Kynedi

Tiernan told me about the family of bounty hunters they’d met and the shocking facts about what they found out. He didn’t go into the gory details, and I was fine with that. It was enough to know Chris was behind it, and he, Scotty, and a whole bunch of others were gone. I knew there was more work ahead, but that would take time.

We were gathered at the main house, waiting for the bounty hunters to arrive for the sit-down with the family. I was excited and a little anxious to meet them. The kids were secluded with a few guards as well as Seerie, Alexis, and Agatha upstairs. Until the guys knew more about them, the kids would be kept away and protected. They wanted to do the same with the women, but we refused. They weren’t happy.

“Kynedi, why don’t you go up and stay with the kids and Mamó ? I’ll come to get you when they leave,” he tried one more time.

I placed a brief kiss on his lips, but I hoped it reassured him. “Tiernan, I’m staying here. You and the others are here. I’m perfectly safe. There’s no way they can take on all of you and the guards you have strategically placed in and around the house. They’d be idiots to do anything.”

He was opening his mouth when Darragh called out. “They’ve entered the gate. They’ll be here any minute.”

From what I overheard earlier, I knew they’d be escorted here by a few of the bodyguards. I glanced around. The men all seemed slightly grim, and the women curious and excited. We were gathered in the living room rather than the family room. I was told that was where they entertained those not considered family. A couple of minutes later, the doorbell rang. I’d never heard it before. The door swung open, and in came Seamus. Behind him was a group of strangers, and bringing up the rear were Finnegan and Angus. All three were Darragh and Ashlynn’s primary protectors. I was proud that I was learning everyone’s name. It was daunting to do. Darragh walked over to greet them. He was backed by the dads. The rest of us waited.

After they were done, they brought them to where the rest of us waited. The ladies, as usual, were seated, with most of the guys standing. I saw the way the DeSantis group was checking us out. I didn’t take offense. We were doing the same to them.

“Let me introduce you to the rest of our family. Forgive me. There are quite a few of us. Let’s start with our moms. This is my mam , Maeve, my aintín Brenda. She’s married to uncail Sean, and this is aintín Cydni, who is my uncail Cormac’s wife,” Darragh said.

From there, he went down the line. He not only gave them our names but also made sure the women pointed out who we were with. When he was finished, the oldest DeSantis spoke.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Alphonso DeSantis. This is my oldest son, Luciano. Gerardo is my middle son, and Rocco is the youngest of my boys. And this is my baby, Gianna. Forgive me, but I thought you had children as well.”

“We do, and I expect you can understand why we’d want to protect them and a couple of other family members. We don’t know you, and until I can trust you, you won’t meet them,” Darragh said decisively.

“Smart. Why not hide all your women, too?” Rocco asked.

“Because we’re more than capable of protecting ourselves,” Siv said confidently. I noticed that all three of the younger DeSantis men were eyeing her and Cara. Uh oh, they better not get any ideas. The O’Sheerans will kick ass if they think they can fool around with their sisters.

“Please, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. There are refreshments on the table. If you’d like something stouter, then you’ll have to ask the men to get it for you,” Ashlynn said, acting as the hostess. It made sense since Darragh was the acknowledged leader of the family that she’d be the leading lady.

The five of them carefully took a seat. Drinks and pastries were handed out. Our guys sat. Those with a woman sat near them. There was small talk while everyone consumed what they had. When it was gone, the real conversation started.

“Not that we don’t appreciate your hospitality, O’Sheeran, but you invited us here. We’d like to know why. From what we found so far, you appear to be legitimate, contrary to the rumors. We’re still digging. So it raises the question of why you were there last night, doing what you were doing?” Alphonso bluntly stated. Tension rose as soon as he said it.

“And everything we’ve discovered about you and your family so far seems to indicate you’re bounty hunters and are honest people. So why were you there last night? It seems that if either of us means to hold it over each other’s heads, we have a stalemate. Who do you have checking into us?” was Darragh’s dry response and thinly veiled threat.

“It would if that was why we’re here. I’m not telling you who is researching you. Just like you won’t tell me who you have doing the same to us. Let’s cut to the chase. We want in on you going after the men who’re buying those girls and women,” Alphonso said firmly.

“And why would we allow that?” Declan asked.

“Because we can get into places you can’t. Face it, even with those men you had helping last night, you can’t go in and find out information yourselves. You’re too easily recognized. We’re not. And we happen to know a lot of lowlifes. It’s a hazard of the business. We hear things and can ask questions that won’t raise suspicions,” Luciano was the one to talk this time.

“That may be true, but those men aren’t our only resources,” Aidan added.

“That’s great. Another thing is that we want to see those women and girls returned. In some cases, there are rewards. We want to claim those, but the money will help us find others,” Alphonso said.

“Find others for what?” Rian asked.

It was Gianna who answered. I saw the fire burning in her eyes. “To give them their freedom, help them start over, and to kill the motherfuckers who did this to them. They all deserve to burn in hell for eternity. We can either work together or separate, but we’re going after them,” she hissed.

“You have a personal stake in this,” Darragh stated as he studied her.

“Damn right I do, and before you ask, no, I won’t tell you why. Do we have a deal?” she asked.

“I need to talk this over with my family. If you leave me with a number where you can be reached, I’ll let you know in the next few days. As you can imagine, this isn’t something we can do lightly,” Darragh said.

As one, they rose to their feet. Alphonso held out his hand to Darragh. His face remained impassive. It appeared that Gianna had gotten a hold of herself. “Thanks for hearing us out. We’ll wait for your call. I hope we can work together, but as Gianna said, we’ll do it separately if we have to. Good night.”

Seamus, Angus, and Finnegan had stayed but remained in the background. They came forward to escort them out. As they exited, I wondered what decision the family would make and what it meant for the future of us, those missing women, and the DeSantis. Something told me it would be bumpy, frustrating, and dangerous.