Syndicate batch 2

Syndicate
Episode 3
He was silent for a few moments. Finally, he leaned his head on his hand and nodded very slightly. Lia noticed how tired he looked. Her own fatigue was infinitesimal in comparison. This man was running a wh0le business by himself and taking care of a child. He never asked for any of it. Kieran inherited Lilly when his cousin passed away in a “house fire.” His relatives had a curse of a short lifespan, and the more Lia pondered it, the more she was convinced his family was a part of the mafia.
“Going to sleep then, sir?” she asked. He was silent again in response. She waited.
“Is Miss Ginger gone?”
“I believe so, yes, sir.”
“So Lilly is asleep?”
“I hope so. It’s one in the morning,” Lia said softly. Kieran looked at his Rolex watch.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “You are correct.” Silence filled the room again like water in a cup.
“Would you like me to wake her?” Lia asked.
“No. I should go to sleep anyways.”
“Yes sir.”
Lia pushed his chair out of the sitting room. Most of the lights in the house had been turned off. After the accident, Kieran took his parent’s room on the ground floor. Lia thought it had been symbolic, but one of the other workers had also pointed out to her that he now had mobility issues too. They traveled down the long hallway in silence. His room had been adjusted to be handicap friendly, so Lia had no idea how to t-rn on the lights. Kieran did it himself. Once in his room, Kieran pulled up one of his legs to take off his shoes.
“Allow me,” Lia said, bending down. “You look tired.” He didn’t respond, but he did let her help him. She stripped off his shoes, and put them away. On nights like this, when he was too tired to get himself ready for bed, he had Alice. Alice was one of the oldest employees of the O’Meara family. Lia didn’t ask about Alice though. When she came back out of his closet he was getting ready on his own. Kieran looked at her and nodded.
“Thank you Lia, I’ll be okay from here. You can go on home,” he said. She nodded and smiled at him, leaving his room.
* * *
Will looked up from his brandy. Will and Kieran were the only two men younger than thirty five years old in the room. Furthermore, Will was the only one that wasn’t in the O’Meara family. Will rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was getting so tired of listening to the family squabbling. They were all moochers anyway. Kieran’s parents were the only successful pieces of the family puzzle. Will swirled the brandy in his glass. At least he was Irish, at least they couldn’t holdthatagainst him. Kieran’s uncle Kenneth nodded at Will.
“What do you have to say about thefamilyassets, you blond-haired interloper?” Kenneth said to Will. Will slammed down his glass and stood.
“Will,” Kieran said calmly. It was said as more of a command than a name. Will glared at Kenneth and slowly sat back in the chair.
“Now you’re justtryingto pick a fight, old man,” Will said contemptuously. Kieran sighed. It had been a long morning.
Episode 4
“Will’s right, uncle. Don’t go picking fights. Especially fights you can’t win,” Kieran said to his uncle. Kenneth responded with a bunch of stuttering while his face turned red. Some of the others in the room laughed. Will smiled.
“How about a break?” Will suggested. “My stomach is telling me it’s almost time for lunch.”
“That’s because you’ve been slurping down that brandy all morning!” One of Kieran’s relatives poked at him.
“Never too early to start drinking when the family is involved!” Will retorted. To his relief, they all laughed.
“Be back here in two hours,” Kieran ordered. The relatives trickled out. Kieran and Will were left. Will downed the rest of his brandy. He looked up to see Kieran staring at the O’Meara family crest. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth, you know,” Kieran said finally, turning his chair to face his friend.
“Hey,” Will threw up his hands in defense. “You talked to me first.”
“That was elementary school. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know you wouldn’t leave me alone after that.” Kieran had a tiny smile on his face.
“Leaveyoualone? There were like five boys in the entire third grade class. St. Rose’s is a tiny school.”
Kieran turned again to face the family crest on the wall behind him.
“Did I ever tell you my great-great-grandfather was in the Irish mob?” Kieran asked.
“No.”
“My father told me when I was young. My family was defeated by another mob for a long while though. My da’ was obsessed with getting our name back.”
“…which he did,” Will said, walking up next to Kieran and resting a hand on his shoulder.
Will and Kieran went to the dining room. The chair at the head of the huge table had been permanently removed for Kieran. Will sat to his right, where he always sat. They had just been served salads when Will heard a squeal. He looked up to see a little girl running into the room.
