Ciarán: The O'Hanlon Family Trilogy Book One: Social Rejects Syndicate

by Theresa Sederholt

  “Why are we not going to see Dax right now?”

  “We just spent half a day getting here, I would think you want to get some rest and freshen up. Besides, if it was me, I would want to look my best showcasing what an ass he is for walking away.” Damn, I’m good on the fly. It only takes her a minute to agree. I quickly get everyone into my car. As I get in, I glance back and that’s when I notice my roadster with Eevee behind the wheel. I have no idea why she is following me, but I don’t want to acknowledge her. Instead, I keep glancing back to make sure she is still with me. I pull up to the hotel and the bellman is practically opening the car door before I come to a full stop. I wave him off while I turn toward Savana.

  “I’ll come back to pick you up before dinner. That should give you enough time to rest.”

  “Okay, text me when you are on your way.” She closes the door and walks away with Vinnie following closely behind her. When I take off, I notice Eevee pulls out and follows closely behind me. She was so easy to spot, makes me think she wanted to be seen. When we finally reach home, she rides my ass through the gates right up to the front door. I slam my door and head toward her.

  “What the hell, Eevee, my roadster is never going to be the same!”

  “It amazes me, with everything going on, your only concern is your damn car.” She gets out of the car and gently closes her door, no doubt for my benefit.

  “Can you explain why you needed to follow me?”

  “Ciarán, lets walk for a bit. The gardens here have always been my favorite.”

  “Tell me what has you so troubled, Eevee. I’m the one who carries all the burdens for this family, not you.”

  “I’m sure you know I spoke with Patrick. He told me everything.”

  I glance sideways at her with skepticism. Oh, I know he spoke to her, but how much she knows well that’s debatable. “What are you fishing for Eevee?”

  “The truth. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

  “Why now? I mean, you’ve always kept your business to yourself and, for whatever reason, that works for you. I get that.”

  “At the end of the day, we are family.”

  We stop walking and I turn toward her. Our eyes meet. There is something different, a sadness I’ve never seen before. “Eevee, please tell me everything you know. I’m not the enemy here. I’m the one trying to keep us all safe. If I don’t have all the facts, it makes my job even harder.”

  “Yes, I was hired to do a job. I don’t have to kill him, only cut his dick off. If it’s done correctly, he won’t die. I get to keep my life and the family business is not disrupted.”

  “You make it sound so easy. Even if you pull it off, no man wants to live a life without his dick. If for some reason Dax dies his fail-safe kicks in.” She stops and sits on a bench in my mum’s rose garden.

  “I have a friend who is looking into Dax’s fail-safe. What if he can stop it?”

  “I need a guarantee that your friend can do it.”

  “Was that Savanna you were with earlier?” Nothing gets past her.

  “Yes, the plan is to let her have her say, then convince them both that they want to get married. That’s where Ronan comes in. He can marry them right away. Savanna is Catholic and in the eyes of the church they are married for life.”

  “If your plan works, what do you expect to accomplish?”

  “Aiello will have to cancel the hit for his daughter’s happiness. You know the way he is when it comes to his daughter.”

  She pulls a rose off the bush and starts picking apart the leaves. I want to ask her why she’s never been married, but she is a very private person.

  “I’ll go along with your plan but the first sign it’s going to fail, you’ll have to abort and let me do my job, deal?” She puts her hand out as if to seal the deal with a handshake. I pull her up and give her a hug.

  “My word is my bond, which is how I got into this mess. I will never betray you.” We head down the path in silence.

  “Ciarán, I did a lot of research on Dax before I took the job. Something is just not right. Don’t ask me what, I have a bad feeling. From what you learned about Savanna, do you think she will go along with the plan? Forcing someone to get married is old school mafia. No one goes along with that shit anymore.”

  “All we can do is try to save our own asses through this mess. Do you think your contact will be able to break Dax’s fail-safe?”

  “If anyone can do it, he can.”

