Kynedi

The pretentiousness of most of the people attending the fundraiser made me sick and want to go home. They were so fake. If it weren’t for the fact that it was raising so much money for autism research and programs, I would’ve told Tiernan I wanted to go. However, I knew why the family put up with it. I tried to emulate them. They were masters at the whole song and dance routine.

We had a leisurely dinner, which was excellent. There were too many courses, but everything I tasted was incredible. Our group entertained me. Due to the size, we were the only ones at our table. The guards were next to us at one when they weren't moving around the room. I noticed the attention we received, even while eating. I wouldn’t think that individuals of wealth would be so fascinated with the O’Sheerans. They appeared as inquisitive as the paparazzi and regular people like me.

I admit, I’d read articles and seen mentions of them online and on television, and I’d listened. Curiosity wasn’t bad, but being on this end, I got a feel for what it was like to be on display. It wasn’t pleasant. I felt terrible for all the times I’d been a bystander soaking up the latest news and pictures about them. I leaned over to whisper to Siv.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” she asked, giving me a puzzled look.

“I’m sorry I ever looked at a photo, listened to a report, or read an article about your family. I had no idea what it was like for all of you. I feel terrible.”

She put her hand on my arm. “Kynedi, don’t say that. We know we’re always going to garner attention. It’s inevitable when you have our wealth, and you have rumors about your family like we do. Is it a pain sometimes? Absolutely. Do we ever use it to our advantage? You bet your ass we do. The key is knowing when to do what and how to escape when you want to.” She gave me a wicked smirk.

“Then I may need you to tutor me in how to do those things. People like that Petra make me want to slap her. The others who’re kissing your asses make me want to throw up. And some with their glares make me want to punch faces.”

Siv threw back her head and laughed loudly, catching the attention of our party and those nearby.

“What’s so funny?” Tiernan asked.

“Your fiancée, who I congratulate you for being smart enough to snag, col ceathrar , is a marvelous sweetheart, and she thinks the same way we do.”

I sat there as she told them what I said. They all laughed and agreed with me. We were smiling and talking, although softly so as not to be heard, when suddenly, there was a sharp whistle. Their heads all came up and glanced over at the guards’ table. A jerk of Finnegan’s head showed us where to look. I wanted to groan when I saw who it was.

Bearing down on our table was Christopher Brynes. I recalled our prior encounter. What was up with this guy? Did he want to get his ass whipped? I knew from Tiernan that the family had known him all his life. He was from another wealthy family and wanted Aisling for himself.

His gaze was glued to her, and I saw heat and something else there. Something about it made me shiver. He came to a stop next to us. He was staring at Aisling. She held his gaze and presented a calm, unflappable woman. When he didn’t say anything, Darragh did.

“Is there something you wanted, Chris?”

“I see the newlyweds are out. Where’s the rest of your clan?”

If I recall his name correctly, his bodyguard, Scotty, was with him, along with another guy. I assumed he was another guard. He stood there with his hands clasped in front of him, glowering at us.

“The rest of our family is at home. You know we rarely all come to a fundraiser, but I think we’re more than represented. Where’s your family? Such a shame there’s only one of you to stand up for such a cause,” Alistair said. He had a pleasant smile, but the tone of his words was the opposite. Christopher got the message. His mouth tightened, and he curled his upper lip.

“Wow, you’ve only been married a few months, and you’re already acting like you’re one of them. Make no mistake, you’ll never be one of them. When Aisling realizes that you’ll be back in the cesspool you crawled out of, and she’ll be with someone who’s her equal.”

I waited for the explosion and for Alistair to come out of his seat and deck him for his insult. Instead, he calmly remained there with that same look on his face. He had his arm around Aisling’s shoulders, rubbing her furthest one with his thumb. They were the picture of a serene, happy couple. She had her hand under the table. It looked like it was resting on his thigh.

