Page 38 of Black Wedding

I instantly notice the people who work either for or with Desmond because they are all dressed in the same black suit with a black shirt look that both Desmond and Evan are wearing. They look like a mini-cult that are all following their leader, but it’s good for me because it points out who my potential enemies are. Everyone else in this room is still an unknown, and I notice Liam scanning the room and analysing the threat in the same way I am.

Desmond steps forward as we reach the final step with his hand outstretched to help me down. I reluctantly hold my hand out to comply, plastering a big fake-ass smile on my face and trying not to cringe as his skin connects with mine. Then, keeping hold of my raised hand, he leads us to the centre of the dancefloor, where Von is waiting with a microphone. As soon as we arrive, she immediately stands by Desmond’s side and gives him the microphone. Now that we are in position, I try to pull my hand away, but he simply tightens his grip on me.

Liam, noticing my tension, squeezes my other hand in reassurance and softly begins massaging the back of my hand with his thumb. It’s such a delicate touch, but the sensation is incredible. It instantly relaxes me, at least, as much as I can be with where we currently are.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for coming to help us celebrate the engagement of my youngest son, Liam, to his beautiful fiancée, Brianna,” Desmond announces loudly. He uses the microphone to point to us as he announces our names. He pauses slightly to wait for the applause that starts after my name. Given he doesn’t drop the microphone, he clearly has more to say.

“My wife, Siobhán, and I are so thrilled to be gaining such a gorgeous new daughter into the family. Most of you know that Liam is no longer an official member of this Family, but that is strictly business. When it comes to personal family matters, we will always be there for our children. Even when they choose to marry the enemy,” Desmond adds with the most sadistic chuckle. The laugh is replicated by all the people wearing identical suits to him, but the joke falls on deaf ears to everyone else. Which sadly means Desmond feels the need to carry on and talk more, much to my chagrin, and Liam’s too if his slight groan is anything to go by.

“For those of you that don’t know, this little firecracker is Brianna O’Keenan, daughter of London boss Vernon. When she and my son marry, together, they will take over the running of the London firm. So, I want to clarify to everyone here tonight that the O’Keenan’s and their businesses are off-limits for now. Bree and I have talked, and we have come to a mutually agreed-upon truce. I obviously cannot guarantee that one day that will change, but their wedding will go ahead undisturbed for now. Is that message understood?” he asks the room, and a chorus of ‘yes’ rings out around the room. I then notice that Desmond nods towards Evan, who, along with two other men, leaves through the service entrance door. I know Liam saw the same thing because his thumb stops massaging my hand and his whole body becomes tense once more. His muscles coil the same as mine, and we are both preparing for whatever it is that Desmond has planned.

“Now, the reason I ask you all to confirm this is because I did put the word out this morning, only to find that one member of the Family decided to go rogue.” Evan comes back through the service doors as he speaks, followed by two men dragging a barely conscious, bloodied man into the party. As I turn to see where they are taking him, I notice a couple of men setting up some plastic sheeting on the dance floor behind me.

“What the fuck is going on?” Liam whispers towards his father, but I’m not even sure he hears him speak. He is too busy glaring at the man being dragged in, his dark eyes taking on a whole new vicious look. He releases his grip on me to step towards the man being dragged into the room.

“This is Lucas, he works for me, and has a desperate need to move higher up in the Family. He thought that taking his own initiative would impress me. He was wrong.” He then turns to Lucas, forcing Liam and me to step back so he can approach him. The plastic sheeting crumples loudly under Desmond’s footsteps, and the silence around the room is deafening. I notice some of the people closest to the dance floor begin to step back.

Liam looks around, and when he finds Finn with his sisters, he subtly tells him using hand signals to take the sisters out of the room, which Finn quickly does. I’m glad Liam was able to get them out of here. Nobody should have to witness whatever will happen here, but young girls are a definite no. Sadly, there are many other teenagers who look around Ryleigh’s age here with their parents, and I watch as some of the parents try their best to shelter them. Everyone knows that shit is about to go down, but leaving is not an option. Liam warned me that Desmond is a bit theatrical, and if he sees people leaving he would take that as a personal insult. Desmond and the people he has working for him would identify weakness straight away. This party does not need to escalate any further, and I already saw how trigger happy Desmond is.

“Lucas...tell Bree and my son, Liam, what you had planned,” Desmond says into the microphone. He addresses the crowd instead of speaking directly to Lucas. This is all a show for him, and we are his little puppets playing a game.

When Lucas doesn’t answer him, Evan punches Lucas straight in the abdomen, and with a loud groan, he falls forward, bending at the middle as his legs try to give way beneath him. If the two men weren’t holding him up, he would have collapsed to the floor to wrap his arms around his stomach. But, instead, the painful area remains exposed only for Evan to punch him again in the same spot. I start to step towards them, but Liam holds me in place. With a subtle shake of his head, he makes it clear I shouldn’t interfere.

