揧ou haven抰 let anyone down.?
He doesn抰 respond, he simply stares at the road ahead.
揧ou think it抯 true? Was he their dad??
揌e told Em it was true. He saw her a few days ago and he told her all about it. How he and our mom had been in love. How he wanted us all to go on the run together after the twins were born, but she wouldn抰 put us kids at risk and have us living on the run. Then when she died, apparently he wanted to take the twins and leave but Patrick wouldn抰 have it. He almost killed him and that was when Paul left and didn抰 look back.?
揊uck!?I breathe as I lean back in my seat. That is some information to digest. Our mom and our Uncle Paul? It doesn抰 make sense to me. She was terrified of our dad, she would never have risked her own life, never mind our lives, like that.
揧ou think his version of events is true??
揥ho knows what that sadistic prick was capable of? But that抯 what he told Em and that抯 what I抣l be telling the twins,?he frowns at me.
揙f course,?I agree. There抯 an alternative version of events that I can抰 help thinking about because we both know our uncle doesn抰 particularly care about consent, but perhaps he was a different man back then? Maybe he really did love our mom? She was so excited when she found out she was having twin boys; I can抰 imagine that they were conceived in anything other than love.
揂nd what about our little runaway??I ask.
揑 feel like putting her on a leash,?he snaps.
揘ow that could be very interesting,?I chuckle and I see the hint of a smile on his face.
揝he will give me a heart attack one of these days.?
揧up. She did get the job done though.?
揝he could have gotten herself killed,?he sighs.
揑 know. But she didn抰。 She抯 safe. We抮e all okay and the Wolf is gone.?
揑f something had happened to her though厰
揃ut it didn抰， and you抣l drive yourself crazy thinking otherwise. You抣l also drive yourself crazy trying to control Jessie Ryan. She抯 a law unto herself and the sooner we realize that I think the easier our lives will be.?
揥hat are you saying??he frowns at me.
揑抦 saying that just because she抯 submissive when it comes to fucking, it doesn抰 mean that goes for any other area of her life. She抯 one of the most stubbornly independent people I抳e ever met. She looked after herself for ten years. She survived things most people wouldn抰。？
揑 know that, but that抯 why I want to protect her from anything like that again.?
揑 do too, and I抦 not saying we shouldn抰 protect her. Of course we should, but she doesn抰 need our protection and that抯 the difference, Shane.?
揧ou抮e losing me, Con,?he frowns.
揢s thinking we know best for her ended up with her sneaking out in the middle of the night and almost getting us all killed. I think you were right earlier, we should have listened to her ideas instead of shutting her down. That抯 all I抦 saying. If it was Liam or Mikey we would have listened, wouldn抰 we? Even if we thought it was completely stupid we would have heard them out and probably gone along with it too.?
揧eah,?Shane admits.
揝o, I抦 saying is that Jessie is as strong as any of us, and we can say she抯 one of us, but we don抰 always treat her like that, is all.?
Shane is quiet for a few moments, digesting what I抳e just said. It抯 hard for me to admit too. 揃ut if I didn抰 have different rules for her, when would I get to punish her for breaking them??he asks with a wicked grin on his face.
揙h, I抦 not saying she抯 not going to get her ass spanked for last night or that we shouldn抰 impose all kinds of rules for her to break,?I grin back. 揃ut the big stuff? We need to let her have a voice so she doesn抰 pull any stupid shit like she did last night.?
揧ou抮e probably right,?he admits with a sigh. 揥hat the fuck am I gonna say to them all, Con??
揟he truth, bro. That抯 all they need.?
Chapter 36
Mikey
I can抰 stop looking at the clock as I wait for my two older brothers to get home. A part of me almost wants them to stay away a little longer, because then I can pretend that my world wasn抰 just completely ripped apart. I can imagine that Paul Ryan was lying when he said that he was our father and that, even worse, Shane knew, because otherwise how can the man who I respect more than anyone in this world, the man who raised us, have kept that from us? How could he have let us go through life thinking that our own father despised us?
Jessie is curled up on the sofa with Liam watching a movie while I pace the house looking for a better distraction. She is my perfect distraction, but I can hardly bear to look at her right now. To think that the man responsible for inflicting so much pain and misery on her ?the man who did all of those awful things to her ?might be my father, makes me feel sick to my stomach. Will she ever look at us the same way again? I spent most of my life wishing that I wasn抰 Patrick Ryan抯 son. How fucking ironic that now I wish for no other father but him.
The sound of the front door opening makes us all look up as Shane and Conor walk into the room. We all stare at them as they walk over and take a seat.
揑s he definitely dead??Jessie whispers.
揥ell, his head is no longer attached to his body, Angel,?Conor replies with a wink and she nods.
Shane sucks in a deep breath as he looks around the room at the four of us. 揝it down, Mikey,?he says and as much as I feel like telling him to go to hell, I take a seat beside Jessie.
We all look to him. 揑 know that I owe all of you an explanation and an apology.?
揟oo right you fucking do,?I can抰 help but snap and he scowls at me in a way that reminds me of being an unruly teenager and I sit back and shut my mouth just like I used to back then.
揑s it true, Shane??Liam asks.
揑 believe so,?Shane replies with a nod and me and my twin look at each other. I don抰 need him to speak to know that we are both thinking the same things. Jessie takes one of each of our hands in hers and squeezes as we all stare at Shane.
揑 only found out a few weeks ago before Alexei took Liam,?he says.
揌ow??Liam snaps.
揂unt Em called me. When Patrick couldn抰 get in touch with any of us, his nurse kept contacting Em, saying he needed to speak to someone and unburden himself of something. Eventually Em agreed and he told her that our mom and Paul had an affair and that he wasn抰 your biological father,?he looks to me and Liam.
揑 don抰 understand,?I frown. 揟here is no way Patrick Ryan would have stood for that.?
揂nd he didn抰。 He didn抰 know at the time, although he suspected something. But when he did find out厰
揟hat was why he killed her??Liam says what I抦 thinking.
揑t seems so,?Shane nods.
揃ecause of us??Liam adds.
揘o!?Shane barks. 揃ecause he was an evil cunt!?
揑s that why Paul left too??Conor asks. 揇id he know??
揧eah.?
揝o, he knew and he just left us with that evil fucker??I snarl. 揝o, he hated us just as much as Patrick? This just gets fucking better and better.?I pull my hand from Jessie抯 and stand up, going back to pacing the floor.
揘o. Paul told Aunt Em that he wanted to take you with him, but Patrick would have none of it. His ego wouldn抰 let people find out that his wife cheated on him with his own brother, so he gave Paul an ultimatum. Leave or he would meet the same fate as our mom.?
揝o, the coward just left!?Liam spat.
揥ell, I think we抳e all learned that Paul and Patrick Ryan were both as sick and twisted as each other.?
揝o you didn抰 know until a few weeks ago??Liam asks.