Page 79 of The Lies That Shatter
“Granted, the stakes are higher now than ever before, but it doesn’t change the simple facts. One of our own needs our help, and we have to do everything we can to get her back. Fuck the consequences, we will deal with them afterwards. This isn’t about the war, or a power struggle… This is family. McKenna is our family, and we have to save her.”
I can’t stop the tears that gather in my eyes, desperate to fall with each word Red says. It fucking kills me to think that so many members of our family have been in this situation. If I allow myself even a moment to think about it, my brain would hurt. All I keep thinking about is whether this battle for power is really worth all this pain and suffering.
It’s the only life most of us have ever known, so I’m not even sure what a normal life looks like. But I sure as fuck know that it’s not normal to live every day with the threat to our lives hanging over our heads.
We shouldn’t have to recount stories of how it felt when our loved ones were taken from us, or how we felt when we thought we might lose them. We shouldn’t have to pretend our dad is fucking dead, so that people will stop trying to kill him. Our world is fucked up, and never more so than in this moment have I wanted to walk away from it all.
Since I decided this would be my last honey trap assignment, I knew I’d need to find a new place for myself within the family. Even though I have no idea what that might be, I wanted thechance to find out. Whereas now, all I want is to get McKenna and get as far away from all this shit as possible. My family, and the world they’re part of, is toxic, and if by some miracle we survive this, I’m not sure I want to be part of it anymore.
I don’t voice any of my thoughts, as I need my family focused on saving Mac, not trying to talk me out of leaving. This is a discussion for another day.
Kian clears his throat awkwardly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I’m assuming you have a plan, Boss Lady?”
Bree’s smile grows as he chuckles. “Of course, I do.” She turns to Kellan, who has three laptops set up on the dining room table. “Kel, how long will it take to gather the Heads of all the Families for a giant virtual meeting?”
Kel’s eyes widen, and he shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, I can have the meeting securely set up in about five minutes. It would be up to you guys to get the Heads to attend.”
Red first turns to Kian, then to Shane, before glancing around the room to the rest of us. “If we have a list of all the Heads, and other important members that I think need to be at this meeting, can we divide and conquer? I want the meeting ready to go in thirty minutes, and I need the majority of people on our list to be present.”
“What list?” Freya asks, looking confused.
Kian turns to her and replies. “For the last few months, we’ve been compiling a list of all the mafia families and gangs in the UK. We found out who the leaders are, and we’ve looked into each of them. We’ve been trying to work out who is aligned with who, and who will be loyal to us.
“Basically, we’ve been noting down who is already on our side, who are firmly against us, and then it’s the middle grey area we’ve been focusing on. They’re the anomalies. We have no idea if they will side with Bree, or if they’ll fight against her.
“Ideally, if we had more time, we were planning to woo the leaders over to our side. But if I’m reading the look on Boss Lady’s face correctly, the time for diplomacy has come to an end. We’re going to force them off the fence.” He turns to Bree and adds, “Am I right?”
Red simply nods her head, her eyes tight as she grimaces at the situation. Liam, on the other hand, looks fuming. “No! Abso-fucking-lutely not. We have been working on this for months. We have no idea if they will back us or not, and there are a lot more families in the grey than we can cope with. If we force their hand, and they don’t back us, we’re fucked.”
Bree grabs hold of her husband's hand, ignoring the rest of us in the room, and she talks just to him. “We have to do this, Liam. I know the odds aren’t in our favour, but sometimes we do our best work when the odds are stacked against us. Just trust me on this, please.”
As soon as she turns those puppy dog eyes on him, Liam knows, just as well as the rest of us do, that he’s fucked. His shoulders drop and he lets out a sigh. “Okay, Princess. Have it your way, but do not get yourself killed. Understood?”
Bree stands on her tip-toes and presses a sweet kiss to his lips. The sight is too much for me, and my heart aches for the missing piece that should be here. The festering hole in my heart grows wider and more decayed the longer McKenna is in danger.
“Well, now we have that settled, let's get to work,” Bree says, and then it’s like all hell breaks loose.
Kellan begins handing out reams of paper, containing details of all the prominent families and gangs in the country. We break them up and call everyone on the list to inform them of the meeting. We all have our phones out making calls, and even Mum chips in, much to Dad’s annoyance. It seems there’s been a shift in their relationship, too.
I don’t have time to dwell on it, but the indifference I’m used to seeing between my parents is most definitely not there. Mum is no longer a zombie, mindlessly following whatever orders Dad throws her way. When she tells him she wants to help, leaving no room for discussion, he doesn't even try to talk her out of it. He simply rolls his eyes, and hands her a phone and a list.
But more than that, it’s the way they are around each other that’s different. They smile at each other when they think nobody's looking. He places a comforting arm around her when he can tell she’s getting overwhelmed. They even share a sweet kiss when they think everyone else is busy, but I saw.
In all the years growing up, other than Mum holding his arm for society and image purposes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them display any sort of affection towards one another. I always assumed their marriage was arranged, and that there was no love between them, but now I’m starting to wonder if that’s exactly what they wanted everyone to believe.
The two people sitting in front of me now, they look very much in love, and I’m suddenly hit with the feeling that I really don’t know my parents at all.
I push those thoughts to one side, knowing I’ll get the chance to sort out my family another day, as I focus on the next steps that will bring me closer to getting Mac back.
Within no time at all, the meeting is set, and we move into the large office on the top floor that we use as a conference room. There’s a large oval-shaped table, surrounded by chairs that take up most of the space. All the chairs have been moved to one side, and opposite them, three large screens and a webcam have been set up.
We will be able to see ourselves on the screen in the centre, and the Heads of the Families will appear as little thumbnails on the other two screens. There’s a large microphone in front of the seat in the centre, and a few smaller mics dotted along the table.
Without anyone saying a word, Bree moves to sit in the centre seat, Liam to her right, Kian to her left. Kel sits behind the camera, along with Dad, who can’t be seen on screen given everyone thinks he’s dead. I take my seat next to Liam, and Shane takes the seat beside Kian.
Mia and Freya volunteer to stay with the children, and Mum asks if she can stay with them too, which they agree to. Ryleigh makes it clear she plans to come to the meeting with us, but everyone puts a stop to that straight away.
Liam’s the most vocal of us all. “No fucking way, Ryleigh Paige. Get down stairs with everyone else, now!” he snaps, sounding like the parent of the family.
