Reckless #2

Reckless #2

She owns the land that I need… to hide bodies.

Siobhan.

A city girl with no ties to the land. It was supposed to be an easy buy. No complications. And definitely no conflicts.

But her soft eyes have me hooked. Having her is all can I think about.

But she isn’t the reason why I’m here. The task at hand is crucial. There can be no room for mistakes.

Family comes first. It’s what the O’Reagans have always lived by. Returning home without this land isn’t an option.

Is losing my family worth gambling with my heart?

“Where is your brother?” My father bends over a map that takes up the top of the table. His index finger stops moving as I enter, but he doesn’t look up at me. Shane stands firmly beside him, arms folded across his wide chest. I scratch my eyebrow in annoyance.

There is so much I want to say, like, ‘Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean we keep tabs on each other.’ Or ‘Do I look like a fucking slave?’ But our motto is carved into the wood that hangs over the dining table that is mostly used for meetings.

The Irish word chlann was carved into that piece of wood by our father’s father, and it is carved into all of us. The family comes first, no matter what. My eyes flicker back to Shane, who still stares at me, a shadow of a grin on his face.

“Probably in bed with a whore,” I rattle off, and that gets my father’s attention. His finger slightly curls.

“Watch your mouth, Finn.” He speaks but doesn’t look at me. Is he fucking kidding? His mouth spews poison half the time.

I flicker a glance at Shane, expecting the grin to be visible, but it isn’t. Instead, his head tilts slightly toward our father, his way of telling me to shut the fuck up and go get our brother.

“I’ll get him now.” With a sigh, I close the door behind me and take the stairs two at a time, slowing down once I reach the landing. I can hear the undercurrent of a beat. Darragh never switches his music off. In his life, the party never seems to stop. I can smell the cigarette smoke before I even open his door, and once I do, a lot of other smells follow.

Disgusting.

“Darragh, get up.” I kick the base of the bed, where three sets of legs hang out. The alcohol fumes in the room have me wanting to open a window. My steel-toe boot connects with the bed frame again. A blonde pops up like a blow-up doll, mumbling as she looks around the room. Her eyes settle on me, and she slowly grins.

“Good morning.” A polish accent or maybe Russian—I can’t tell the difference—coats her words.

“Get out,” I tell her. Her brows furrow as she looks down at sleeping beauty, who I’m tempted to kick the shit out of if he doesn’t wake up soon. “Darragh, get the fuck up.”

This time he does, and the second blow-up doll inflates. Topless. She does a double take at me and then Darragh. “Twins.”

“You’re a genius. Now get out,” I say slowly for her. They both get out of the bed, and the second one yelps as Darragh lands a slap to her arse. I wonder sometimes how we’re related. The idea that we shared the same womb is baffling.

“Da is waiting, Darragh, and he’s pissed.” I don’t blatantly watch the girls as they get dressed, but I can’t help the occasional glance; they are fit, a little too thin for my liking, but still nice. I light a fag as Darragh finally gets off the bed and pulls on a white T-shirt.

“Pick a different color,” I tell him. I’m wearing a white T-shirt, and I’ll be fucked if we are dressing the same.

“You know who you are like?” Darragh asks while pulling the T-shirt off. I don’t acknowledge him but smoke my fag, hoping by the time I’m finished, Darragh will be ready. “You’re like Da.”

I snort because I’m the furthest from our father, and Darragh knows it. I don’t respond as each girl moves past me and out the door. Darragh promises to ring them later, and they believe him. Our front door has become a rotating one with all of Darragh’s women. None are ever brought back for seconds. He pulls on jeans, and I want to tell him to change them. I’m wearing jeans, but I don’t want to sound whiny.

“What does he want?” Darragh slaps his face twice, and I’m glad that he shaves daily. I’m growing a beard just so we look different. Being identical twins is a pain in the ass.

“I don’t know. Shane’s with him,” I say as I make our way downstairs and return to the dining room with my brother, like a good little doggy.

“Close the door,” Dad barks, and Darragh does. Once we all stand around the map on the table, he finally looks up, blue eyes snapping from me to Darragh.

My father is a man that many admire.

For me, I hate him and love him. I hate how he sees me as someone to take care of Darragh. I hate how he treats Connor, my brother. I hate the control.

My mind moves back to the meeting as Shane kicks it off. “Land close by has come up for sale.”

Normally, Shane doesn’t speak unless father has asked him to, but I can see the irritation in our father’s stance.

The smell of alcohol from Darragh is wafting through the room, and he looks like he smells. Bloodshot eyes blink several times as he slaps himself across the face again. If he keeps it up, he won’t have to slap himself anymore; Dad is ready to flitter him.

Shane jabs a finger at a patch of green fields circled with a red marker on the map. “Over eleven acres has come up. Seven of it is bog land.” We all stare at the green patch that Shane points at.

“Darragh, I want you to convince the new landowner to sell it to you,” Father cuts in, and Darragh folds his arms across his chest while nodding.

“She’s only just moved back here. She has no family or attachment to the land, so it should be an easy sell.” Shane sits down at the table, his black shirt and slacks making him look like he’s going to a funeral. Maybe he is.

“You go with him,” my father says, cutting me with his sharp eye. Once again, I try to hide my irritation at being Darragh’s babysitter.

“How much?” Darragh widens his eyes, and I wonder if he’s high. I want to kick him and tell him to get his shit together.

“Offer her a hundred thousand.”

Darragh nods.

“For bog land? That’s worth like, what, two or three an acre? The good land no more than ten.” I can’t for a second understand why he’s over paying.

“I didn’t realize you were my financial adviser.”

Darragh shifts beside me, and I clench my jaw. If Shane gave his opinion, it wouldn’t be shot down, but the moment I do, I get a smart fucking answer.

“You both tidy yourselves up. You leave in an hour.” My father dismisses us with a wave of his hand. I’m out of there and taking the stairs two at a time. My mind, for some reason, begins conjuring up images of Connor. It’s weird how much you can miss a person. I hate him for abandoning me, but he has always been there for me. Now I feel so out of place in our dysfunctional family.

Slamming my door feels pretty juvenile, but I need to release some of my anger. I also need to get showered and ready to go purchase bog land.

Land that’s only good for one thing.

Dumping bodies.