Chapter 7 #2
Lorcan let out a chuckle, well accustomed to our ways by now. His brother Killian was just as malicious as we were. We walked into the clubhouse together and I led him to the chapel where Ace, Hawk and Bear were.
“Lorcan,” Ace said, coming over to shake his hand. “Thank you for coming.”
He inclined his head. “I hear you’ve got the Dia coming too.”
Things between the two of them were tight, but they were working things out. I didn’t want this to blow that out again. Being the middle man between two warring mafia families wasn’t fun.
“He is…it involves the both of you,” Ace added. “I thought you two were good?”
“We’re on speaking terms, but we’re far from good, Malone.”
Shit.
I was backing out of the room when Ace called over to me. “Get Viper and come in here. I think Lorcan would like to know what we have planned.”
Double shit.
Moving toward Viper’s room down the hall, I could hear the sounds of him and a woman going at it. Jesus man, it wasn’t past ten in the morning. I couldn’t fault him though. If I could, I’d have Shona underneath me all morning too.
I rapped my knuckles against his door. “Church, man, now.”
His curse was loud and the moaning stopped, which made me smirk as I headed back to chapel. Given how many times he’d interrupted me for church, I felt like it was penance.
Ace and Lorcan were talking, so I sat at the back and waited for Viper. When he got in, he looked at me like he wanted to murder me before he sighed and sat down.
“‘Kayleigh?”
“How the fuck you know that from a moan?” he asked me in a low tone so no one could hear.
“She’s the only one I’ve seen you with lately. How’s that going?”
“Fuck off, you know I’m not a one woman man.”
“Sure,” I chuckled softly. “Have fun figuring that one out.”
The Dublin Dia, Eamon, walked into the chapel then.
He exchanged a firm handshake with Lorcan before he took a seat.
He looked every inch the distinguished mafia don.
Lorcan rarely wore suits, always in a black tee and jeans, whereas Eamon was always dressed to the nines.
It looked so out of place in our clubhouse.
“This should be good, Cooper,” Eamon said.
Ace relayed the information to Eamon and Lorcan, including the plan we had in action. Viper and I were tense. We hated that this was going to bring Shona into the light as Alasdair’s daughter. I was never going to let him harm a fucking hair on her head again.
“Do we know his end goal? Why he’s so hellbent on closing all routes?” Lorcan asked. “It seems as if he’s gearing up to something rather than acting strategically. He has to know what he’s doing is going to start a war.”
“A war between mafia families,” Eamon added. “He’s pitting Dublin against Galway. Stopping the trade routes at the border means he can control shipping. He wants to turn my family against yours, and against rival MC’s when they ask to use our ports.”
Fuck. I hadn’t thought of that. If he closed the border to Belfast, we would turn to the next biggest port which was Dublin. That way we would have to give the Kings more work, and it would make running the port harder. He takes out the alliance with the Kings and we are fucked.
“Maybe the bastard knows what he’s doing after all,” Bear added. “What do we do from here? He thinks we’re going to run drugs for him across O’Farrell territory. We can’t refuse or else he’d have cause to start a war with us.”
“What makes you think he hasn’t already?” Lorcan asked. “He may be toying with you, thinking he could make you look the other way while he plots what he really wants.”
“What is his end goal?” Eamon asked. “Once we know that, we can trace back to what he’s doing and stop him.”
“I agree,” Lorcan added. “You say that he didn’t know where his daughter was all this time, which frankly for someone that controlling I find hard to believe.
What if he knew all this time, and now he knows he can use her against you?
She’s your family, and she is to be protected absolutely, but what if that was the plan to make you choose? ”
“Are you saying she was behind this?” I sat forward.
“Not at all,” Lorcan turned to me. “I believe she is absolutely an innocent party in this, and I’m glad she is not associated with him, but you have shown your hand. He knows she means something to this club, especially to you Savage, and he is going to use that.”
“She’s safe with us,” I told him. “His plan isn’t going to win. We have her little sister being pulled out of the club as we speak.”
