brown with speckles of blue. Eyes that never quite chose what they wanted to be.
“We will get him back,” Gael said.
She nodded. “I trust that you will.”
“Then, what’s wrong?” Brody asked.
I licked my lips. “It doesn’t ease the worry or the loneliness.”
Mom nodded. “He’s right. It doesn’t. Everywhere I go, I’m reminded of where Richard isn’t. I lay down in bed, and he isn’t there. I walk into his study, and he isn’t there. I see his car in the garage, and he isn’t there, either.”
Gael sighed. “The bodyguards will protect you while we’re our searching for him. You won’t be alone.”
“Not that kind of loneliness,” Brody said.
Gael rolled his eyes before reaching his arms around Mom. He pulled her in for a hug, and it never ceased to surprise me how physically comforting he could be to her. I’d grown up with my brother. Protected him at all costs. And I’d never once gotten more than a handshake from him. A mother and son bond was powerful. It went beyond any bond a man had with anyone else in his life.
All of us brothers understood that.
“It’s going to be all right, Mom. We’ll find him. We’ll bring him home,” Gael said softly.
“What if he’s dead, Gael?” she asked.
“Then, we’ll bring his body home. To bury properly,” he said.
“Gael,” I said curtly.
Brody shook his head curtly, but Mom brushed us off. She pulled away from the hug and cupped Gael’s cheeks. She smiled at him. Kissed him on the forehead. Then, she smoothed her thumbs over his skin.
“You don’t sugarcoat. You never have. It’s one of the many reasons why I love you,” she said.
“Thank you, Mom,” he said.
And when they sat back down, I got to work.
“Now that we have a bit of food in us, I think it’s time we all get our assignments,” I said.
“Over dinner?” Brody asked.
Gael shrugged. “It’s as good of a time as any. We don’t have any time to waste.”
I nodded. “I’m going to take Richard’s place temporarily and keep the cogs running. Which means I’ll be in his study, Mom. Is that going to bother you?”
She shook her head. “No, no. It’ll be okay. I know that’s going to be your room one of these days.”
“Gael, I want you to check up on that distillery. The Dalys have been our enemies for quite some time. If they’ve got anything to do with this, you’ll find evidence of it around there,” I said.
“Done and done,” he said.
“Brody, you take the Maguires. I suggest digging around their trash and hitting up their outside contacts before trying to go at them headstrong. You know how paranoid that patriarch is,” I said.
“I’ll make some headway tonight. I don’t think any of us are sleeping after all this,” he said.
“And Mom?” I asked.
“Yes, son?”
“I need you t—”
“What in the name of holy fuck is going on in here!?”
I shot up from the table as Uncle Martin’s voice boomed down the hallway. I shoved my chair away and reached for the piece on my hip only to find Brody’s hand wrapping around my wrist. I glared at him as he shook his head. But Gael already had his gun out. His body stood in front of mother’s; his gun leveled at the doorway.
“You need to keep a cool head. Just in case,” Brody murmured.
And as I drew in a sobering breath, I knew he was right. If Richard was dead—if I really did have to take over the Callaghan Family now—my first order of business didn’t need to be pulling a gun on a damn family member.
“Really, Gael? A gun?” Uncle Martin asked.
“Really, Marty? Raising your voice at dinner time?” Gael asked.
Brody moved off to the side after I holstered my gun. I slid my hands down my suit coat as I approached Mom from behind. I put my hands on her shoulders. I slid her to the side, where Brody could keep watch on her. Just in case our uncle came in less than peace.
“Can I help you, Uncle?” I asked as I put my hand on Gael’s back.
“How the hell are you boys already here? How did I not know you were coming into town!?” he bellowed.
“First of all, you will lower your voice in this house. And second of all, if you kept in contact at all, you’d know these things,” I said.
“I suppose it pays to be part of the family,” Gael said.
I tapped twice on my brother’s back. A secret set of signals we had devised over the years, especially after planting roots in Ireland. One tap on the back meant “stand down.” Two taps meant “hold your position.” Three taps meant “stay alert.” And four taps?
Well, let’s just say many bodies had dropped after those four taps.
“We don’t need you here searching for Richard. We’ve got this under control just fine,” Martin said.
“And while I’d love to believe you, I don’t,” I said flatly.
“That because I haven't already resorted to violence like you out of place wackers do?” he asked.
“Whatever it takes to get him back. Or do you not care that much about your brother?”
“At least Flynn stayed behind. The common crook.”
“What did you say about our brother?” Brody asked.
“Enough,” Mom said plainly.
Uncle Martin sighed and I tapped once on Gael’s back, making him holster his gun. I kept my eyes turned toward my uncle, but my attention was on Mom. The evenness of her breathing. The silence of her tears. When Mom needed to be strong, she knew how to flip that switch. How to turn it all off. How to compartmentalize the emotions and bring out the stoic stare.
I’d inherited that from her, too.
“You’re welcome in this home as long as you want to stay. You’re family whether or not we have gotten along. But right now? Our family is in disrepair. And whether or not we agree with each other on everything isn’t important. What’s important is finding Richard. Which means we need to work together. Do you understand me, Martin?”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
I snickered, but Mom didn’t let that
slide.
“This goes for you, too, boys. Martin is Richard’s brother. They grew up together, just like you lot grew up together. We’re all family. By blood and marriage. We work together, or not at all. Understood?” she asked.
We all nodded our heads in agreement.
“Good. Now, Declan? I believe you’ve given us all assignments. We might as well see to them,” she said.
“Assignments? What assignments?” Martin asked.
“Do you want one?” I asked.
He stiffened. “Depends on what it is.”
I snickered. “You really are wound way too tightly. Mom needs company. She’s alone, and she’s fearful for her husband’s life. For your brother’s life. Keep her company until we can sort this out.”
He paused, then nodded. “I can do that.”
Mom smiled. “Good. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one another, Martin. Care for a glass of wine?”
I looked over at my brothers as Mom took Martin’s arm. And when the two of them walked out of the kitchen, I looked over at the bodyguards. I pointed to two of them and silently signaled for them to head down the hallway after them. Then, I pointed to another guard before pointing at Gael.
“I can take care of myself, brother,” he said.
“You’ll take a bodyguard, or you won’t go at all. Got it?” I asked.
He sighed. “Noted.”
“And you? You’ll be with me near the study,” I said.
“So, I’m the one hanging around without a guard?” Brody asked.
“You can stay with Gael if you’d like,” I said.
“No offense, but I would rather die,” he said.
“And all the offense, but good fucking riddance,” Gael said.
I chuckled. “All right. Let’s get to it. I want hourly updates on your travels and the information you find. And if something removes me from the house, I’ll let you two know about it.”
Declan: The Callaghan Mafia #1 Page 2