Chapter Seventeen

Kieran

I'd been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at thirteen while in London with Ahn, one of the only caretakers that cared about me. She'd rushed me to the emergency center and instead of calling Cillian, my grandfather, she had called her grandfather. I'd been saved, diagnosed, and Ahn had never mentioned it to anyone else. She didn't say it outright, but I think she knew that I'd been given the biggest fuck you from the universe. I had to keep it hidden. If my grandfather found out I was a defect, he'd put a bullet in my head. I'd learned how to manage it on my own and when I returned to the states, I'd worked with some of my contacts to get a fake ID. On paper, Kieran Romano wasn't a diabetic. Keith Simpson was. I paid for my treatments in cash. No paper trail. The guys knew but they didn't know I was gay. No one knew.

Until now.

Tomás knew my secrets because I had let him touch me. I had let him give me the best orgasm of my life. And I couldn't get him out of my head. He was my weakness and the weak die. The strong survive. That was grandfather's motto. And until I could get away from the fucker permanently, I had to play by his rules.

It'd been a few weeks since Tomás had threatened to out me, or I had threatened to kill him, everything still fuzzy in my head. Either way, we avoided each other, which was for the best.

The Halloween party was tonight and after a few months, The Ark Boys were finally all together. It made me buzz with excitement. Being together with my brothers made me feel complete.

We all settled inside the living room after we made sure Tomás was out of the house. Not that it mattered. We were all alum, so meeting wasn't a suspicious thing. Though if anyone were to overhear our conversation in the ambiance of dark lighting and bourbon, they'd think we were planning a mass murder. Not exactly wrong. I'm sure some people would die as a result. There were nine of us involved in the scheme.

Omega Salvatore, took the sigil of Atymnios, rumored to be another one of Zeus's bastards but never confirmed. Tor, as we came to call him, never wanted to know his patronage and to this day, he doesn't know his true bloodline. He sat on the cream colored bergère chair. Taller than even Fox, his leather clad legs were outstretched in front of him. His white button-down court shirt open to reveal very defined abs. His shaggy brown hair and light brown eyes gave him a softer look than the violence in his nature. He had that Dylan O'Brien vibe, only if Dylan O'Brien were a sociopathic killer hellbent on vengeance for his mother's murder. Fox and I had met Tor during our third year of high school. Tor was a third year in college at the time. I had already discussed my idea with Fox, and we were scouting out recruits. Tor had stuck out because he was mean as fuck. But he was also smart, cunning, and very focused. One night I'd asked him about the locket he wore. "It's my mother's. I wear it to remind myself to kill the fucker who killed her."

And that was it. I knew I wanted Tor in our corner. So, I told him my intent. He didn't laugh. Didn't turn me in. He listened with that intensity of his, taking everything in, and agreed. Once Fox and I entered Arcadia U, the students started calling us The Ark Boys because we all lived in Arcas house. Stupid name, but it would make us less threatening than Tor's suggestion of calling us the Bastard Assassins. We even inducted the Greek gods into our plan, used them as a theme within our design like a sorority and everything branched off as a result.

Tor's first recruit was Graham Telles. In the same year as Tor, Graham had claimed the sigil of Hercules. The guy looked like Hercules. At least the cartoon version. Blond hair, blue eyes, with model good looks, though he wasn't that muscular. Graham wore knee high boots, stockings, a petticoat and a ridiculously large hat. I didn't know much about Graham. After they had graduated from Arcadia U, they became ghosts, but Tor bled for him and so I would too.

John Phillip had been Tor's third recruit. Or actually fifth. The other two before John met accidental deaths during their summer vacations. I didn't ask. John had chosen the sigil of the all-seeing Argus. The choice suited him considering he knew shit no one in their right mind should know. He excelled in measuring an opponent, could predict their moves edging on pre-cognition. John never attended Arcadia. He didn't hold a family name, the reason we used him as our front man. John looked like a banker. Steel-blue eyes, blond hair, slightly crooked nose. And he even sounded snooty, though the guy was the most down to earth individual I'd ever met. Like the rest of us, he had a dark past with the cartels he'd like to see buried, burned, or hacked up into little pieces. His words, not mine.

