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I wake to the sounds of gunshots in the night. Raised voices follow the shots.
I’m awake and out of bed in seconds. The room is empty, and the shots have stopped, but I can still hear male voices. Hear Liam’s shouts.
Reaching for my cell phone, I dial 911 on impulse. My fingers hesitate over the final one. Calling the cops to the Dullahans’ clubhouse is as good as announcing I’m a rat.
I tuck my phone into my sweatpants and throw on a hoodie. At the last second, I pick up the bat I keep under the bed in case any of the guys get drunk and handsy.
Creeping into the hallway, I press against the wall closest to the living room. That’s where the voices are coming from. The sounds of doors opening and the shuffling of feet tell me I’m not alone. Five of the other women follow me into the hall. Hannah included, she raises her gun.
“What the fuck do you want?” dad demands. From this vantage point, I can’t see him or who he’s talking to. His voice is rougher than usual, which can only mean he’s angry. It’s the same tone of voice he uses when talking to his men after they do something stupid.
I exhale in relief. I feel stupid for thinking we’re under attack and it’s just dad reaming the guys out.
“It’s alright. Just club business,” I tell Hannah.
She puts the gun away and shoos the younger girls back to bed.
The long hallway that leads to the bedrooms is attached to the main living space that includes the club’s bar. From here I can’t see dad and I move into the room.
“Why are you firing guns in the middle of the night, dad? What happened?” I doubt I’ll get a straight answer, but that’s never stopped me from asking.
In order to see the entire space, I go past the bar, which is why I don’t see we’re in trouble before it’s too late. When I make it past, I stop dead in my tracks. My eyes lock onto Liam, and his eyes widen with fear at the sight of me.
“Aurora,” Liam shouts. “Get the fuck outta here!”
Dad and Liam are tied to chairs. So is every other member of the club. Except Stink, who is lying on the floor, bleeding from a head wound. Armed men surround them.
“Run and I kill them all,” a man says.
I freeze and wish I’d called 911 when I had the chance. None of the other women will. They’re too afraid of the consequences. I’m the only one who might have gotten away with it. And I’ve blown my chance.
Chapter 4
Caine
I survey the clubhouse. We tied all thirty something members of the Dullahans up or left them lying on the floor in pools of their own blood. My men surround them with guns. When my brother Killian takes over the family business, I’ll be his clan chief, and tonight, I’ve proven my worth.
As for the Dullahans? They’re about to learn what happens when you cross an O’Connor. The members who ‘disappear’, the customers who stop buying products, the police raids that take out key players — all of it’s my doing. Thanks to months of planning, the attack has taken minutes. Leading me here. With my enemies at my mercy.
Finally.
Almost a year ago, the MC challenged the Irish mob. I’m a reasonable man and I’ll give them a chance to make things right, but they’re going to be made an example of.
“Here’s the deal,” I say, cutting to the chase. “You’re out of business. Your turf? It’s ours now. Your drug trade in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain? You’re going to keep pushing that shit and hand every cent to us. We own you fuckers.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Billy spits.
“I’m Caine O’Connor. You have heard of my family.”
I roll up my sleeve and show the family tattoo. A black four-leaf clover over a Celtic cross. The symbol of the O’Connors. All of Boston associates our tattoo with death.
“You son of a bitch,” Liam growls, face contorting with rage.
Anger is building in my chest. It’s a slow boil tonight because revenge is so fucking close I can taste it. Jack used to be our war lord. A year ago he went out drinking and turned up dead, shot in the street. It happened on the Dullahans’ turf. That can only mean it was them. “You killed my cousin Jack. Now? Everything you have belongs to my family. And I’m going to kill the motherfuckers who killed Jack. Understand? Give me a fucking name.Now.”
“Why are you firing guns in the middle of the night, dad?” a girl’s voice says.
I look up and see the girl from the library standing in the hallway. I blink, thinking revenge has finally driven me crazy, but she’s still here. Is she sleeping with one of these fuckers? I remember hearing a bike’s engine revving after she slipped out.
