Page 59 of Captive Bride

Liam's face drained of color, his usual bravado crumbling. "All of them? He killed all three of them? Why?”

“I don’t know. Because he could. Because it was easy,” Tristan said, rubbing his temple. “Because he was a cunt, like his brother.”

Liam stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock. I reached out to steady him, but he flinched away from my touch. The weight of this revelation hung heavy in the air, suffocating us all.

"Jesus Christ," Liam whispered, running a shaky hand through his hair. "I always knew Dad was a bastard, but this..."

Tristan's face was a mask of stone, but I could see the pain flickering in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Liam. I should have told you sooner."

"Yeah, you fucking should have," Liam spat, anger replacing his initial shock. "How long have you known?"

“Don’t,” Kieran said. “You’re not stupid. We might have never told you, little brother, but you’ve always known.”

Liam's face crumpled, the anger draining away as quickly as it had come. "I guess I did," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Deep down, I always knew something wasn't right."

I felt my heart ache for him, for all of them. The weight of their family's dark legacy seemed to press down on us, suffocating in its intensity.

Liam slumped onto a nearby bench, his head in his hands. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew there were no words that could ease this kind of pain. Tristan put his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “Malachy loved you,” he said.

Liam's head snapped up, his eyes blazing. "Loved me? He murdered my mother!"

"I know," Tristan said softly. "But in his twisted way, he did love you. He always had a soft spot for you."

I watched the emotions play across Liam's face - anger, confusion, grief. My heart ached for him, for the innocence he'd lost in mere moments.

"This changes everything," Liam muttered, more to himself than us.

“Liam, he murdered all our mums,” Kieran said. “This changes nothing.”

Liam's head snapped up, his eyes blazing. "Changes nothing? Are you fucking kidding me? Our father was a fucking monster!"

"Keep your voice down," I hissed, glancing nervously at the house. The last thing we needed was for my parents to overhear this conversation.

Kieran sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "What I mean is, Malachy was always a monster. Knowing the specifics doesn't change who he was or what we have to do now."

I stepped closer to Tristan, placing a hand on his shoulder. His muscles were coiled tight beneath my touch.

"We need to focus," I said, trying to redirect the conversation. "Bellamy is the immediate threat. What exactly does he want?"

Kieran ran a hand through his messy hair. "Power. Control. The whole fucking Callahan empire."

"And he thinks you're his way in?" I asked, eyeing Kieran warily.

He nodded, shame flashing across his face. "He's been grooming me for years. Thought I'd be easier to manipulate than Tristan."

"Fuck," Tristan muttered.

"I didn't know," Kieran said quickly. "Not at first. By the time I figured it out..."

“He was sending assassins to Delaware?” Tristan offered.

“No,” Kieran said. “But he is sharing all his plans with me. And I don’t want him to think that I’m not on side. If he suspects I've turned on him, we lose our advantage."

Tristan's jaw clenched, his knuckles white as he gripped the arms of his wheelchair. "So what exactly are his plans?"

Kieran took a deep breath, his eyes darting between us. "He wants to take out the heads of the other families. Create chaos, then step in as the savior. He’ll be head of the Callahans, it’ll go to me when he dies. He plans to make the entirety of Boston Callahan territory.”

“That’s not possible,” I said, my voice thin.

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