“Ma just knocked some lady over and Da covered it up?” Declan hesitantly guessed. “That’s why this is news to all of us?”
Conor’s grip tightened on Finn’s shoulder. “It took some time to unravel shit,” Kid started, “but basically—”
“Basically, Aidan told Lena that he’d had an affair and he had a kid,” Finn ground out. “Because he didn’t want to fuck up our relationship, he never told her who his girlfriend was or who his kid was.”
“Genius move, Da,” I grated out under my breath.
“Jesus Christ, that’d have driven her mad,” Brennan bit off.
“It did,” Conor said. “According to Da, she was off her meds too.”
“Until this week, I just thought it was… I guess a tragic accident,” Finn confessed.
“You’ve known for four years?” Declan asked slowly, measuringly.
Finn rubbed his forehead. “Yeah. I really am that much of a dumb fuck.”
Brennan grunted. “Kept it from her for all this time?”
“I did. Senior assured me that nothing I did would make shit better. Lena was never going to jail, he’d see to that, and it was either—” He sucked in a breath. “It was either lose my whole fucking family or keep this shit a secret.”
Brennan frowned. “What changed?”
“Ma went to visit Michael in the hospital and learned that he’s a cheile,” Conor explained grimly. “She saw his ink, that damn phoenix. Then she realized that he was the one who’d told her Aoife’s mom was Da’s girlfriend and knew that had to be for a reason seeing as Aoife’s mom was a goddamn stranger to the family.
“He was the one who told her that he got the info from the Old Wives’ Club so she believed him. But learning he was a cheile made her question everything.”
Finn’s gaze shuttered as Brennan demanded, “Where the fuck’s Michael? Why didn’t you bring me in on this?”
“I dealt with it,” Conor retorted.
“It being Michael? Or the situation?” Declan asked carefully.
“Both.”
Having seen how he’d handled it, it wasn’t like I could argue.
“Why wasn’t I involved?” Brennan snapped.
“Because Ma thought you’d get Da in on this, and…” Conor seemed to brace himself. “She doesn’t trust him.”
If anything could have silenced the others, it was that.
Until Brennan grumbled, “About time she fucking learned that lesson.”
Rubbing my chin, because I didn’t disagree, I muttered, “Then, we have the issue that Aoife is President Davidson’s daughter.”
Declan and Brennan’s eyes widened, but it was Declan who sniped, “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Nothing is a fucking coincidence,” Finn retorted. “And we learned that Aoife’s got this secret uncle, Eamonn—”
“Who’s the leader of the ECD,” Conor finished.
Eoghan twisted to face Finn at that, then he demanded, “Eamonn Keegan is Aoife’s uncle?”
Conor nodded. “He’s been in jail since the nineties—”
“I know, Conor,” Eoghan grated out. “I know more about the fucking cheiles than you do.”
“Yeah? Like what?” I inquired, curiosity stirred.
My baby bro rarely brought up the war or his time in the military, but when he did, it was always like fucking story time for adults.
Eoghan pulled a face but said, “He served in the British Army during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
“They say his skills are one of the reasons the Falklands War only lasted two weeks. He got deployed in Belfast then went AWOL. He got arrested, escaped, resurfaced again as the leader of the cheiles, then the soldiers hauled him in one last time, and the rest is history. He goes by the alias Dagda.”
“He approached Aoife in a bar just after New Year’s,” Finn murmured. “I wonder why he introduced himself to her as that and not his real name?"
“Anonymity? Maybe he didn’t know that his sister had never mentioned him?” I turned to him. “If he instigated a meet, she’s clearly a priority of his.”
Finn nodded grimly. “She needs a battalion of fucking guards on her.”
“Why is he one of the reasons the Falklands War went on for two weeks?” Brennan asked.
“Didn’t even fucking know there was a Falklands War,” Declan groused under his breath.
Conor snickered. “If it isn’t art history, you’re not interested.”
Eoghan ignored Kid. “Because he was one of the best goddamn sharpshooters in the British Army. They say that he lost his edge when the British arrested him. But I don’t know if that’s fact or rumor.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Ever heard of the Five Techniques?” Eoghan’s tone was grim.
I winced. “Torture methods, aren’t they?”
“They are. Illegal torture methods that were supposed to be decommissioned a long time ago. Long before Keegan was ever captured.” His mouth firmed. “They said he got some kind of brain damage after soldiers banged his head against a wall during interrogation.
“That little stay with the Brits is why the ECD went from being pains in the asses to terrorists.”
“You know a lot about this shit,” Brennan rumbled.
“I know a lot of shit about a lot of shit,” Eoghan rasped. “And let’s bring it down to the bare bones. Aoife is both the daughter of the man who leads the free world and the niece of the man who’s terrorized the free world for over twenty years. Am I getting that right?”
Finn’s jaw clenched as he nodded, but it was Kid who said, “Funny how she’s the gentlest of all the women, ain’t it?”
Funny?
More like fucking hilarious.
“I don’t get it,” Brennan groused. “If the ECD are led by Eamonn Keegan, then why the fuck would Michael be working to kill Eamonn’s sister?”
“Michael wanted leverage over Da,” Conor inserted. “Michelle’s death triggered a power struggle in the ECD. I’m guessing from what Da said in there that he helped make that happen.”
“Eamonn’s out of jail now,” Brennan said. “Right, Kid?”
“He is.”
“Then why’s Michael still alive?”
I nodded. “That’s a good fucking point, Brennan.”
“Well, he’s dead now,” Conor mumbled.
“Not by Eamonn’s hand.” Brennan frowned. “Aoife really does need extra guards, Finn. Who the hell knows what a whacked up motherfucker like that’s got planned now that he’s out.”
“Why would he want to hurt Aoife? She hasn’t done anything,” Conor argued.
“He might want to take her from Finn,” Brennan reasoned. “We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Does Ma need extra guards?”
“No one outside of this house knows what Lena did,” Finn told Declan.
“You don’t know if that’s true,” Brennan denied. “Michael could have told anyone.”