Chapter Thirty-Five Tristan
Ineeded answers from Kieran.
The sun was already high, its light seeping around the edges of the blinds when I stepped into Kieran”s apartment, my hand clutching a paper bag from McDonald”s. I nudged a discarded shoe out of the way with my foot, making my way to where he lay sprawled on the couch.
”Hey,” I said, a bit louder than necessary. ”Wake up.”
Kieran groaned, one arm flung over his eyes as if to block out the morning and everything it brought with it. I set the water and Aleve on the coffee table. He reached for the pills before even opening his eyes, a practiced motion of someone too familiar with hangovers.
”Got you breakfast.” I pushed the greasy bag toward him, the smell of hash browns cutting through the stale air.
His eyes blinked open, squinting against the light. ”I”m not hungry.”
”Too bad,” I muttered, watching him struggle into a sitting position. ”You need to eat. And we need to talk.”
”About what?” He took a cautious sip of water, his gaze flickering to mine.
”Last night,” I began, my words clipped as I paced the room, feeling the weight of my authority like a second skin. ”About why I was looking for you. Why were you so drunk at the Irish Rover?”
”Doesn”t matter,” he mumbled, finally unwrapping the sandwich with less enthusiasm than a man walking to the gallows.
”Like hell it doesn”t.” I stopped in front of him, anger simmering just below the surface. ”You”ve been meeting with Silvio. Secret meetings. Why?”
He paused, burger halfway to his mouth, and for a moment, I saw something flash in his eyes—a mix of defiance and something else I couldn”t quite place. Fear? Guilt?
”Kieran,” I pressed, needing answers more than I needed air. ”Talk to me. What”s going on?”
He sighed, setting the food back down, uneaten. ”It”s complicated, Tristan.”
”Uncomplicate it,” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.
Kieran looked up at me, and there was a rawness to him that I rarely saw. He always held himself apart, shrouded in secrets and silence. But now, his guard was down, if only for a moment.
”Tristan,” he finally said, his voice carrying an edge of desperation that made me listen despite myself. ”You have to understand—I did it for us. For the family.”
“You did what for us?” I asked, cautiously.
“All of it,” he said, shaking his head and then grabbing it. “Fuck.”
”By going behind my back?” My frustration mounted with each word. ”By getting involved in whatever mess you”ve dragged us into?”
”Trust me,” he said.
“I can’t,” I said. “Not after you’ve been this sketchy. Convince me.”
Kieran nodded slowly, his eyes meeting mine with a resolve that told me he was ready to bring everything into the light. Whatever came next, I braced myself, knowing our lives were about to shift beneath our feet once more.
”Alright, here it is,” Kieran began, his voice steady but his hands betraying him as they fidgeted with the silverware on the table. ”I”ve been in contact with Bellamy.”
Bellamy Callahan. Our estranged uncle”s name hit me like a sucker punch. ”Bellamy?” I repeated, disbelief painting my tone. ”Why go to him? He”s been out of the game for years. I mean, he lives in Dublin…”
I trailed off. Kieran fidgeted with the wrapped of the hash browns.
”Because,” Kieran said, pausing as if weighing each word before letting it escape, ”he knows things about our past that have been buried. Things that could change everything.”
”Like what?” My curiosity piqued, but the undercurrent of dread was quick to follow.
”About Dad. About your dad. About how he might be…anyway, it doesn’t matter right now.” His eyes didn”t waver from mine, and something about the way he said ”your dad” sent a cold lance through my chest. ”Our conversations...they made me question if Malachy really is your biological father.”
The room spun for a second, and I had to grip the back of a chair to keep myself steady. ”You”re telling me that our uncle, who hasn”t been around for over a decade, has suddenly decided to drop a bombshell about my paternity? And you’ve been keeping it hidden from me?”
“No,” Kieran said. “I planted the box when I installed the security system. I figured you’d figure it out.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. And you couldn’t just tell me?”
”Tristan, I—” Kieran started, but I held up a hand to stop him.
”No,” I said firmly, my head shaking as I tried to reject the very notion. ”Malachy raised me. He”s my father. Blood doesn”t change that.”
”Blood might not,” Kieran admitted softly, ”but truth can. And we both know how much truths can cost in our line of work.”
”Damn it, Kieran!” I exploded, slamming my fist against the table, making the paper fast food containers rattle. ”Why stir up old ghosts? Why now?”
”Because,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper, ”sometimes the past refuses to stay dead. And sometimes...we need to face it head-on to survive what”s coming.”
”Survive what?” My voice was a snarl, a lifetime of loyalty to the Callahan name writhing inside me like a cornered animal. ”What”s coming, Kieran?”
He looked at me, his usual composure fraying at the edges. ”The chaos, Tristan. The city”s a powder keg, and our family”s right in the middle of it. You needed to know—who you are, where you come from—before everything comes crashing down.”