“You think he’s not going to retaliate for that?” Eamon asked. “You took both of his children, both of his daughters and when someone like that uses women as an advantage, he’s going to take that as a personal affront.”
“It’s not a club initiative,” Ace added. “Nothing comes back to us. She left of her own free will with her brother, Keefe.”
“You don’t think he’s going to put two and two together?
” Lorcan asked us. “I’m glad she’s out of trouble, believe me.
But Alasdair, as stupid as we wish he was, he isn’t.
He’s been in power for this long for a reason.
He wants to rule all of Ireland, get rid of our families as well as rival MC’s, you have to start thinking about what you’re doing properly.
I’m all in, as are my brothers, but we need to seriously take them out.
We need to know their power players and remove them. ”
“You take down his army, he’s got nothing left,” Eamon agreed. “Do we know anyone who could tell us this?”
“Keefe,” I said. “He’s here in Kilkenny at the moment. Shona wanted to see Darby before she’s put into protection. Brogan is organising it. I can call him to come in, but he’s going to want someone to go and watch her.”
“Rebel is free,” Ace said. “Go brief him, and have Keefe come in.”
I left the chapel and went in search of Rebel. He was down in the gatehouse with the prospects. He jumped to his feet when I rolled up, immediately sensing he was needed.
“I need you to babysit someone for me,” I said.
“Sure.”
“Her name is Darby, she’s Shona’s little sister. Brogan is putting her into protective custody, but the paperwork is slow. Her older brother is currently watching her but we need him here, so I need you to go and watch her while he helps us.”
“Sure man,” he said. “Where at?”
“You remember the old apartment Valkyrie had in town?”
He nodded.
“Head there. I’ll let him know you’re coming.”
Rebel moved over to his bike, always ready to go anywhere, and I pulled my phone out and dialled Keefe.
As I relayed everything we needed, he seemed hesitant but he knew he could trust us.
Once Rebel got there, he would head over here, and we would start discussions.
I didn’t want Shona to know what was going on but I knew when she saw Keefe here, she was going to know.
I headed inside to warn her, but she wasn’t behind the bar.
Kayleigh and one of the other bunnies were tending bar and looking miserable since it was quiet.
“Where’s Shona?” I asked them.
“She’s cleaning out the Nomad lodgings out the back,” Kayleigh told me. “Do you want me to call her?”
“No…ah…this is going to sound bad, but I need her to stay out there for a little bit. Do you think you can distract her enough to keep her out there?”
Kayleigh frowned. I knew she and Shona were close, and she didn’t want to lie. “Uh…is this to keep her safe?”
I nodded, knowing she would involve herself and get hurt, so nodding didn’t feel like I was lying.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll make sure she steers clear of here for a while. You okay with me getting her drunk and partying while we do it? This place is a bore today.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I said. “Just make sure she doesn’t see anyone in our chapel.”
Giddily, Kayleigh grabbed a bottle of vodka and headed out the back to go down to the Nomad lodging house. Jesus Christ. I was going to be holding her hair back all night by the looks of it.
“There’s going to be someone coming here asking for me. Show him into the chapel, yeah?”
The bunny nodded her head. I really needed to remember names. I felt bad asking her for help and not knowing her fucking name. Not that half the bunnies used their real names anymore anyway. Most of them were running from something, and we were their safe haven. Case in point, Shona.
I headed back into church and sat down. “He’s on his way.”
Keefe showed himself at the door to church just twenty minutes later. He caught my eyes and nodded at me in greeting.
“I’m Keefe,” he said. “I hear you need to talk to me.”
“Take a seat, Keefe,” Ace said. He sat next to Lorcan and looked at me, a little unsure of being in another club’s chapel. “We know you have a loyalty to your own club, but you must know that they can’t carry on this way.”
“I have no loyalty to them,” he said easily. “I had a loyalty to keeping my sisters safe. If I stayed there, I could protect Darby and I could keep my ear to the ground for Shona. You want to take the Destructive Sons down? I’m all in.”
Everyone sat up then. This was our way to win. This was how we were going to take the sons of bitches down.
“Tell us about the hierarchy. Who do we need to take down to weaken him?”