Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
She tuts at me. “Ach, don’t you go talkin’ like that now.” She leans up onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to my cheek. “He knew what was comin’,” Ma says in a soft voice. “You just make sure to walk through that door safe tonight,” she tells me before she steps out into the early morning sunshine. It’s a beautiful day. You’d never think I’m about to step into my father’s shoes. I didn’t want it. I was happy being the Vice President of the club, but it’s the line of succession. There’s too much to do without fighting what’s inevitable.
Once I’m alone in the house, I wonder if I’ll ever see the disdain on Ma’s face when I become President. It’s not a life she wanted for me, but there is no choice. I can’t walk away from a legacy. Her words ring in my ears. It’s somethin’ she’s always said to me before walkin’ out of the house.
Makin’ my way to the small office I set up after Da died, I shut the door, and I settle in behind the desk. We have a meetin’ later, and I have ta get my shite in order. Opening the clubs on the Main Street this weekend has been grand. But we need more income. There’s only one way I can see to get that, but I’m not prepared to deal drugs. Weapons, maybe. I’m about to call my VP, Rebel, when gunshots ring through the air.
Panic twists in my gut because I realise I didn’t hear the engine on Ma’s car startin’. Crouching down, I creep to the office door and down the hallway before another round of gunfire hits the windows of our home. The place I grew up in. Even though I have the clubhouse and all that comes with it, farmland that spans hundreds of acres just outside Belfast, I’ve always stayed home. Being in the city energises me.
When I reach the living room, I pull my gun from the leather holster and get to my knees. I can’t take any chances when it comes to violence, when it comes to being under attack. I’m alone here, and if someone did want to get in, I can only fight so much. Being outnumbered has never bothered me, not even now, but the thought of Ma being out there alone, it’s got me pushing to my feet. I lean against the wall beside our front door and breathe in deeply.
Listening for any more noise outside, I close my eyes and focus. I wait a couple of minutes before I pull open the front door, hiding behind the wooden surface, and show my gun first. Silence greets me when I do, which means they’re gone, or they’re waitin’ on me to walk out.
But when no shots come, I step out into the line of fire with my heart beating a rhythm against my chest. My ribs ache from the thrum, and as I make my way onto the small porch where Ma and Da used to sit every evening, I take in the destruction in front of me.
In death there is silence.
It’s only when I reach the wee garden, do I see it. Blood. I’ve never seen so much mayhem in one small area before. Droppin’ my gun, I race out into the street, forgetting there are men out here who want me dead. I find my mother’s car still in the same place she parked it yesterday, with holes all through the doors, the one side completely fuckin’ obliterated.
It’s not that which has me fallin’ to my knees, though, it’s the ol’ lady in the driver’s seat. She’s not breathing. The window has shattered, glass everywhere, and her mouth hangs open while her eyes are wide with shock as she stares out into the abyss.
Pain shatters me. The twisting in my gut only tightens when I reach for her neck and place two fingers against it. The wrinkled flesh against my fingertips doesn’t do anything because there’s no heartbeat. Her breath doesn’t come. There isn’t a final gasp or a last word.
“Ma,” I call to her, but it’s in vain because I know she won’t answer. She’ll never answer me again. There’ll never be another prayer sent to heaven for me. Not that I believe in it, but she offered a comfort when she said it. All her life she prayed for me. She wanted what was best for me. The woman stood by me when she learned I would become President of the Royal Bastards. She didn’t tell me to leave. Ma loved me unconditionally, as I did her.
Love comes with a price.
I pull open the door, and my mother’s body slumps toward me. Catching her, I blink away the tears that threaten. They burn, and I want nothing more than to give my life for hers. The bastards were after me. Whoever they were, they wanted me dead, but instead, they stole the last good thing in my life.