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“Could I trouble ya for a moment?”
“Course. Is everythin’ all right?”
Ollie ensures no one is earwiggin’ as he leans in close. “Are ya back?”
He doesn’t want to say too much as no matter how careful one is, someone is always listening.
“Maybe. But it’s a long road ahead. What Connor left behind…it’s gone.”
“We want to help,” he shares softly, his eyes darting around the room.
“Help?”
Ollie nods. “That fucker, Brody Doyle, he’s bleedin’ us dry. But if we don’t do business with him, then yer the enemy. Just take a look around, Punky, and y’ll see what happened to those who rebelled.”
That explains what happened to the businesses which are no more.
“What’s he want with youse?”
“With the Kellys gone, we’ve been at the mercy of other rival families, wantin’ to take control. Brody has offered us protection, for a fee, of course.”
“That fucker,” I mumble under my breath. “How much?”
“Half of our monthly earnin’s,” he reveals with regret. “We’re barely pullin’ through. But if we don’t pay, we’ll end up like the rest of them who said no to the Doyles. Liam Doyle is just as bad as his father.”
The Doyles are offering “protection,” but the truth is, this is an extortion racket. Ollie doesn’t pay, and he’s open to attack from the Doyles, as well as others who want to take over Belfast.
“What a fucking mess,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
I never knew what Connor actually did for this town. I now see it was a lot. When he ruled, there were no rivalries because everyone knew not to fuck with the Kellys. But everything has turned to shite since his death.
I never respected the aul’ lad, but that’s starting to slowly change.
“We never wanted to side with him, but my wee grandkids—”
“It’s all right, Ollie,” I say, cutting him off. “There’s no need to explain.”
There are no hard feelings. No one knows the truth. They all thought I was sent to prison for organizing the death of many men, including Sean and Connor. I’m sure my friends defended my honor, but with Brody tainting my name and putting the fear of God into friends and foe, I was soon a forgotten memory.
“I never believed what the papers said. We all knew ye’d never steal from yer da and hurt him.”
“Thank you, Ollie. I appreciate that. Yer right. Brody Doyle set me up. He blackmailed me. I didn’t have much of a choice but to disappear.”
I regret that decision as I should have fought harder. But at the time, I believed I deserved to be sent to prison as punishment for the deaths of Sean and Connor. Sean knew me too well and realized this was the only way to get rid of me for good.
If only I knew the real story, how things would have turned out differently.
“I fucking knew it!” he declares, slamming his fist on the bar. “Y’ve always been a good lad, Punky, and now, yer a man, a man yer da would be proud of. Whatever ya need from me, know that my loyalties are with ya.”
I don’t know how to respond to his claim, so I nod, needing a moment to take it all in.
If Brody is extorting Ollie, I’m certain he’s doing it to many others, and this is what I need to use to reinstate the Kelly name.
Connor never exploited his friends—he took care of them as well as Belfast. But now, this town is a fucking mess. Brody has no ties to Belfast. It’s merely a place of business for him. But this is my home, and I’m taking it back.
Ollie is someone I trust. He has no reason to lie to me.
“Tell those who will listen that I’m back,” I state firmly, adrenaline and hope coursing through my veins. “And that I’m goin’ to return Belfast to her former glory. I’m the new leader now, and I will protect yousens against them Doyles, and any other fucker who wants to take what is rightfully mine. What is ours.”
