Chapter 5

Noah~

E ven though it was a Tuesday Night, Maleficent's was still busy enough. Not everyone worked Monday through Friday, and this was something that Rebel Tangent understood. She was the owner of the strip club, and she was business savvy enough to have an entire section reserved for the O'Briens any day of the week. After all, if there was ever a corporation or organization that didn't work banker's hours, it would be us and most of the people that we associated with.

So, even though it was a random Tuesday night that wasn't special to anyone, Declan had called me earlier this afternoon to inform me that Shea Burke had agreed to save her parents, and it looked like I was finally getting married. There was also no going back now that my mother was aware of the news. Not caring that I was marrying a complete stranger, all that mattered to her were more grandchildren. In fact, she wasn't even feeling put out that it might end up being a civil ceremony. Granted, she'd gotten her big weddings with Lochlan and Aran, but still. As her eldest son, I'd been certain that she'd be insisting on a grand affair, but not this time around. This time around, she just wanted to see me married.

As the three gorgeous women worked the poles in front of me, this almost felt like a half-ass bachelor party. My personal guard, Niall Walsh, was here with me, and he wasn't the only one. Odhran Kelly, Craig Doyle, and Donal Moore were also in attendance, enjoying the festivities of alcohol, tits, and ass. Now, while I didn't really need my own personal guard, no O'Brien or Murphy walked the streets alone if it could be helped, so we usually had an entourage with us, though that wasn't uncommon with any crime organization. However, my mam, Aunt Nessa, and every female in-law was not allowed to move about the city unaccompanied. If one of us weren't with them, then they had an O'Brien guard with them, as it should be.

At any rate, when I'd told Niall that I was going to Maleficent's to get drunk and laid, he had immediately called the others to join us. Now, while I wasn't really stupid enough to get drunk in public with being who I was, it'd just been code for a good time. No one in our organization was stupid enough to get wasted in public, knowing that it could be their life if they fucked something up or came across one of our enemies. Private parties were the only place that any of us felt safe getting drunk, and those were few and far between.

"I don't know what had you wanting to come out tonight, but I prefer this to being here during the weekend," Donal said. "There are too many drunken assholes here on Friday and Saturday nights that you can barely enjoy the girls."

"No shit," Odhran agreed. "If it's not some jackass being loud and obnoxious, then it's some idiot spilling his drink on you because he can't walk straight."

Since Naill already knew the truth, I saw no sense in keeping it mum. "I'm getting married," I announced, and the entire table went quiet. It was rather funny, actually.

After a few more seconds, Craig finally asked, "What? You're…you're what?"

I looked over at the man. "I'm getting married," I repeated.

"Uhm…well, congratulations," Odhran said, still sounding a bit confused.

"Yeah…uhm, congratulations," Donal echoed.

"Relax, lads," I smirked as the redhead on stage tossed her bra at my feet, her tits a great advertisement for her surgeon. "I'm only getting married because The O'Brien declared it. It's not anything that I want to do, but…well, you know my cousin."

Odhran let out a laugh. "Oh, well that makes more sense."

"Christ, look at that ass," Niall muttered, and we all turned to see what he was looking at, and the blonde on stage was bending over, her g-string hiding nothing, her round ass just begging for a sharp slap of a hand. "I'm definitely stretching it out tonight."

Not for nothing, we were a good-looking bunch, and Niall wasn't being presumptuous about taking the blonde home. Everyone knew who we were, and even if they didn't, with everyone at the table looking like the All-American baseball hero, women rarely said no to any of us. Yeah, Craig was married, but his marriage wasn't any of my business, and his wife seemed fine with his whoring ways as long as she still had access to his healthy bank accounts. The rest of us were single, so it wasn't like this was the first time that we'd been here.

"My dick's getting hard for our cocktail waitress," Donal said as casually as if he'd been discussing the weather. "I've had her before, and she's definitely worth the return trip. I love bitches that get off on being tied up."

Ignoring their banter, Craig said, "I'm surprised that Declan is forcing you to do something that you don't want to do, Noah. I just can't see it."

"I understand decisions made for the greater good," I remarked as the third stripper's top came off, and with her, it was clear to see that everything was natural, though that was usually the case when it came to Black women. They were born with curves that other women envied, and rightfully so. Even though I usually went for blondes, this sweet thing outshone the other two women on the stage like a blinding light.

"Wow," Craig replied. "I heard of sacrificing for the family, but not something that was going to trap you for the rest of your life."

"Who says he'll be trapped?" Donal chuckled. "If it's a business arrangement, then the ring doesn't matter."

He was wrong, of course.

"You've got a point," Craig agreed, every man at the table knowing that he cheated on his wife regularly.

"When's the wedding?" Odhran asked as he flashed a large face at the redhead.

"Not sure," I answered before taking a drink of my whiskey. "I imagine soon enough."

As soon as the redhead took the money from Odhran, he was crooking a finger at her, and she was happily hopping off the stage. Considering that the girls didn't make the kind of money during the weekdays that they made during the weekend, the redhead was smart to take Odhran up on his offer. Sitting on his dick, she was going to get a bigger tip at the end of the night than whatever she could make on top of that stage.

"What if she turns out to be trash?" Craig asked, drawing my attention away from the girls still dancing for the room.

"Meaning?"

"What if she turns out to be like his wife," Donal laughed rudely.

Not wanting to discuss my future marital problems with these guys, I said, "Then I can only hope that God makes me an early widower."

All three guys laughed at that, but all I did was return my attention back to the stage. While I had no idea what kind of character Shea Burke had, I had no intentions of suffering the rest of my life with a nagging fishwife. I didn't have the patience for that kind of shit, and she'd have to be stupid to expect a normal marriage from this arrangement. We were strangers, so it wasn't like love was going to ever be part of the equation. If she was lucky, then she'd have my respect, but only if she deserved it.

When our cocktail waitress returned with a fresh round of drinks, her yelp drew my attention, and that's when I noticed Donal's hand running up her leg, disappearing underneath her short skirt. Donal had a satisfied grin on his face, but the waitress looked a bit surprised, which didn't sit well with me.

"How's that working for you, sweetheart?" I asked, looking pointedly at the hand that was probably fingering her by now.

Her face blushed, and that's when I realized that I shouldn't have bothered. "I'm good," she said. "Donal and I are…old friends."

I gave her a terse nod before looking back up at the stage. As the ebony goddess kept discarding her clothing, I thought about taking her to the back. It was common knowledge that Rebel rented rooms by the hour for those that wanted to partake, so it wouldn't be that much of an inconvenience to buy myself a piece for the night.

However, the picture of Shea that Declan had put in her file kept nipping at me from the back of my mind. As of this afternoon, I was officially engaged, and it was hard not to think of getting my dick wet with someone else as cheating. While it was true that my marriage to Shea Burke wasn't going to be a traditional one, we were going to share traditional vows, and last that I checked, forsaking all others was still in there.

"Noah? Are you taking the other one?" Niall asked, knowing me well.

I shook my head. "Nah, lad," I answered. "You're welcomed to her as well."

Niall looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "Don't mind if I do."

Letting out a sigh of regret, I finished my whiskey, then stood up to take my ass home. As much as I didn't want a wife, I was getting myself one, and if I wasn't in a place like this for business reasons, then I didn't need to be here.

Why men got married, I would never know.