Page 7 of Killian

“And I love you. Now let’s go. I want to see Nora again and meet those beautiful babies.” She grins, placing a chaste kiss on my lips then drags me out the door.

We’ve been at Ma’s for two hours. As expected, Bell’s and I were late, they were all just sitting down to dinner when we arrived. Having Nora and the kids around is clearly making Ma soft, she didn’t even call us out on it. She just rolled her eyes and told us to sit down.

My fingers rub up and down the back of Bell’s neck as she chats with the women. My eyes taking the occasional glance over at Niamh. We’d talked for hours yesterday. Hearing about the pain that she felt broke something inside of me. I failed my baby sister when I failed to see how much she was struggling. I thought I knew, but I didn’t. I didn’t know the half of it. I promised her I would do better, I promised her that I would do whatever I could to help her.

I’m proud of her, she agreed to talk to someone about how she’s been feeling. We called around and she has her first session with a therapist next week. But she asked me not to tell the others about her struggles until she is ready. I said couldn’t promise her that, she was upset at first, but once I had explained things, she said she understood.

We’re a family of broken souls because of the lives we live and the secrets we choose to keep. If I’m going to lead this Syndicate, then I’m going to do it the right way. We’re done keeping secrets from each other.

I look across at Ronan, Maddie on one knee and Shannon on the other, she’s taken to him like a fish to water. I’m guessing it’s because he looks like Rory. Nora mentioned she’s been showing the kids pictures of us all. She spent every night she was away telling them stories about us and Rory. She even told them about Da and Aoife. Her strength is unreal. How the fuck she’s held it together while she’s been alone is something I’ll never understand.

Shannon looks like her Ma, brown hair, brown eyes, a cute little button nose, sweet little smile. Rory Jr though, he’s the double of his Da, fucking complete miniature version. In looks anyway. Everything else, his mannerisms, his demeanour, his suspicious nature exactly like Ronan. The kids only fourteen months old and I can see him battling with who he should be watching. His Ma, or his sister. He doesn’t trust us. And I get that, he has no reason to. Not yet at least.

When we got here, he was sat next to Shannon. Had a death grip on her hand, but she wanted to sit with Ronan, he wouldn’t let her go at first. But then she ripped her hand out of his and waddled right over to Ronan and climbed onto his knee. Rory Jr wasn’t happy I could see the little scowl he gave her, but she just smiled at him and snuggled into Ronan. She’s gonna be fucking trouble when she’s older. Now her brother's eyes constantly flick between Shannon and Nora. Always watching.

Everyone turns to look at me as I slide my chair back. I place a kiss on the top of Bella’s head then indicate for my brothers to follow me into the office. I’m pouring us each a whiskey by the time they all follow one another through the door. Ronan and Finn each take a seat on the sofa on the back wall, Connor sits on the edge of the desk and turns to me. “What’s going on?”

“I spent yesterday with Maxim. They had a few traitors in their camp and he wanted some help clearing out. The last one we dealt with had a few things to say.” I down the whiskey in my glass then refill it and pass my brothers theirs. I swallow the lump in my throat and then look up. “Vincenzo and Liam are both in New York, somewhere in Brooklyn apparently.”

“Fuck.” Finn lets out an exhale, leaning forward, his arms resting on his knees as he places his head in his hands rubbing them back and forth over his face.

“You’re shitting me?” Connor spits out, his eyes wide as he stares at me, waiting for me to tell him more.

I shake my head. “It gets worse. There’s a contract out to grab the women. I don’t know any more than that right now, the fucker was just a soldier, he couldn’t tell us anymore. Maxim is off somewhere, trying to see what else he can find out. We need to keep everyone close until we know more.”

We spend the next hour agreeing on security measures for the woman and children. While we know that it’s necessary, we also know that the women are going to be pissed. And I for one am not looking forward to telling them. Once all the arrangements are in place, everyone gets up to head back into the other room with the women.

“One last thing.” They all turn to look at me. Reaching into the drawer I pull out the thing I’m looking for. “This doesn’t belong with us.” Knowing what I’m getting at they all give me the nod letting me know they agree.

