by S L Davies
Branwen felt the air rush out of her lungs as she slumped back against the desk. What in the actual ever-loving fuck? She had been stolen. She knew that the people who had her were selling her body, her mam had explained the situation of how her da and Uncle Dyfed found her. However, they had all just assumed those people were her biological parents.
“So, who are my biological parents? And how did this paedophile, the suicide guy, how did he know about this?” she asked.
Carter cleared his throat, “According to the note, he was the one that abducted you, he was the brother of your potential biological father.”
“Fucking hell,” she groaned as she ran her hands up over her face. She didn’t have the right words, her entire system felt numb. What was her life.
“Your biological parents were victims. You were stolen straight from the hospital the day you were born. We have contacted them, there has been a missing person report for you since the day you were stolen. They continued searching for you.”
Branwen shook her head, “how do we know that this guy’s story is real, and he isn’t just some nut job fucking with these people?”
“We don’t for sure, we will need to do a DNA test to check for paternity, but if that comes back positive, we have the name of the person that stole you from the hospital.”
“Alright, well, when do we need to do the DNA test?” she asked.
Carter reached into his pocket and pulled out a swab in a plastic test tube, “I just need to swab the inside of your mouth and then the test should be available soon, we are going to put a rush on it, to make sure it happens fast. It’s been over twenty years - these people need answers.”
Branwen opened her mouth and let Carter run the swab around the inside of her cheeks. So many questions were running through her mind. “What are their names?” she asked once he removed the swab from her mouth and was starting to put it into the test tube.
“Audrey and Benjamin Tomlinson. If they are your parents, you are the eldest of five. You have one younger sister and three younger brothers,” Carter explained.
Movement at the door had Carter turning around, when she looked past the detective, she noticed Karney standing in the doorway. “Tobias rang, what is going on?” Karney said.
Carter chuckled and shook his head, “I should have suspected that they would be back as soon as I arrived.”
Together Carter and Branwen explained what they had just been over, from the abduction at the hospital to the DNA test that Carter was going to send off. Karney came into the room as he listened and put his arm around Branwen’s shoulder. When they finished explaining everything he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Branwen looked up at him and sighed before nodding her head, “I think so, I’m not sure. I have so many questions and concerns. Are they going to want to meet me? I mean what do I say, ‘hi I know you probably named me something else, but my name is Branwen and I’m the head of an Irish crime family?’”
Karney chuckled and kissed the top of her head again, “let’s just take it one step at a time. Remember that even if they do want to meet you, it doesn’t mean you have to meet them. You have a say in this too, Little Raven.”
Carter nodded his head, “alright, well I’m going to take this to the lab and get it rushed to be tested, I’ll probably get back to you in a week or so,” he said turning for the door, “oh and before I forget, Frank got the message loud and clear. I have a feeling you won’t be hearing from him again.”
Branwen snorted, “how long have you been working for us Detective?” she asked.
Carter frowned and shook his head with a look of confusion, “since I was twenty.”
“Then you ought to know that the Ricci family will retaliate, it’s just a matter of when.”
Carter nodded and sighed, “I hoped that there would be less carnage. Be safe Little Raven,” he said turning for the door and heading down the hallway.
Branwen leaned into Karney’s chest and felt his strong arms wrap around her waist. “We’ve got you Little Raven, we’ve got you,” he said quietly.
Chapter Eighteen
It was exactly two weeks to the day of finding out about the potential of Branwen’s biological family that a loud explosion rang through the house, rocking it to the very foundations. Shouts from various rooms sounded out, as the Murphy family men ran towards the front door. The sound of bullets and gunfire rained through the house. Branwen knew what this was, it was the Ricci family, they finally were taking their stand.
The bedroom door flew open, as Branwen was dragging guns out of the various hiding places, Kodiak, Karney and Finnbarr came into the room. Wordlessly they began to strap up guns, feeding bullets into the chambers. Once they were all loaded up, they looked at each other, each of her men’s faces were grim, their mouths were in tight lines and their jaws twitched with tension.
“Branwen, I want you to go to the panic room, but you’re not going to do as I ask, are you?” Karney asked.
Branwen shook her head, “no I’m not, I’m fighting by your side,” she answered.
Karney sighed but nodded his head, resigned that he couldn’t order her safe. She appreciated that he wasn’t going to argue with her, that way she wasn’t going to feel guilty about having to defy him.
“We do this together,” Kodiak said, as he stormed to the doorway, with Karney following behind.
Branwen slipped between Karney and Finnbarr as they followed Kodiak down the hall and towards the front door where the explosion came from. The smell of acrid smoke filled the air, the gunfire still rang out through the night, and shouts of pain sounded throughout the house. Nothing was going to prepare Branwen for the bloodshed that she was going to be faced with. Kodiak rounded the corner and opened fire, taking out two of the men she recognised as Ricci’s employees.
A few of their lower ranking employees were laid out on the ground, their blood pouring from their bodies as the sound of death surrounded her. Branwen didn’t have time to stop and tend to the wounded, she just had to hope that they pulled through this attack with as little casualties as possible.
