"You have something to say?" I ask with a raised brow.
Seamus regards my father first and that pisses me the fuck off. I'm a grown ass man, one that has killed hundreds of men, my name is feared by everyone and yet I'm ignored because my father's the capo. My father nods, and Seamus turns his gaze to me.
"My daughter is—" He pauses if to find the right word. "Unique," he says with a glare at me.
"Difficult," Cian says and I see the loving smile on his face.
"A pain in the ass." Patrick grins.
"A fucking princess," Finn replies darkly and that right there is a threat.
"I can handle a woman."
The look the Gallagher's give me would make a grown man quiver, but not me, I stare them down.
"Fuck, you're as stubborn as she is," Seamus says and the grin on his face makes me brace for what he's about to say next. "You two are going to be a match made in fucking hell."
"Is that all?" my father asks. "I'd like to see the girl now."
I grit my teeth, that fucking look in his eye is enough to tell me why he wants to see Makenna. Asshole.
Seamus narrows his eyes at my father, but stands. I hear a door opening and Seamus grins. "She's here." He walks out of his office and we all follow. "Makenna," he calls out and I hear the sound of heels clicking against the floor.
As we enter the sitting room, my gaze follows the Gallagher's.
"Shit," Romero curses.
"Holy shit," Alessio mutters.
Standing in front of us is Makenna, the blonde from the bar. She’s wearing a tight tank top and even tighter fucking jeans, her hair tied up into a slick ponytail, there’s not an ounce of makeup on her face. She’s fucking gorgeous, but if the narrowing of her eyes is anything to go by, she’s going to be defiant.
My anger begins to rise as I remember the punch she took a few nights ago. She has her arms crossed over her chest and stares at her father. Yet again she’s not looking at me or my family, just as she did in the bar.
“I’d like to have a talk with my Fiancée alone.” I contain my bubbling anger from the glares of her family but I just stare them down.
Seamus glares at me but nods and he and his son’s leave, my father and brothers following behind. I turn my attention to Makenna once the door is closed behind them. “Show me,” I growl, needing to see the damage.
She raises her brow at me, the defiance clear in her eyes. I take a step closer to her. She’s not intimidated by me, I can tell as she holds her head high. She’s changed a lot from the fourteen year old who trembled when she was in a room full of made men. Now, she stares me in the eye. She’s good, not showing any fear.
“Lift your top and let me see,” I growl.
She doesn’t even bat an eyelid. “And why should I do that?”
My mouth goes to her ear, “I watched that man punch you, Makenna. I want to see the damage.”
She steps back and lifts her shirt, a black bruise mars her creamy skin. “Happy now?”
I grit my teeth, “Ecstatic.”
“It’s nice to know that my husband-to-be watches as a man hits me.” She takes another step backward. “Guess what they say is true, hmm? The Famiglia really know how to treat a woman.”
I reach for her and pull her toward me. “I will not raise a hand to you. Ever.”
She looks at me and I see the scepticism in her eyes, see the disbelief clear as day, but she doesn’t answer. My fingers caress her bruise and she winces before closing her eyes. When she opens them again, they’re clear, but unreadable. I don’t like that she’s a closed book to me. Damn, the Gallagher's have taught her well. I’m going to find the man that hit her and gut him like the fucking animal he is. She pulls down her top and looks at me, curiosity in her eyes.
I take a step closer to her and watch as she gulps, fear creeping into her eyes. “Make no mistake, Makenna, I am the Underboss of the Famiglia and you’ll give me the respect that I have earned,” I say through clenched teeth; that fucking fear has no place between us, but at the same time, she needs to realize who I am.
I reach into my pocket, and pull out the ring that had been in there since yesterday. I place it on her finger, loving the way her eyes widen as I touch her hand. “Three days and then your mine.” I step back before I do something stupid like fucking kiss her. Once I do that, I’m going to fuck her until she passes out.
Makenna’s eyes flash with heat and indignation, before she’s able to say anything the door opens. She turns to see who’s there and that’s when I spot the white raised scar at the base of her throat.
