“She stayed with us for two weeks while she healed. She was fuckin’ amazing, man. Something like that would break most people, but she didn’t become a victim. She fought hard to heal her mind as much as her body…inspiring doesn’t describe. But she fixed us more than we fixed her. Cal used to be super closed off, wouldn’t talk to anyone about anything that mattered. His mom died when he was little and that shit fucked with him. With Kid around though he was just normal, it’s like she woke him up or somethin’. He’s not an open book now or anything, but he’s really close with Kid and his stepmom.
“O’Sullivan had a huge chip on his shoulder about his dad being important in the police force and people comparing them all the time. O’Sullivan went off the beaten path by not joining the force like his brothers and cousins. Sully is his dad’s nickname and Brian fuckin’ hates when anyone calls him that. I’ve seen him knock guys out for just jokin’ about it, but not Kid. She called him that and his little shriveled up black heart started to beat again. He still only let’s her call him Sully, but he’s eased that chip off his shoulder.
“I slept with her every night. I had never been able to sleep with a woman before. Too much intimacy or some shit according to Kid. We all slept with her in Cal’s bed the night of the attack and I slept with her every night for almost four years after that. She brought me peace and calm. I still crawl in her bed a few nights a month. I’ve never slept with another woman but I think someday I might be able to, because of Kid.” Kavy, finishes letting out a huge breath. Now I wait for Kel’s feet to come barreling toward me to exit this clusterfuck of a dysfunctional house.
“Can I ask you a couple things?” Kel sounds calm and even. Interesting. “Why wouldn’t she go to the hospital?”
“She was only seventeen. She had just turned seventeen, actually. You’d a never known it to look at her. She looks the same now as she did then. I swear to God her face and body are stuck at twenty-four. Anyway, she was a minor and her Uncle Mick was in the hospital dying of cancer. Social services woulda gotten involved so she didn’t want to go. Same reason she didn’t want the police involved. Her father’s dead and her mother might as well be. We’re all she has. Our families love her more than us, Callaghan, O’Sullivan, and me…we’re her family and have been from that day. No one knows what Liam did to Kid other than those of us that were there that night and we eventually told the rest of our families, but only after the statute of limitations ran out. Telling O’Sullivan’s dad, was the roughest part but Kid made him understand why she made the choices she did and he couldn’t be mad at her. Kid’s the daughter none of our families ever got and she means the fuckin’ world to them. If you ever meet them you better be prepared. She’s got nine brothers, three dads, and two moms…nightmare man.” Kel doesn’t respond to that last part and I’m not surprised. I doubt he wants to know me, much less my psychotically over protective family.
“Just one more,” Kel breathes out. “What happened to Liam and Brendan?” I don’t know the answer to this question. I quit asking after they wouldn’t tell me. I didn’t even know about a Brendan. I never wanted to talk about the specifics of that night and neither did the guys. Kavy clears his throat.
“They’ll never bother her or anyone else. Once we were done with them O’Sullivan called a couple of his cousins that are less than on the up and up. They took Liam and Brendan away and they’re still considered missing people. Everyone thinks they were in a coke deal gone wrong…”
I jump to my feet and run into the kitchen. There are warm tears streaming down my face when Kavy sees me. I’m actually crying, not sobbing or blubbering just streaming tears. He’s on his feet and scooping me into his arms before I see him move. And he’s crying. I hear the other three coming up the stairs and into the room.
“What the fuck, Kid?!” Sully screams with panic in his voice. “What happened, dude why is she crying, why are you crying?”
“She knows,” Kavy bellows into my hair and they gasp. I squeeze Kavy so hard around his neck my arms are shaking. The tears continue to flood down my face as I feel myself being pulled away from Kavy, and now Sully has me engulfed in his arms. I clutch him as hard as I did Kavy. He’s shaking. I’m being moved again and this time it’s Finn that takes me. I’m losing my strength from the emotion that’s flowing from me. I can feel my legs starting to give way when Cally scoops me up off the ground and holds me in his arms, the same way he did that night when they found me. A sob escapes my throat and he holds me close to his chest. I wrap my arms around his neck and sob into his shoulder. He carries me to the couch where everyone else is and sits down with me in his lap.
