River of Styx

Chapter Six

(This chapter contains talk of sexuality & sexual preferences.  Fairly PG-16 but wanted to warn you)

Mulligan's Pub
Boston

Neala Mulligan couldn't help the chuckle that escaped while listening to her oldest rant on the other end of the phone.  Then came the indignation that she could be amused when he was dealing with a women like Kennedy Cole.  But her amusement dissipated quickly hearing how disrespectfully Finn was talking about the lass. 

     " Enough!" Her voice cutting but never raised.  " Are you reporting that you can't do the job assigned to you?  That one singular women is too much of a handful for you and your cousins to handle?" She questioned her voice no longer a mothers but as Sean Mulligan's wife, a mafia queen. 

     " No mum" he answered with a tight voice

     " Is the care of one of ours bellow your station as heir?" She questioned needing her son to realize how important this was.  Needed him to remember what they'd lost and why this was a hard line.  If it was just frustration, then that was fine.  But Neala knew what could fester even in their family.

" Mum I'm sorry. I crossed a line. Kennedy is a fine lass. I meant no true disrespect. I promise." Her eldest voice held worry now and Neala forced herself to take a moment before she responded.

"Okay then" she murmured " The trailers will be delivered by this afternoon. Your father will be contacting you later with other developments." Neala informed needing to end this conversation. With a simple love you she hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

Sometimes she wished above all else that she could go back in time. See where she'd gone wrong. But you couldn't change the past, only learn from it. In her heart and mind she knew Finn was a good man at his base. But she was also now fiercely protective of any of the women in their family.
A soft knock on the office door pulled her from her thoughts.

" Aunt Neala, everyone's here" Dervil announced popping her head in the door.

Following her niece out into the bar Neala looked over the group of women gathered. The bar wouldn't open for another couple hours. And while the doors were heavily guarded, not a single man was allowed for these meetings. Joining them Neala took a seat beside Ella who was still with them after a year. On her daughters other side sat Greer who after a look at Neala got the meeting started. 

      These meeting had started when it became clear that the men in the family censored what they told the women.  Lia's Return, Ella's existence, a child's betrayal.  These were just the personal reasons Neala had for bringing the women together.  They were done being pawns in the game.  To be used against their husbands, their children taken from them.  Never again Neala vowed as Greer gave everyone an update on current events. 

     " I'd like a couple more lads with Kennedy if we can work it out.  Sean isn't happy with the club currently on site and even Magnus and Crow say they sound like a weak club.  Initially the hope was that they'd offer another layer of protection.  But half of them left the day she arrived." Neala spoke up when Greer was done.

" Crow is having Cript look into the club while he's in South Caroline with Irish.  They're scheduled back next week" Ella offered  and Neala felt her heart clench a little.  Even after a year Ella hadn't returned once to South Carolina and Lia had kept her distance from Boston.  As for Crow, the man was now riding a fine line between his club and the family.  As he spent more time away than home. 

      Since Evander's birth eleven months before Neala had tried to help her lass heal while trying to move past her own grief. And anger too because she knew the truth about Colin. Found out herself. And while the lie was made out of kindness, it felt more like betrayal.