Safe and Sound (The Irish Rogues #4)

Prologue Dare

P rologue

Dare

Belfast

Thirteen years ago

“Come on, boyo! Tear him limb from limb!”

With a roll of my eyes, I tried tuning out my brother, Quinn’s, intense rugby commentary. Normally, I would’ve been cheering right along with him for the Ulster team. Not only did I love watching it, I loved playing it. I’d started on the varsity team as a freshman at the ultra posh private school my father forced my brothers and I to attend.

But tonight my mind was focused on one thing and one thing only: a blonde haired beauty with unending curves and a smart mouth that she loved to wrap about my cock.

For the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, I snuck a peek at my phone. No matter how hard I willed a call or text to come through, there was no response. Instead it was just a pathetic string of my needy texts that made my balls shrivel upon rereading.

Shan?

Shannyboo?

My bad. I know you hate that one.

Your orgasm donor is desperately trying to make a delivery.

Come on, love. Answer your fuckin’ phone.

Shoving my feet off the couch, my oldest brother, Callum, plopped down beside me. “What the fuck are you doing mooning about and not watching the match?”

“I’m not mooning.”

“And what would you call it when you’re sitting here on a Friday night staring at your phone?” he challenged.

Quinn eased down in the chair across from us. “Give him a break, Cal.”

Snorting, Callum replied, “Considering how he’s always on my dick about something, why should I give him a break?”

When Quinn gave me a knowing look, I shook my head at him. “Don’t go there,” I warned.

“You know he’s going to find out sooner or later. He always does.”

Flickering his gaze between us, Callum pressed, “Find out what?”

Since I knew it was futile to continue, I replied, “There’s this girl I’ve kinda been seeing.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“Yeah, you see a lot of girls.” With a wicked grin, he added, “A lot of their tits and their fannies.”

As Shannon’s face flashed before my eyes, I replied, “I’m seeing her and only her.”

Callum’s eyes popped wide. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually caught feelings for a girl?”

Raising my right shoulder apathetically, I replied, “Maybe.”

“I never thought I would see the day,” Quinn mused.

“Me either,” I grumbled.

“So who’s the bitch who has you by the balls?” Callum asked.

“Don’t call her that!” I snapped.

Callum merely chuckled. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you’ve got it bad, boyo!”

“I do not.” At his pointed look, I replied, “Just don’t disrespect her like that.”

He held his hands up. “My bad. I was just going by your history.”

“Yeah, well, she’s not she’s not like the usual girls. She’s smart and funny and–”

“And older,” Quinn interjected under his breath.

With a grunt, I rose off the couch. “You flap your jaws worse than an old cunt.”

Quinn and Callum’s laughter followed me to the liquor cart. After pouring myself a shot of whiskey, I turned around. “She’s just different.”

“Where did you meet this older girl?”

I grimaced around the rim of my glass. “She’s my tutor.”

Callum threw his head back with a howl of laughter. “You’re fucking your tutor?”

“I’m dating my tutor, arsehole.”

“Like how much older is she?”

“She’s in her second year of uni.”

Waggling his brows, Callum replied, “Good thing you’re seventeen, or she could be locked up for taking advantage of your wee self.”

“Like you haven’t fucked an older girl before,” I argued.

When Callum opened his mouth, Quinn quipped, “He likes the younger ones who aren’t wise enough to be turned off his bullshit.”

At my laugh, Callum extended his middle finger at me and Quinn. “Aren’t you going to tell me your girl’s name?”

“Shannon O’Dell.”

Callum’s dark brows furrowed. “O’Dell? Isn’t her father one of dad’s soldiers?”

“Aye, he is.”

With a low whistle, he replied, “You’re playing with fire there, mate.”

“It’s not like we haven’t wet our dicks with soldiers’ daughters before,” Quinn argued.

Callum shot him a look. “You know how Da feels about that.” Puffing out his chest, he mimicked our father’s bravado. “Soldiers' daughters are off limits. All they and their da’s see is dollar signs and a chance to move up the ladder. And should you ever forget and start to fuck one, you sure as hell better suit up your willy with your own rubber because those girls have been poking holes in theirs, so you can knock them up!”

Rolling my eyes, I lit up a cigarette. “Like he has any room to talk. He’s fucked Belfast and half the country side.”

After glancing over his shoulder at the doorway, Quinn growled, “Shut yer hole.”

“It’s the truth.”

With a grimace, Quinn reasoned, “Aye, but Mam doesn’t need to hear it.”

“Like she isn’t aware,” I grumbled.

Callum snatched my cigarette away and took a long drag. “But the least we can do is not throw it in her face.”

My father’s notorious womanizing was a well-known fact. It sent my blood boiling that our saint of a mother was forced to turn a blind eye to his activities. Fear of losing her children kept her silent and trapped.

