Chapter Six
DUBLIN, IRELAND
While I had already planned on coming back home to spend the summer in Ireland, the speed at which my grandfather made those arrangements was no coincidence.
I also had a pretty good what his infamous “we need to discuss something” would entail.
At least I hadn’t had to come back here alone.
Princeton was right beside me in first class.
My cousin had no idea what I’d been caught doing, although I suspected it was nothing worse than anything he might get himself caught up in.
He also had no idea why our finals were cut short, and judging by the way he had simply put his ear buds in and covered his head with the hood of his school sweatshirt, I doubted that he cared.
Dread filled me on the flight from Newark to Ireland, and when the plane finally touched down in Dublin, there was a nagging sensation I couldn’t shake.
Call it intuition if you must, but I would never regret being there with my Anamchara.
And Reagan was my soulmate. I’d never connected with someone the way I had with her, and I never would either.
We’d talked about our futures, and one which included the other, so whatever my grandfather had to say wouldn’t change a thing between Reagan and me.
Still, my steps grew heavier after my cousin and I collected our bags and headed out to the transportation area.
It didn’t take long to find our grandfather’s right-hand man, Oscar, in a black Audi RS Q8 SUV.
The Branningtons owned several of them, and I usually took one of those out for drives through the country.
“Hey, Oscar,” Princeton said in greeting to him.
“Princeton,” he replied, then looked over at me. “Cillian. I trust the flight was good for you both.”
“Eh,” Princeton said before he placed his palm in front of his mouth to stifle his yawn.
Just like at school, he would party all night then try to sleep all day.
Hell, we all did, except my parties had changed from his.
While Princeton was out with the others getting drunk and acting a fool, I would spend all my time with Reagan, usually doing something that involved my cock deep inside of her.
I let out a sigh at the thought of not seeing her all summer.
“That bad?” Oscar asked me as he took my two bags.
“It’s nothing like that. I’m just tired as well.”
“You’ll both be home shortly,” was all he said as he finished stuffing our bags into the trunk. We all got in the SUV, and as Oscar made his way to our family estate, I looked over at Princeton. He smirked at me, and I arched a brow.
“Is what I just heard true?” he mouthed to me.
“What did you hear?” I mouthed back.
Grinning, he handed over his cell phone, and I saw the message which stated I’d been caught with the headmistress’s daughter. I hated that she would be subjected to those rumors, especially because they were certainly not unfounded. The worst kind of gossip was that which was true.
“Whatever,” I muttered.
Princeton chuckled before texting our friend back.
He would look at me from time to time as he did, and I could tell by his shit-eating grin that they were still talking about me.
With Reagan’s and my relationship out in the open, it would be interesting to see how next year went.
With it being my senior one, I hoped to stay in the States and attend college.
Reagan could join me, and we’d eventually make all of our future dreams come true.
As long as she was with me, the only one of mine that mattered would be recognized.
The vehicle came to a stop, and after Oscar input the code into the keypad, the gate opened and he quickly drove toward the house.
My grandfather had always secured this place like it was Fort Knox, but as I had gotten older, I could somewhat understand his paranoia.
After all, Princeton, Kingston, and I were all old enough to know what he did and not na?ve enough to not understand we would carry on the family business one day ourselves.
Princeton got out of the car before it was fully in park.
He didn’t even wait to grab his things, which I knew Oscar would now have to bring inside.
Showing a bit more manners than my cousin, I did help the man with all of the bags.
It was partly due to upbringing, but a much larger part was dread.
I had nothing to feel guilty about, or even ashamed, but I suspected I would be made to feel them anyway.
“Your grandfather would like to see you right away,” another of his men said to me as soon as I stepped into the foyer.
Knowing I wouldn’t even have time to bring my things to my room, I left the bags there and followed Cian down the hallway to my grandfather’s study. Three brief knocks later and I heard his voice. At the word “enter,” I nodded at Cian before slipping inside the office.
“You wanted to see me, Daideó,” I said to him.
Piercing blue eyes stared up at me, then he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit down, garmhac.” I did as he asked, then let out the breath I had been holding inside. “I’m very disappointed in the phone call that I’d received.”
“I can explain,” I said, before realizing there actually wasn’t much I could say.
“Certainly continue,” he said to me as his gaze bored down on me. His expression was unyielding, and I was surprised that his hardened jaw hadn’t fractured yet from the strain.
“It was sex, and I...” My voice trailed off as I tried to explain, but couldn’t quite find the words. Finally, I just shrugged. “As I said, it was just sex.”
“And you won’t see her again when you do return to New York?” he asked me.
I should’ve lied, but I didn’t want to have to keep sneaking around. I loved Reagan, and as bad as our getting caught might be, it was also a relief. “I can’t promise that,” I responded truthfully.
“She’s beneath you, and you won’t see her again. Brannington men do not busy themselves with whores.”
I couldn’t stop the growl that escaped at his words.
I also couldn’t stop myself from jumping up from my seat at the sound of them either.
My grandfather’s disapproval grew more, but I didn’t give a damn.
