Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
JASON
I walk down to the arena with my brothers. All of us are in clean suits and looking as deadly as ever. Each furious that someone decided to attack us at our own stag party. I can guarantee more than one of those fuckers downstairs will leave in a bag tonight.
Layton is standing outside the staff entrance door as we exit. Now all the lights are up in the bar, we can see the extent of the destruction left from the fight. There are broken chairs, tables, pools of blood and broken glass. On the bar is a collection of weapons ranging from handguns to various knives and even a couple of bats. These guys came with the intention of causing as much damage as possible and nearly succeeded.
“How many were injured?” Christian asks Layton as he falls into step beside us.
“Twelve guests injured, eighteen of the intruders as well as two dead. I think the most serious injured on our side was Terry.” Layton glances behind us, looking for his mentor.
“I want someone to take him to the hospital. He needs X-rays. Our doctor has already been informed and will meet him there,” Christian says, placing a hand on Layton’s shoulder. “That means you are in charge until he can return to work.”
Layton nods, and I can see the cogs already turning in his head as he tries to implement a plan.
“Okay, I will send Mykela up now to go with him. As for everyone else, they are downstairs. No one has managed to leave, and those who tried got an earful from McIntire, who is furious on your behalf.”
“That still doesn’t sit well with me,” Maximus mutters behind us.
“Alisdair and I have an agreement. We do not get involved in each other's business and focus on the things that are important, like the Youngs and keeping the peace,” Christian answers, not looking at our brother. It’s an argument they have had several times, and I understand both sides, so don’t get involved.
“I take it the uninvited guests are in the ring?” I ask, trying to prevent any further discussion on the subject.
“Yes, ten out of eighteen. The other eight will not be talking any time soon. Some have broken jaws; others are still unconscious or in too much pain to do anything other than whine.”
I know I should be sorry, but I’m not. Don’t come into my place of business and attack my family.
“Any issues at the house?” Sean asks. We’d asked Layton to check on things there and let us know if there were any problems.
“Nothing at all. Calvin sent two extra bodies over to help keep watch from outside for any intruders. So far, there’s been nothing, and the girls are none the wiser.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and watches the screen for a moment. “Danielle and Abbi have just left. Verity left a few hours ago, so she was already home before everything kicked off.”
Even though we knew he would never prioritise anyone’s safety over Jasmine's, including ours, we were still on edge about what could be happening at home.
“Seems I owe Calvin thanks for something else tonight,” I point out as Sean smirks at me.
“Too right you do. I thought I was done saving your ass!”
I turn to see my old security walk into view with Logan beside him. Smirking, I approach him and pull him into a hug.
“But you do it so well,” I laugh, stepping back. “But seriously, thanks, brother.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” he smirks back. “I was too scared to face Jaz if anything happened to you.”
“Is everyone really that scared of our fiancée?” Christian asks, smiling.
“Hell yeah! She scares the hell out of everyone who works for you!” Calvin laughs, winking at me.
“That’s my Shorty,” Maximus says proudly before glancing at the door to the entrance of the arena as we approach it. “You guys ready for this?” he asks, looking at the three of us. We all share a look and nod, taking our positions outside of the double doors. Christian and I are at the front, with the twins behind us. The way it's always been. Christian and I share a look and nod at each other once, signalling we are ready. In unison, we face the doors again and throw them open before storming into the arena, the four of us as a team.
The whole arena descends into silence. Other than the sound of our shoes clicking as we walk over the hard-tiled floor, you could hear a pin drop.
None of us say anything or look anywhere other than the ring. In the centre, there are ten people, as Layton said. Their hands are still tied behind their backs, kneeling on the hard, cold ring floor. Five armed guards stand behind them, as well as one in each corner of the ring. No one had a chance of escaping.
We approach the ring, and I hold the ropes open for Christian to enter, followed by the twins. As soon as we are in position, Christian looks at each of the arseholes in front of us before facing the crowd outside of the ring.
“We wish to apologise for how the evening turned out. As you can imagine, it was not how we planned tonight ending.” He turns his attention to the guys in front of us. “We will be dealing with each of you in a moment,” Christian warns before returning to our friends.
“You will, or your pal McIntire?”
I turn to see a blonde guy who must be in his forties looking at Christian with a smirk on his face.