I know what that scar means.
What the fuck happened to her and who the fuck did it to her?
Two
Dante
Seamus walks in and glances between me and his daughter, his eyes like a fucking hawk as he spots the diamond ring on her finger. He gives me a nod and I understand. I give Makenna one more glance before I leave and pull the door behind me. I don’t close it fully as he intended, instead, I leave it open slightly so that I can hear what’s being said. “Makenna?” His voice is fucking soft. This is why he didn’t want me in the room with them
She gives him a smile and that fucking smile hits me in the gut. What the hell is wrong with me? She’s a woman; I’ve had countless over the years and yet this one makes me fucking lose my head. “Yeah, da?” Just as her father’s was, her voice is soft and gentle. It’s clear to see that they have a lot of love for each other.
“Behave tonight.” He warns her and I watch as she bites her lip trying to stifle her laughter. “Makenna…” He glances at the door but I stay hidden. “Matteo is…”
Her eyes flash with pure hatred for my father, something I hadn’t thought I’d see from anyone but me and my brothers. “I know, da, don’t worry.”
Seamus shakes his head. "You'll be the death of me, Kenna, I swear to God, you'll put me in an early grave."
She cocks her brow, "Early would have been twenty years ago, da."
I tamper down the smile. Fuck, she's a smartass.
"Thank fuck you're out of my hair soon." There's no heat in his words but I see the hurt flash through Makenna's eyes. "Does your mom know you’re here?"
The pure hatred that flashed through her features at the mention of my father’s name is nothing in comparison to what she has at the mention of her mom, she looks as though she wants to kill her. "Nope, but I guess you'll tell her."
Seamus sighs, as he gets to his feet he pulls her into his arms. The softness he has for her is definitely his weakness; if he shows this to anyone they’d use it against him. They’d hurt Makenna just to hurt him.
She pulls out of her father’s arms, “I’ll go find mother.” The way she spits out the word makes me wonder what the hell happened between her and her mom, she walks toward a different door and leaves, slamming it shut behind her.
“I should kill you for listening in on the conversation,” Seamus tells me as I walk into the room again, where he’s glaring at me. “Did you get what you wanted?”
I glare back at him. “Seamus,” I say, my tone serious. “What happened to her?”
He sighs, “Fuck knows.” He mutters, “Was attending to some fucking animal, and got a call from Finn. He’d just returned home to find Kenna on the floor beaten and bleeding out.” His voice breaks, he’s unable to talk. I leave him be for a moment, letting him get his composure back. My blood is boiling, my hands balled into fists. “Someone slit her throat, luckily we found her in time. Haven’t found out who did it yet. But when I do, I’m going to carve them like a fucking pumpkin.”
I nod, “I’ll be there when you do it.” Seamus looks at me in shock. Fuck, this woman is getting to me and I have no idea why. “She’s going to be my wife.”
He looks at me with respect, “Okay.”
“How old was she?”
He shakes his head again, his eyes dark and I can see the storm raging in them. “She was twelve.”
Fucking hell.
“When she was released from hospital, I sent her to stay with my brother,” he informs me. He wanted her safe, so he sent her away. I’d have done the same thing. It also explains why her accent is thicker than her brother’s, she sounds like her father.
“Your father is an arsehole, Dante.” I glare at him, he’s treading a fucking thin line right now. “It’s true, we both know it. The only reason I agreed to this fucking shit was because of you.”
I raise my brow in confusion.
“You think I haven’t looked into you, into your family?” He snarls at me, “I have, I know exactly who your father is. I know what he does to girls like my daughter. Do you honestly think I’d have let her marry you if you were just like him?”
I laugh, it’s bitter and cold. “You have no idea what I’m like. I’m worse than my father.”
He nods, “That maybe so, boyo, but you’re not a fucking arsehole to women like your father is.”
I tense at him calling me boyo. What the fuck am I, five?
“She’s my daughter. I want peace between us. But I will go to war with you if my daughter gets hurt.”