I’d always been the most well-behaved one.
Kingston normally would try to buck authority, and Princeton gave no fucks.
Not me, though. I had tried my entire life to make the man in front of me proud, but as the seconds ticked on, I no longer desired to do that anymore.
“Reagan is neither a whore, nor unworthy of me.”
“You have a title to live up to, garmhac.”
“Fuck the title, and everything that goes along with it, Daideó.”
In seconds, my grandfather was out of his chair in my face. I stood tall in front of him because one thing that would never change, no matter the scenario, was that a Brannington never cowered to anyone. I never had before, and I wouldn’t insult him, me, or our entire heritage by doing it now.
I continued to stare down the man, and while his salt and pepper hair reflected his age, his still youthful face defied the fact that he was pushing sixty.
Age had not diminished his power any as I quickly found out when he struck me violently across the face with his ringed hand.
Besides the sting of the blow, I now had the coppery taste of my blood on my lip.
I stood there determined to endure his ire, especially because I knew I would never concede to his ridiculous wishes.
"How could you be so fucking stupid, garmhac?"
Before I could even answer, he pulled me closer as he gripped the top of my shirt.
We were now eye to eye, and the hatred in my grandfather’s gaze was noticeable.
"Are you going to drive what’s left of this fucking family into the ground because you can't keep your puny dick in your pants?
Answer me," he spat out before striking me again.
“You’re making much more out of this than you need to, Daideó. I—”
My words were cut off as a string of curses came from the other man.
No matter how he both threatened and insulted me, I would not cave.
I wasn’t invincible, though. My hands balled into fists at the venomous barbs.
This seemed par for the course growing up here, although it was usually Kingston getting a lashing from him instead. My oldest cousin never cowered either.
No matter what any of us ever did, it never seemed to be enough. “Speak, dammit,” he said before striking me again.
After that blow, I growled loudly, but the sound didn’t faze my grandfather at all. Warm blood now dripped down my cheek and off my lip, but I wouldn't wipe it away because it would only give him a reason to hit me again.
Since childhood, I'd been hardened to steel, the beatings done to build strength according to this man. He'd always viewed us as weak, but I wasn’t. Having done his bidding my entire life, I was now thinking about my own.
Maybe I had developed a stronger backbone, or the very idea of never being with Reagan again fortified something within me.
Nothing had ever been enough. Throughout my earlier teen years, I’d been abused by more than just this man currently sneering at me.
At his orders over the years, I'd been tortured by the very men who would one day have to answer to me.
As long as Ronan Brannington was alive and well, however, they did whatever was asked of them or face death.
The hell inflicted on every Brannington heir had shaped us into the men we were becoming. Unwilling to comply as I normally did, I shocked both my grandfather and me as I brought my hands to his throat and forced him against his desk.
“Fuck you!”
My grandfather’s smirk, even in the hands of what could be his death, infuriated me.
I had every intention of squeezing tighter, but I remembered that he was my elder.
Beyond that, he was family. It was only after I loosened my grip, my grandfather struck me again.
This time, he did so with enough force to send me staggering backward.
After I regained my equilibrium, I looked up to find my grandfather pointing a gun at me. "I’m sure it made you feel like a man to defy me, but you’re about to see why that was a mistake. Possibly even a bigger one than getting caught with that whore. You’re never to see her again or else—”
“I’ll see whoever I want to see,” I told him before adding, “I’m about to be an adult.”
“And what are you going to do with your adult life? Saddle yourself to a piece of ass, then get your weak ass killed when our enemies try to use you to get to me.”
“I’m sure you have men everywhere,” I started to say.
“And not a single one will ever respect you. No matter how much power you delude yourself into believing you exude, they only see you as the weak boy you are. The weak one you will always be. The weak one I still see.”
“I’m. Not. Weak,” I ground out between gritted teeth.
“Thank fuck I still have Kingston and Princeton, because upon my death, you’ll have the entire empire run into the ground.
You’ll never be half the man I am because you allow your emotions to make decisions for you.
Everything I've done in my life has been precise and intended, which includes siring your father. I see his mistake now was being too weak to tell your mother to abort you when she had the chance.”
“If you want me gone, consider it done. I’ll leave this damn house right now.”
He chuckled, then fingered the trigger on the gun he still had pointed at me. Psychological warfare was the name of the game, but he would never break me mentally. He could break my bones, but never my spirit.
“Are you going to pull the trigger or not?” When he said nothing else, I shook my head. “Of course, you won’t. You’re not as strong as you think you are, Daideó.”
“And you’re not as smart as you think you are, garmhac.”
Before I could ask what he meant, he tapped the butt of the gun against the heavy oak top of the desk, and the door quickly opened behind me. Two of his men stepped in, and at my grandfather’s nod, they grabbed me.
“Bring him to the hole.”
I tried to shake off the grip these men had on me until I saw my grandfather’s smirk had returned. Determined to withstand whatever punishment he wanted to dole out, I squared my shoulders as I was led from the study and out onto the estate.