“No, because she and her family are already on their way here so she wouldn’t have had time to go down to DC and do the last job and get back in time to hop on the ride headed here. Besides, her thing is the bow, remember.”
It’s not even weird anymore that he knew exactly whom I was talking about. For someone who’s the complete opposite of my kind of guy, he and I seem to be more and more on the same page these days. As long as he doesn’t get up my ass about this elite group fuckery we’ll be fine, and I see no reason for our newfound camaraderie to change.
“Yeah, but who uses a stiletto anymore? And most of these victims are men. I don’t see that many men letting another man get the jump on them without putting up a fight.” He smiled at me like I was a toddler who’d learned to use the bathroom for the first time. “Dafuq is wrong with you?” If he opens his mouth about that elite group shit again, I’ma pop him.
“You make a good point.” Yeah, I’m sure that’s not what you’re thinking about. Before I could pound his ass into dust, I heard one of the twins call out to me. Aiden and Quint, the only two kids I allowed their mother to name and the only two whose names did not start with a C like mine because Kat was going through a rebellious stage, are also the two who are going to get into the most shit…except for Mengele, that is.
Come to think of it, their shit I can deal with. When they’re not trying to tag-team some female in my damn house, they’re fucking with engines and taking shit apart and putting it back together, all boy shit that I can somewhat handle. But the two of them look way too interested in this new shit.
I looked around to see Quint with a gleam in his eyes as he made his way towards me. His twin and brother in law stayed behind, but their expressions were hard to read. “What dafuq? What’s wrong with you?”
“Dad!” He said the one word before holding out the folder Mancini had just given to them.
The first thing I noticed was the family crest. I looked from it to Mancini, but that asshole just had a smarmy look on his face. Then I started reading through the sheaf of papers and got madder with each damn sentence. “Tell me you made this shit up.” He held his hand up.
“Scout’s honor.” By now, the others who had been alerted by my raised voice turned to look at us. “Out of all of us, you and the kid Track are the only ones who are actually descended from the nobility. He’s a little more royal than you, though.” Everyone was interested at this point but all I felt was numb. This shit has got to be some kind of cosmic joke. I hate those fucks worse than poison.
I kept rereading the piece of paper that had my family lineage going back to some fuck who had the misfortune to save some asshole British king way back when that shit meant something. The only thing is, this fuck was French, and the guy he saved was English, and everyone knows those two can’t stand each other.
“Wait, this fuck saved his enemy?”
“Apparently he didn’t agree with his country going to that particular war and decided to do his own thing. Sound familiar?”
“Eat shit, dafuq am I supposed to do with this shit?” Something caught my attention, and I jumped on that shit like a lifesaver.
“Now, I know you’re full of shit. It says here this fuck’s name was Lyon, but you said my ancestor who was part of this elite shit was on my mother’s side…” I stopped talking at the look on his face.
“About that, didn’t your parents ever tell you that they’re distant relatives?” I think I’m going to throw up.
Elena and the doc were on the island because no way was I leaving them behind when I thought we were coming here to be quarantined. I could go ask them, but I don’t think he’d lie to me about that. It’s odd that I never asked about mom’s maiden name before, but since we’ve never been close to any of my parents’ extended family, it just never came up.
I guess I just always assumed that their families were living elsewhere, and since our grandparents were already gone, it just never seemed that important to me. I need cousins and shit like a hole in the fucking head.
“How distant?”
“It’s legal, and it’s also something your ancestors and their kind did back then to keep the bloodline pure. You know how you noble types are.” This shit just keeps getting worst. “You gonna stop saying that shit?” My kids were eating this shit up while I was trying to figure out a way to keep it from leaving this room.
“Your kid is on the move.” I thought Law was trying to distract me because of everyone in the room except for my guys; he’d be the one to notice the signs that I was about to lose my shit. But when I looked at the monitor, I saw Mengele hop down from the stool she’d been sitting on and go running for the stairs that led up from the basement.
Seconds later, the door to the office opened, and one of Mancini’s men stood there. “The Flanagans just landed.” Mancini just nodded and sat back in his chair with a half worried look on his face, something I’ve never seen before. The crease in his forehead only seemed to grow deeper the longer I looked at him.
Then he cleared his throat and seemed to come to his senses. “Listen up all of you.” Each man in the room turned from what he was doing and gave Mancini their full attention. “There might be a situation here in a little bit.”
“What sort of situation?” Logan, who hadn’t said much of anything since we got here which was new for him, was the one to ask.
“Arianna Rossi…uh, Flanagan is a wild card. Her mother was one of us. Arianna was made to believe that her mother was murdered because of her dad’s connection to the mob, but the truth is she was a high-level member of our group. She’s going to find that out today. Hopefully, her husband can contain her, but…”
He left it hanging there, but if she was the one responsible for leaving that asshole pinned to the wall with an arrow through his neck, then I’m thinking he’s sugarcoating this shit.
“But what?” It was Connor’s turn to jump in.
“She’s one of us, as time goes on and the more I reveal to you about who we are, you’ll know what that means. For now, just know that she’s our responsibility. Do not make the mistake of treating her like one of your wives; she’s not.”
“Incoming boss.” The same guy opened the door again just as the Flanagans entered the room. On the monitor, I watched as my kid met theirs for the first time. The two little girls hugged like long lost friends before mine took the other’s hand and dragged her to the house. I’m not sure about that alliance, but no one else seemed too worried. Then again, they don’t know my kid like I do, and I’m not sure about this Lily-Anna. If she’s anything like her mom, then we’re fucked.
KAT
“The men seem kind of distracted to you?”
“When are they not distracted? If you ask me, it works perfectly with what we have to do.”
“I’m not sure Ginger-Lee; it seems a bit risky right now, don’t you think?”
“What’s risky, Illyana? Look, now is the perfect time. Look, who’s not pregnant among us has just given birth, what exactly are you afraid they’ll do to us?”