“Shhhh,” he hushes me and pushes the hair out of my face, “it’s okay, Kid.” He brushes the tears from my face with his thumb. I start to calm down after a long while, and stay snuggled in his lap like a five-year-old; shuddering and sucking in bursts of air. I don’t know how long we all sit there in silence. It felt like hours to be honest. It could have been minutes in reality. Once I’m finally able to take normal breaths I sit up and move out of Cally’s lap but curl up next to him on the couch. He holds my hand and brushes my knuckles like he’s always done with me.
“I don’t wanna talk about what happened that night,” my voice is shaky, “but now that I know what you guys did I just wanna say…Thank you.” I look at each one of them in the eye. “You saved my life. No more guilt needs to be carried about that night and what happened. We’re leaving it tonight.” I look Kavy in the eye. “Kavy, that means you too. No more of this guilt. You saved me. I’m here in this room because you saved me.” I finally see a wash of peace come over him, and I believe him when he nods at me. It’s as though carrying the story of Liam was part of his guilt. Now that I know, he can let it go. We’re done with this part of our lives. We continue to sit in silence for a while, a comfortable and cleansing silence.
“I could use a fuckin’ drink after that,” I say, releasing a deep cleansing breath. Sully jumps up and heads toward the bar at the end of the kitchen. That’s when I remember Kel. I’m sure he’s at home calling the cops on us as we speak. I look around the room and spot him. He’s still at the breakfast bar, staring at his bottle of beer. I get up from the couch and make my way to him. When I walk up next to him he holds my gaze intently. It’s not pity, it’s pain I see in his eyes. He stands up and envelopes his arms low around my waist dragging me off my feet. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist to support my weight a little easier for him, though he seems to be managing just fine on his own.
He kisses my tear stained cheeks softly and purposefully. When he’s done he softly brushes his lips over mine. He looks me straight in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he whispers to me and it’s full of meaning. He’s sorry for Liam, he’s sorry he wasn’t there to protect me, he’s sorry I didn’t know what happened that night, he’s sorry for my pain.
“Thank you,” I whisper back. I’m thankful that he cares, that he asked Kavy those questions, that he didn’t run, that he makes me feel safe, that I can trust him.
“Jesus, Kid,” Sully chides, “what is this tree climbing week for you? Get off the new guy. And I’m next in the leg wrapping rounds, but when we do it we’ll be naked.” Sully wiggles his eyebrows at me. I roll my eyes at him.
“Sorry O’Sullivan. I got dibs on this one.” I whip my head to meet Kel’s teal pools. He knows what he just said and what it means to this group, to me. I can feel the tension in the room from the guys. Tension from protectiveness over me and over them, no one has ever tried to enter this group and make a play for me. That took balls!
“Calm down, boys,” Kavy snickers and breaks the tension. “He’s been warned, and informed. I think he’ll do all right.” Sighs and grumbles all around. Kel is still gazing thoughtfully into my eyes. He called dibs, my heart sings. I softly press my lips to his.
“How ’bout a toast?” Sully bellows.
I climb off Kel but he keeps one arm around my shoulders, pulling my
back to his front. The loveliest front ever, if I do say so myself.
We lift our shot glasses. “To the best piece of all of us. To Kid,” Sully says proudly.
“To Kid,” they all chime together. Kel kisses the side of my head and throws back his shot. I’m still holding mine.
“To the best family I could have ever hoped to find. My boys.” I tip my shot toward all of them squeezing Kel’s arm to let him know I mean him too and slam my shot.
“Let’s go play some pool,” I say and we all head downstairs together. One big happy dysfunctional family. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
We play pool until late. No more tears, weirdness, or guilt. It feels like we’re kids again and I’m on cloud nine! Kel decides to stay the night, in my bed I might add. We go at it like teenagers, making out for hours. No roaming hands or naked parts, just good old making out. My lips hurt and there may or may not be a hickey on my collarbone. Teenagers!
