Page 4 of Cillian

“That and Paddy’s fucked half the lasses here,” Bellamy joked under his breath.

“Don’t act all holier than thou, Bell. We all know what you spend your disposable income on. Restraint and you ain’t the best of mates,” Paddy challenged.

“Well.” Bellamy looked around the room. “Around these parts, I do.” Bellamy had come out the womb a lady’s man. But because he had a type, he’d find no comfort here. Of all of us, he was the one who looked the most like Pa outside of Órfhlaith.

The only brother with dark hair, he took full advantage that he could pass for Italian, Greek or Jewish. You’d think being Irish was enough, but it was a not-so-secret that he preferred lasses anything but white. But because Pa would have never allowed him to be with one, he had a weakness for prostitutes.

No one could fight like him either. It was why he moved out so much sooner than we all had, as no one had ever lifted a fist to Pa before Bellamy. Pa still controlled him through the family business, but he’d always been who I looked up to when it came to learning how to fight.

“Don’t get too drunk, Cilly,” Tadhg advised. “You’re gonna want to be sober for where we end up next.

I fucking knew my brothers wouldn’t let me down. Probably never ate so fast in my life. Next thing on the list had to be a whorehouse.

***

“Not exactly what I had in mind,” I said, admiring and inspecting the firearm. “But can't say I haven't missed the weight of one of these in my hand.” There was something about shooting that made my cock hard. First round always reminded me of that initial thrust during a good fuck.

It wouldn’t have been what I choose to do, but it was at least in the top three of my favorite things, so my brothers knew me well. “Where did you get these?”

“New connect,” Tadhg answered in a way I knew I wouldn’t receive a follow up.

“Let’s see how these babies hold up,” I said, and all four of us took our positions and proceeded to shoot our intended targets. It’d been a while since I fired a gun. It surprised me that my brothers trusted me so soon with one, given why I was in the pen. I was in a good space, letting the collective sound of rounds put me at peace.

“You're getting rusty, Cilly boy,” Paddy teased, but coming from him wasn't much of an insult. He was the only one of us who’d gotten drafted, making him the only one of us to serve the country.

It was a strange thing to say, but he came back…different. He don’t feel like he used to. War turned his nerves into literal steel. Time overseas made him bold enough to challenge you to a game of Russian roulette, knowing it’d blow his brains out just to show prove he wasn’t afraid to lose.

Serving made him an expert marksman, and he definitely took the jobs that your hands got a little dirty for. Which was such a contrast to his looks. He was definitely one of them pretty boys who didn’t act like it. Real Hollywood type, blond hair and movie star looks. Had it not been for his murky eye, to the opposite sex, he was practically a heart throb.

Pa gave it to him the worst though. And it made him a bully to anyone who challenged him.

Bringing my pistol to eyes view. I took four shots each to the forehead of all of our marks. Paddy would always be the strongest shooter, but I wasn't rusty. Not by a longshot.

“Well, nice to see you ain't lost your balls.”

***

Time with my brothers drunken roughhousing and making a day of it had been the way to go for my first day out. One fucking miscount of an event and we were fighting on the streets of Boston.

“That growth spurt must have improved your boxing skills,” Bellamy joked.

“Well, I dealt with Pa and you all my whole life. Yesterday was the only day I took a beating lying down.”

“I knew it. Tell us who had it in for you and I’ll take care out it—” Tadhg interrupted.

“I said I was fine. Prison is just full of a bunch of miserable fucks. I can take care of myself. I can pull my weight in this family.” Gone was the time where my brothers fought my battles and cleaned up after me. The time was now to behave in a way that actually helped the family rather than hurt it.

“That’s good to hear,” Tadhg squeezed my shoulder. “Because where we’re heading to next is gonna require you to.”

Unsure of what his cryptic words had meant, it wasn’t long before Tadhg was leading us to our next destination. Not to say he was a particularly cautious driver, but I’d never seen him have so little regard for speed limits, stop signs and red lights.

“Wherever we gotta go ain’t worth dying for,” I yelled from the backseat.

“We don’t have a lot of time and there’s still something we need to do.”

Once we reached our destination, the air in my lungs hitched. No one mentioned Pa all day, but now I was confident where we’d stopped was why.

“Get out of the car,” Tadhg demanded.

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