“Ro…”

“Nah, you do it Kill. It should come from you.”

Surprised I ask, “you sure? He was your twin.” He just gives me a nod and a small smile, “I’m sure.” Turning on his heel he follows the others into the front room.

I take a seat on the sofa, my hand wrapped around the item. “Hey, RJ,” I call out to Rory Jr. He looks right at me, he may never have heard the nickname before, but he knows I’m talking to him. “Can you come over here son? I have something for you.” He eyes me suspiciously, then looks to Nora who gives him a small nod and a gentle nudge to encourage him to come to me. Shannon watches the interaction but doesn’t move from her position on the floor with Maddie, right by Ronan.

RJ watches me for a few more seconds, then stumbles his way over stopping right in front of me. He never takes his eyes off my face. Nora makes her way over to us, taking a seat next to me to help ease any anxiety RJ might feel.

I reach out, holding his little hand in mine and turning it over. I place the item in the palm of his hand. His eyes move down from my face, and he grabs the item with both hands, turning it over in his small fingers. His brow furrows. Confusion filling his face. He looks back up at me and I smile. “RJ, that watch was you Da’s.” Holding onto RJ’s hand I turn to Nora, “He would want him to have it.” Nora sniffs, as she tries to hold back the tears. “Killian, are you sure?”

I nod at her, then turn back to RJ, “yeah. It belongs to him. He should have it.” I smile down at my brother’s son as he looks at his Ma and then back to me.

His gaze shifts between us when he sees the tears in his Ma’s eyes, he reaches for her giving me an angry look. She cups his face and places a kiss on his forehead. “It’s ok baby. Uncle Killian did a nice thing. Can you say thank you to him?” He looks back at me and for several seconds I don’t think he’s going to respond, But then he nods and climbs onto my lap as I pull him into me, we’re all stunned as he lets me hold him until he falls asleep in my arms.

Chapter 8

I couldn’t believe it last night when the guys told us that we were getting extra security and that they wanted us to limit our movements. I thought Liv was going to lose her shit when Ronan told her that he was pulling Maddie out of school and that she couldn’t leave the house unless he was with her. We were all pretty angry until they explained the reasons why. We get that it’s for our safety, but we don’t have to like it. Mary told Niamh she wanted her to move back home, but I was surprised when Killian announced that she had a choice, even more so when he said that she could head to Ireland with Seamus if she wanted to. That was the first time I’ve seen her genuinely smile in months.

I lean against my bedroom door frame sipping my coffee. watching Killian finally get some sleep. He brought me home last night to grab some things, but we ended up crashing here. He spent most of the night tossing and turning, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I know I’ve only added to that these last few weeks.

Wanting to let him sleep for a little longer I grab my laptop and head into the front room to get some work done.

Checking the time on my laptop and I shake my head. I’ve only been working for thirty minutes when I hear him moving about in the bedroom. I turn just in time to see him walk through the door shirtless, his jeans hung low on his hips. My breath catches in my throat, and I lick my lips as I take in his body.

He has an eight-pack, solid muscle and tattoos for days. I smile when I see the tattoo just above his right hip, right on the edge of a scar caused by a knife just after we started going out. I’ll never forget the day he got that tattoo.I’m thrashing out a new marketing plan for a potential new client when I hear the door. I’ve known him for only eleven months, we’ve been a couple for three of those, but he never knocks. He did for the first few weeks, but then he declared there was no point in me trying to keep him out, that he was always going to be a part of my life, so I might as well just give him a key. I didn’t argue. I gave him one there and then.

He lifts my hair, wrapping it around his fist, then places kisses along the back of my neck. Gently sucking then biting. I roll my neck then tip my head back, giving him better access. He sucks my neck, right on my pulse point hard enough that I know he’s going to leave a mark. But I don’t care. I love it when he marks me. “Hey baby, hurry up. We have somewhere to be.” He lets go of my hair and drops into the seat next to me.

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