50
AIDAN
COUNTING STARS - ONEREPUBLIC
As a greeting,arriving to find a knife being held against your throat wasn’t the most cordial way to start any meeting, but I didn’t mind.
I expected a show of force, even if it was pure fiction, and I was prepared for it.
Keegan’s eyes flashed a warning as he drew me into the church hall, where dozens of faces I recognized greeted me.
I grabbed his forearm, scraped the blade against my throat, uncaring if I bled, then I twisted his arm up and back and darted out of his hold.
Straightening and smoothing down my sports coat, I turned to Brennan. "What a welcome."
His knife was in his fist and he thrust it in Keegan’s face. "Watch your-fucking-self."
Keegan only sneered at him before he drew us through the crowd of silent watchers. Just before heading for the door, I’d heard the noise in here, the chaos of the crowd, so the dead silence was telling.
They had no idea I’d be here.
Keegan had kept them in the dark about the upcoming change in leadership.
Much as I’d kept him in the dark about knowing which of hischeileswere also Five Pointers.
Jerking my chin up as I headed for the front of the hall, knowingly giving them my back, I followed Keegan to the stage where a table stood, taking note of the faces turned to look at me as I walked.
The only one I tipped my head to was the Director of the Secret Service.
As I climbed the few stairs to reach the hall’s stage, I cast a glance at Brennan, taking note of his position at the back of the room where he was watching over the situation, and noticed that Keegan, in that short time, had already taken the only seat at the table.
Smug as fuck, evidently hoping that I was destroyed by the Five Pointers’ betrayal, he declared, "Brothers, two faces are here today who are notcheiles, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be embraced as such. The time has come for me to step down, and Aidan O’Donnelly will be your new leader."
The men shot each other wary looks, but no one argued.
Not a single goddamn one of them.
Satisfaction filled me—their fear wasn’t something I craved, but that they knew they’d fucked with me would instill compliance in them.
"We’ve lost several brothers these past few months, but with this new merger, with a head who reigns over both the Five Points and theÉire le chéile go deo, there’s safety to be had and a brighter, more powerful future ahead of us."
As Keegan moved out of the chair and held out a hand for me to take a seat, I dipped my chin in thanks.
To me, quietly, he said, "Was it really necessary to kill Mark?"
I arched a brow at him. "He was complicit in the kidnapping plot. Jonesy answered to him."
He heaved a sigh. "Whateejits."
"You had nothing to do with it, I suppose?" I drawled.
His lips twitched. "You’d be dead if I had."
"Reassuring," I retorted.
"I try my best."
Ignoring him, I faced an audience of brothers who knew what I was capable of, and a group of two dozen or so who didn’t understand the lengths I’d go to to consolidate my position.