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles, I assure you.” He turns back to the crowd around us. “I want to reassure everyone that there are not going to be any repercussions for those who are victims of tonight's attack. I would appreciate any information you may have, whether you recognise any of the people up here or heard anything during the attack. If you could inform a member of our security on the way out, I would appreciate it.” Christian continues to stand tall, and you can see the power radiating from him. This is the man Tommy moulded him into—a force to be reckoned with and one who will kill in a heartbeat.
“As I’m sure I don’t need to remind you all, but I will, to ensure there are no mishaps, please do not repeat anything that happened here tonight. I’m sure you all respect the level of discretion needed after such an incident.” Christian turns to face the security when the bastard who mouthed off a second ago laughs.
“Something funny, arsewipe?” Maximus demands, stepping forward.
“Yeah, your joke of a family. So much for the big scary O’Reillys; you are nothing but wannabes like your father was. I bet he’s real proud.”
Before I have the chance to grab him, Maximus punches the bastard so hard that he falls to the side, knocking into the guy beside him. Sean and I both grab Maximus to stop him from beating a tied-up man.
As we pull him away from the arsehole, Christian approaches.
“Untie him,” Christian demands in a calm voice that causes every warning bell in my head to ring.
“Keep it together. Can you do that?” I warn Maximus before letting him go. He looks to the guy now standing smugly before Christian whilst rubbing his wrists, red from the cable ties. Christian is staring at him; every single muscle in his face and body is primed and ready.
“Who are you?” Christian asks.
“The guy who’s going to knock you off the pedestal, your daddy dearest, put you on.” The guy looks Christian up and down, still grinning. “You might have had it a few years back, but let’s face it. If you can’t even pleasure that pretty little thing on your own and need your brothers’ help, you are probably as washed up as you look these days.”
I feel Maximus and Sean both react to the guy mentioning Jasmine behind me but put out both arms to stop them from charging forward. From the look on Christian's face, I can see that he plans to make an example of this guy.
“How does it feel, knowing that your girl has to go from you to your brothers just to get off?”
Christian smirks.
“I remember you. Your ex-wife is Maya Robinson. Why don’t you ask her if I need any help in the bedroom department? She covered my sheets in blood when I took her virginity ten years ago and loved it so much she kept coming back for more. The last time, she begged me to remind her how a real man fucks, saying she was finally leaving you. When was that five years ago?”
“She left me four years ago,” he growls back. Christian looks shocked.
“Well, it looks like one of us has their dates wrong because I’ve been loyal to my fiancée for four years, and I met her a year after I spent a full weekend in Maya's bed, making her scream over and over again. Oh wait, she said you were in Spain on a stag do?”
The guy roars as he launches himself at Christian, but he is prepared for it. In the blink of an eye, the guy is pinned to the ropes, Christian holding him in a sleeper hold.
“If I was my father's puppet, it was because I’m fucking good at what I do. I can make you wish you had never been born. Or I can make sure your body is never found.” He releases the prick, who turns to face Christian with a look of murder.
“You better kill me because otherwise, I’m going to enjoy knocking all four of you out, tying you up, then fucking your little slut in every hole whilst all you can do is watch helplessly as she screams.” He leans in closer as he grins. “You might have made my whore of an ex-wife bleed, but I bet it was nothing like the way your slut bled on Hudson’s hand. I was there that night, and her screams of pain as he taught her a lesson was so sweet. I’ve always loved the way she cries out with pain. I still think about it when I jack off at night.”
This time, there is no holding back the twins. They roar as they charge towards Christian and the guy, but by the time they get there, Christian has released his inner beast, and the arsehole doesn’t stand a chance. I watch as he swings punch after punch. Nothing is holding him back as he destroys the prick. For all the talk of what he wanted to do to us, he’s not getting a chance to fight back.
With every punch Christian lands, the sound of bone and cartilage being destroyed fills the air around us. The blood is spraying everywhere and covering the other attackers and even some of the guests. He won't know that because when Christian finally stops and steps back from the body lying in a growing pool of blood, I look at his face, and it's hard to believe he was once a man. He is unrecognisable. I can hear the guy choking on his own blood and know he will be dead in moments.
“See this!” Christian roars. “This is what will happen to anyone who thinks they can try and attack any member of our family. O’Reillys are not weak! We have not forgotten who we are! And we will kill to protect our future wife and each other!” He looks at the guys still tied up before returning to our guests. “Remember that before you leave here today! Tommy O’Reilly may have hidden behind us, but we hide behind no one! No O’Reilly will ever back down to idol threats, and we do not let those who attack our family live!”