Page 3 of Hateful Union

1

Malcolm

“That woman,” Ma spits at me as I enter her hotel suite. Her chest heaving as she paces the room. “How dare she talk to me like that! Does she not know who I am?”

Watching a heavily pregnant woman pace is never on my list to do, but yet here I am. I grind my teeth knowing that this conversation isn’t going to be good. My mam is selfish, she doesn’t give a fuck about anyone, but herself. I’ve known that since I was old enough to realise it.

She has been cheating on my da for years. She’s a bitch. God fucking forgive me, but she truly is. I despise the woman and the only reason I put up with her is because she birthed me and as much as my da hates her, he doesn’t want us to not have her in our lives. I call bullshit, but for him, I make the time to deal with whatever meltdown she’s having.

I stand against the wall, my arms crossed, I won't be staying long. “Ma, that’s your daughter-in-law,” I tell her knowing that she’s talking about Melissa, Danny’s wife. “She’s also carrying your grandchild and if you didn’t notice, there’s nothing you can say that’s going to tear Danny boy away from her. So just get over whatever the fuck this snit is.”

She gasps, her hand going to her chest as though I’ve shocked her. I doubt anything can. “You were always a little shit.”

I fight the smirk, she’s a liar, I’m the only one that gives her the time of day. Danny can’t be arsed dealing with her bullshit and constantly dodges her calls. Ma never calls our sister, Holly, either. I’m fucking grateful she doesn’t. Holly’s been Ma’s personal, verbal punching bag for too long. She made my sister believe she was fat and Holly was starving herself. Thankfully, Ma wasn’t around much when we were growing up and I put a stop to that shit; I made sure she ate. I would watch as she did it. Soon enough, Holly realised that Ma was never going to be happy no matter what Holly looked like and started to ignore her.

“You’re a bastard, Malcom,” she spits, her lips twisting into a snarl.

I shrug, “You say the same about Da.”

The smug smile she has on her face has my entire body going solid. Nothing good ever comes from her smiling. She thrives off trying to hurt people. “You know, your ‘father’ is a fucking stupid man.” She uses her fingers to quote father.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The triumph that flashes in her eyes makes me want to turn and leave, knowing that she’s just going to push until she’s gone too far. “He has no clue what goes on under his roof.” The stupid grin has my jaw grinding. “Hell, even Chloe knows what’s going on.”

Chloe is my thirteen-year-old sister. “You mean that you’re a fucking tramp that sleeps with anything that walks?” I snap and watch in satisfaction as her eyes widen. “You didn’t think I knew that? Well, we all do.”

She waves her hand dismissively at me. “Your father knows about my extra marital affairs. What he doesn’t know is just how many of you brats aren’t his.”

I roll my eyes. Oh, here we go, she’s got some fucking revelation to make.

She scoffs, “Don’t believe me?”

“Ma, we all know that Chloe, Mary, and the baby you’re carrying aren’t Da’s.”

“Yes, of course your father knows about those, but he doesn’t know about you.” My gaze snaps to hers at her words and the bitch fucking laughs. “Oh, poor Mal, didn’t you always wonder why you didn’t look like your good ol’ da? He’s not your fucking father, that’s why.”

“I’m done,” I tell her and watch as her face pales and her mouth parts in shock. “You’re on your own, bitch. I've got more important things to do. Don’t fucking contact me again.”

I leave her suite and close the door behind me. God, she’s even fucking worse than I thought. I make my way to the hotel exit and reach for my cell. I hit dial on my right-hand man, Christian’s, number.

“Hey, how did it go?” he asks as soon as he answers.

“Danny boy’s now a happily married man and I have a niece or nephew that’s due in about four months. So grand. How did the takeover go?”

I left Christian in Spain while I flew to England to be at my brother’s wedding. Of course Danny boy couldn’t have a wedding that took months to organize. No, my brother had a one night stand that resulted in a pregnancy and had a quickie marriage.

“Good, the women were glad to be out of there.” The anger in his voice isn’t new.

We’ve been slowly but surely taking over mainland Spain. There’s only Andalusia left to take over, but that’s currently run by the Silver family. Everything that we’ve learned about the Silver family is that they’re arseholes. They rule with an iron fist and take more than what they should. They’ve ruined the region of Andalusia and have taken women from their homes and placed them into whorehouses.

“Are they all shut down?” While I understand that there are always going to be whorehouses, I do not agree with taking women and putting them to task against their wills. If that’s the job they chose, then so be it. If it’s not, then they shouldn’t work there. It’s quite simple.

“Yes, all shut down. The women are all bruised up and hooked on drugs.”

Fuck. No wonder he’s pissed. Harry Silver is a dead man. Drugging women to make them pliable to do whatever the fuck you want is a no-no and Harry is about to find out what happens when you get on the wrong side of a Gallagher.

“Then the Silver’s drug trade has just come to an end.”

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