Lucas starts to talk, but amongst the tears, blood, and sweat, it’s really fucking difficult to work out what he is saying. “I-I didn’t...I didn’t know...about the rule,” he cries.

Desmond steps right up to Lucas and finally lets go of my hand. He uses his now free hand to fist into Lucas’ hair and pulls his head back. Lucas has no choice but to look up at all the guests, and with the microphone Desmond has thrust into his face, there is no way everyone won’t be able to hear him.

“I’m...I am s-sorry. I planted a bomb under Liam’s car. I didn’t know….” His words trailed off at the end, becoming a bumbling apology mixed with more bodily fluids than I usually like to see when people are talking.

The sadistic smile returns to Desmond’s face. He theatrically stands forward, his arms wide as he addresses his waiting audience. “See...he admits to disobeying my order. However, his reasons for doing so are irrelevant. If my security team had not seen him planting the bomb and managed to safely disarm it, not only would my son and Bree be dead, any other members of my family that were close by could have been caught in the crossfire. Including me.”

Liam’s face slowly morphs from one of concern to anger as his eyes darken and his brows wrinkle. Rage vibrates through his body, and I can feel the tension in his hand. I try stroking him with my thumb the way he did mine, hoping that has the same soothing effect as it did me. Sadly, it doesn’t, and I know his mind will be overcome with thoughts of what could have happened if Lucas’ plan had been successful. I know exactly how he feels because that rage is overcoming my body too.

No longer am I standing here feeling sorry for the bloody young man in front of me. Now, as I stand here thinking about his blatant disregard for my life and the safety of people I care about, the blood lust starts to ascend. The idea of someone hurting Liam alone makes me crazy, but when I think that he could have harmed Freya, Ryleigh, and Finn, I become murderous.

“Normally, I would be only too happy to take care of this problem myself, but I think Brianna deserves a chance to show you all the type of leader she plans to be. So, Bree, the floor is all yours,” Desmond states as he hands the microphone over to me.

“Bree, I can sort this out if you want?” Liam whispers into my ear, but we both know that would be the worst thing I could do. That would be telling people that I need Liam to do all my dirty work, and they instantly will have no respect for me as a leader. But, I made a promise to Desmond that I would earn his and everyone else’s respect, and this is the first step in doing that.

“Do you have a gun? Obviously, I don’t have anywhere to keep one in this dress,” I joke, making sure to smile at the audience as I used my hand to direct all eyes to my dress.

The idea of having people perving over my body in this dress is not a pleasant one. Still, I have never killed someone in front of a room full of people before, let alone ones that are judging my every move. Whilst I am like this, I can school my face, making sure to replicate Desmond’s sadistic smile. The more of a psychopath they think I am, the less likely they are to challenge me. But when the time comes for me to end Lucas, I have no idea if I will be able to school my features for the performance. The majority of the men in the room are the people that matter in our world. If they are too busy looking at my body to notice my face, then that’s precisely the kind of distraction I need.

I know I could have gone for the gun Liam told me to use, but I had a reason behind that. Firstly, I have no idea how the rest of the party will go, given we have got off to such a bloody start. So having an unused, concealed weapon in hand that nobody knows about can only be a good thing. Also, it helps me to see who offers me the use of their gun. Not only because it tells me who is carrying and where, I can also get an idea of who wants to show loyalty to me. It has to be someone who trusts me because if they give me their gun, it leaves them unarmed and vulnerable. You only do this if you trust that the person you are giving the gun to won’t turn around and shoot you.

I expect to get one or two responses, so both myself and Liam recoil in shock when around twenty men step forward. Evan shouts at everyone to get back and to stay off the dance floor. The men who are charging forward instantly stop and fall back into place with the guests they came with. While, much to my surprise, Evan takes out his gun, takes hold of the barrel, and offers the handle of his weapon to me.

“I assume you know how to use this?” Evan asks sarcastically, causing Liam to snort in response.

“She is probably a better shot than you are, Ev,” Liam jokes, and I’m shocked to hear the use of a nickname. Liam soon masks his face again, blanking off all emotions that flashed forward for a short time. It was like a little glimpse of the past, what the boys were like when they were younger and how they had fun together. Evan must see it too because, for the first time since I met him, I see a genuine, full-faced smile. It’s initially a bit unsettling to see him looking happy instead of the broody asshole he usually is. It actually lights up his face and makes him look much younger than his twenty-six years.

Taking the gun off him with a smile, I hand the microphone over to Liam, so I can check the barrel of the gun. I run through all the safety features, making sure to take some deep breathes too. At the same time, I consider what the fuck I am doing. I hold my hand out for Liam to give me back the microphone, remembering that this is a performance after all.

“Lucas. You don’t even know me. So tell me...why do you want me dead? Explain it to me,” I ask casually, and I hear chuntering from around me. They think I am weak; what they don’t know is I have a plan.

“I was just following orders! I have nothing against you personally,” he cries and once again, the muttering happens.

“And who gave you that order?” I ask with a smile, holding the microphone out, ready for his response.

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