Page 94 of A Ryan Recollection

I have only happy memories of my family before I was kidnapped by a psychopath when I was sixteen. Sometimes I forget how difficult my husband’s childhoods were, particularly Liam and Mikey. Their mom was murdered by the man they believed was their father when they were just babies. Then he neglected, abused and mentally tortured them until Shane took them away from him when they were sixteen. Leaving Ireland and moving to New York.

“We did have that one Christmas, remember,” Mikey laughs. “When Shane bought the house in Carrickfergus?”

“Yeah,” Liam says with a smile. “How old were we?”

“Eleven,” Mikey replies. “He was nineteen and Conor was fifteen.”

“Oh, yeah. Conor was annoyed because he wanted to spend Christmas with his new girlfriend but Shane made him come with us. Poor kid had just discovered the joys of fucking,” Liam laughs.

“So it was just the four of you for Christmas?” I ask.

“Yeah. We left on Christmas Eve. Shane had a tree and presents and everything. We had a great two days,” Mikey replies.

“Yup. Until boxing day,” Liam says with a shudder.

“Patrick found you all?” I ask them. He is Shane and Conor’s biological father but not the twins, which they only found out about two years ago when Patrick died.

“Yeah. Shane had gone out for something and Patrick must have waited for him to leave because he showed up as soon as he left. He beat the shit out of the three of us and took me and Liam home,” Mikey says matter of factly.

“It was the last time he ever laid a hand on Conor,” Liam adds. “Because he stood up to him that day.”

“Evil fuck stopped Shane coming into the house for about two months after, didn’t he?” Mikey asks his brother.

Liam nods. “Uh-huh.”

My heart aches for them and what they endured as children. Shane all but raised them. He was their protector. He and Conor were the only people to ever give them any love and affection and I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for them all when their oldest brother wasn’t allowed to see them.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“Don’t be, baby. It was a long time ago,” Liam says as he kisses my forehead. “And now we have you and our beautiful babies. You made Christmas magic for us again.”

“You have for me too,” I breathe.

There was a time when my only focus in life was finding the man who murdered my family and kept me prisoner for two years. All I wanted was to make him pay — and after that I had no future plans of happiness or family. Then I met my incredible Ryan brothers and my life changed forever.

“I love you.”

“We love you too, Red,” Mikey says softly.

I swallow the ball of emotion in my throat as I lie between the two of them, feeling safer and more loved than I have since I was a child. I only hope that their older brothers are safe right now, and that they can forgive me for what they’re currently doing.

ChapterEight

JESSIE

Christmas Eve

Ilay awake for hours but must have drifted off to sleep because I don’t hear Shane and Conor come into the room.

“Everything okay, bro?” Liam asks and the sound of his voice rouses me.

“All sorted,” Conor replies as he and Shane start undressing. They’re wearing jeans and t-shirts rather than their tuxedos and I can’t help but think of the reason why.

“I think I heard one of the twins waking up,” Shane says. “Can you?”

“Sure,” Liam says, nudging Mikey awake before rolling out of bed.

I check the clock and notice it’s almost seven a.m.

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