Then there was Rumor Kerry. He chose to carry Tityos, another of Zeus's bastards. Except Tityos was a giant who was tortured for bad shit. I met Rumor my first year at Arcadia University. We were in the same year. After he met Tor, Rumor dropped out and became Tor's wingman. The scar on his face had been his most prominent feature. The thick, raised tissue started at his left temple, circled his left eye, ran down his cheek and dipped under his jaw. He never talked about what happened to his face. Once you got past the scar, Rumor was beautifully elegant. He had black straight hair down to his waist, smooth olive skin tone, and deep-set hauntingly beautiful brown eyes. He took the matching cream-colored club chair for some indiscernible reason, his ass on the edge of the cushion, while his long legs extended in front of him. Unlike the others, Rumor didn't bother with a Halloween costume. He didn't need it. I'm sure the ladies would even be intrigued by his scar tonight.

"So," Tor said once the drinks were served and the rest of my guys—Henry, Wren, River, Fox, and I had found available seats. "Where's this pain in the ass I've heard so much about?"

I hated that the start of this conversation already had me on edge. "He's been busy. Not a problem. We have him handled."

Tor's dark eyes measured me as if he were looking beyond flesh and muscle to what made me tick inside. He had that intensity about him. As our liaison in the darker parts of the underworld, Tor simply blended in with all that darkness.

"We wanted to discuss our next steps," I said, diverting the conversation away from Tomás.

"The takeover is going as planned. Cillian is an idiot. Not much more to say. Just waiting on the go ahead to collect."

"My birthday," I said. "I've been summoned by dear ole grandpa to report in and I want to see his face when he realizes he's lost it all."

I shifted, a smile stretching muscles I hadn't used in so long. My body vibrated with excitement. This was happening, really happening. In less than four weeks, I'd be in control of Brennan Holdings and the family would lose enough billions to send them back to the underground to start all over again. They were lucky I was leaving them some assets and their illegal business. No one can call me greedy. I got antsy just thinking about it.

I loved human greed. There was nothing you couldn't pay for so long as you had money and information. Being the family bastards, we had accumulated both and used both to sink the family ship.

Tor got to his feet and stretched. Damn, the guy was a vision. And yet, Tomás. I couldn't get Tomás out of my damn head.

"We don't want Brennan Holdings."

I knew what Tor wanted. Restitution Securities, a subsidiary of Brennan Holdings. Using the sources coming out of Restitution, he'd start an all-out war with the families responsible for murdering his mother. We all had vengeance plans. "We," I looked at all my brothers, "are all in with attaining every single one of our goals. That was the vow we made almost three years ago. That vow remains true today. Taking over Brennan Holdings is just the beginning."

"Just the beginning," they all said one by one.

Wren clapped, startling me as he shot to his feet. "Now, let's go party!"

"Yeah, we're not staying for this one," John said. "We're actually getting out of Dodge tonight."

Wren made a face. "Aw, why?"

"We party with the big boys now," John said. "Y'all still itty, bitty babies."

That led to a John beat down by River and Wren. Rumor got involved too, the laughter touched his eyes making him look less severe. Eventually, everyone got hauled into it. The laughter in the house always felt like … home.

After Tor reined in the horseplay, they left.

The Halloween bash was set up at the old Brennan Hall, where we always had our events. It was big enough and the teachers and staff didn't care much about the state we'd leave it in considering it'd be torn down soon.

None of the guys had costumes, not even Wren. And we had to drag Henry out to this one. A dark spot inside of me thought it may be our last, considering what we intended to do. I replayed the plan in my head. Nothing could be tracked back to us. We'd filtered our money through subsidiaries of subsidiaries overseas and using the names and social security numbers of people murdered by our families. The bodies no one ever found or reported missing. They were ghosts.

