𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙚

Chapter 1

Ronan sighed, running his hand through the mess of hair on top of his head. It has been a very busy and long day. Getting stuck in the office with mountains of paperwork was not his idea of getting involved, but he couldn't complain. He was the youngest and he had to listen and learn. Whining about his duties wouldn't exactly prove his maturity and capability to his brothers and father. Growing up soft and innocent was not an option in their line of work, and that is precisely why he needed to toughen up. Even if nobody had criticized him for it before, he knew that he was the most sheltered from the atrocities and ugliness their line of work entailed.

"Still on the boring job?" Elroy, his second eldest brother, broke him from his little daydream. Standing by the door dressed in casual jeans and a shirt, he sported a small smile as he made his way to the chair in front of Ronan's desk. "I know I despised this part of the training."

Ronan's face lit up. Elroy was his favourite of his three brothers. Sebastian, the eldest, was simply too withdrawn and busy to hold a casual conversation with and get close to. Lars, the third brother, is dangerous, volatile and impulsive. In a way, Ronan found him too intimidating, but he was also the only person to melt Lars' hard exterior and get him to behave. This of course left him with Elroy, level-headed and patient, he knew how to unite the brothers and put them at ease. He was always present in Ronan's life, enough to even have played a parental role for him, seeing as their dad was usually too occupied to have enough time for all matters concerning his boys. Though despite their defects, Ronan knew his family, his brothers, were all good to him and to each other. Family came first and they all knew and respected this unspoken rule every second of their lives.

"Have you taken a break to eat yet?" Elroy asked.

Ronan snorted, shaking his head. "I was dealing with this mountain of papers as you can see. Lunch was the last thing on my mind."

"Well we can't have that, can we?" He got to his feet and put the finished stack of papers neatly to the side of Ronan's desk. "I called the others and they're having lunch at Father's office. I told them we'll join."

"Dad's office?" Ronan scrambled to follow after Elroy's long strides. He was by no means short, but his other brothers towered over him, another quality he couldn't make up for unfortunately.

"Did something happen?" They rarely all had lunch together on working days, let alone at his father's office. That only happened when serious matters needed to be discussed.

Elroy stopped in front of the heavy impressive double doors, a black screen imbedded in the frame waited to confirm their biometrics. He put his hand for a scan, and Ronan followed. The machine then authorized them to step in. A long blank corridor with reflective black metal led all the way to a couple other doors at the end. "We'll probably discuss the latest national security activities. Their involvement calls for concern even if they hadn't stepped on our toes." He turned a grave look at Ronan as they identified themselves again at their father's office doors. "Yet."

Ronan frowned. He wanted to ask more because he lacked a lot of the facts and information. It was times like these when he felt useless compared to his brothers. Admittedly he was much younger and inexperienced; the opposite of his brothers who had been in this world for a long time now. He had to be patient and follow directives, but he didn't know how well he'd be able to hold off.

"You two are here at last." Their father, Leonid, gestured for them to take their respective seats. Lars was wolfing down a sandwich without a care while Sebastian's lunch sat untouched. He was on a phone call pacing at the corner of the office.

"How are you finding your job?" Leonid asked his youngest. At twenty, Ronan had a lot of enthusiasm and frustration when it came to proving himself, but he also had a lot of catching up to do. He didn't go through what his brothers had for many reasons. The last thing Leonid or any of them wanted was to break Ronan's spirit. His father understood his eagerness but he feared his recklessness. Leonid's world was a dark place, the only light that has been brought to it was his family, but he had also seen some of that light go out when he witnessed loss. He wasn't willing to compromise on that front anymore. He drew the line at his boys.