“I wanted a normal life for ya.”
“Normal?” Cian scoffs. “There’s nothin’ normal about a Doyle takin’ over Belfast! We were nothin’ without the Kellys. My da put a fuckin’ bullet in his head because of what happened to yer da! Tell me, how’s that normal?”
“Oh, fuck, Cian,” I say with utter regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” His dad is dead? This war has seen so many casualties.
“That’s right, ye didn’t know ’cause ya locked us all out! All I wanted was my best friend, but ya just—” A sob leaves him, and I reach out to hug him, unable to see him in pain.
“I’m so sorry. Forgive me.”
He hugs me back, sobbing into my shoulder. I failed him. I failed them all. I believed I was saving them, but all I’ve done is hurt them terribly.
Brody Doyle and Sean Kelly are going to fucking pay.
“I need to tell ya somethin’,” I confess, realizing I can’t do this alone. I wanted to give Cian a chance at living a normal life, but this is our normal.
Cian pulls away slowly, wiping away his tears.
“Hannah found Sean’s journals in storage,” I reveal, needing to retell this at my own pace. “Brody Doyle isn’t my dad.”
Cian’s eyes widen. “Then who is?”
With a sigh, I reveal the truth, the truth which has plagued me since I found out who I was. “I am a Kelly, Cian. Sean is my dad.”
Cian opens but soon closes his mouth before snatching the bottle from my hand and gulping the contents down.
“He killed my ma because she was going to tell Connor that Sean was in business with the Doyles. He was the one behind all of this. Hannah saw him here. He’s trying to recruit Ethan. He needs a puppet he can control.
“I didn’t fit the prototype. That’s why he has no issues makin’ me the scapegoat.”
“Yer fuckin’ jokin’ me?” Cian gasps when he can finally construct a sentence.
“I have it in his own handwriting. Everything he did.”
“But we buried him? Did we not?”
“I don’t know who ya buried, but it wasn’t Sean. He’s been waitin’ in the shadows, ready to strike when the time is right. He failed once before, but he’s learned from his mistakes. He’s got what he always wanted—Connor and me out of the picture.
“He couldn’t be the top dog with Connor and me alive. His greed, his need to be number one, is what started all this. My ma made a mistake. She fell for Sean’s lies. We all did. And that cost her her life. She was in that bungalow, trying to escape, to make a better life for me, but he found her and made her pay for betraying him.”
“Why did Brody say he was yer dad then?”
“’Cause Brody thought it would benefit him in the long run. If I were to denounce my Kelly name, that would leave Sean in charge of it all. Therefore, Brody believed with me gone, he could steal Belfast from Sean when the time was right.”
“They were going to double-cross each other?” Cian asks, cluing into their plans.
“Aye. They never trusted one another. They were using the other to get what they wanted. But Sean outsmarted us when he faked his death. Brody can’t fight a dead guy. But Sean is workin’ behind the scenes with Brody’s men, just how he did with ours. He’s earnin’ their trust, showin’ them he’s the better leader.
“And when the time is right, when he’s compiled his army, he will strike and take Brody down.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Cian says, shook. “I cannot believe it. It was him this entire time? Goin’ behind our backs and recruitin’ the weak? He promised them the world, and they fell for his lies!
“He’s responsible for Connor’s death. And my da’s,” he spits, his anger palpable. “And now he’s tryin’ to ruin Ethan’s life. That fucking fuck cunt arsehole!”
I allow him to vent because it’s a lot to take in.
This is the reason I didn’t want to tell him. He’s suffered enough. But I need him.
“He’s goin’ to pay, I promise ye. But for that to happen, I need to work with Brody Doyle.”
Cian attempts to process what I just shared. “Away on!”
But when he realizes I’m very serious, he pales.
“There is only one person who can help me. I need an inside man, and that man is Brody. He is clueless about Sean’s plan. He either has no idea that he’s still alive, or if he does, he doesn’t believe Sean can outsmart him.”
“And ya think he’s just gonna be believin’ ye when ya tell him?”
“Aye,” I affirm, as I’ve had nothing but time to perfect this plan. “He’ll work with me ’cause we both need the other to get what we want. And when I do…I will finally finish what I started ten years ago.
“I want Belfast back. It’s ours. And I can’t do that with Brody in the position he’s in. He’s too powerful, and the men who are loyal to him will do everythin’ to protect him. The ones who aren’t, they’re loyal to Sean.
“It’s better the devil ya know, so it is.”
“I think this plan is fuckin’ stupid,” Cian says firmly. “Can’t we just kill Brody?”
“How do you propose we do that? He knows I’m out, and it’s only a matter of time before he comes knockin’. We’ve got no men to fight with us. And as for our aul’ allies, ten years is a long time. Their loyalty is no longer with us. Besides, it was Connor they had alliances with, not us.
“We need to start from scratch. We need to find out who’s pullin’ the strings. Everyone here in Belfast knows Brody as the kingpin. The Kelly name is a thing of the past. I’m guessin’ Cory’s da is no longer involved with the business?”
Cian shakes his head. “Naw, like my da, he was lost without Connor. He didn’t know what to do, so he handed everythin’ over to Brody. I tried to fight them, but no one wanted to deal with us. It was the Kellys who they dealt with, and because the Kellys were no more, that fucker, Brody, could move in without any trouble.
“I tried to have him killed, many times. But with Connor gone, Sean dead, and you in prison, no one would help. We were on our own.
“When my dad died, I just gave up,” he confesses sadly. “I forgot that part of my life and moved on. Last I heard, the Doyles were runnin’ Belfast with an iron fist. Our men, our suppliers are now theirs. We are a forgotten memory.”
Clenching my fist, I take a deep breath. “It’s time to change that. I don’t know what Sean is waitin’ for as our alliances would deal with him. So, I’m guessin’ he’s simply waitin’ for the right time to strike because when he does, he’ll be unstoppable.
“If I thought I could do this alone, I would. But I have no men and a name that only once incited fear. I need to regain both. And to do that, I need to work with the man who is now in control. I need to crawl into the belly of the beast. I know this plan is far from ideal, but if I don’t side with Brody, I will be fightin’ both him and Sean. I hate to admit it, but I don’t stand a chance against Brody.
“He’s the lesser of two evils.”