“She’s going to be my wife,” I repeat my earlier words.
He stares at me in disgust. “You’re forgetting something,” he snaps taking a step toward me, his voice low and bristling with anger. “I watched your mother wither away under the beatings she took from your father. I won’t sit back and let that happen to my daughter.”
I step up to him so we’re face to face. My body is tight with my unleashed anger. He’s lucky, I haven’t broken his jaw. No one speaks to me like Seamus has and gets away with it. “I am not my father. I will not lay a hand on my wife in anger.” I say through gritted teeth. “Let me make myself extremely clear, Makenna is going to be my wife, she’s mine.”
He takes a step back, a slow smile sneaking across his lips. “Okay then.” He turns and walks out of the room, leaving me wondering what the fuck is wrong with the man?
It doesn’t take me long to catch up to him and we walk into the dining room where everyone is sitting waiting for us. Makenna’s sitting beside Finn, an empty seat beside her and another empty seat at the top of the table. I walk over and sit beside Makenna, she’s glaring at her mom who’s looking down at her hands. My father has his sadistic grin on his face, loving the way things are tense.
Mrs Gallagher clicks her fingers and the maids come in carrying the food.
“That’s a nasty scar you have.” My father grins as he leers at Makenna.
I watch as she grips her knife, her eyes full of hate, she looks as though she’s dying to kill the bastard. Her mother gasps and covers her mouth with a shaky hand. I turn my gaze to my brother’s, they both have no expression on their faces, almost as if they haven’t noticed but I know they have. There will be questions later and I’ll get my fucking answers.
“Is Killian coming to the wedding?” Finn asks and I notice that Makenna sits up taller, the hand that was gripped around the knife loosens, she’s relaxed. Her mother on the other hand looks as though she’s about to faint.
Seamus grins, “He should be arriving in the next couple of days.”
“Killian?” I ask knowing damn well who they’re talking about, I turn to Makenna in time to see that she’s giving me a warm smile.
“He’s my brother,” Seamus says but the way the Gallagher brothers are glancing at one another, there’s a hell of a lot more than him being Seamus’ brother. I need Orion to look into this shit, one fucking thing I hate is being in a situation where I’m going in blind.
Makenna’s attention is on her cell phone. I glance down and see the message from someone called Kinsley. From all the intel I gathered, Kinsley is her best friend and has been since she was a child.
* * *
Kinsley: Party tonight?
* * *
I grit my teeth remembering what happened the last time she went out. I see her reply saying that she can’t, but will ring her later. Kinsley Anderson is the only daughter of Julian ‘Jaws’ Montry, the president of the Fury Vipers Motorcycle club. They’re fucking animals who party hard and kill harder. They’re ruthless, and have no loyalty to anyone but the Fury Vipers brothers. They’ll do whatever the hell they want and don’t care about the consequences. Much like the la Famiglia, they’re feared by most. Whereas, we keep a low profile and have businesses as fronts and are fucking gentleman in the presence of the public. Those animals couldn’t give a fuck. I know that when Makenna and I are married, I’ll be putting a stop to her going to that damn club house.
The dinner is quiet, Mrs Gallagher keeps glancing at Makenna as though she’s waiting for her to lose her damn mind. Something about this family doesn’t sit right. The hatred that my brothers and I have for my father isn’t publicized, we don’t want the fucking world knowing that when my father goes down, it could be, and probably will be at our hands. The Famiglia won’t allow me to become Capo dei Capi if I’ve killed the previous one. Hell, it’s against our oath to kill another made man, but fuck, I’ve broken that oath before and I’d happily do it again if the fucker needs to be put down. Traitors are different, as soon as they become rats, their made men status dies, and they’ll soon follow after we torture the fuck out of them to extract as much information as we can. Whereas, Makenna’s open hatred for her mom is something I can’t understand. I’ve witnessed the way she is with her father. They have a great relationship, she has a lot of love for him along with her brothers; her eyes soften whenever they talk to her. But it’s very different when her mom talks to her, the features on her face harden and she glares at her.