Tilting his head at me, Callum asked, “Why aren’t you with your new lady tonight?”

“I can’t get her to answer her phone.”

Quinn’s eyes shot wide. “Don’t tell me she’s dodging your calls?”

When I opened my mouth to respond, Callum smirked as he said, “That’s why he’s mooning about.”

With a scowl, I replied, “Something must’ve happened to her because she’s never dodged my calls before.”

“There’s always a first time for dodging.”

Callum’s chuckle sent rage coursing through me. “Fuck. Off,” I

“Sounds like you’re getting a taste of your own medicine with your conquests.”

I couldn’t argue with him there. At seventeen, I’d never had a relationship that lasted beyond a month. I was far more love em’ and leave em’. I loved the chase but grew bored when I caught them.

But Shannon was different.

Although she had a body for sin, it was her personality that truly won me over. She didn’t give two shites that I was Hugh Kavanuagh’s son. My future position in the clan didn’t intimidate her. She wanted no part of a future life as a soldier’s wife. More than anything, she wanted to finish school and get the hell away from the clan life and out of Boston.

Before I could argue with Callum that Shannon wasn’t ditching me, Gibson, one of our father’s men, walked through the doorway. Ignoring Callum and Quinn, his gaze fell on me. “Your father has requested your presence in the barn.”

With a snort, I turned my back to him and flopped down on the couch, “You can tell him to go fuck himself, boyo.”

At the click of a gun at my temple, I jerked my head around. Smirking, Gibson pointed the pistol at me. “Your father anticipated your response and told me how to react.”

As Quinn shot out of his chair, Callum demanded, “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“A loyal soldier following instructions,” Gibson bit out.

“A fucking lapdog is more like it,” Quinn countered.

With a sneer, Gibson said, “You and I both know your father doesn’t give a shite what I say or do to any of you. He only asks for obedience.” Jabbing the gun at me, he said, “So be a good boy and do as you’re told.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled as I rose off the couch.

When Callum and Quinn started to follow me, Gibson shook his head. “ Only Darragh.”

Apprehension prickled over me. Nothing good could come from my father wanting to see only me. That meant I was well and truly fucked.

But I wouldn’t show fear.

Not to Gibson or my brothers or least of all my fucking father.

Plastering on my usual cocky grin, I replied, “Let’s go and see what’s so damn important.”

To my surprise, Gibson didn’t put his gun away when we got outside. I rolled my eyes at his small dick energy. Two of my father’s men stood flanking the doors to the barn. When they refused to meet my eye, I swallowed down my rising anxiety. After inhaling a sharp breath, I opened the door.

When I stepped inside, the lights were dimmed, casting ominous shadows on the walls. “Da?” I called.

“Over here,” he instructed.

After I followed his voice, every molecule in my body shuddered to a stop at the sight of a body strung up in the center of the barn. A rope dangling from the ceiling bound Shannon’s arms over her head. Tears stained her beautiful face while her body jerked and shook.

Bolting forward, I started to race towards her when one of the bodyguards grabbed me by the waist. I struggled against him. “Get your feckin’ hands off me,” I growled.

When Da nodded at the bodyguard, he released me. Racing over to her, I cupped Shannon’s face. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m here now. I’ll make it right.”

Unable to speak, Shannon merely nodded. Whirling around, I demanded, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Dealing with your fucking messes like always!” he growled.

“If this is about me, then why the fuck is she tied up?” I countered.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Get her down!”

Da tsked at me. “You never listen, do you?” At my glare, he sighed. “Every fucking time I try, Darragh, you only disappoint me. You’ll never have the head for the business that Callum does or the brutality that Quinn does.”

A mirthless laugh tumbled from his lips. “Hell, even that waste of a cock, Kellan, is a whizz with numbers.” Shaking his head, he said, “But you’re a fucking waste of my essence.”

Gritting my teeth, I replied, “Nice pep talk, but it still doesn’t explain what is going on.”

“When your head master tells me how daft you are, I get you a tutor out of the kindness of his heart.”

With a roll of my eyes, I countered, “I’m not daft. I have dyslexia.”

“Not that bullshite again.”

“Just because you won’t acknowledge it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Gesturing at Shannon, I said, “Quit stalling and cut her down.”

“I’m not done with her.”

“Only a coward hurts a woman.”

Shaking his head in disgust, he said, “I should’ve known the only way to keep you from thinking with your cock would be to get you a male tutor. You fuck anything that walks.”

With a snort, I replied, “You’re a fine feckin’ one to talk.”

Father’s fist cracked against my jaw, causing my neck to snap back. “Always you with the cheek.”

“Truth hurts,” I grunted as I fought the screaming pain in my head.