  “Eevee, why were you at the airport?”

  “Patrick said you were on your way home. I wanted to talk to you in private before you got here.”

  The rest of our walk back to the house is in silence.

  Dax

  I slam my computer shut. I can’t find anything about Eevee on the internet. How could someone have no social media accounts? In today’s world that almost seems absurd. I even went looking around on the dark web—nothing. She has to be hiding something and it’s got to be big. I snooped around her room right after she left but I found nothing. Not that I thought I would. I give up and decide it’s time for a break.

  I head downstairs just as Ciarán and Eevee come in the front door. I want to head back into the shadows so I can hear what they are saying, but it’s too late; Mr. McEnaney acknowledges my presence.

  “Welcome back, Ciarán, from wherever the hell you went. I hope you had a good time while you left me here with drill sergeant Patrick.” When I get to the bottom of the steps, I see Patrick in the doorway hidden from my original view. He acknowledges me with a nod.

  “It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, Dax. However, I do have some stuff to go over with you. Let’s go into the drawing room to discuss it.”

  Objecting is not an option. He waves me along with Eevee not far behind. An ice bucket with beer sits at the end of a long buffet. I grab one and have a seat. Everyone else follows suit.

  “So, Ciarán, tell me about your trip.” Before he can start, Ronan comes through the door. No words are exchanged, only some sharp looks. He takes a seat next to Ciarán.

  “I went to Vegas to try and find a way to get you out of your mess.”

  “Nice try, but Aiello is not going to rest until I’m out of the picture.”

  “Rather than sit here with my thumb up my ass, I had to do something. Besides, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” he chides.

  “Okay, let me hear what bright idea you came up with.”

  “You are going to marry Savanna. Ronan will marry you in the biblical sense. Once you are married, Aiello will call off the hit. He wants nothing more than for his only child to be happy. When the dust settles, you can quietly go your separate ways. That will at least buy you time.”

  Ronan turns and focuses his attention on me. At first, I think he is waiting for me to freak out. But then he turns toward Ciarán. He says nothing but his chin begins to slack. Reality seems to set in that he believes Ciarán might just pull this off.

  “Time for what?! I already told you I’m not getting married.”

  Eevee holds up her hand stopping me in mid thought. “Dax, the plan is that will give you six months to make her miserable. I’m sure you will have no problem doing that. Aiello will pay you to go away. Seems like a win-win situation for you.”

  “It’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one being forced into marriage,” I scoff. She gets a blank stare before closing her eyes and turning away.

  “So, what happened in Vegas, Ciarán?”

  “I never met with Aiello. However, I did find out what kind of hit he put on you. The person is supposed to cut your dick off. He doesn’t want you dead, only useless for the rest of your life. Let that sink in.” I can feel the blood drain from my face. My first instinct is to cover my dick with my hands, like that’s going to do anything. “Back to Vegas; I convinced Savanna to come here with me.”

  “You did? I thought if she ever saw me again, she would shoot me. Where is she?!”

  “No. She wants to have her s
ay, and she will have it. She should be here in about two hours,” Ciaran reveals. My mind feels like the silver ball in the pinball machine.

  Eevee leans in closer toward me. Her dark eyes draw me in like a spider pulling its prey into her web. “Dax, everything is riding on this. Did you ever love her?”

  “Yes, as a means to an end, but I got cold feet. I was not intimidated by her father; it was Savanna who intimidated me. I couldn’t picture myself with one person for the rest of my life,” I admit. She shakes her head as if in disgust.

  Before I can say anything more, Ciarán jumps up and heads toward me. His eyes turn black and that Irish temper he is so famous for bubbles toward the surface. “Do you mean to tell me that all this happened because she intimidated you?! For Christ’s sake and all that’s holy, you should have your dick cut off and I’m just the man to do it. If she intimidated you, then why ask her to get married?”

  This is when I have to tell them the truth. “I didn’t ask her. She asked me. Actually, she basically said I had to or she’d make my life a living hell.”