“Mrs Gallagher,” my Father says once the dinner is finished, and I watch as she bows her head, “thank you for a wonderful dinner.”
The woman gets to her feet, “It was a pleasure to have you.” She practically curtsies as she walks backward to exit the room.
“Seamus, I ensure that everything will be ready for the wedding in three days.” The harshness to my father’s tone has the Gallagher men’s hands twitching for their guns.
“Matteo,” Seamus glares at him. “What do you take me for?”
“And her…” my father continues, not knowing when to shut his fucking mouth. “She’s pure?”
Makenna smirks, not what I’d expect from her. Most woman in our life are untouched, when men talk about sex, they blush and bow their heads with embarrassment. Not Makenna, she smirks and her eyes twinkle. “I’m Catholic,” is her response, her accent is thick and full of sarcasm.
“That means nothing,” my father says in outrage.
Makenna shrugs, the hatred she has for him is making her be disrespectful. She needs to be careful. I reach over and grip her arm, her gaze snaps to me, eyes narrowed, but she raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
“Watch your mouth,” I say through clenched teeth. “Respect.”
She glares at me for a moment before smiling and I know that whatever is going to come out of her mouth isn’t going to be good. “I’m sorry,” she snarls. “Don’t worry, Dante here will be the only one to defile me.” My grip on her arm tightens, does she really believe that I’d do that to her?
My father nods, pleased with her answer. “And I see that she’s drinking.” His tone is reproachful.
Makenna reaches for the glass of wine that’s in front of her and downs it in one swallow. Romero’s eyes flash with humor, but his face is void of emotion. Alessio on the other hand, is unable to stop his lips twitching with amusement.
“I’m Irish,” Makenna drawls with a smile and her brothers laugh.
“We can handle our drink, Matteo.” Seamus grins. “Have no fear, Makenna can and will drink you and your Italian boys under the table anytime she likes.”
Why do I think there’s a double meaning to this?
Father gets to his feet and my brothers and I do the same. “Seamus,” he says as a way of saying goodbye.
I lean down so that my mouth is level with Makenna’s ear. “S
oon, Makenna,” I whisper and enjoy the tiny shudder she has. “Three days and then you’re mine.”
She gets to her feet, her expression blank. “Oh, Dante,” she whispers. “You’re in for a surprise.”
“No, darling,” I return. “You are. You’ve lived sheltered for so long. When we go home, you’re going to find out what it’s like to be in our world. Not to mention what it’s like to have my cock inside of you.”
The sharp intake of breath is all I needed. I walk away from her before I do something stupid like kiss her.
Once we’re outside, my father turns to me. “When you wed her, make sure you teach her manners,” he sneers and I glare at the fucking bastard. “Damn bitch,” he mutters. “I’ve got a meeting. Pauly is with me,” he says talking about his consigliere. “The sooner this wedding is over, the fucking better.”
I don’t rise to his bait. He’s trying to get a rise out of me, wondering if Makenna has gotten to me. My father believes that a woman is a man’s downfall. That all they’re good for is fucking and baring our children. While my father is a monster to his women, I on the other hand won’t hurt my wife; although I do agree that love is for fools.
“Good,” he says, whatever he saw on my face or didn’t satisfied him. “You’ve three days, Dante. Three days before you take that fucking bitch to become your wife.” He turns and goes to his car. I stay where I am and watch him leave.
“Bro…” Romero says. “I’ll fucking take him out.”
“Anytime, anywhere,” Alessio agrees.
I shake my head. “Not now.” But our time will come.
“What the hell is with him and Makenna? I’ve never seen someone affect him as she does. He wants to rip her head off.” Alessio asks and it’s what I’ve been wondering too.
“I don’t know, I saw the way they acted. Something has happened and I’m going to find out what.” I make my way to our car, needing to get the hell away from the Gallagher’s. Makenna is making me lose my damn fucking mind and I’m not even married to her yet.
Bloody Union Page 2