Page 45 of Careless

I don’t need to know what Tiernan says. I know the results down to my core. I also know what this means for Carmen since she tried to kill me with that pill. She’s on the Five Families chopping block.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

HIM

Within five minutes, the living room of the O’Reilly home is jam-packed with people from The Five Families.

O’Reilly, Walsh, McGowan, Connelly, and Kennedy. We are all descended from the original settlers of Grove Hill. Those men created the rules and we still uphold them over a hundred years later.

I think some guidelines need to be updated, but the old timers block every motion ever brought forth. However, concerning this issue with Sorcha’s mom, I’m in complete agreement with the rules.

Carmen Muerte needs to die.

A loud, intentional throat clearing quiets the soft murmuring wafting through the room. “What was the code red signal about, son?” Oisin McGowen asks, running a hand down his tired face. Maybe if he didn’t drink his life away, he wouldn’t be so exhausted. At least the others can keep their wits about them.

Tiernan’s gaze shifts to Sorcha, and he nods before she breathes deeply.

She’s rattled by all of this. I wish I could take her in my arms and tell her everything will be alright, but there’s way too many prying eyes.

We’re all seated around the room based on what family we were born into. The Walsh family is on the opposite side of the room from the O’Reilly’s. I have to stay way over here during this meeting, and it fucking sucks.

“Why is Sorcha even sitting in on this meeting?” Mr. Kennedy asks, looking uncomfortable beside Eoghan.

Eyes flash around the room, looking for answers to this question.

“Maybe you should head to school, sis,” Finn insists, but she shakes her head with defiance in her eyes.

“No.”

“Come on—-”

Red is crawling up her face. “I said no, goddamn it,” she growls at Finn for the first time in our lives. I love seeing her finally stand up to her brother, but I hate that I’ve never seen her so on edge.

Sorcha stands then steps to the middle of the room, her chin tipped up.

“I’m at this meeting because I got a visit last night from my biological mother. She showed up after all these years, wanting me to take this pill. Of course, I don’t trust anything she gives me. I asked Tiernan to test it. That’s the only thing this could be about,” she explains before looking at Tiernan, exuding strength through her pores.

I’ve never been more proud of her than I am right now. That’s my girl.

Tiernan strides over to her, putting his hand on her shoulder in an obvious show of support. Then his eyes roam around the room, briefly making contact with everyone in attendance. It takes me a moment to catch on, but then I realize he’s trying to convey to everyone that he’s standing Sorcha.

“The pill was pure ethylene glycol,” he says.

By the perplexed faces around the room, I can tell that I’m not the only one who has no clue what that means. Everyone looks at him with confusion except Sorcha. Her eyes clench shut, anguish clear as day on her face.

That expression is enough to fill me with rage. It courses through my body and is as deadly as the pill Sorcha’s mother wanted her to take. I’m going to rip the skin from Carmen’s flesh. I’ll make her death last for hours, maybe even days. I’ll do worse to her than I did to the Slater guy who touched her.

“It’s an ingredient in a lot of household chemicals, but it’s better known for being the main component of antifreeze. It’s a poison that kills a person within seventy-two hours. The death is excruciating. Carmen Muerte’s intentions were clear. She’s trying to kill Sorcha, which means she broke the rules at a code red level.”

If the rules are broken, there are three levels: red, yellow, and green.

Green is theft of property. Yellow is threat of bodily harm. Red is murder or attempted murder. All three have the same outcome, but green and yellow don’t require us to bring in the last generation of protectors, but a code red does. Code green alerts are rare because the people in Grove Hill know if we find out who did it, they’ll pay for it with their lives. Nothing anyone steals is worth their lives, and they know it.

Murder is blatantly written all over his face matching my own expression, I’m sure. I want to invent new ways to torture that bitch, but for more reasons than just putting Sorcha’s life in danger. I was right there when Carmen gave the bottle to Sorcha. I could’ve killed her right then. And, what if Sorcha had taken that pill?

Bile rises and I quickly swallow it down lest I throw up all over the members that make up The Bastards. Who in the world would automatically assume their mother—who claims she's offering help—is actually offering death? My girl would’ve died, and I would’ve had to sit there and helplessly watch as she died an excruciating death.

Thank God Sorcha has good instincts, a sixth sense, or even common sense.

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