Chapter 14

"Da fuck happened to ya? Looks like Cujo went ta town all over ya." Connor had just walked into the loft he shared with his brother to find him standing in the shower. Murphy's back was to him and Connor could see nothing but traces of red fingernail markings and indentations of what appeared to be teeth over what used to be his brother's pale backside. The tattoo he had on his right shoulder looked angry with the markings and the dried up, crusted over blood that ran down the center made the tattoo look more evil than what it was. In between working 12-14 hour shifts at the plant, Connor had been spending the past couple of nights at Rocco's going over a few plans so tonight was the first he'd seen his brother since Thursday night when they parted ways at McGinty's. Murphy on the other hand had taken a few vacation days at the last minute upon learning that Red was off work leaving Connor to fill in for him on the second shift.

While they were sitting in the bar Thursday night hassling Doc's new hires, he overheard Doc telling Rocco that he could only stay for a few minutes before the boys started tearing the bar apart. His curiosity was piqued so after Doc had disappeared behind the bar to grab his cap and coat, Connor slapped a hand on his buddy's shoulder asking where it was they were heading off too on a Thursday night. It wasn't unusual for Rocco to just randomly leave, especially when something work-related happened to pop up, but in all the years they had been going to McGinty's Connor had never once seen Doc leave the bar until well after closing and that wasn't until after everything was cleaned up, put away, and the register was counted. Even then he would usually let the twins, Rocco, and on occasion a few stragglers stay to keep him company or stay the night when they were too drunk to even stand.

"Just a little party that we got invited to. We're only going to stay for a little bit; you know congratulations, job well done, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. That kind of shit."

"Congratulations? Job well done? Doesn't sound like any party I'd want ta get roped inta going ta; what did one of yer boss's top o' da line get someone knocked up and they're celebrating da fact dat he's not shooting blanks?"

Connor had already downed a couple of shots of whiskey and was working his way through his third beer when Murphy's laugh broke through over the noise of the Thursday night crowd. Murphy was already drunker than he was; granted he had already been in the place at least an hour before Connor had showed up.

"Red's last d…d…day of school was today, she invited a few of us over for a p…pa…party…"

Doc's stuttering was cut off by another one of the regulars who added that neither of them were invited.

"Why da fuck would we want ta go? She's a fucking cunt anyway. Did ya know-"

"Murph! Shut yer fucking mouth!"

"Or what? Ya going to shut it fer me?"

The fight was on as both Doc and Rocco left the building with the new bartenders struggling to break the brothers apart. Most of the patrons surrounded the pair, encouraging their behavior while the idlers stayed firmly planted in their seats nursing their drinks and telling the tall tales of the lives they wished were as exciting as what they made them out to be. Connor knew that his brother didn't actually mean what he said, but being as drunk as he was he had no filter to stop the words from flying out. His brother wouldn't have taken three days off from work at the last minute if he didn't want to try to get back into her good graces.

Connor was brought back to reality as his brother's voice rang out over the spray of the shower head.

"Ya should see what da front looks like. By da way, she's an insatiable one; can never get enough no matter what ya do ta her or how hard ya go. If ya t'ink what she did ta me is impressive, ya should see what I did ta her."

Connor could practically hear the smirk as Murphy began scrubbing away at his hair. "Did ya actually use your words dis time or take what Charlie said literally and show up on her doorstep, naked as the day ya were born?" He already knew the answer but his curiosity had won out.

"Wouldn't say I showed up stark naked, but I had da decency to wear my robe down there. Although I t'ink I might've given da neighbors more of a peep show den originally anticipated. She said she'd be willing ta give ya a second chance too if your way of apologizing is as good as mine, but dere's no way ya can beat your older brother in da performance department."

Murphy knew that emphasizing that he was the elder of the two would always get under Connor's skin. Despite being twins neither of them knew who came out first. It was something their Ma would take to the grave and the only thing they had to go on was a cruel joke that she played on them months ago.

"Shut yer fucking mouth! I had ice on mine dat day. Just fucking hurry up, Roc's waiting fer us; says he might have a job fer us."

"You got any details dat I need ta know about? I'd rather not go inta dis job completely blind."

"No fucking clue what da hell is going on; Roc just said ta meet him at da diner tonight. Only t'ing he would tell me was dat dis guy makes da ones we've been doing look like altar boys. Sounds like it's going ta be a challenge if ya ask me. Also got some of da plans on Yakavetta worked out dat we'll fill ya in on later."

"Well den, I guess it sounds like he trusts us enough ta start moving up da corporate ladder ta much bigger fish. Just tell me dis, do any of t'ese plans involve yer stupid fuckin' rope?"

"Charlie, when I told you you could tell them that the only way they'd ever get me to talk to them was if they showed up with their pants around their ankles and wearing hard-ons; I didn't think you would actually tell them that. For God's sake, don't you know sarcasm when you hear it? For that matter, haven't you learned by now that when I'm drunk all rational thinking goes out the fucking window? I swear to God, if you ever do something like that again I will cut your balls off and use them as a fetch toy for the cats."

