Kane(56)

"Do you know why my brothers and I were involved with Marco?"

I swallowed. "I know that he ran a business with your father and after  your father had died he took over. That's about it. The girls don't like  talkin' about it so I'm short on information."

"Okay, that's true, but there is a lot more to it than that." He sighed  and prepared himself to say words he didn't want to say. "Marco and my  father ran a business that earned them the title of gangsters. Nothing  they did was straight up-even the legal shit was corrupt. Everything  from drugs, to weapons and prostitution, was fair game."

Wow.

"I, along with my brothers, was raised in a compound back in New York.  We were homeschooled so we never got out much. The compound was huge and  there was always something to do so we weren't bored... until we were  old enough to be put to work."

I didn't like the sound of that.

"The twins were still kids when Ryder, Alec, and myself started out. We  did small-time shit like moving product, delivering it, breaking in new  recruits. Bullshit like that. Marco always said my dad had big plans for  us, but I don't think he ever did. I think it was Marco who had plans  for us, and when my dad double-crossed him, killing him and my mom gave  him access to us. Granted the three of us were old enough to leave if we  wanted to-and we did-but we couldn't get out with the twins fast  enough."

"What do you mean?" I murmured.

Kane leaned his head back against the sofa cushion. "Damien had this  girlfriend called Nala. She was a cute Asian kid and he adored her. That  was little brother's problem-he cared too much about people. He was  messed up when our parents died. He understood we couldn't cross Marco  though. We were brought up around an empire that preached loyalty. It  was instilled in us from a very young age. We were loyal to the core to  one another, to our parents, and even to Marco, even though the three of  them didn't deserve it. What our father did was wrong; he betrayed  someone he swore to be loyal to, and to us and that's not right. You  don't turn your back on your own, but my parents did."

I listened to Kane as he spoke, and the more I listened, the more scared I became.

"Even though Damien understood our father was a traitor, he wouldn't let  anyone talk smack about him. One of Marco's nephews, Trent, did just  that. He said our father deserved to be shot and buried, and it was no  more than he deserved. That set Damien off; they fought, but Trent  pulled a gun-"

I cut Kane off on a gasp, but he pressed on.

"Long story short, Damien somehow got the gun and shot Trent. We were  told he died, and in order to protect Damien for betraying one of our  own, we began to work for Marco. Different work for each of us. He  thrust us into different environments-Dominic into fighting, Alec into  being an escort, Ryder into dealing, and me... I became a monster."

I shook my head.

"Slow down. You said you were told this Trent kid died?"

Kane growled, "Yeah, up until few years ago when the little prick  resurfaced. We found out Marco betrayed us, so we bounced. We were  paying a debt that wasn't valid in the first place. Damien never killed  Trent... not the first time anyway."

I blinked. "I don't want to know what that means."

"Good," Kane grunted.

I flicked my eyes over his body.

"Okay, so you got a job to hurt people... how did you get your scars?"

Kane swallowed and looked away from me. "Punishment."

"Punishment?" I repeated.

Kane nodded his head, still looking away.

"When I didn't do a job... correctly, I was punished. Severely."

I didn't like how that sounded, not one bit.

"I'm confused, Kane," I murmured. "What job? What punishment?"

"Aideen, you have to have an inkling of the people I am involved with.  Even before I explained shit, you had to know deep down that I don't  deal with straight people."

Why wasn't that phrased in the past tense?

"I... I guess so," I admitted. "I know Marco was like Keela's uncle  Brandon, a crooked prick... but that is it. Keela doesn't talk about  Marco or anything that went down with him. He had me knocked out before  he shot Storm and took Keela, Alec, and Bronagh to Darkness, remember?"

Kane balled his hands into fists. "I found you unconscious on the floor  of Keela's apartment. Of course I fucking remember. It haunts me."

It did?

I was taken back by his sudden anger. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Don't apologise," Kane sighed. "I'm not angry with you, none of that  was your fault. I just get pissed with I remember what happened to you."