“Christopher, I’m disappointed in your behavior. I expected better out of you. This tacky display is juvenile. We’re at a charity event. We should all be able to act like adults. As for your distasteful remark about our son, it’s beyond offensive. You act as if Alistair is beneath our daughter. I assure you. He’s not. I’m sorry you were disappointed she didn’t pick you, but we all knew it was always going to be him. Please save yourself from further embarrassment and return to your table,” Cormac told him calmly.

I watched all three of the unwelcome visitors clench their fists. It wasn’t Chris who replied, though. It was Scotty.

“You goddamn O’Sheerans think you’re better than everyone else. You’re not. You have no idea the enemy you’re making. We’ll see who has the last laugh.”

“Yes, we will see. Chris, you should teach your dog to yap somewhere else. I’d hate to see him get a boot up his ass,” Cathal said with amusement.

“You son of a—” Scotty’s tirade and forward movement were halted when the six O’Sheeran bodyguards rose and came to surround the table.

“You were saying?” Tiernan taunted him.

“Oh, I see you’ve brought your little pet. Why is your family attracted to riff-raff ?” Chris asked with a sneer as he stared at me and Tiernan. I felt my man tense. I slid my hand to rest on his on the table. I didn’t do it on purpose, but it exposed my engagement ring. Immediately, Chris’s eyes zeroed in on it.

“Christ, are you kidding me?” he snarled. What was this guy’s mental problem? This was beyond disappointment over losing out on a woman. To me, it seemed he had a serious screw loose.

“One more word out of you or your stooges, and I’ll forget where we are, and I’ll plant my entire fist through your face. This has to stop, Chris. I don’t know what’s happened to you but get help. You don’t want our family against yours,” Darragh warned. He said it without raising his voice, but it was clearly a threat, and it made me shiver. The rest of the men were staring them down.

Chris didn’t say anything for a few seconds, then he muttered darkly. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.” Without giving anyone a chance to reply, he turned on his heel and marched away with his two men in tow.

“I’m going out to stay with the car, Dar,” Angus said softly.

“Do that. Watch your back. If you sense trouble, call. We shouldn’t be more than an hour more,” was Darragh’s retort.

Nodding his head, Angus moved off. The others retook their seats. Eyes were on us from all around the room. I watched as the family put smiles on their faces and started to chat and laugh.

“Just ignore them and follow our lead, Kyn. We don’t let them see us sweat,” Tiernan whispered in my ear. I turned and placed a kiss on his lips, which surprised him, but he eagerly returned it. As we parted, I wondered what else we might see tonight. It was never dull with this bunch.

???

Later, after we returned from the fundraiser and were in bed talking, I asked Tiernan to explain about Christopher Brynes in more detail. When he was done, I shook my head. “All that because he’s upset he lost out on Aisling? Don’t get me wrong, she’s wonderful, but still.”

“She is. And if he was truly in love with her, I could see being off your rocker over her, but he doesn’t love her. He thought she would make an ideal wife and that being tied to our family would elevate his family with the other ones. He’s an elitist who thinks everyone or almost everyone is beneath him.”

“What other families?”

He eased up to sit against the headboard. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumor about my family, Kynedi.”

I knew which one he meant. “Of course I have, but I don’t believe it. People like to talk and cause drama.”

“They do, but in our case, it’s not entirely without merit.”

This made me sit up, too. “What do you mean? Are you saying your family is part of the mob?” I asked shakily.

“Let me explain. The answer is no. We aren’t mobsters who run illegal businesses and hurt people.” I relaxed hearing that. But he kept going.

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not an Irish family with a history and ties to the Irish mob and other families who are a part of that illegal lifestyle.”

“What does that even mean? You’re connected, but not one of them?”

“When our grandfather Conall was young, he did what he had to do to survive here in the US. That meant he had to do what a bunch of Irish immigrants did in those days. He did whatever it took. That meant a lot of illegal things. He was good at it, had a head for business, was driven, and didn’t back down. He grew that into a family business, and when he had children, he raised his three sons to do the same.”

He stopped and gave me a chance to say something. My head was reeling. “Are you saying your dad, Patrick, and Sean were all mobsters? Or still are? Are you?” I squeaked.