I’m starting to stir before my alarm goes off and I’m hot…again. I’m smashed under arms…as in plural. I pop my eyes open at the plural realization and am now staring at Kavy, his naked tattooed chest all a blaze in front of me and his python arm hanging around my hip his hand cupping my ass. I look over my right shoulder and find the most beautiful face, Kel. I look down my body and his arm is wrapped possessively around my middle. We’re all bathed in moonlight as I forgot to close my curtains last night. I clear my throat loudly.
“Good Morning,” I say loudly trying to stir both men. Both of their arms tense and pull me toward their owners. My bottom half is smashed to Kavy and my top is crushed to Kel’s chest. It’s an uncomfortable position.
“Mornin’,” they grumble at me in harmony. Both of them tense at the realization of company. I start to chuckle under my breath, but my whole body is shaking.
“It’s not that funny, Kid,” Kavy mumbles into the pillow, and I break out into a full laugh.
“Was it as good for you two as it was for me?” I ask through my quaking.
“Better,” Kel whispers into my hair and I start to calm down. Kavy pats my ass that has been his home for the night and sits up.
“Kid, it’s always a pleasure,” he chuckles as he stands up and leaves my room. I giggle again as Kel pulls the rest of my body to him and presses his lips into the nape of my neck. Good morning indeed!
“You’re always entertaining, Kid,” he breathes into my ear sending shivers down my spine.
“Do you know why I have that nickname you’ve started using?” I roll over and snuggle into the world’s warmest rock hard chest that is smooth as a baby’s ass. I inhale him. He smells like a man: a little sweat, musky cologne, and whiskey from last night…sex on a stick really.
“I asked Finn about it at Flannery’s,” he mumbles into my hair. “He told me you were younger than you looked when they all met you and the name stuck.” He pauses at my silence. I’m just enjoying the vibration of his deep voice rumbling in his chest. “I can stop usin’ it if it bothers you.”
I rollover propping myself up on my elbow and look into his sleepy pools.
“I love that you call me Kid. Only family calls me that,” I smile at that. I don’t know what I mean, but it’s true. Only my family calls me that and when it comes off his lips it sounds right, yet different from the other guys. Great explanation!!
He rolls over on me and places a few chaste kisses around my face and ends on my lips. He pushes up and hovers above me, staring at my face with adoration. I slide my eyes down his chest and count his eight pack brick by brick. I follow the man V from side to side tracking it to the motherland beneath his boxer briefs. He clears his throat, I’ve been caught. I meet his eyes with the “caught in the cookie jar” look. He smirks at me, shakes his head and gets out of bed. I look at the clock 5:45 a.m.…Ughhh.
“I’m gonna head back to my place,” he states as he pulls on his jeans and T-shirt. I sit up in bed and cross my legs. We’ve been together for over twenty-four intense hours and I realize I don’t want him to go. I always have one, if not all, of the guys with me. We live, work, travel, and play together…I’ve never wanted to spend a lot of time with another man before, but I don’t want Kel to leave. I sound like a chick!
I nod at him because I don’t know what to say and I’m afraid my voice will give away the nonchalance I’m feigning. He walks over to me and presses his lips to my forehead.
“I’ll see ya later,” he says softly and walks out of my room. I hear voices in the hall…something about “walk of shame”. See me later? That’s news to me. We didn’t do a lot of talking last night, teenagers remember. I don’t know what we are, where we stand, where we’re going, if I’ll see him again tonight or next month, nothing…FUCK! I flop back in the bed and try to gather my wits. It’s not working so I hop up and throw on my workout clothes and sneakers. This will help.
Cally is in the same uniform as me coming out of his room and we walk downstairs to the basement gym together in silence. He’s always been my workout buddy and I could use him this morning. We climb on our treadmills and warm up. Cally turns on CNN and we get jogging. After twenty minutes with our blood flowing Cally quirks a brow at me as to say “what’s your poison of choice”. I walk over grabbing said poison and throw him his boxing gloves. I choose heavy bag.
“What about your hand, Kid?” He motions at it as I strap it up in my wraps.
“It’s fine Cally.” I shake my head. “I’ll take it easy.” I lie on both sides of the coin. My hand hurts and I’m not taking shit easy. He knows I’m lying but doesn’t push the issue. He leans into the heavy bag and I get to work. After an hour of heavy bag, sparring, and pads my arms feel like Jell-O and my mind is clear. Goal met.