"Stop thinking and enjoy yourself," Fox said. "It's done. All we have to do is wait."

I hated waiting.

"Get laid tonight, Kieran. Do what you have to do to get Tomás out of your system."

The bathroom scene rushed through my memories. The way he touched me. And I let him. I wanted Tomás in my system, that was the problem. And that put me in a bad mood. Before I could counter with a fuck you, he walked into the hall. I followed behind him. Get laid. Get fucking laid. If he only knew. I headed to the bar where black leather body suits and blonde hair were aplenty. Blondes didn't do it for me. But give me dark hair, with dark eyes, and an athletic build, and yeah. Shit. I needed a drink.

A blonde, wearing a slim fitting leather jacket, leather pants as a second skin, and black boots was leaning over the counter. A leather belt around her waist fell almost to the floor behind her like a tail. And she had a nice ass.

I cupped her waist trying to get between her and a poorly disfigured Spiderman so I could order my drink. "Excuse me, sweetheart," I said to the blonde.

She stiffened under my touch and shifted away from me. Since she was leaning over, I hadn't realized exactly how tall she was until she straightened. Taller than me with a blonde wig, cat ears, a bell at her throat. A black mask rimmed around dark eyes. Familiar dark eyes. I knew my mistake the instant my dick hardened.

Tomás. He smiled. One of his front teeth slightly overlapped the other, and I found that endearing. I realized I still had my hand on his hip and quickly pulled it away as if I were burned.

"You see something you like, sweetheart?" The deep, gravelly voice went straight to my cock.

I wanted to punch his perfect face because of it, but I schooled my expression when I noticed his eyes. Pupils dilated. He either was high already, or horny. A genuine smile warmed his face. I tapped the bell at his throat. It jingled. "You have a pretty face," I said, feeling the evil in me rise to the surface and not giving a fuck. I preferred his anger to his teasing. "So pretty I thought you were a girl."

He grinned but his eyes flared with a hint of anger behind his mask, then he leaned into me, too close, his lips at my ear. "But you're not into girls, are you," he whispered. His cheek grazed mine as he pulled back, so close. The drive to cup the back of his neck and bite that fucking mouth of his almost overwhelmed me. But he kept moving away from me, knowing what he did to me. He lifted his drink in a toast and shot it back. In that moment, my eyes grazed his throat and I wanted to suck that Adam's apple. He licked his lips sucking in a drop of liquor. He had nice lips too. Just then, a ladybug came barreling between us.

"Isn't he so cute!" she squealed, cupped his face, and kissed him. Full on the mouth. With tongue. I couldn't move as I watched how he'd closed his eyes, cupped her hips, moved his mouth against hers. Something dark and dangerous lifted inside of me. I'd never killed or hurt a girl before, but there was always a first time.

The kiss ended, and he opened his eyes to me with a grin as if he were a conqueror. Fuck him. The girl spun to me, probably to get on with a conversation, but I stopped her. Anger brushing the surface, I pulled her into me and slammed my mouth against hers. I heard him gasp as I kissed this girl as if she were the only person on the planet. I had warned him he wouldn't have anything I didn't allow, and fuck if I allowed him to have her.

I felt her tighten her grip on my hair and kiss me back. I tasted sweet liquor on her tongue, but also a slight hint of something stronger. Of him. I let the kiss dissolve on its own, longer than he had kissed her, and she allowed it. I finally pulled away from her. She had that dazed, sexed look to her as if I'd thoroughly fucked her with that kiss.

She swept her eyes from me to Tomás. A slow smile slipped into her face. "Do you guys want a threesome? I'm totally down for that."

Tomás rolled his eyes and walked away.

Ladybug turned to me. "No thanks," I said, and followed my mark. Because fuck him. He was mine. And I didn't even give a fuck if he wasn't gay.

No one. And I mean, no one was going to lay a hand on him. I was going to make sure of it.