“No, we’re not mobsters. Yes, the three of them were. However, after they began to settle down, they came to the realization that being in that life wasn’t what they wanted. There was constant danger. Rarely did mobsters or their people live to old age. Most either were killed or went to prison and died there. Their families were left to fend for themselves. It was a cycle they didn’t want to continue.

“To change that cycle, Patrick, Daid , and Sean began to put into motion, mostly in secret in the beginning, to get the family out of the illegal businesses we had. They started with the worst ones first. But it wasn’t simple to do, and exiting would leave it open for worse individuals to come in and take over those same things or bring worse ones in. They knew a power vacuum was the last thing they wanted, so they did it in secret and were smart about investing in legitimate businesses that would help them remain powerful. It took years. This means as a child, I and the rest of us were actually mobsters’ children. We knew what the life was and how dangerous it was.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this. I can’t picture any of you as that. Did you kill people? Sell drugs?” I was beginning to have a panic attack. He grabbed my hands when I tried to move away from him.

“Please, leanbh , don’t. I love you, and yes, we did things we’re not proud of, but we were never the worst: no hard drugs, senseless killing, or forced prostitution. We were involved in gun running, illegal gambling, loan sharking, money laundering, and more. But even at our worst, there was always a golden rule—never hurt the innocent, and that meant women and kids mostly. You wouldn’t find women being forced to be prostitutes by our family or people being sold. As time passed and they kept moving things more and more to the legitimate side, we found we had the brains for all kinds of businesses, and those were opened and became successes. It took a long time, but we got out of it.”

“W-what did you mean by Christopher wanting Aisling to elevate himself with other families? What families?”

“There were six main Irish mobster families in the States—us, the Brynes, the Bragans, the Connallys, the Kilkennys, and the Doyles. The five other families are always trying to make alliances with each other to grow their territories. We’re the largest family. To have his tied to ours would put the others at risk for us to take over their businesses if we were inclined to do that, which we aren’t. They know we’re not into illegal ventures, but it’s still a worry. We’re treated as one of them. The Doyles are no longer a consideration. They were recently destroyed as a threat. If we and the Brynes were to combine our wealth and power together, the other three wouldn’t be able to stop us from taking everything. We’d never do it. But to keep the peace and balance, we’ve always been civil to each other and strictly kept out of each other’s areas. A lot of people know our history, and they refuse to believe we’re not still a part of that life.”

“Have you or do you still kill people? You didn’t answer me,” I asked in fear.

He gave me a pained look, which made my heart race more. “It’s not a simple yes or no answer. I don’t want to say something that sends you running out the door, but I want to be honest with you.”

“I need to know, Tiernan!”

“Okay, yes, I have blood on my hands.”

I tried to roll off the bed. He grabbed me and held me. I screamed. As I did, I thought, thank goodness Cass was at Aidan’s house. He was asleep when we got home, so we left him there. Wait. That wasn’t good. I had to get my son and run. I was pinned underneath Tiernan. He wasn’t suffocating me, but I wasn’t able to gain my freedom. I kept trying, and I was panting hard.

“Kynedi, please stop! I don’t want to accidentally hurt you. Listen. I’m no saint, but I have never killed someone who didn’t deserve it. The monsters in the world who hurt others by forcing them into being prostitutes or selling them as slaves deserve it. Other monsters like rapists, child molesters, and abusers are the ones who we don’t tolerate, and if we can do something about them, we do. If that makes me the devil, then I guess I am. But I would never hurt you, Cassius, or anyone else who wasn’t like those animals. Sometimes, there’s no legal justice to be had, Kyn. When that happens, and it’s within our purview, then my family and I put a stop to it.”

I continued to gasp for air, and I tried to keep my chaotic mind still. My fight-or-flight was full-blown, but even though it was, there was this small part of me arguing that Tiernan was a good man and he wouldn’t hurt us. I had to be nuts to think that. What had I gotten myself and my son into?