Page 87 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“Go back!” he shouted. “Now!”

“Da–”

“Maddox!” He threw a gun up the stairs, and it landed at my feet. “Go! Hide your siblings! Now, Maddox!”

I turned and stumbled down the hall. I reached the bedroom and shook Connor awake. He blinked up at me.

“Get Roisin. Hide! Now. We’re being attacked.”

The fear in his eyes sent a shot of courage through me. I was the eldest. I had to be brave. I pushed him to get him moving. Ignoring the pain in my stomach, I picked up Riley as Connor grabbed Roisin.

I shoved them into the ensuite and locked us in. I made them all get into the bath as I stood in front of the door, gun raised. Someone started banging on it, the noise making my sisters scream each time. A man broke the lock and shoved the door open. He looked like a giant with a knife in his hand. He smirked at me, taking a step towards us. I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in the chest. He stopped. I held his gaze. I didn’t hesitate. I fired three more bullets into his body until he dropped to the floor. It wasn’t the first time I’d fired a gun, but it was the first time I’d killed a man.

Always look them in the eye. Don’t let them die alone.

I dropped to my knees and threw up. Shaking and in agony, I crawled to the bath and sat with my back against it, determined to keep my siblings safe inside.

“Lie down and be quiet,” I warned them, keeping the gun aimed at the door. “Don’t get out. No matter what. Da will come.” My heart pounded. My hands shook. The shouting, gunshots and screaming continued throughout the house and outside. Another man appeared in the doorway. I shot him in the head. Then another. But when the fourth came, I pressed the trigger, and nothing happened. I’d run out of bullets.

My eyes widened as he stormed toward me. His fist smashed into my face, and everything went black.

Blaring music. Beats vibrated through the wooden floor. Women were screaming. Men were laughing. Someone was shouting. Da. Da was shouting. The sound was nothing like I’d ever heard. Unfiltered rage.

I opened my eyes. I tried to move, but I couldn’t. My hands and ankles were tied, and I was curled on my side on the floor. A sock was stuffed in my mouth. The room came into view. My parents’ rug. Their bed. Mam was on it, naked. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her silk handkerchief, which she always wore around her neck, was in her mouth, muffling her cries. A man was on top of her. What was he doing to her? She didn’t like it. He was hurting her. I tried to wriggle free, but Da’s fury made the room shrink. He must have been behind me. I turned my head as much as I could and found him. He was tied to a dining chair with chains. His face was a mess: bloody, beaten and bruised. Two men stood on either side of him, one with a knife to his throat and the other smashing a baseball bat into his knees every time he shouted at the man who was hurting Mam.

I glanced at the ensuite behind me. Were they still in there? Were they still safe?

The memory shifted. We were outside, standing in the field where Connor and I always played football. Roisin and Riley were huddled under my arms, and Connor sat on the grass next to us, his arms wrapped around his knees and head buried between them. I had my hands over the twins’ eyes, shielding their innocence from the mound of dead bodies piling up in front of us.

The man who hated Da, Sean McKenna, was the one pulling the trigger, but it was Da who was forced to decide. Which life means more to you? The gardener or your wife? The chef or your wife? Your nephew or your wife? Your brother or your wife?

Mam was kneeling in the grass, silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she held Da’s gaze throughout.

“Well, this is gettin’ very predictable,” McKenna said as his soldiers dragged Da’s second, his best friend Jack, towards the pile.

McKenna was nothing like I had expected. He was young, at least in his twenties, but there was a cruel coldness in his eyes that made him seem older.

“Need to up the stakes, clearly.”

Two of his men moved towards us. The girls cried harder, burying themselves into my sides, while Connor shuffled backwards on the grass in fear.

“Don’t touch them!” Da shouted from where he sat on the edge of the well, hands and ankles bound, with multiple guns pointed at him. “Leave them the fuck alone, McKenna. Touch my fuckin’ kids and I’ll–”

“You’ll what?” Sean asked with a spiteful grin, lifting his arms to gesture at the situation. “I’m givin’ you the choice to keep your children alive, Cillian. One you didn’t give me. Don’t pretend that isn’t mercy.”

The men tried to grab my sisters, and one had already pulled Connor up by the back of his neck. Rage erupted, and I threw myself at them, throwing punches that bounced off muscle and only hurt me. But I didn’t care. I was scrappy. I plunged my thumbs into one man’s eye until he screamed, and I was ripped off him. Mckenna’s laughter rippled around us as the men held me and my siblings still.

Sean stepped in front of me and grabbed me by the hair, forcing me to look at him. His blue eyes sparkled with intrigue as he studied my face. “Your heir has spirit, Cillian. Imagine how much fun it would be to break it.”

I spat in his face and kicked out with my leg, the impact landing on his shin. He chuckled and let me go, stepping back.

“Who do you want to save? Your wife or your children? You have five seconds to choose, or I’ll kill them all.”

Horror appeared on my parents’ faces as Sean raised his gun at Riley, and she screamed.

“No!” Mam cried, begging with her hands. “Please, no. Don’t kill them, please.”

“Alright, McKenna,” Da shouted, desperation creeping into his voice. “I’ll give you whatever you fuckin’ want. Take it all. Kill me. Do whatever the hell you want to me. Just let my wife and kids live.”