The Shield's Fate

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cal

Gilmore Island is a particularly small island off the coast of the UK. It's about an hour flight from Dublin. Gilmore hosts one of the most elite universities in the country, Legacy University. It's infamous because many elites, many prominent mafia families especially, send their children here to receive their college education. Most of them just go in to take after their parents, but some of them actually use their degrees, I suppose.

Mira's younger sister, Martina, attends uni here and is currently attending summer session – hoping to graduate early. Ronan sent Parker here last fall to get information from Colm and Mason Tomlin, my younger cousins. Sure enough, Parker discovered that Colm and Mason knew the awful truth – that their father had a direct hand in helping Andres Vitali take down Cillian and James and put them both in prison. And worse than that, that Cormac Tomlin was the reason Iris was kidnapped and brutalized.

Needless to say, there's not a lot of love between my father's and Iris's father's side of the family and the Tomlins – especially since my aunt Vanessa died giving birth to her youngest boy, Theo.

Parker's got us a rental house for the week we're here on the outskirts of campus. The house is over a cliffside and is more than close quarters. There wasn't much available on the rather remote island. Mickey and Joe share a room, Viv gets the other room, and Sean and Iris share the third bedroom. Parker posts up on the sofa and I'm stuck in the creepy ass basement. But I wasn't about to let Viv sleep down here in the twin bed that's certainly going to kill my back.

I'm not here for luxury.

I'm here to figure out what to do with my idiot cousins.

Mickey and Joe scout the island for any potential threats. Iris, Sean, Parker, Viv, and I sit outside in the yard, sunbathing and talking strategy.

"I don't think Mason knows much," Parker tells us. "He's pretty much Colm's lackey. More the muscle than the brains. However, Mason does rein Colm in when he starts acting reckless. Colm is just an attack dog. He didn't know what his father would do..."

This information sits heavy with me.

Iris seems unsettled and I'm starting to wonder if it was a huge fucking mistake bringing my cousin here, making her live through this all when she was doing so well. Sean seems to read her too. He takes her hand wordlessly. I watch as he rubs small circles over her wrist.

I turn to Viv, wanting her opinion.

She leans back in her chair, adjusting the sunglasses on her face.

"Maybe, it's worth a deeper conversation," she says.

"Meaning?" I ask.

"Do you think we can trust him, Parker?" Viv asks.

Parker winces. "I'm not sure. I don't know to what level. Colm is unpredictable. Mason will do whatever his brother thinks is right."

"You think we should strike an alliance?" I ask Viv.

"It's a possibility. To avoid a full out war..." she mutters.

"I agree with Viv," Iris nods. "Too much death already. We can't risk anymore."

"So, a conversation," I say. I roll my neck, hoping to fuck I am making the right call.

Viv offers a tight smile, making me feel like I could do just about anything.