Shrouded in Blackness

by Karlsson, Norma Jeanne

  I turn and face Kieran, sliding the knife in the back of his pants.

  “Dílseacht,” I say loudly, placing a kiss over Kieran’s T-shirt covered tattoo. There are murmurs of dílseacht ringing from the men in the room as I pull away from Kieran and walk out of the pub. I hear footfalls behind me as I reach the curb.

  Hugh, Collin and Shannon are behind me when I turn around.

  “Let’s get you home,” Hugh says softly.

  I nod and follow them to a black Mercedes with Thomas waiting at the side near the end of the block. As I climb in the backseat next to Shannon, I hear the gunfire begin. I shut the door knowing that Kieran just became the head of a new organized crime family. I’ll take my place at his side with pride.

  Kieran

  She’s letting me. Quinn is letting me carry the burden of these deaths so she doesn’t have to. As she walks out of the pub, a broad smile splits my face—time to play. Shannon, Collin and Hugh leave with Quinn, as discussed. Two cops and an attorney can’t be a part of what we’re about to do. I was fairly confident Quinn wouldn’t take me up on my offer, but I couldn’t be sure. I thought she might take out Sean. It looks like Shannon got to him before he could do any damage to Quinn. He did fuck up Quinn’s face, though. He’s last on the list tonight. I’ll make his death last the longest.

  I fire a round into each O’Boyle in rapid succession, right between the eyes. As soon as I squeeze my triggers, the room erupts in gunfire. Not one life will be spared tonight. Every person loyal to the dead bodies on the ground in front of me will meet the same fate.

  When silence falls over the room I turn to admire the mayhem. The room smells like gun smoke, vengeance, beer and death. The fragrance of victory. This is the moment I become the head of a crime syndicate. I won’t run drugs, guns or people. I’ll offer protection and continue with the illegal fighting. With the money I now have from Quinn’s father I can run this crew almost legitimately.

  This pub will burn to the ground tonight, taking the bodies of traitors, monsters and murders with it. I nod to Connor who hoists Sean to his feet, dragging him up the stairs, Owen following closely behind.

  “Go home to Quinn,” I instruct Ian. He shoves his gun in the back of his pants, offering me a small proud smirk before returning his perma-scowl to his worn face and leaving the pub, kicking a few bodies as he goes. My new crew goes about dousing the place in gasoline while I head upstairs to torture and murder the piece of shit that touched my woman.

  As I enter the room, Owen and Connor have already started. Sean’s barely conscious on the floor. I crouch in front of his bleeding and broken body, smiling.

  “Did you touch Quinn?” I ask in an easy voice.

  “Fuck you, Delaney,” he chokes out. “Just kill me. I’m done playin’ your fuckin’ games.”

  Connor and Owen laugh from behind me as I pull out the knife Quinn shoved in my pants before she left.

  “Killin’ you is gonna be the best part of my day,” I inform him with an evil snicker.

  I start with his fingers, severing each one while Owen holds Sean’s chest to the floor with his knee and Connor sits on his legs. Once I’m done with his fingers I remove both ears since they were able to hear Quinn’s sweet voice. By this point, Sean’s mostly unconscious so it makes cutting his tongue out easy. This punishment is for allowing his sick words to touch Quinn’s ears. I’d like to take his dick but that would require touching it and I’m not in the mood, so I just stab him in the crotch repeatedly. I’m pretty sure he’s dead as I finish sinking the knife into the area that used to house his dick. He doesn’t seem to be breathing as I straddle his body, plunging the knife into his chest. I make quick and messy work of removing his heart, palming its warmth in one hand as I stand up. I spit on his body before Connor and Owen cover him in gasoline.

  I’m drenched in Sean’s blood from head to toe, relishing his death. With his dead heart in my hand, the three of us return to the pub which smells like an engine. I hold the heart in the air for all in the room to see.

  “This is what happens to men who forget loyalty!” I bellow.

  I drop the heart to the ground and smash it beneath my heel to the raucous applause and cheers of my new crew.

  “Dílseacht!” I scream.

  “Dílseacht!” the room returns in chorus.