Branwen clenched her teeth and stepped back looking up at Finnbarr. She pointed toward the back of the house, she was flying by the seat of her pants, making up her plan as she went. She was annoyed at herself that she had let her mind get so distracted by the potential of her having a biological family. Finnbarr nodded his head, and took her hand, leading her towards the rear of the house, in order to come around behind the Ricci men, and take them out that way. Once they were out the back door, they looked around searching for Ricci’s men, it seemed that they had all gone through the front door.
Branwen wasn’t sure whether Frank Ricci was stupid or if all his attempts were half hearted, she couldn’t understand why he would only order his men through the front door and yet ignore the rear exit. It felt too easy, and that made Branwen nervous. Just as they were about to go through the gate that led from the back to the front yard, a throat cleared, sending a chill through Branwen’s soul. She heard the distinct sound of the click of a gun, before she felt the steel of the barrel press into the side of her head.
“Little Raven,” the man spoke, the voice she recognised as Frank Ricci himself. Slowly Branwen turned to face Frank. He was easily in his sixties, with a very large stomach, his grey hair was kept shoulder length and slicked back into a ponytail at the base of his skull. He liked to wear gold rings and jewellery, to show off his wealth.
Branwen growled quietly when she realised that she had walked straight into his trap. She was surrounded by not only Frank, but several of his men. There was no way she was going to be able to get out of this. She looked to her side and saw that one of Frank’s men had his gun pressed against Finnbarr’s head. The gunshots had stopped inside, and Branwen knew that if her men were still alive, Karney and Kodiak would come looking for her and Finnbarr. They would walk straight into Frank’s men. This could
mean the end to the Murphy family.
“Frank,” she said through clenched teeth. The man in question smiled a toothy gold grin at her, swivelling the toothpick that jutted from his lips, to the other side of his mouth.
“Did you think I was going to simply forget about my Giovanni?” he asked in a calm voice, a voice that made Branwen quake. She locked her knees so that he wouldn’t see the trembling in her body, that wanted to take over.
Frank nodded to his men, who quickly searched Branwen and Finnbarr’s body’s, removing guns, that they had strapped on. The man that searched Branwen, spent an inordinate amount of time searching around her bra, copping a feel of her breasts. Branwen growled and bared her teeth at the man, who just chuckled, before stepping away. She could still feel the small gun she had tucked in the waistband of her pants, grateful that he hadn’t found it. She just hoped she would have an opportunity to use it, before Frank killed her or Finnbarr.
“Of course, I didn’t,” she said, adding as much bravado in her voice as she could. Frank smiled again and nodded.
“Well sadly you have no one to send your body parts to. What you do have though is a cunt, that my men would like to sample,” he oozed.
Branwen felt bile rise in her throat, “fucking, leave her alone,” Finnbarr shouted.
“Finnbarr, enough,” she growled, snapping her head to look over at her red headed lover. He was fighting against the hold of Frank’s man who had hold of his arm. She knew that Frank was going to kill them, but if there was a chance that they could escape she wanted all her men alive in order to do so.
Frank chuckled, “I think I like that you are the head, Little Raven, I think I am going to take you first, I want to break that spit fire spirit of yours.”
Branwen turned to face Frank and narrowed her eyes, “you will never get in my pussy,” she growled.
Frank raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes, “is that right? And who is going to stop me?”
“We are,” a voice said from behind the men.
Frank turned, to see the Isakov family, being led by Andre standing behind them, guns cocked and pointed at their heads, they outnumbered Frank’s men. Branwen took advantage of Frank’s attention being distracted by Andre as she reached into the waistband of her pants. Slowly and gingerly so as not to rouse suspicion she removed the small gun she had concealed there. Looking over at Finnbarr she saw him watching her, he gave her a small head nod, as she lifted her hand, aiming the gun at Frank’s head, and pulling the trigger, without a second thought.
Frank didn’t even know what hit him. His huge body collapsed, he was standing so close to Branwen that as he fell, he landed on her, and crushed her legs underneath him. Branwen cried out as she felt the snap of her leg, as it twisted awkwardly under the heavy weight of Frank’s dead body.
Shouts and confusion sounded, as Finnbarr pulled the gun that Frank’s men had failed to find on him, and within a blink of an eye had raised it to the man holding him, pulling the trigger, killing him as quickly as Branwen had Frank. Within minutes all the Ricci men were laid out, dead. None of them had even stood a chance. She was grateful for Andre. Shouts from the backdoor caught her attention, and Branwen turned to see Karney and Kodiak running towards her. Tears flooded her eyes and started to run down over her cheeks. She was overwhelmed with gratitude towards Andre but thanking God that her men had survived and were coming for her.
The pain in Branwen’s leg was unbearable and she felt the fingers of darkness threatening to steal her away. Just as Kodiak threw Frank’s body from hers, the darkness won and Branwen drifted away into unconsciousness.
Chapter Nineteen
When Branwen’s eyes flickered open she felt like she had a hangover, the only one she had ever experienced was from when she was seventeen, Kodiak and Branwen had sneaked into Andre’s wine cellar and stolen a bottle of wine that they shared between the two of them. The next morning her head throbbed, her mouth was dry as if she had been sucking on sandpaper and she felt queasy. Her da had laughed his ass off at the pair of them when they finally showed their faces. He then promptly started frying bacon and eggs, that made her stomach feel even worse. Branwen swore she wouldn’t drink again.