  He pulls his fist back and I know I have no choice but to take it. That’s when Eevee steps in front of me. “Ciarán, stop. Beating the life out of him is not going to help us any. Besides, now that we know the truth maybe we can use it to our advantage.” At that moment, her phone vibrates. She looks at the phone and I catch a faint trace of a smile.

  “I need to take this call. I’ll be back soon. Do nothing until I get back in the room.” We all nod in agreement and watch her leave. Now all we can do is wait.

  Eevee

  He made a simple problem worse all because he has no balls. With one sweep of my new blade, I can rectify this whole situation. I check my phone it rang and then disconnected, which means Jian should be calling back. Like clockwork, the phone rings and it’s Jian.

  “Hey, did you find out anything?”

  I hear a very deep growl. “Eevee, how the hell do you always seem to get involved with the batshit crazy people? Never mind, I don’t think I want to know. You’ll be happy to know that I was able to get into Dax’s program. I changed everything as you requested and gave total access to Ciarán.”

  “Oh my God, Jian, you are amazing! Now I need to figure out what to do with Dax.”

  “Is walking away from him not an option?”

  “No, as far as Aiello is concerned, I need to complete the contract. We shook on it and that is a bond.” I can hear him mumbling at my answer. No doubt he’s venting rather than reaming me out for taking the job.

  “Did you get the package I sent you?”

  “Yes. The blade is beautiful. I’ll let you know what I decide. I venture to say this will all be over by tomorrow.”

  “Cover your ass, Eevee. I didn’t work so hard to save it, only to have you fuck it up.” Before I can answer, he hangs up. I hear yelling coming from behind the doors. It’s escalating and I need to get in there now to bring it down before it gets worse. I swing the doors open to find Patrick has Dax in a head lock.

  “Patrick, let him go! If you kill him, what will happen?” He releases him and takes a step back. “Now, Ciarán, do we have a plan?”

  “I’m going to call Savanna now and have her meet us at the church in an hour. I don’t think coming here is a good idea.” How ironic that it will all go down at church in front of a God that let me down.

  Savanna

  I can’t believe I flew all the way from Vegas just to have my say with Dax. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Part of me still loves him and wants to forgive him. Then there is the part of me that wants to shoot him in his balls. I know Ciarán thinks I’m hurt and want my say, that I quite possibly want to get back together with Dax. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Oh, don’t get me wrong; I want my say, but I want more. I want him to pay.

  Vinnie thinks if he does everything I ask, that he will have a chance. Can you say fat chance? More like a cold day in hell. I never felt anything toward him. The only thing I need is information, and he is the one who can get it for me. So, I need to continue to play him. The ringing of my phone snaps me out of my daydream. It’s Ciarán, no doubt anxious to get this done.

  “Hey, thanks for letting me get some rest. That was a long trip.”

  “That’s okay, it’s even worse going back. Are you up for this tonight?”

  “I’ve been up for this since the day he left me at the altar. What’s the plan?” He is silent for so long I have to look and make sure we didn’t get disconnected.

  “I’ll text you the address of the church. There is no evening mass, so no one to bother us.”

  “Why a church? It seems like an odd place to meet?”

  “Not really. I told you one of my brother’s is a priest. It’s a good place to have privacy and if you decide you want to marry Dax, he can do it right there.”

  “Kind of like one-stop shopping, however, I can assure you I’m not getting married,” I inform him. He laughs but it’s not reassuring.

  “See you in an hour, Savanna.” He disconnects and within seconds the address comes over.

  One hour and then the fun begins.

  Ciarán

  When Eevee left all those years ago, she swore she was leaving that life behind. She was accepted to Georgetown University Law School, where she really excelled. In her junior year, she was hired to clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Holestien. She was living her dream, but then something happened, and she left Washington D.C. She literately fell off the face of the earth. She finally surfaced a year later in Vegas. She never wanted to talk about it and word on the street she was back in business . . . the business of revenge. She never came back home until this nightmare started. However, just because she’s home doesn’t mean she’s the same as when she left. She was so close with Ronan, yet, she barely gives him the time of day. I wish she would open up to me before it’s too late.