“Let’s talk about the truth, eh? Starting with how Neil O’Dell came to visit me today.”

At the mention of her father, Shannon’s sobs grew louder. It took everything within me not to go to wrap my arms around her. Anything to give her a semblance of comfort.

“Obviously he was very upset that you had taken advantage of his virginal daughter.”

Despite knowing I wasn’t Shannon’s first, I replied, “Aye, it’s true.”

Da’s eyes narrowed menacingly at me. “He also claimed you had knocked her up.”

I sucked in a harsh breath before my gaze ricocheted over to Shannon’s. She shook her head sadly. “I’m not. I don’t know why he would say such a thing.”

Jabbing a finger at her, he snarled, “Don’t play innocent with me. You know you were in cahoots with your da.”

“I swear on the saints I wasn’t!” she protested.

“Shut yer mouth, whore!” Da blared.

“Don’t fucking talk to her like that!”

Once again, Da popped me in the jaw. As I bent double, blood spewed from my mouth onto the floor. After swiping my hand across my bloody lips, I glared up at Da. “If she says she didn’t know, she didn’t know. So deal with her father and be done with it.”

Da narrowed his eyes at me. “I tried having an amicable talk with him. I even offered my apologies for my wayward son’s behavior by assuring Neil you would cut ties with Shannon immediately. I offered my promise to keep the affair quiet.” With a shake of his head, “But that wasn’t good enough for him. That’s when he claimed you’d knocked her up, and he wanted money.”

At Shannon’s gasp of horror, an evil chuckle rumbled from Da’s chest. “I know, right? He had a hell of a lot of cheek trying to extort his leader.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

With a cruel laugh, Da replied, “Aye, you will be.”

Shaking my head wildly back and forth, I countered, “There’s no reason to punish her. She didn’t do anything wrong for fuck’s sake. It’s her father who ought to be strung up.”

A maniacal grin curved on my father’s lips. “ She will be his punishment.”

Fear crashed over me at the realization of his words. Dad had forced us to be part of many of the “punishments” he doled out to his men and enemies. It always involved extreme torture, if not death.

As my chest clenched, I choked out, “No.”

“Aye. She is his weakness.”

Shannon glanced wildly back and forth between Da and me. “P-Please, d-don’t hurt m-me” she sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rolling his eyes in exaggerated bliss, Da replied,“Oh I do like the sound of you begging. Perhaps I need to send your father a video of it.”

“Enough!” I blared. After stepping toe to toe with my father, I repeated, “Fuck your revenge, and let her go!”

“Get out of my face, you useless shite,” he sneered.

Jerking my chin up at him, I replied, “Fine. You want someone to punish. Take me instead.”

“No, Dare!” Shannon cried.

Sneering, Da said, “Don’t you get it? By punishing her, it kills two birds with one stone, boyo. O’Dell’s punishment and yours.”

“Mine? What the fuck did I do besides care for her?”

“You neve r let your feelings betray your family. You thinking with your dick brought trouble to our door.”

“That’s your fucking opinion.”

“It’s my fucking law,” Da countered.

Spitting at his feet, I replied, “You can fuck your law and yourself. I won’t lay one finger on her.”

“I’m not asking you to touch her.” Reaching into his pocket, he produced a gleaming silver pistol. “I’m ordering you to put a bullet in her head.”

A horrified scream tore from Shannon’s lips and echoed through me. “Never!” I spat.

“I’m not giving you an order as your father. This is from your clan leader.”

Shaking my head, I countered, “You can torture me from sun up to sun down.” I shook my head vehemently from side to side. “I won’t fucking do it!”

“Don’t you think I didn’t know you would say something like that?” A wicked gleam burned bright in his eyes. “I suppose we can move to Plan B.”

Apprehension pricked along my skin. “And what is that?”

“Giving you motivation.”

I swallowed hard as two of my father’s men advanced on Shannon. When I started to cut them off, Da grabbed my arm. “If you don’t take care of her, my men have free reign to do whatever they want with her.”

To prove the validity of my father’s words, one of the men cupped Shannon’s breast before shooting me a lascivious grin.

“You sick bastard!” I shouted as Da held me back.

“So, the choice is before you, Darragh. Put a bullet in her brain, or stand by and watch my men fuck her before they slit her throat and let her bleed out.

Hate had been some of the earliest emotions that I’d connected to my father. But in that moment, the unadulterated loathing seething within me threatened to explode. As I eyed the gun in his hand, an image formed in my mind of me putting the bullet meant for Shannon in his head.

Grabbing my chin, Da jerked my head to glare at me. “I know exactly what’s in that head of yours. And let me assure you of this: you won’t make it out of this barn if you do that.”

As defeat overwhelmed me, I fought to breathe. There had to be some way to get out of this. I couldn’t kill Shannon, and I couldn’t allow her to be raped and tortured.

