ChapterOne
Paddy
Ilook over the plan again.I don’t like it.It bothers me that my cousin Jordon is putting a target square on his back, but we don’t have another option.He wants to do this, and we need to find out who’s behind the plot.
After Johnny, Jordon’s older brother, kidnapped a Bratva spouse, he admitted he had not acted alone.He had someone helping him.Someone on the inside.And apparently several of the families have people who are eager to start a war.
The only reason I can figure Johnny wanted to ignite a feud is ambition.He wanted to climb the ranks, and I didn’t give him much of a chance.He needed to prove himself, to show me he could handle responsibility instead of pawning it off.
But what bothers me most is the thought that someone in my organization is pulling the strings behind all of this.
My father worked hard to broker peace after my mother was killed.As a result, families are not to be touched anymore.I don’t want another war.Too many innocent lives have been lost over the generations.I have a little sister to protect.I’ve been responsible for this family since I was nearly twenty, when my father was murdered.The weight of this clan and everyone in it has been mine to bear ever since.
Now I learn others are trying to push us back into war.The Triad has always hovered on the edge of starting something, eager to take more territory from the rest of us.But together, the Bratva, the Italians, and my Irish clan have held them at bay.Las Vegas is big enough for all of us.We shouldn’t fight over it, but as history has proven, there are those who aren’t satisfied unless they have the whole pie.
My underboss is Jordon and Johnny’s older brother, JJ.He’s been my best friend since diapers.We grew up in this clan, fighting and making money.JJ is as shocked as I am that someone, or several people, in our clan and in the other families want war again.My gut tells me it’s all a play to get rid of us heads.
JJ doesn’t want to lose another brother.He would have killed Johnny himself if a sniper hadn’t gotten to him first.The Bratva underboss, or “Two Spies,” as they call him, whose wife was beaten to an inch of her life, was well within his rights to protect what’s his.She also happens to be JJ’s half sister, and therefore Johnny’s as well.She’s safe now with her husband, but she was drawn into this pending war because their father, Jimmy, demanded that she and her twin sister hack into all the families and stir up trouble.That was the first inkling that someone was trying to start a war.
I drag my hand through my long dark hair.It’s almost too much to comprehend.I lead with an iron fist.Whoever is behind this must know I will kill them when I find out who they are.I can’t allow, and have never allowed, anyone to doubt or question my judgement or my rule.
“Paddy,” my sister’s singsong voice echoes through the room as she bounds in.
At nineteen, I was leading the family, and now, at the age I was then, she’s in college and has no cares about the family business or the Vegas underground.That’s the way it should be.Between JJ, his mom, myaintínMorrigan, and me, we raised this beauty.Where my hair is so dark it’s almost black, hers is a rich auburn brown.She’s the spitting image of our mother, the woman she hardly remembers because she was killed when Roisin was just two.Then our father was murdered when she was five.
“Yes, Ro.”She makes me smile, and for a moment I push the family’s problems behind me.
“Aintínmamaígot our tickets for the ballet.You have plans in a couple of weeks.”That’s her Irish name for our aunt, meaning aunt mom, a title Aunt Morrigan loves and cherishes.
Chuckling, I shake my head.Every year JJ and I take her and his mom to the Nutcracker Ballet.We haven’t missed a year yet.
“Ro, settle down.AintínMorrigan already told me the date you want to go.I’ve got us a private box near the stage on opening night.”
“Well then, thank you.I’m also coming to ask if we can go to Yelena’s for dinner that night.You haven’t taken me before, and I really want to go.I’ve heard it’s an amazing restaurant.”
Taking a deep breath, I exhale through my nose before answering.I don’t want to hurt her feelings.“You know that restaurant isn’t a place I go to.”
“ButAintínmamaíhas gone and told me all about the food.”
Morrigan always wanted daughters and instead was given three boys.Years ago, she wanted to adopt her husband’s twin illegitimate daughters, but he refused.She promptly moved in here with my father and out of their family home, never forgiving him.Now that Jimmy is gone, she has taken those two girls under her wing.They are grown women now, of course.
Yelena’s is a Bratva-owned restaurant.Their cardroom sits in the back, and thePakhan’soffices are upstairs.We have an alliance with them now because of the twins.They were the first organization we talked to about the conspiracy.With JJ’s half sisters married to men in the Bratva, they are practically family.Andrei, thePakhan,says they’re watching their own ranks for any sign of betrayal too.
“I’ll call and see if they have availability.”
The little twerp knows I’d give her anything within reason.I’ll reach out to Andrei later, see how he reacts to the Irish coming for dinner.
“Woohoo,” she squeals, and I swear my eardrums burst.She rushes around the large desk and launches herself at me.I catch her and hug her tight.“Thank you, thank you.You’re the best big brother in the whole wide world.”
“Hey, what about me?”JJ’s deep voice rumbles from the entrance.
I set Ro down, and she skips over to jump into his arms.The man is huge, six foot four and all muscle.Most people would mistake him for an enforcer, but he’s my underboss.His brother, walking in behind him, is who I’m thinking of promoting to enforcer.
Jordon is six-two, not as bulky as JJ, but the silent and deadly type.He’s highly trained in multiple styles of hand-to-hand combat and proficient with guns and knives.He’s even studied methods of torture that make most men cringe.That’s why Johnny knew he had to attack Jordon instead of letting him go.
When Jordon questioned Johnny about why he was attacking their sister, Johnny hit him with a tire iron, breaking his arm.He knew if Jordon got too close, he’d disarm him and put a stop to the attack.Johnny’s plan was to kill Ainsley to start the war, thinking she could inherit what was due to him.Little did Johnny know, there was nothing to inherit.
Based on everything, Jordon deserves to be my enforcer.It’s not because he’s family, but because he uncovered the plot and has been handling the investigation quietly in the background.He’s also completely dedicated to me and the clan.Today we’re finalizing everything before meeting with the Bratva later.After that, we’ll meet with all my lieutenants and my uncle, orUncail, as he prefers us to call him.He believes we need to show more of our Irish heritage by speaking our native language.My parents were both born here in the United States.They spoke English and only used Irish when talking among family.
