Page 97 of Honorable Sins

None of the men who complained considered that mercy.

Kara’s eyes harden.

"If even one of those boys had succeeded in what they attempted, my son would have killed every last one of them." She looks across the room, forcing the men to meet her eyes before she moves on. "And I wouldn’t have punished him for it."

Pride moves through me with the familiar violence of possession.

My wife.

My partner.

The mother of the boy who will one day rule every man in this room.

I stand and take my place beside her.

"Kenneth is right. I was made at eleven years old. My son could just as easily have been made at twelve." I'm glad he wasn't.

Fitz is like me, but he is not me. I don't want his soul twisted. I didn't have one, not until she promised to be my wife in front of most of the men seated here today.

"Fitz will lead this mob one day, and he will do so with ruthless strength." The matter of blood is finished.

Fitz carries the Shaughnessy name. Brogan’s blood runs through him. More important, he has the intelligence, judgment and will to hold what is ours when the time comes.

Kara’s hand brushes mine.

Only once.

Enough.

Brogan stands for the final time and calls Kenneth’s name.

He lists every charge.

Betrayal. Conspiracy against the organization. Trafficking women and children. Attempting to sell a child under our protection. Unsanctioned murder. Conspiring with federal law enforcement. Conspiring to murder his Boss.

Then Brogan sentences his cousin to death.

His gaze meets Wraith’s. "He’s all yours."

Wraith crosses the stage.

I remain beside Kara while Kenneth begins to beg.

His promises and threats overlap until none of the words carry meaning.

Wraith draws his skean.

I gave him that blade when he entered the brotherhood. His name and the year of his induction are engraved beneath the Claddagh.

He pulls a pair of forceps from his pocket and tells the soldiers to hold Kenneth’s head.

Kara does not look away.

Neither do I.

Wraith cuts out Kenneth’s tongue because he used it against Áine and their daughters. Then he drives the skean through Kenneth’s heart because betrayal is why he dies.

The body strikes the stage when the soldiers release it.