Rowan
My eyes are burning from lack of sleep as I’m driving home from a long day at the warehouse. We really need to figure out who the fuck is getting in there and how as soon as possible. We’ve moved all of our product to a new location, and made sure only about ten of us know where it is. That ten includes me and my brothers, we’ll learn quickly who’s telling what. I’m so ready for Saturday, it seems so far away, I’ve found myself missing Clara and Rhett an obsessive amount the past few days. As I pull onto the highway to get home quicker I dial Kellum’s number, it’s been a few days since I’ve heard from him. He answers on the second ring, instantly I can tell he seems distracted.
“Yeah?…”
“Um, I require your full attention when we’re on the phone. I’m a needy fucker like that.” His sigh echoes through every speaker in the car.
“How can I help you, Rowan?”
“Don’t sound so happy to talk to me. So what if, hypothetically, I had a friend who was going on a date with his best friend’s receptionist? What’s the protocol for that?” There’s a long pause, so long I wonder if his service dropped.
“Run that by me one more time because I know you didn’t just say what I think you did.”
“Oh fuck off. I can date. I go on dates.” I don’t know why Icalled him, it’s like calling Kieran. Just can’t help but bust my balls for sport. It’s because they’re both middle children, I’m sure of it. They were forgotten one too many times now they take it out on me.
“Roe, we’ve been friends our entire lives and I’ve never seen you with a girl more than maybe two times max before you trade them out for a new piece of ass. Now you have your sights set on my receptionist? So she can quit when you drop her for new pussy in a week? Dude, she’s the best employee I’ve got.”
Okay now I’m pissed. First off, I’ll take him to the warehouse if he speaks about her like that again. Secondly, the realization that he thinks so little of me that he’s so sure I’d fuck with him like that is wild. All I’ve seen since that day at Kellum’s office is her. It’s crazy and it makes no sense, but it’s her. She’s it. I can feel it deep in my bones.
“I’m going to give you a pass because we’ve been friends for so long, but if you ever talk to me with such blatant disrespect again I WILL pull rank on you Kellum. It would be remiss of you to bite the hand that feeds you. I wasn’t asking your permission to do shit. I was calling to talk to my best friend about a date I’m going on. Never mind, I’ll holler at you later.” He yells out before I can cut the call.
“Whoa, okay, stop. Don’t hang up, fuck. I didn’t realize you were being serious. I’m sorry. Okay, so you’re taking Clara out. You’re obviously taking this more seriously than usual. What’s the problem?” I’m terrible at talking about this stuff. It’s why I was so quick to snap at him, well that and the little fact that I could use at least fourteen hours of uninterrupted sleep.. My hand finds its new home, running through the short strands at the top of my head.
“The problem is that I’m ready to go all in, and she seems really skittish. It could be that she’s a mom, but I don’t know, Kel. I could have Mac really dig into the depths of her past, but that seems so invasive when I actually like her. At the same time, I’m pretty sure someone hurt her. I’m just not sure how bad it was.”
“Yeah, I get what you mean, her head is always on a swivel. At the same time she’ll flip when she inevitably finds out you looked into her. I’d let her tell you when she’s ready. You seem really into her, and I’m glad. You’ve done nothing but work and raise your brothers for close to three years, Roe. You’ve kept the organization running and strong. You have legitimate businesses turning an insane profit. You’ve taken guardianship of the twins, without blinking. Dude, we’re in our twenties and you’re raising teenagers. Let’s not forget how you’re still the father figure for the other three. You have so much on your plate, it’s time you find something or someone to make you happy. Someone who can give you reprieve. How you haven’t broken at this point is beyond me.” I pull into the garage, before making my way to the office in the house.
“I don’t know, I’m just not able to. Hell, I still haven’t been able to grieve for my parents. I went from oldest sibling to “stand in dad” in a blink. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need something just for me.” As I’m sitting at my desk I’m already setting the phone on speaker so I can work and talk at the same time. I can hear Kellum shuffling around. He must be leaving work.
“It can’t hurt. I know we don’t say cheesy shit like this, but I am proud of you, Roe.”
“Thanks, Kel.” The line goes quiet for a minute before Kellum comes back through the line
“Hey, I gotta go. That’s an important account calling in. Let me know how Saturday goes though, okay?”
“Yeah, talk to you later.”
I kill the call as soon as he switches over as I’m pulling up financial reports from some of our clubs. I’m so fucking tired, but you know what they say. No sleep for the wicked.
* * *
Sitting across from me on Friday mid day, Mac sets his laptop on my desk in my office. Dec is leaning on the wall, arms crossed silently, and Nolan is posted up outside the door as usual. “I’m telling you, you need to hear this.” When Mac barged into my office five minutes earlier with Dec on his heels, his hair disheveled and his eyes wide, telling me I needed to hear what he caught on the bug. He started immediately setting his laptop up.
Honestly he would have been more frazzled if they would have walked in ten minutes earlier and caught me with my dick in my hand, literally. I can’t help it, Clara won’t leave my mind, that perfect body, those fuckable lips, and those brown eyes just begging me to take control and give her a break from whatever constantly swirls in her mind. And since I’m not able to touch her yet I’ll make up scenarios in my head and try to hold myself over until she lets me. I’ll have arthritis by next week at this point.
Shifting my focus back to the here and now as I nod and he presses play. Instantly Nikolai’s voice fills the room. “I DON’TCARE! I know, the Irish and the Italians are working together. They lulled us into a false sense of security a few years ago when we let them take out those low-level soldiers. They’re trying to cut off our supply at the head. They want us gone!” I look to both my brothers confused at what the fuck this old man is talking about.
“Wait, keep listening.” Mac murmurs and the audio cuts back in.
A voice I don’t recognize starts in, “I hear you, boss. Really I do. I agree we need to make a move and take one of them out, but we can’t go in half cocked.”
Nikolai huffs, “I know, I know we need a solid plan. We’ll take out the Irish then the Italians. Rowan is young and cocky. He knows he holds the power as our main distributor. We take them out and we control the product. We raise the prices and we bleed the Italians dry.”
“It’ll take time to form a plan, boss.” the mystery voice states.
Nikolai booms, “I don’t give a shit what it takes. Get it done and get it done soon. I’m over this. We finish it as soon as possible.”
The audio stops and we all look between each other with equal expressions of disbelief. Declan speaks first, “What the hell. He’s really lost it. He’s completely lost the plot.”
