Before the Storm

Chapter 18

Iknow the look Aidan is giving me. The ‘what the fuck just happened and who do I need to kill’ look. I don’t want to talk about what happened because I know I have to walk out there and sit back down with my father and the bitch he wants to marry me off to. Sighing, I square my shoulders, readying myself for the impending fight. I tell Aidan that according to my father, I am now engaged. The moment the words register in his head, his eyes darken, his back straightens, and he has this murderous expression cast on his face.

“What the fuck do you mean you’re engaged?” Aidan spits out.

“Exactly what I said. My father has apparently decided it is time to align the Irish and our family. I am nothing but a fucking business transaction to the piece of shit,” I explain.

“You can’t marry someone; you are with Meadow! I would like to say with me, too, but I know I fucked that up. But fuck Michael, you can’t marry this person. What is her name anyway?”

“Her name is Maeve. You can come meet her if you would like. They are probably still sitting down, discussing my demise as we speak. Her father is Quinn, leader of the Irish Mob.”

“You are playing a joke on me, correct? There is no way your father would marry you off to that family. There is no reason to align the families; we aren”t a Mob. We are a gang—a prominent one—but still not Mafia. What the fuck is your father up to now?”

“I don’t know but come join us. You can come find out,” I tell Aidan. He nods and lets me lead the way back. When we get to the table, I apologize for my abrupt departure, and my father gives me a look that I know all too well. It’s his look that lets me know I will pay for my behavior later, but what else is new? He always finds a way to punish me for no reason.

“Maeve, I would like you to meet my colleague, Aidan; he is my associate and boyfriend,” I announce and watch both of their jaws hit the floor. I turn to Aidan with an amused, smug look, knowing I just outed us, but who gives a fuck. It is time I stopped hiding from my piece of shit father. He wants to control my life, but he will soon find out that is done and over with. I am sick of him trying to control me; it stopped the moment he told me I was to marry some random bitch.

“The fuck did you just say boy? Aidan is not your boyfriend. If you are looking to piss me off, you are succeeding. Maeve I am so sorry, I don’t know what has come over Knox, but he seems to have lost his damn mind.” Michael’s glare is filled with pure hate, while Maeve just looks around at us like she is watching a movie unfold. All she needs now is a bucket of popcorn in her dainty fingers.

“I promise you I am not lying, Father. Aidan and I have been together since we were sixteen. Meadow helped us figure out what and who we are to each other. She and I have also been together ever since she moved back to town, so I guess you could say I am in a poly relationship. One I will not be adding to, no matter how much his father lines your pockets. You can count me out of your plan,” I calmly state.

Aidan starts smiling like the psychopath he is, just waiting for my father to say the wrong thing, so he has an excuse to murder him. I grab his hand to curb his murderous side for now, and everyone at the table watches the interaction. My father’s face turns a lovely shade of red I have never seen, and I think he is about to grind his teeth to dust, but damn, I love pissing him off. I am not sure why I haven’t stood up to him before now, I guess I was always waiting for the right time, and it seems today is the perfect day to say ‘fuck you’ to Michael.

“You are no son of mine if you are a faggot, boy. You better think hard on this. You will marry Maeve, and that is final. I will not discuss this any longer. I think dinner is over, now that my son has spoiled the evening. Maeve, I am sorry for my outburst. I hope you have a lovely night and tell your father the wedding will be held in six months,” Michael says with a smile as he gets up to leave, but not before throwing money on the table to cover the bill.

I sit back in my chair now that Michael has left, and I am finally able to relax. I am glad Michael knows about Aidan and me; it has been a long time coming. Now that it is just Maeve, Aidan, and I still sitting at the table, it is a bit awkward, and there is an underlying tension, but I need to understand why they decided to connect the families. Up until now, we have been treated like dirt on the Mob’s shoes.

“I am sorry you had to find out this way Maeve. I am sure you are lovely, but as you can see, I am taken. There will be no wedding. I feel bad that you came all this way just to hear you will not be marrying me after all. If your father and mine want to join families maybe you can marry him instead,” I plainly state.

“Listen, Daddy will make you marry me. I don’t care if you have someone on the side you fuck. I never expected to be monogamous, and I wouldn’t expect you to be either. This is just a business deal. In six months, you will be my husband, and out in public, we will be a very happy couple. I don’t care what you do in your private time,” Maeve says with the same creepy smile again, like the kind of smile where she shows off her perfectly white teeth. A shiver runs down my spine, just looking at her. The rumors are true; the princess is just as bad as her father.

“Why do we need to align the families? We are a lowly gang, and yes, we have some power, but it is not the same as your alliances. We run drugs and guns, and that is it. We fight other gangs. I don’t understand why your father would want you to marry someone he thinks is beneath him.”

