Page 1 of On The Rocks

CHAPTER 1

CALLUM

“Death is nothing at all,” the priest recited from his book of blessings. “I have only slipped away to the next room.”

The brevity of the words settled deep, and I sucked in air through my nose, trying to ride out the crippling pain. My eyes lowered, and I stared at the elm coffin already nestled in the cold, hard ground, and that was the moment it sunk in.

Lorcan O’Shea, my belovedathair, was gone.

Tears pricked the back of my eyes, and I bowed my head.

Da was the life and soul of the party, a man who sang “Oh Danny Boy” with so much deep-rooted emotion that he’d bring a tear to the most jaded of eyes. My aul fella laughed hard, loved harder, and had an evil temper. He’d ruled me, my two brothers, and my sister, Aislynn, with an iron fist.

I respected him and was terrified of him in equal measure. Da threw a mean right hook and beat my ass raw on more than one occasion. He was the definition of old school, and I admired him so fucking much that his passing left a hole not only in the family but also in my soul.

Da taught me everything—how to drive and how to chat up a lady, and he even showed me how to knock a man out with that mean right hook of his.

But now he was gone.

Christ.

Da was fucking gone.

The cemetery was packed with friends and, unfortunately, family. Even his cousins from New York had turned up to pay their respects.

A ball of emotion hit my throat, and I bowed my head in time to catch the priest throwing a handful of dirt on top of his coffin.

“Maureen, it’s time,” Father Michael prompted. His sad expression swept over me and my siblings. “Boys. Aislynn.”

My arm tightened around my mam’s shoulders, and I squeezed every ounce of support I could muster through my fingers and into her flesh. “You ready, Mam?” I whispered.

“No,” she croaked. “I can’t.”

I tightened my arm around her. “It’s time. Da would want you to stand strong.”

With a sob, she buried her face in my chest and wept into my shirt.

Every tear that touched me burned with my mam’s sorrow and pain. Maureen O’Shea had lost half of her soul, and I felt that loss in my flesh and bones.

Mam’s sniffles eventually died down, and she threw a single white rose onto Da’s coffin. Then I watched my two brothers and my sister toss their identical flowers after Mam’s.

Clenching my jaw, I threw my rose, watching it land on top of the others.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

The priest began to wind down the service, but his words didn’t penetrate. All I could hear was the rushing in my ears,along with my inner voice telling me that I was head of the family now. It was my job to protect Ma and my siblings.

No more shirking responsibility. It was time to get serious.

I rubbed my burning heart.

Fuck.

The priest’s words floated through the cold air.“The O’Shea family would like to invite everybody back to their bar to raise a glass for Lorcan. All are welcome.”

A murmur buzzed through the crowd, and it began to disperse. My stare fell on my cousins, Liam and Niall, who threw me chin lifts before turning and following everybody toward the church.

A weird feeling slid through my gut.

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