Although I despised myself for it, I sank to my knees. “Spare her life. Please . I’ll do whatever you ask of me.”

My father’s nose curled in disgust. “I would expect this type of behavior from Kellan. You truly are a disgrace.” Pointing the pistol at me, he said, “Get off your knees.”

After dragging myself to my feet, I turned to face Shannon. A sob choked off in my throat. “I can’t kill you, love.”

Wide-eyed fear shone in her eyes. “You have to. Don’t let them hurt me like that. Please.”

“But I love you.”

A sad, resigned smile curved on her lips. “Aye, and I love you.” Fresh tears spilled over her cheeks. “But you have to.”

Da pressed the gun into my hands. “Do it,” he commanded.

After he released me, I staggered forward. With each step I took, the roar in my head grew louder and louder. I fought the urge to place my hands over my ears to try and dull the noise and stop the pain. There was another part of me that just wanted my head to explode or a stroke to take me out of this moment.

Staring into her eyes, I shook my head. “I wish I was smart, so I’d never needed a tutor.” When Shannon hiccupped a cry, I pushed a strand of her hair out of her face. “I wished I’d never flirted with you or dared you to kiss me.”

Leaning my forehead into hers, I whispered, “I wish I’d never fucked you that first time in the poolhouse.”

“It was the best I’d ever had,” she whispered back.

“Flatterer,” I teased.

“I wish I’d never fallen in love with you.”

“Don’t ever say that.”

“Without me, you’d have a future.”

She gave me a sad smile. “It was worth it.”

Da growled behind me. “Jaysus, you disgust me.”

Before I could react, the crack of a gun roared in my ears, and Shannon’s body jerked in my arms. Something warm and sticky sprayed into my face. When I turned my head, Shannon’s wide, lifeless eyes stared back at me. “No! No, no, no!” I cried.

Bile rocketed into my throat at the sight of the blood and brain matter caked in Shannon’s beautiful blonde hair. “No!” I plaintively whispered.

Da painfully gripped my shoulder before he snatched me back. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson tonight, boyo.”

With tears streaking down my cheeks, I reared back and spit in my father’s face. He merely chuckled as he reached for the handkerchief in his suit pocket. “Cut her down and take her to her father. Tell him this is what happens when you fuck with your leader.”

And then he and his men were gone.

Shannon’s limp body sagged, twisting her arms at what would’ve been painful angles if she were still alive. Despite the blood and the gore, I wrapped my arms around her. Burying my face in Shannon’s neck, I continued to weep. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried. But the harder I tried to stop myself, the harder my sobs came.

At the feel of a hand on my back, I whirled around. Callum and Quinn stood ashen faced. A moment passed between the three of us before Quinn walked over to where the rope was tied. Callum bobbed his head at me before bending over to sweep Shannon into his arms.

After Quinn untied the rope, Shannon’s arms flopped down. With my chest still reverberating from my sobs, I stepped forward. I placed my fingers over her eyelids and closed them.

Callum then began walking out of the barn. Quinn and I fell in step behind him. At the first car we came upon, Quinn ran ahead and opened the backseat. Callum gently eased Shannon’s broken and bloodied body inside the car.

After closing the door, Callum turned back to me. Swiping my nose with my sleeve, I stared into his dark eyes shining with a mixture of empathy and rage. “I loved her,” I pronounced.

“I know.”

“She’s dead because of me.”

Grimacing, Callum replied, “I know.”

“I’ll never fucking love another woman,” I vowed. “Not when this family can take her from me.”

“Loving a woman is weakness,” Callum replied.

Quinn shoved Callum. Hard. “Don’t you ever fucking parrot what that bastard says. Love is never a weakness. It’s what makes the three of us strong. It’s what makes our family strong.”

Instead of hitting Quinn back, Callum merely nodded. “You’re right.” He closed the gap between the two of us. Grabbing the sides of my face, Callum brought my forehead down to his. “One day I’ll end him. I promise you that.”

“And I’ll help him,” Quinn added.

“You fuckers better let me have a go.”

“You bet.” Nodding at Quinn, Callum said, “Let’s get her home.”

I shook my head. “No. I should do it.”

Quinn placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve been through enough tonight.”

“But it’s my responsibility. ” I sucked in a harsh breath. “She’s my responsibility,” I protested.

After exchanging a glance with Quinn, Callum said, “At least let us go with you.”

“Aye, I would appreciate that.”

Grabbing me by the nape of the neck, Callum dragged my forehead to his. “You aren’t alone tonight or any other night, boyo.”

Quinn nodded. “We’re all in this fucked up life together.”

“All for one and one for all, eh?” I mused.

“Always.”

It would only be through the strength of my brothers that I wouldn’t end it all.