“Oh, silly, you are so funny! You are the most powerful gang in California, and you have ties to other Mafia families that we couldn’t achieve on our own. Together, the Wolverines get a discount on guns, and we, the Irish, get a deal on drugs. Don’t you see? We will be unstoppable together. You have the men, and we have the power. Daddy won’t be stopped once we join forces. If Michael had another kid, I assume I would be marrying them instead,” Maeve cheerfully says.

This bitch seems excited, probably because she was raised knowing she would take part in an arranged marriage. I can’t imagine marrying anyone other than Meadow, and I can almost picture her in a white dress, walking down the aisle to the guys and me. She would be a vision in white, and I smirk, knowing that she would be thoroughly fucked while in that dress. Imagining her bent over in a wedding dress, weeping around my cock, has me hardening in my pants again, even though I came only half an hour ago in the men’s bathroom.

“Well, I assure you, Maeve, there will be no wedding in six months. There is only one person I would marry, and that person is not you. I think it’s about time we left; our business here is done. I hope you have the day you deserve and good night.” I politely smile as Aidan and I both stand from the table. Maeve’s gaze wastes no time locking onto my crotch, and I forgot my dick was half hard, thinking of all the ways Meadow could be wrapped around me. I move my hands in front of my pants, adjusting the bulge so it isn’t as noticeable, and walk away from the crazy bitch eying my crotch like she is about to hop on it and take me for a spin. Unfortunately for her, this dick already belongs to Meadow and Aidan.

After leaving the restaurant, Aidan and I head for home. I need to tell Phoenix and Meadow what happened, and I’m not looking forward to it. Heading inside, I yell for a family meeting and take a seat at the dining room table where all our meetings are held.

Meadow walks in, looking like fucking dessert, and sits down next to me. She has on a pair of tight-ass yoga shorts and a tank top that does nothing to hide her beautiful tits, her nipples poking through, trying to distract us all. The girl is a walking dream, I can never think straight when she is around. I think these shorts are worse than those viral TikTok leggings she bought one day; I want to shake the hand of whoever invented those. God damn, biting my lip and looking at her, she notices me staring and blushes. Clearing my throat, I try to think of anything that will pull me from my constant state of arousal around her, so I have a clear mind with what I am about to tell them.

Phoenix comes in and sits next to Meadow, grabbing her hand and placing it on his lap while he smiles at her like she is his entire world. He looks up at me and smirks, fucking bastard. I wish I could hold her in my arms right now. Aidan is to the left of me, and now that everyone is here, I am dreading the words that are about to come out of my mouth.

“I had a meeting with Michael today, and things didn’t go so well.”

Meadow and Phoenix turn to me, and their shoulders tense up, already knowing that whatever I have to say will be bad.

“Apparently, Michael has been making deals with the devil; he is working with Quinn Archer.”

Meadow looks more confused now than ever. She asks who Quinn is, and Phoenix looks like he is about to burst a blood vessel in his forehead from thinking too hard.

“Quinn Archer is the leader of the Irish around here. He controls the entire west coast. He is a shady guy with a mean streak a mile long. The police have yet to catch him in the act because of how many are on his payroll, and those who aren’t, seem to mysteriously disappear,” I explain, and her face instantly turns a light gray color. I can see her throat bob as she tries to swallow down something.

“Okay, so your father and him working together could be good for business, right? I don’t see how this is a bad thing,” Meadow says as she tries to see the light in everything.

“It’s not bad that they are working together because it would mean we are moving up in the criminal world, but working together has its own set of strings, and my father just pulled mine. Quinn has a daughter our age, and to merge the families, she needs to marry someone and, apparently, that someone happens to be me. According to my father. I told them no, but I don’t know if I can really stop this. He could go after us all if I don’t marry his daughter in six months,” I rush out and exhale a breath. Looking around the table, I see a variety of emotions. Aidan is pissed since he already met my ‘fiancée’ during lunch, Phoenix has a look of shock, and Meadow looks murderous.

“What the fuck do you mean you’re getting married? The fuck you are! The only person you are marrying is me; she can fuck right off. I will kill her, Knox. I swear to God, and I don’t give a fuck who her father is. YOU ARE MINE,” Meadow yells at me.

“Baby, I am well aware that I am yours, which I told the bitch today when Michael decided to drop the bomb and blindside me at lunch. I also told Michael I was seeing Aidan, so he got a little pissed off and stormed out. I don’t want to marry anyone but you. You are my world.”

“Wait, who says you get to marry her? Why can”t I marry Meadow? I love her just as much,” Phoenix says with a whine.

Seriously? I look at Phoenix and roll my eyes; of course, all he cares about is who gets to marry Meadow; I just told him I am engaged, and all he can say is, why would I be the one marrying her?

“Well, we can’t all marry her, can we? If it were to be someone, it would be me, so shut it. It’s not like we are getting married right now anyway. Can we please focus on the issue at hand here?” I ask, sending Phoenix a pleading look. He nods, and Meadow’s face turns back to her normal hue.

“Okay, so what happens if you don’t marry her?” Meadow asks.

“It means war, baby. It means war,” I tell her.