  I move to the door as matches drop, setting the pub alight. We stand across the street and watch the building glow in the blackness of the Chicago night. No cops, no firemen, no one will come to save the O’Boyle Brothers. The Dílseacht Crew has claimed the block, the neighborhood, the city and the respect that comes with it.

  Planning meetings for the coming days before I bid my crew good night, I decide to stop at the gym with Connor and Owen before I head home. I don’t want Quinn and my kids to see me like this. As I stand in the shower, shedding the layer of thick dried blood, I clear my head from the evening’s events.

  After Collin and Hugh told me there was a fracture in the O’Boyle Brothers, I made a call to the oldest member, Ronan Carey, who I dealt with years ago while I executed hits for the Brothers. We made a deal quickly: I take over as head of the crew and they get out of drugs and human trafficking. I wish I could say I’m doing this for the greater good, but that’s not the case. People will still be trafficked and drugs will still be in the streets, just not facilitated by me.

  When Shannon showed up in Chicago, we moved out. Every man I’ve ever done business with was at my side when we entered the pub. It was an easier take-down than I had imagined it would be. The O’Boyles underestimated me and the loyalty people have to me. I’m not a good man, but I’m loyal above all else. That matters in the streets where your word is your currency. It will take some time to restructure the crew and change the flow of income. These men have been waiting for someone like me to take over for eight years. A few more weeks won’t be an issue.

  I cut off the shower and pull on a Brogan’s T-shirt and sweats before driving home to get my hands on my family. As I enter my garage, I nod at Connor and Owen who followed me, sending them on their way. They will be my right and left hand in the organization.

  Ian meets me at the back door with a question lingering in his honey eyes. I nod, answering the unasked question…it’s done. He claps my shoulder twice and moves toward his car to go home and get a restful night’s sleep.

  When I walk in the house Collin, Hugh, Shannon and Quinn are sitting on the couch. Thomas is sitting at the dining room table reading a book. He makes me look like a pussy, he’s so unaffected. I’m glad he’s got Shannon’s back.

  Quinn has Jack asleep against her side and Ash sleeping on her shoulder. The smile on her face is intoxicating. I stride quickly toward my woman and capture her lips in a searing kiss before pressing soft lips to my kids’ sleeping heads.

  I flop down next to my family, scooping them into my side.

  “Gotta get back to the jet,” Shannon announces. “Didn’t tell the boys I was makin’ the trip.”

  “They’re gonna kick your ass when they find out,” Hugh snorts.

  “They’re not gonna find out.” She offers the brothers each a pointed look.

  “We’ll drive you,” Collin states, trying to change the subject.

  “Can’t thank you enough for what you did tonight,” I say to each of them, holding Shannon’s green eyes the longest.

  “You did the same for me,” she says softly.

  I stay silent. I’m in awe of the woman in front of me. She’s a warrior in every sense of the word. Shannon flew through the pub, shot three guys that got in her way and crested the stairs to get to Quinn before most people knew what was going on. She did that for me. Eventually, Shannon will get to know Quinn and the kids and she’ll love them. But tonight was her protecting me, not knowing what state Quinn would be in. She took that burden from me without me ever expressing the thought.

  I stand up and pull Shannon off the couch into my arms, squeezing her thin frame with everything I’ve
got in me. She returns the hug just as fiercely. After a long minute, I push her back by her shoulders and remove my shirt. Her brow furrows until she sees it. The tattoo that graces Shannon’s ribcage, a four leaf clover in the form of a Celtic knot, dots the i of my dílseacht tattoo. Everyone in Shannon’s family got a version of her tattoo after we rescued her in December. I hadn’t told Shannon I got the tattoo along with my cousins. It’s a symbol that we’re always together, endlessly bound to one another.

  I stayed out of Shannon’s life for a long time, almost ten years, before she was abducted. She’s an attorney fighting for good and I’m a villain. I didn’t want her to have to look the other way when I was committing crimes so I kept my distance. I regret those years without her in my life. I should have known Shannon wouldn’t care. She’s loyal to a fault.

  As a seventeen-year-old girl, she showed me a light within myself that I didn’t know existed. If she hadn’t given me that glimmer, I wouldn’t be able to accept the blinding light that Quinn offers me.