We head upstairs and find the other boys eating at the breakfast bar, dressed and ready to impress. Seeing my boys in suits everyday never gets old. Armani should just send a photographer to our house every morning. I sit down next to Sully and pour myself a coffee and some yogurt and granola. An ice pack slaps down next to my hand when Cally takes the seat next to me. He doesn’t say anything as he peels a banana and pours a bowl of cereal.
Sully’s glaring at me. The former boxer knows why I need the ice. I feel his eyes boring into the side of my head. I don’t respond. I just put the ice pack on my hand and continue eating. We all eat in silence.
“We better head out,” Kavy breaks the silence. “Deposition starts in an hour.” Sully nods and pushes away from the bar. He stops behind me, wraps his arms around my shoulders and presses his lips into my hair.
“Rodger will be here in forty-five minutes to take you to work, Kid,” Sully informs me. This is news to me, good news though. “Finn set it up yesterday. There are three guys comin’ to the office at four for interviews too.” It’s like they’re my assistants…helpful but weird. I have an assistant, Karl; he’s awesome at his job.
“’Kay,” I nod, “I better go get ready.” I kiss Cally, Sully and Kavy on their cheeks and bound up the stairs. Forty minutes later I’m dressed and alone in the house. This is the last time this will happen for a long time. I take in the silence for a few moments until my BlackBerry chirps, Rodger’s here. I head out the front door and a big smile creeps across my face when I see Rodger’s grin awaiting me.
“Good morning, Shannon.” He helps me into the backseat of a sleek black Mercedes S-Class.
“Morning, Rodger.” He shuts me in and we’re off.
“Mr. Callaghan has filled me in on the situation.” Rodger glances at me in the rearview as he waits in rush hour traffic. I nod at him because I don’t know all the details yet. Silence resumes as I work on my BlackBerry for the rest of the drive. We pull up in front of One Kansas City Place. The tallest building in Kansas City, it shimmers like a jewel covered in mirrors, glass and sharp edges. I’m met by a security guard when Rodger lets me out of the S-Class. They have a quick word and I’m escorted off into the building. The security guard, who’s name badge identifies him as Thomas, rides up
to the fortieth floor with me.
Finn is waiting for me when the elevator opens. I give him an uncomfortable smile. I’m really trying, but this is a huge change for me. He smiles a small smile back at me, acknowledging my discomfort and holds out his hand to motion me toward my office. He follows behind me. Karl hops up from his desk when he sees me coming, coffee mug in hand.
“Good morning, Shannon,” he beams at me. He’s so pretty, yes pretty. He’s slim, fair, high cheek bones, bright blond hair with lots of highlights cut short and styled like a Ken doll, and pale blue sincere eyes. We have a great relationship…he’s my friend.
“Hey Karl,” I reply and collect my coffee and messages. “How was your weekend?”
“Busy,” he winks at me. I know what that means…he was gettin’ busy. I’ll get details later. I wink back.
“Hold my calls,” I say glancing down at my messages. “I need to have fifteen minutes with Finn before we head over to the courthouse.”
“Can I get you anything Mr. Callaghan?” Karl asks Finn.
“I’m all right.” Karl nods and shuts the door behind us.
My office is bright and light decorated in creams, cocoa, and ice blue accents. From the door the left side has a glass topped coffee table in the center of a seating area, with two plush cream chairs pin striped in chocolate and blue across from a dark brown suede loveseat. The wall behind the seating area is full of books in a built-in mahogany unit. The other side of my office has a large mahogany and glass desk. The walls of my office are almost entirely glass. Windows stretch from floor to ceiling beginning behind my desk, running the length of the space only to stop at the built-in. It awards me the most sensational view of the city I love. The wall that meets the other side of the built-in, that holds the door to my office, is completely glass offering a view to Karl’s work area and the main corridor of the firm. I have a switch under my desk that allows me to frost the glass, providing me privacy when needed. It’s organized, but warm and inviting all the same. Finn and I sit down in the seating area, each of us taking a chair.
Blackness Takes Over & Blackness Awaits Page 13