”Are you saying this mess with the other gangs...Bellamy coming from Dublin to Boston...is all because of me?” I couldn”t keep the incredulity from my tone. The idea was ludicrous, offensive even.
“No, it’s obviously because of Dad,” Kieran said.
“But it has to do with me.”
“Yeah,” he said. ”It”s not because of you, but it concerns you more than anyone else. And I didn”t realize talking to Bellamy would set off this chain reaction.”
”Great,” I said sarcastically, ”just great. So now we”ve got an Irish mobster on our doorstep because you had a chit-chat?”
Kieran didn”t answer immediately, his gaze dropping to the floor before meeting mine again. ”I didn”t think—he wasn”t supposed to come here. But when he heard about Dad dying, well…And then there were the rumors…”
”Rumors that you confirmed for him?” My heart pounded against my ribcage, fury and something much worse—fear—laced every word.
”Tristan,” Kieran”s voice was strained, carrying a weight I”d rarely heard before. ”I wanted to protect you. To give you a chance to be prepared. To fight for your place, if it comes to that. You needed to hear it from me first. From family.”
“But I didn’t hear it from you!” I said. “You literally buried a box at my mum’s cabin and expected me to figure it out without your help!”
“I just thought that might be easier,” Kieran said.
“It wasn’t. It’s fucked up.”
”Tristan, please.” Kieran”s voice cracked like thin ice underfoot. ”I know I”ve made mistakes, but believe me when I say I did it for us—for the family.”
”Us?” My hands unclenched only to rake through my hair in exasperation. ”Kieran, your secrets have a way of turning our world upside down. How is that protecting us?”
Because knowledge is power!” He shot back, his own frustration mirroring mine. But there was something else there—in the set of his shoulders, the tension around his eyes. Fear.
”Power,” I scoffed, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. I was tired of power and the games that came with it. And yet, it wasn”t something I could simply walk away from—not without consequences, not without abandoning everything we stood for as Callahans.
”Look at me, Tristan.” Kieran stepped closer, and I felt my resolve waver. His presence had always been quiet but undeniable. Now, it was tinged with desperation. ”This isn”t about power for the sake of power. It”s about survival. Our legacy. I didn”t do this to hurt you; I did it because I couldn”t stand by and watch you lose everything you”re meant to have.”
Meant to have...” I echoed, letting out a breath I hadn”t realized I was holding. Was there anything left that was meant for me, or had all of it been just illusions cast by others” expectations?
”Tristan,” Kieran continued, his tone softer now, ”I”m in this with you. All the way. Whatever comes, whatever threats we face—Bellamy, the other gangs...we face them together.”
“No, we fucking don’t. Not if you’re keeping things from me.”
I leaned back against the cool leather of Kieran”s couch, trying to make sense of the chaos that had been unleashed on our city. His apartment, normally a sanctuary of calm in the heart of the storm, felt different today—like the outside turmoil had crept into these walls.
“I know you’re angry–”
“I’m trying really hard not to beat the shit out of you right now, actually,” I said.
“Yeah, I know,” Kieran said. ”This shit happening out there, it”s got everyone on edge. Bellamy”s move from Dublin...I didn”t see it coming.”
”Didn”t see it coming or didn”t want to?” I countered, my gaze fixed on him. Kieran had always been the master of hidden agendas, but this was something else.
”Fuck, you think I wanted any of this?” Kieran stood up and began pacing the room, his steps silent on the thick carpet. ”When I spoke to Bellamy, it was just to inform him about Malachy. The old man’s dead, and I thought he should know.”
”Dead,” I repeated, the word still foreign on my tongue. Our father, Malachy Callahan, had cast a shadow long and dark over our lives. It had only been a few months and it already felt like it had been forever.
Now, with him gone, we were left to navigate the darkness without a guide.
”Dead,” Kieran confirmed. ”And when I told Bellamy, do you know what he said?” He stopped pacing and looked at me, his eyes hard as flint. ””Finally? Good.” That”s what he said.”
”That”s fucked up,” I muttered, feeling anger coil in my stomach—not just at Bellamy”s words, but at the entire situation we”d found ourselves in.
”Isn”t it just?” Kieran”s mouth twisted into a grim smile. ”Makes you wonder if the bastard ever cared for anything beyond power.”
”Doesn”t matter now.” I stood up, squaring my shoulders. ”What matters is keeping this city from tearing itself apart. If Bellamy thinks he can waltz in here and take over, he”s got another thing coming.”
Kieran nodded, a flicker of the old fire returning to his eyes. ”We”ll handle it, Tristan. You and me.”
I looked at him for a second.
I didn’t think we would be able to handle things together.
And right then, I just needed to figure out if I was going to kill him.