  “Kieran,” Shannon breathes out, tracing the symbol lightly with her fingertips.

  Her face breaks into a beaming smile as she heaves herself into my arms, almost knocking me over.

  “Love you,” she murmurs in my neck.

  “Love you, too.” I kiss her hair before letting her go.

  She steps out of our embrace, still beaming.

  “Bring your family to Kansas City soon,” she instructs. “It was great to meet you, Quinn.”

  “Shannon, I—” Quinn starts with an emotion choked voice.

  “Not necessary,” Shannon cuts her off. “I take care of my family. You and your kids are part of my family now. You ever need anything, you call that number I gave you.”

  “Thank you,” Quinn breathes out. Shannon nods, her gaze lingering on the kids for a moment and then turns on her heel to leave, Thomas silently trailing her.

  “It’s hard for her,” Hugh explains. I get it. Shannon’s here helping me get my woman and kids back while her man and his unborn child are being held captive in Seattle by a she-devil. I swear, I’ll do anything in my power to get them back to her. As soon as I have the crew in place, helping Shannon will become my focus. She deserves to have her family in her arms.

  “Thanks for everything, guys,” I say appreciatively to my cousins who I’ve also neglected for a decade. That stops now, too.

  “Anytime, cousin,” Collin replies, slapping me on the shoulder twice. Hugh pulls me in for a man hug before they both turn and leave. Alone at last with my family.

  I haul Jack into my arms and pull Quinn down the hall by her hand to our bedroom. She climbs in bed with Ashling settling in next to Jack. I strip down to my boxer briefs and climb in bed, constricting my arms around the three of them, relaxing at the feel of Quinn’s back pressed to my front. I need to be inside her as much as I need my family in my arms right now. So I compromise.

  I pull her yoga pants down and thread my hard cock out of the flap in my underwear. Gently, I seat myself to the hilt in her wet pussy with a shudder.

  “Kieran,” she whispers.

  “I just need to be inside you. Go to sleep. I love you.” I press my lips to her hair and will my hips to remain still.

  Her breathing evens out and the last of the tension drifts off my shoulders as a peaceful sleep claims me. My family is safe in my arms, my dick is buried in the woman I love and the threats to the people I love are glowing embers under a pile of rubble. Best night ever.

  Kieran

  “Daddy, I have to pee,” Jack’s whining voice wakes me.

  “Huh?” I grunt.

  “Daddy,” Jack huffs, wiggling beneath my hand that has him captive against his mother’s chest. I release my grip and Jack leaps from the bed, running into the bathroom.

  “I don’t know how you sleep that deep,” Quinn says through a giggle, reaching back to pull her yoga pants over her ass. The movement makes my morning wood ache.

  Jack thumps back in the room and climbs into the bed behind me before slinking across our bodies to sit facing Quinn and me.

  “Mornin’, bud,” I say through a large smile.

  “Mommy says no more bad guys. She said you’re our hero, like The Avengers, and you got rid of all the bad guys,” he says, hope glimmering in his bright blue eyes.

  “You think Thor would hang out with me?” I ask, teasing him, not wanting to answer his question directly.

  “He’s too busy to hang out,” Jack admonishes.

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah, he has to guard Asgard, Earth, the nine realms plus his brother’s a pain in the butt.”

  “He sounds busy.”

  “Can I go wake up Grandma? She’s gonna make me French toast!”

  “Sure, bud. I’ll go with you.”

  “Stay put,” I murmur into Quinn’s hair.

  I pull on my sweats and scoop Ash off the bed. I can smell that my mother doesn’t need a wake-up call. The house is enveloped in cinnamon and vanilla.

  “Grandma!” Jack squeals, running into the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Sunshine,” she coos, picking him up into a big hug before setting him on the counter where she’s cooking away.

  “Hey, Pop,” I call to my dad who’s at the dining room table reading the newspaper, drinking a steamy cup of coffee.

  “Son,” he says with a voice full of pride. He knows what I did last night and is offering me his approval. I beam a cocky smile at him. He snorts and shakes his head.

  “You think you could feed Ash for me? Need some alone time with Quinn.”

