RYDER (Slater Brothers 4)(41)

I whistled. “That’s pretty admirable.”

Ryder humourlessly chortled. “Not when you come to realise Marco raised those boys to be exactly like himself. They were evil little bastards, and I argued with my brothers to stay away from them, but the twins got bored easily and Trent and Carter provided a distraction to that boredom.”

Ryder sounded like he instantly became the parental figure to his youngest brothers, like I did with Bronagh when our parents died.

“How old were the twins when your parents’ died?” I quizzed.

“It happened a couple of weeks after their fourteenth birthday.”

I gasped. “Oh, my God!”

Ryder nodded. “I know, it was shitty timing.”

Very shitty.

“Don’t get me wrong.” I stressed.” I’m glad you’re here and that I’ve met you, but if you’re so loyal to your compound family, then why are you here in Ireland?”

Ryder’s eyes averted from mine for a moment. “We’re here on a job. Dominic’s last job, actually.”

I levelled him with a stare. “Explain.”

“I’m trying to,” he assured me. “Marco’s nephews have to be explained before we get to why we’re here, they’re directly involved in why. I promise.”

I nodded, and closed my mouth so he could continue speaking.

“A very long story short—Trent got a little too close to Nala and my brother called him out on it. My brother was only a kid, but we were raised around the mentality that no other person touches what is ours, and that included chicks. Damien was already on the edge from our parents’ murder, so when Trent moved in on his girl, he snapped.”

I hugged myself with my arms knowing this story was going to go from bad to worse real fast.

“I don’t like where this is goin’,” I mumbled.

Ryder tensed as he continued telling me what happened.

“Trent snapped, too, and he threw my father’s betrayal in Damien’s face, and he said he deserved what he got. As you can imagine, fighting ensued. Damien can handle himself very well, but Dominic lost it when he saw Trent hit him. As brothers, we’re very close, but naturally Dominic and Damien’s bond is unbreakable, and Dominic beat the shit out of Trent for laying a hand on him. The beating prompted Trent to pull out a gun he stole from his uncle, and he trained it on Damien.”

I gasped so Ryder reached over, took my hands back in his and stroked his thumb over my knuckles, which instantly relaxed me.

“Nala came to Damien’s rescue, she jumped on Trent’s back and knocked the gun from his hand. Damien picked up the gun and pointed it at Trent when he had already pushed Nala away. My brother ignored Dominic’s pleas for him to put the gun down, he focused on Trent and when that little prick brought our father back up, Damien didn’t hesitate. He shot him.”

My eyes almost popped out of my head.

“Damien shot someone?” I asked, my shock evident.

“Yes,” Ryder said as he watched my face as if trying to grasp what I was thinking.

I knew, again, he wouldn’t be able to guess what was going through my mind, because I still had no idea what to think. The information he just fed to me seemed too impossible to be real. I knew Damien, and he was sweet, caring, and his only bad trait was his womanising. He never ever came across as the kind of person who could shoot another human being.

“What happened then?” I hesitantly asked.

Ryder cringed. “A lot of bad shit.”

“I’m listenin’.”

“You’re so persistent,” he mumbled.

I shrugged. “If I’m goin’ to be with you, I need to know all of this. I can’t be with you and be blind to your history.”

Ryder gave me one sharp nod before he said, “Trent died.”

Oh, my God.

“And Marco was pissed. He wasn’t sad that his nephew was dead, just pissed off because it was a mess he had to clean up.”

I felt my insides churn.

“The heartless f*ckin’ bastard.”

Ryder sadistically grinned. “Yeah, that describes Marco perfectly.”

“What did he do to Damien?” I asked, almost scared to know the answer.

“Nothing,” Ryder said firmly. “I made sure of that, and so did my brothers’.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, and Ryder saw this.

“Marco knew I was planning on moving my family out of the compound and away from the life we had been living. Once my parents were gone, there was nothing keeping us there. Once Damien killed Trent that changed. Marco gave us an ultimatum, either Damien died in payment for Trent’s murder, or we worked off the debt.”

I blinked. “A life debt?”

Ryder nodded. “Marco sorted us into different jobs based on our individual skill set.”

I stared at him in horror. “This sounds unreal.”

“Trust me, darling, it’s more real than you can ever imagine.”

I moved closer to him and gripped his hands more firmly, letting him know that I was there for him if he needed me.

Ryder gave my hands a reassuring squeeze then said, “My attentiveness, and knack of moving around unnoticed, pushed me into drugs and weapons. It turns out I am very good at moving shipments and making deals for Marco. Kane became his enforcer, Dominic his fighter, and Alec his… buffer.”