“Will!” she cried. Will smiled and stood up, opening his arms. She jumped into them. He hugged her tightly.
“Lilly! My, my, what a pretty dress,” Will said, putting her down. Lilly looked down and blushed. She headed over to Kieran, and motioned with her finger for him to lean down to her. He did and she k-ssed him on the cheek. Kieran smiled and ruffled her hair.
Satisfied, Lilly went over to the other chair next to Kieran and clambered up. She sat on her little legs and smoothed out her dress. Ginger came running in after Lilly. She turned white when she saw the two men.
“Oh! Mista Kieran, I’m so sorry,” she said, rolling her Rs due to her accent. Ginger’s real name was not Ginger, Will knew this much. He didn’t think anyone knew her real name, or where she was from. But Kieran trusted her with Lilly, who was the tiny amount of sunshine in his life, and Will knew better than to question his judgment.
“It’s okay Ginger, Lilly would like to eat with us,” Kieran said to the woman. She nodded and walked into the kitchen, holding her hand over her heart.
Kieran looked softly at Lilly.
“You are going to make poor Miss Ginger go crazy, chasing after you,” Kieran said to the little girl. Lilly giggled. Will loved to watch Kieran and Lilly together. The boys had done some bad things as life required, but Will saw the weight of life release Kieran whenever Lilly was around.
Episode 5
Monica put on deep red l¡pstick, rubbing her l-ips together. She looked in the mirror at the man lounging on the bed behind her. He was handsome. But she was also beautiful. She spun around to face him. He was picking one of his finger nails. Monica rolled her eyes. He wasn’t as charming as his brother.
“Dan,” she addressed him. He looked up at her. She sat in a purple velvet chair near her vanity. Dan began to feel uncomfortable. He knew that tone meant business.
“Yes dear?” he responded with a smile, trying to avoid the impending situation. Monica rolled her eyes again. She obviously wasn’t sleeping with him for his wit either.
“Don’t ever tell anyonewhat we talk about. If any of the other mobs found out about this, they would take the opportunity and obliterate the O’Meara family. I don’t want themcompletelydestroyed.”
“Then…what exactly do you want?” Dan asked sheepishly. Monica sighed. He was a hopeless idiot.
“Enough unrest and turmoil within the family to overthrow Kieran, and take his place,” Monica recited. “Iam the O’Meara’s godchild after all. I should have more standing than your brother at least!”
“He went down that road himself,” Dan said, more to himself than to her. He had always loved his little brother. They were so close in age. But when Will became more successful faster than Dan through the O’Meara family, Dan’s jealousy began to blossom and grow. His envy was now out of control.
“Are you sure they won’t be able to trace the tip about the warehouse?” Monica asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I was told there were no witnesses. This guy is good. Trust me.”
Monica doubted she would trust him with a ham sandwich. But she didn’t want any chance of anything being traced back to her. So she let Dan take the reins on this one. At least if they found out it was Dan, she could deny any involvement with him.
“You know what I got in their will? The horses and the stable,” Monica started in, not listening or paying attention to Dan. He put his head down. This was going to take a while. Whenever Monica began her pity party, she would keep steaming about it for hours, sometimes days. “Horses and stable! That’s it. That is all! And they knew what happened tomyparents after working for them. My mom is in the mental hospital after watching my father get murdered. They ruined me!” she scre-med.
Dan wondered why he was still sleeping with this lunatic. Her every thought was of getting revenge. Dan considered telling her to leave Kieran alone. The poor guy lost both parents,andhis ability to walk when he was only twenty. Dan had nothing against Kieran. He just wanted to see Will struggle for a little while. He wanted to be the one to help his little brother for once. His parents always looked at him like he was a burden to Will. Dan’s hand started shaking from withdraw. It had been a few years, though the drug use never seemed to leave him alone, especially the withdraw symptoms. He stopped thinking about Will and his hand stopped shaking. Dan looked up at Monica, who was still ranting about the O’Meara family. When she looked over at him though, she stopped talking.
“Dan…” she said, and pointed to her own nose. Dan lifted his hand to his nose and felt wetness. When he looked at his hand, his fingers were coated with blood.