However, this wasn’t a hangover, memories of her leg snapping under the heavy weight of Frank Ricci assaulted her as she looked around noting that she was in a hospital room, connected to various beeping machines. When she glanced towards the window, Karney was sitting in the chair, his head tilted back, his lips parted and soft snores floating from his mouth. The door opened quietly, and Kodiak came into the room, followed by Finnbarr.
Kodiak noticed Branwen looking at her and his whole face lit up in relief. He stepped up to the bed and took one of her hands in his, lifting her palm to his lips in a gentle kiss. “Little Raven,” he breathed.
“How long was I asleep for?” she asked, her voice was husky, and her throat sore.
“Not long, you’ve only been out of surgery for a couple of hours. You have a concussion as well, as a pretty bad break in your leg,” Finnbarr explained, looking relieved to see her awake.
“I don’t even remember hitting my head,” she said with a frown.
Kodiak nodded his head and kissed her palm again, “we think that must have happened when Frank landed on you, with the pain from the break, you probably didn’t feel it. But you have an abrasion on the back of your head.”
Branwen reached back and touched the back of her skull, feeling the distinct painful egg that was hidden under her hair. She winced and sighed. “So, what happens now?” she asked.
“Carter is clearing everything up. The Ricci family is being blamed, because they came to us. Giovanni’s death has been hidden, so as far as the police believe, the Ricci family launched an attack, not expecting the Isakov family to step in to end it,” Finnbarr told her, as Karney let out a long snore, causing them to chuckle.
“He refused to leave your side, we had to basically wrestle him to prevent him from manhandling the surgeon and going into the operating theatre with you,” Kodiak said with a shake of his head.
Branwen smiled, she could only imagine what Karney would have been like. She loved that she was so protected. “Is there any of the Ricci family left?” she asked.
Kodiak shrugged his shoulder, “I don’t doubt there will be. Frank wouldn’t have brought everyone to the house without leaving some assurances in case of his death. We will take care of them too when we find out. I have got men with their ears to the ground.”
“Good,” she said squeezing Kodiak’s hand. She was grateful to have not only the support from her men, but the backing of the Isakov family. It was going to take time for Branwen to heal physically, so she was going to need people around her to shoulder some of the weight.
“How many men did we lose?” she asked.
Kodiak shook his head, “three, Timothy, Jonas and Damien. I’ve organised to set their wives up with housing, money and expenses. The funerals will be paid for and their children’s education paid right through university.”
Branwen sighed, it was a sad and sorry state, she hated that she lost any of her men. Money wasn’t going to fix their wives pain or the children’s hurt, but it would make their lives slightly easier if they didn’t have to worry about bills.
“Timothy and Jonas were in the guard house when the Ricci’s arrived, and Damien was blasted in the explosion. Marcus and Tom were injured with burns, but nothing serious, they have been patched up and given time off to heal,” Finnbarr continued.
“Well three is still three too many, but at least I didn’t lose any of you,” she said with a weak smile.
“Carter said that he had your DNA results back,” Kodiak said with a frown.
“Did he say whether the people in Australia are my biological parents?” she asked.
Kodiak shook his head, “no, he said he would come in later to give you the results, what do you want to do if it comes back that they are your parents?”
Branwe
n sighed, resting her head back against the pillows and closing her eyes. It was all she had thought about for the last two weeks. She didn’t know if the people would want anything to do with her once they knew who she was. It wasn’t like normal people welcomed the underbelly into their homes. And then Branwen wondered whether she could even trust them. There were also the problems of protecting them. If the Ricci family knew about them, they wouldn’t be safe. Did she really want to bring that on to them as well?
“I don’t know. They might not even want to meet me, but if they do, I don’t know if it is the right thing to do. I mean, what happens if the Ricci family finds a way to get to them too?” she voiced.
“We will protect them. They will be safe,” Karney said, Branwen turned to face him, seeing him watching her with a frown. “If you want to meet them Little Raven, then we will make sure that they are safe.”
Branwen bit her lip and nodded her head. She wasn’t sure how Karney was going to be able to promise such a thing. She thought they would be safe in their own home, and yet the Ricci family invaded there. How was he going to protect a whole family in another country?
***
In all her rough housing growing up with two older brothers and the various boys that were the sons of Da’s employees, Branwen had never broken a bone. She never realised just how painful it was. The break had been a bad one, and she had required surgery to pin the bones in her shin back together, but nothing prepared her for the eye watering pain she would experience.
The guys had stayed with her, while Niall and Tobias stood guard outside the doors, she was in a weakened state, if the Ricci family wanted to finish the job, this would be the best place to do so. Andre and Kodiak organised for the Isakov family to be stationed around the hospital entrances and security had been added to the floor, that Branwen was being kept on. The nurses seemed to be handling the extra security well. A couple of the nurses made comments about how Branwen was flanked by very handsome men.