  I’m not really sure why Savanna agreed so quickly to meet at the church. All I can think of is that she wants to end up leaving him at the church empty-handed like he did to her. Maybe her way of getting revenge is a lot different than ours.

  After dealing with all this crazy bullshit, it just confirms my thought that long-term anything is no good. Use each other for what you need and move on. No feelings involved and everyone gets what they wanted. There are so many things about relationships I detest, starting with feelings. Bottom line: you can hire anyone for anything, including sex.

  We are lucky that Ronan is the low man on the totem pole, so to speak. He works the night shift at the church. Plus, he is the youngest priest and probably the only one who can stay up past ten. I look at my watch and realize if we don’t leave now, we will be late. “Let’s get started or we will be late.”

  “Where is Eevee?” Dax asks. He should only know why she is here; he would be holding on to his dick a little bit tighter. We head into the foyer as Eevee comes down the stairs. She’s all in black and looks like a ninja. We head outside and pile into Patrick’s Rover. Better that he drives tonight. This is the first time I’ll be stepping into the church in seven years. I wouldn’t be surprised if the place burns down. The silence in the car is so powerful that I can hear the blood pounding in my ears.

  “Dax, are you prepared for whatever she’s going to throw at you?”

  “You make me laugh. I honestly don’t think she has the balls to do anything too drastic.” He blows it off. I don’t say anything. After spending a couple of days together, I’m pretty sure she is not all sunshine and roses.

  Patrick pulls into the car park, which at this time of night I expect to be empty, however, there is another car. Maybe it’s Savanna’s.

  As soon as Patrick comes to a complete stop, Ronan jumps out. He stops next to the lone car in the car park. After a quick peek inside he waves us on and continues up the steps. He unlocks the side door of the church and quickly steps inside.

  When I step inside, the church is empty and dimly lit. I can fee
l a shiver run up my spine. I look around, expecting the walls to shake and the Devil himself to appear before me—nothing. “Hey, Ronan, whose car is that in the car park?”

  “I looked inside but it’s not familiar. The church was locked, and no one is inside. The only thing I can think of is that someone from the four pm mass had car trouble. I’m sure it’s no big deal.” Ronan sees the good in everyone—I don’t. He shrugs his shoulders and get back to the business at hand.

  We are all standing around the altar. When the door opens, Savanna steps in with Vinnie right behind her. As she gets closer to the altar, the dim lights really show off her beauty. It just proves what an idiot Dax is. I step forward to take her hand and I can feel a tremble. “You’ll be fine, Savanna, you have me right by your side,” I whisper as we head towards the altar. I’m trying to keep her calm. I mean, after all, I need her to marry Dax in order to get all of us out of this mess.

  The altar is the most sacred place in the church. Once everyone assembles, Ronan moves us toward the baptismal font, which is off to the side. I’m sure he’s broken some sort of religious rule. No doubt he’ll go through the entire rosary to get himself out of whatever hell he thinks he’s going to.

  When we all get settled in, I find myself between Patrick and Savanna. Eevee is between Dax and Ronan. Vinnie is directly behind Savanna. The lights above the baptismal are shining brightly while the rest of the church is dimly lit. Savanna squeezes my hand and then let’s go.

  “Dax, Why? I guess that’s the first thing I want. I want to know why you walked away without one word?” The interrogation begins.

  “Oh, Savanna, where do I start? In the beginning, I knew who you really were. I chose to go on with your charade because, quite frankly, you were a good fuck. As time went on, I figured out a way to make the relationship useful. It was a way to get into your father’s business. I mean, I already have everyone else’s. He was the final piece of the puzzle. So, that’s why I agreed so quickly to your proposal.”