I knew he found me before anyone else last year when Marco trashed  Keela's place and took her, Alec, and Bronagh captive. It was like  something out of a film. They knocked me out, hurt Storm, and just took  the others. It was surreal to even think it happened let alone realise I  was part of it. Kane found me that night, then he left me with Branna  while he and the rest of his brothers went to get Brandon so they could  rid themselves of Marco for once and for all.

Ridding themselves of Marco hurt my friend though. Marco was no longer  on this Earth, not amongst the living anyway, and yet he still had a  hold of Keela through her nightmares. I was beyond delighted to hear her  mind was fighting back and was slowly, but surely, ridding her of Marco  too.

Fucking Marco.

"Can I ask you something that has been on my mind since the day you woke up in the hospital?"

Kane shrugged. "Shoot."

"What is your problems with needles?"

Kane stilled. "It's not the needle, it's the stabbing."

I swallowed. "What stabbin'?"

He scrubbed his face with his hands. "When I was punished, to keep me  from fighting back, my wrists were bound with rope and strung up above  my head." He paused to touch the scars that looked like circular burns  around his wrists.

Rope burns.

"When I was bound, the boss would take a needle so thin you could barely  see it. It wasn't long enough to pierce any organs, so he would stab me  in the back over and over until I screamed. He said if I was stabbing  him in the back by not working, then he would stab me in mine.  Literally."

My stomach twisted.

My eyes flicked to his neck then. "And the name on your neck?"

Kane looked down. "I refused to hurt a woman. She was a horrible person  who drugged women who were trafficked into the compound. Her name was  Jenna. She crossed Marco and he wanted me to hurt her, but I refused.  Marco had me tied up with ropes and he carved his name into my neck, he  branded me as his. It was to be a constant reminder that I was owned by  him."

That was why he hated the name Jenna.

I wanted to cry my eyes out.

I hated Marco Miles, and I was glad the son of a bitch was dead.

"Why would Marco do that?" I whispered. "Why would he stab you and hurt you so badly?"

Kane tensed for a moment. "You think Marco was the one who stabbed me?"

What?

"Wasn't he the only man involved with you and your family?" I asked, confused.

Kane laughed, "I wish. I wish Marco was all I had to worry about, but  no, Marco was the big boss of me, but he wasn't the one who gave me  jobs."

Plural?

"So... who else gave you... jobs?"

Kane growled, "You already know who."

I did?

"What? Who?"

Kane's voice was not his own when he snarled, "Big Phil. He was my old  boss. He caused the scars. He caused the hurt." He locked his eyes on  mine and said, "He created me."





"Big Phil?" I questioned. "The man Damien mentioned was comin' to Ireland?"         

     



 

Kane nodded his head. "Yeah. Him."

"Wh-what did he make you do?"

Kane looked away from me then. "Horrible things."

"I don't want to make you relive anything, but can you tell me a little?"

Kane rubbed his eyes. "Big Phil was a clean-up guy. Marco ran everything  and made the deals, but if deals were never fulfilled, Big Phil was the  one to go and find out why. That means if someone never paid Marco the  money he was owed, the clean-up crew went in to rectify that. It wasn't  just money; if someone did anything wrong to Marco, the crew went in. I  was just under Big Phil in a chain of command with the crew. He said  jump, I asked ‘how high'."

Kane laughed, but it wasn't humorous.

"I had to hurt people... pain was an easy way to get people to pay up."

I stared at him, horrified at the life he lived. Kane looked at me and  saw the mixture of sadness and disgust on my face, and he panicked.

"Please understand we all had a role to play, and this was mine. I was  protecting my little brother, Aideen. I was afraid if I pulled back too  much and didn't do what I was supposed to do then Marco would kill  Damien."

"I understand," I whispered.

I surprised Kane with my reply, but I surprised myself even more. I  understood why Kane did what he did, and it was because I truly  understood that he was doing horrible things to protect his brother. If I  were put in a position to save one of my brother's lives, I'd do it no  matter what the cost.