Cormac
Story time for tonight was over. The grandchildren had been checked on by their parents.
They were sleeping soundly in their beds.
Our children and other family members were now gathered around the large dining table, playing a board game.
It was more bloodthirsty than most families’ play was, I had no doubt. We were all so competitive.
I sat watching with my Cyndi wrapped in my arms. I nuzzled her neck and placed a kiss there. She gave me a sexy smile that still aroused my body. If she hadn’t whispered later in my ear, I would’ve dragged her off to our room hours ago.
The reminiscing had my mind going back to the past. It was further on from our weddings and after the family began its transition into the entity it is today. The compound had been built except for the future homes of each of our fifteen children.
After the legitimizing began, we men sat our wives down and explained that we felt a need for a branch of the family or its soldiers to take care of the dark side of life. We knew there would always be someone out there wanting not only to harm us and those we cared for but also others.
The ugliness in the world wouldn’t stop occurring simply because the O’Sheerans were no longer criminals.
And we liked the idea of helping others, even strangers, to right wrongs and remove the monsters.
Not everyone had someone to call upon when the law was unable to address threats.
Or the punishment the legal system could dish out wasn’t sufficient.
After a lot of back-and-forth, which included close confidants weighing in, we landed on the solution.
The Cúnna Ceartais, Hounds of Justice, an arm of the O’Sheeran family, was born.
It had a central theme. They were meant to serve as a shield for the innocent against the true evil in the world.
And one didn’t have to be known to the family to request help.
It took time and a lot of work to set up the team and establish a way to contact them without revealing the Hounds’ identities.
At first, it consisted of a few soldiers, bodyguards, and the family’s captain.
And the lead hound was Ranald, Alistair’s father.
Patrick and the rest of us trusted him to run it the way we wanted.
Conall, Patrick, Sean, and I stayed involved, just as our sons were today, but they couldn’t be there for everything.
God, what an intense life we’ve led. It had so many happy moments, along with the terrible. We’d weathered them all. If we’d loved each other less, had weaker family ties, or hadn’t had some great friends, we would’ve never made it.
Lying my chin down on Cyndi’s shoulder, I watched Siobhan crowing about her win and rubbing it in the face of Roc, Gianna’s youngest brother.
The two of them seemed to rub each other the wrong way.
Sparks flew almost every time they were in a room together.
I chuckled and let the joy of tonight soak into my bones.