Not-So Temporarily Married(46)

The way I taunted my da right before he met his maker might make me a bitch, but I could live with that. In fact, it was probably for the best since I was about to step into his shoes.





Chapter 9


Brandon


I didn’t hide who I was, what I was. I owned it. But, taking a life brings with it a measure of darkness, no matter the reason. Revenge, justice, or even mercy, they each inflict you with a scar you can’t ever erase.

I was riddled with these dark marks, blackness swirled in my soul, and it’s something I had long ago accepted. It’s who I was. But Carly? She flooded my darkness with light, she was unblemished, and I knew right then, I’d do everything I could to make sure she always would be.

Carly had steel in her backbone and possessed the qualities necessary to become a feared leader, one with intelligence, a required level of ruthlessness, while still retaining compassion and a sense of where the line between grey and black was. She wouldn’t have a problem leading the O’Reillys, and having blood on her hands would increase respect and her level of credibility.

She threw her father one last look of disgust, then turned to me and held out her hand. I knew she wanted her gun, I’d brought it specifically so she could end him if she chose to. She could, and would do it, but I wasn’t going to let her.

“Everybody out,” I commanded, folding my arms across my chest and glaring at them until they shuffled out. Nic raised a questioning eyebrow, silently asking if I wanted him to stay, and I nodded. I was going to need his help.

“Brandon.” Carly shook her hand impatiently.

“Wait until we’re alone, kitten,” I coaxed.

She frowned at me, but dropped her hand obediently and watched the door until the last man was gone and it shut behind him.

Turning back, she looked at me expectantly. I reached out and snagged her arm, pulling her into my embrace. “I’d like some time alone with him, kitten. Can you give me that?”

She looked like she wanted to argue, but she glanced at the son of a bitch, and when her eyes returned to mine, there was a spark of understanding. My desire to protect her extended to past hurts and I needed to make him pay. I didn’t confess to the fact that I would be the one to end his life, though. I knew she would fight me for it.

“Okay,” she agreed. “But save the last bullet for me.”

I didn’t respond, gently pushing her in the direction of a room on the opposite side of the warehouse from where all of the men had exited. Once she was out of earshot, I faced Nic.

“Keep her away, but make sure no one sees her. As far as anyone else knows, Carly did the deed.” He nodded and followed after her.

When Nic first decided the situation would be best resolved with Carly stepping into her father’s shoes, I wanted to tell him no fucking way. It went against all of my instincts to allow her to have a permanent target on her back. However, my woman was strong, determined, and stubborn as fuck. I couldn’t argue the fact that she would be able to earn her place and with our backing, we would be able to control the rapidly deteriorating structure of the O’Reillys. It was a volatile situation, and if she didn’t take the helm quickly, it was likely to implode and we’d be left with a shit storm to clean up.

As long as this was the road we were on, I would do everything I could to support her and protect her. And, that meant doing the dirty work. The families would give Carly the credit, but she wouldn’t carry the stains on her hands, and if the cops ever decided to come after her, it would be my prints on the weapons, my DNA on the bodies.

I meandered over to Pat, who sat in his chair trying to look brave and unconcerned. Too bad his eyes gave away the truth, he was scared shitless.

“You know, O’Reilly,” I spat, “I’d love nothing more than to spend months putting you through everything Carly endured at your hands. Unfortunately, we haven’t got that kind of time, so we are going to have to go for the condensed version.” My arm swung back and my fist smashed into his face with a satisfying crunch. He screamed as his broken nose streamed blood, but the sound was muffled by the gag.

“All the years you beat the shit out of her, and there was no one to hear her scream, no one to stop you, or help her.” My words served to add gasoline to the rage inside me. The next punch broke his jaw and his chair flipped back, crashing to the ground. “Let’s see,” I mused, rubbing at my thin beard. “Ah, yes.” I strolled over to a tall cabinet where I kept all of my ... tools. I snatched another scrap of fabric and additional rope.

I righted his chair and used the fabric to blindfold him. Then I slowly wound the extra rope around him. “How about every time you threw her into a dark, tight space. No way to move, only fear paralyzing her. I imagine it became harder and harder to breathe. Like it is for you, right now.” He was wheezing as the rope tightened around his chest, constricting his ability to take a deep breath.