  My dad pulls her from my arms, blowing raspberries in her neck. I guess I have my answer as she giggles away at her grandfather.

  “Be out in a bit,” I call over my shoulder. No one responds. Grandparents always get the good stuff.

  I walk back into our bedroom and lock the door before diving into the bed. Quinn giggles as she turns to face me, both of us on our sides.

  “You doin’ okay?” I ask, softly brushing her inky hair out of her face.

  “I’m good,” she responds with a giant smile, her icy blues glinting with happiness. I gave her that.

  She has two black eyes and her nose is bright red. I know she’s happy—everything O’Boyle is gone—but she’s far from good.

  “I need you to tell me what happened.”

  “He kneed me in the face when I tried to get away. It looks worse than it feels.”

  “Did he do anything else to you? Do you need the doctor to come by?”

  “I think I’m okay,” she whispers, averting her eyes from mine.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “He tried…to…well…uh…he couldn’t,” she stutters, trying to get something (something bad) out.

  I tip her chin up, attempting to calm her with my gaze.

  “He tried to get his fingers in me, but I was all dry so it didn’t work very well. It hurt,” she whispers. I’m glad that motherfucker is dead and I did him the way I did. I would’ve gone slower with his torture had I known.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner,” I apologize. Maybe I shouldn’t have waited for Shannon. That’s not true. It took me that amount of time to make the deal and round up my men. I was there as quickly as I could have been.

  “Don’t do that. It’s not your fault. I’m okay and Shannon gave me the number of a therapist she knows. Said it helped her a lot when she needed it.”

  “I love that woman.”

  “I think I do, too. You shoulda seen her with Sean. He was so fuckin’ scared and she was calm like she was doin’ laundry.”

  “Her uncle trained her to be like that. It’s not normal. She’s a freak of nature with that shit.”

  “Something really bad happened to her, huh?”

  “A lot of bad things. Shit’s still fucked up for her, too. I’m gonna help fix it, though. I owe her for comin’ here and gettin’ you.”

  She nods and pauses for a moment.

&nb
sp; “Thank you for what you did last night. I needed you to do that for me,” she breathes out softly.

  “Thank you for lettin’ me.”

  I roll, pulling her body beneath as I settle between her legs.

  “I love you,” I whisper against her lips before taking her mouth.

  I ravage her lips passionately, conveying how much love I feel for her. She returns the sentiment, threading her fingers into my hair, tugging me closer as our tongues lap at each other. Quinn hums contentedly in the back of her throat as I move down her jaw, feasting on the sweet spot just beneath her ear.

  Her tiny hands roam my naked chest until she finds my nipples, pinching them firmly. I growl into her neck, nipping the skin before removing her shirt to get better access. I take a moment to remove her pants and underwear along with mine.

  Fully naked, I cover her tit with my mouth, teasing her nipple with my teeth before flicking it with my tongue. I pinch her other nipple hard causing her back to vault off the mattress. I love how she responds to my touch. Her skin warms beneath my hands as shivers of ecstasy creep up her spine.

  I kiss my way down her ribcage, laving her with my tongue. When I get to her pussy I inhale through my nose deeply, breathing in her scent. I push her legs out wide, sweeping my tongue from bottom to top over and over, licking up every drop of juice she’s spilling. I spear my tongue inside trying to coax more of her into my mouth. She bucks and moans as I hold her firmly to my face. I could eat her pussy for every meal and still be hungry for more.

  I move to her clit, nipping it gently before sucking it into my mouth. Quinn whimpers with need as I let off my suction, licking rapidly. Removing one hand from her hip, I gently ease my index finger inside her, testing to see if Sean hurt her more than she’s telling me. Her tight pussy clenches around me as she rolls herself further onto me. Slowly, I work my finger in and out as I continue my assault on her clit. Two strokes later she’s muffling her screams in the pillow as her come drips down my chin onto my hand. Hottest fucking thing ever. So I go at it again. Her second orgasm rips through her minutes later.

  I kneel between her legs, swiping my hand down my face as she watches me through hooded eyes. After I’ve captured all of her come in my palm I wipe it over my cock, rubbing her into my skin. Her breath hitches at the action as she leans up onto her elbows to watch the show.