“We won’t stand for it!” Colin snaps, pushing himself to his feet. “Your brother broke his vow, married a Russian bitch—”
“Anastasia is the wife of one of your Kings,” I tell him sharply, “and a McGregor. Keep a civil tongue in your mouth when you speak of her, Colin O’Flaherty, or I’ll have my man take a piece of it.”
I look over the table, Liam to my left and Saoirse to my right, Jacob standing just behind her. She doesn’t flinch at the head on the table, and I reach for her hand, holding it in mine. “This table is not a democracy,” I say firmly and clearly. “I won’t be ruled by you, not even by Graham O’Sullivan, and neither will Liam.” I turn towards Niall, who is standing at Liam’s left. “Niall Flanagan, preparations are being put into place for you to go to Mexico and negotiate with the Santiago cartel for an alliance that will benefit both them and us. If you succeed, you will have proved that my brother’s trust in you is well-founded and begun to repair the rift between you and me. You will be given a place among the Kings, in recognition of your loyalty and long service and true friendship to my brother, with property and an income that reflects that.”
Niall’s eyes widen, but he nods. “I appreciate your faith,” he says calmly, and I notice that his gaze doesn’t flick to Saoirse. It’s as if he doesn’t even see her, and though I know his feelings for her likely haven’t changed, it’s enough to make me feel at last as if whatever was between them is truly done.
“This is outrageous!” Graham stands to his feet, slapping his hands on the table. “If I’d known this—this ridiculousness was what would become of our organization, our sacred table, I would never have gone to London and pulled you out of that shitheap that you called a kingdom—”
“My business in London, and my men, were worth ten of you and yours,” I snarl at him. “I thank you for the gift of my wife, who has proved to be a partner beyond my deserving, but you’ll keep quiet about the rest, Graham, or leave this table with Finn O’Leary and share his fate. That goes for every one of you.” I look around the table, my eyes narrowed. “If a hand is turned in violence against my brother, his family, my wife, or those close and dear to us, the pain you will feel in recompense will be unmatched. This is the new order, the new era of the Kings—my brother and I, McGregors both, leading us into the future.”
“Ní iarraim ort dul ar do ghlúine, ach éileoidh mé go gcloífidh tú.”Liam and I intone the words of the Kings in the same breath, in the Gaelic, but altered.Ourwords, for the new era of the Kings.
I do not ask that you kneel, but I do demand that you obey.
“Will you be loyal and faithful? Will you follow my leadership and that of my brother? If there is a man among you who will not, you may leave this table in peace, but do not expect to return. Do not expect to share in our future. You will no longer be a King.”
Not a single soul moves.
“Treachery will be punished with exile. Violence and treason with death. There will be no archaic punishments, beatings, and brandings, only this one rule. Be loyal, or begone. Be faithful, or kneel for the death that you earn.” I turn towards Jacob. “Take him out. We’ll follow.”
Jacob grabs Finn by the back of his collar, marching him out of the room as he starts to call to the others, begging for their help, begging for his life. But no one answers.
Instead, they follow Liam, Saoirse, and myself out to the concrete behind the building, where Jacob pushes Finn to his knees.
“You all once thought that you could send McGregors to their death with a word,” I say sharply, facing the Kings as I stand behind Finn, with Jacob at my side, Saoirse, Liam, and Niall to my left. “My father was executed at your word, and very nearly my brother. No more. The McGregors rule the Kings and always will. That is our legacy. And this is the price of treason.”
Finn has only a moment to open his mouth, a plea half-escaping it, as I press the barrel of my gun to the back of his head. There are no last words for him and nothing else that I have to say.
Only the sound of the gunshot as I put a bullet through a traitor’s head.
When he falls, I turn to Quint. “Clean it up. The rest of you, we’ll finish this meeting inside and discuss the future with the cartel.”
With that, I turn on my heel and stalk back inside, Liam next to me.
The new era of the Kings has begun.
24
SAOIRSE
I’d put off my first gala for the foundation until Connor had the chance to fully heal. I’d wondered, too, if there would be pushback from the Kings. But his show of strength at the meeting, exacting justice on Finn O’Leary, had frightened them all into submission. The new McGregor era is here, and he and Liam are both ruling with the strength that, together, they bring to the table more than they ever could have apart.
It hasn’t been completely smooth going. Liam and Connor have had their differences and arguments, but they’ve worked it out together as brothers, not as adversaries. Connor and I are both too stubborn to never fight in our marriage, but we’ve learned to be softer with one another, kinder. Slowly, we’re both learning to trust that we each want the other to be happy, for this marriage to be healthy and successful, and not a constant battle of wills.
My relationship with my father, on the other hand, is strained. He sees my failure to tell him about Connor’s meeting in Japan and his plans with Liam as a personal slight, a betrayal of him. However, I see it only as loyalty to the husband he wanted me so badly to marry. But I have faith that, in time, he’ll see the benefit of the bond between Connor and Liam and come around. I have hope that fractured relationship can be healed, too.
Most of all, I’m glad to have a husband that is happy for me to have my own source of fulfillment, too, my own happiness. Connor has supported my ideas and plans and hopes for the foundation completely, giving me full access to his own funds as well as mine to get it off the ground. Tonight is a celebration not only of my successes, but his as well.
He comes into the bathroom as I’m getting ready, kissing the back of my neck lightly as his hands rest on my waist. “I like your hair better down,” he murmurs against my skin. “But I love this perfume.”
“I’ll wear it every time we go out, then,” I promise him, tilting my head back against his shoulder.
Now that we don’t feel as if we have to fight against showing affection for each other, our day-to-day has become so much better. We touch and kiss whenever we want, the intimacies in our marriage growing past sex. We’ve spent time learning about each other, going on dates now that the threat of violence against us from the Kings is in the past, cuddling on the couch or in our bed as we read or watch each other’s favorite movies. It feels like the marriage I’d never dared to hope I might get to have, and I’m grateful for it. Grateful enough, I hope, to never take it for granted—and I feel more confident that Connor feels the same with each passing day.
We don’t talk about the period of time where we’d planned to see other people once I gave Connor an heir or how far my relationship with Niall pushed those boundaries. Connor has said he knows what he needs to know, and he trusts that it’s over. However, I know it absolutely is a large part of why he volunteered Niall for the job of going to Mexico to negotiate with the cartel. He’s hoping for a successful outcome for the sake of the Kings, of course, but I think that privately, he wouldn’t find it any great loss if they just did away with Niall.
For my part, I don’t feel as much sadness now at the ending of the relationship as I’d thought I would. I miss the loss of the friendship that had rekindled between us most of all, his listening ear and his advice and his kindness beneath his rough, gruff exterior. The sexual and romantic part of our relationship had drawn me in because he’d seen me forme, loved me without wanting me to change, something that I’d desperately wanted from Connor and thought that I’d never have. With the healing of my marriage has come a sense of satisfaction as well, a feeling that my needs are finally being fulfilled by the man I love, and I don’t feel the need for anything else.