"You're too fucking violent, you know that? Look, I'm sorry, I didn't think either of them would do anything. Haven't you learned by now that when you start drinking, the truth comes out? But since you brought it up, let's have all the juicy details. You've been needing to get laid for a while now and your resting bitch face has eased up a bit. C'mon, tell me, was it Connor, Murphy, or both? What spaces do I have to avoid until they are sanitary again?"

Okay, I have to admit when I came into work on this crappy Monday that I did have a little extra pep in my step and having gone at least 3 or 4 rounds with Murphy had put me on cloud nine (I lost count after hitting my head on the bathroom mirror). But with this week being Christmas, I was a little more excited about getting out of Boston and going back home for the next two weeks.

"You knew exactly what you were doing when you told them so don't even try to say you're sorry. It was just Murphy and I don't think you will ever find a place to sit that is sanitized unless you buy me all new furniture including the kitchen table. I will say that I refrained from using anything in the closet. Besides, it was just sex; nothing meaningful will ever come from it. Although I wouldn't mind having it happen again. I probably shouldn't be saying anything on the subject, but he told me that after you made mention that I was off work this past weekend he called into work to take a few days off and made his brother take over his shifts. Apparently you were right about them having a plan and he was going to stretch it out over the course of the entire weekend if Friday morning had gone south."

After that, I had turned back around in my chair to try and get through some more of the boxes I had taken out of the vault. These had already been cleaned and left to dry out; today they needed to be counted, weighed, measured, and entered into the database. I had taken five boxes out of the vault and was still working on my first. However, Charlie refused to drop the subject and continued to press me for answers.

"You're holding back; something else happened during your little soiree that you're not telling me. C'mon, out with it before I start telling them all of the embarrassing stories of your childhood that you've told me during your drunken nights."

I groaned, I really have told Charlie way too much about me and I have no doubt about it that he'd find some way to use it against me. At this point, it was just easier to clear the air. For all I know he probably already has started telling them stories of my childhood although I'm sure that would pale in comparison to theirs: growing up in the rolling green hills of the Irish countryside and their poor mom trying to keep them from causing more trouble than what they were worth.

"Fine, but you cannot breathe a word of this to another living being and I mean it. No one can know that I told you this and if you do, I will deny every bit of it. This is mine to tell when I'm ready and not before."

I broke down and told Charlie everything that I had told Murphy. That I was willing to give him a second chance; that I was willing to let my guard down to let him in. If Connor wanted what I was giving his brother he'd have to come up with his own way of saying sorry. I'm not used to giving anyone a second chance when they fuck up let alone let my guard down. This was all new territory for me and I needed time; I was hoping that being home with my family for the next two weeks would be enough for me to be able to wrap my head around what I was doing.

The next couple of days flew by quickly, pretty soon it was Wednesday night and I found myself staring around the bedroom making a mental checklist to make sure I had packed everything I would need for the next two weeks. Christmas was on Saturday and there was a band of snow heading towards St. Louis that I wanted to beat before it arrived. A series of crashes echoing through the apartment tore me from my thoughts. Thinking it was someone trying to break-in through the fire escape I grabbed my gun from the dresser and made a beeline for the window, double checking to make sure the magazine was full and there was a round in the chamber.

"Connor, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Are you trying to get yourself shot just days before Christmas?" Putting the safety back on and clearing the chamber, I sighed, pulling the window open as a gust of cold wind came flying through.

"Get da gun out of my face den I can explain. Are ya going ta let me in or let me freeze my balls off out here?"

"I ought to let you freeze out there, but I guess you can come in. Just take your shoes off."

He had shoved his way through the window, pushing me off to the side. The man was crazy, but not as crazy as his brother. Murphy waltzed into my apartment like a brazened bull wearing a thinning bathrobe and just dropped it on my floor. Connor on the other hand, was wearing a black short sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. At this point it's hard to say which of the two was crazier considering that it feels like the temperature in both the great outdoors as well as the main hallway outside my door virtually felt the same.

Why did he have to choose tonight of all nights to pull this shit? Why couldn't he have done this last night? As I went to shut the window, I was almost scared to turn around. This was becoming a little bit too much like my encounter with Murphy. Not that I would complain about seeing another naked man in front of me, but they just mirror each other too much.

I caught a glimpse of Connor's reflection in the glass of the window making its approach but had no time to review the words he muttered in my ear when I felt his fingertips brush against the exposed skin of my hips from where the fleece pj pants had slightly fallen in my haste to the window; his voice was hypnotic as it dropped an octave and dripped with that…I don't know what but it sounded as smooth as molasses. Whatever it was though, it had me chewing at the interior of my bottom lip and had my brain kicking into overdrive as the words rolled off his tongue sending a rush of anticipation past the pit of my stomach and into my panties.

"Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?"

I watched in the glass as his tongue darted out and mapped out a line along the side of my neck. Closing my eyes, my head involuntarily fell back against his shoulder as my left arm reached up to ensnare his hair between my fingers; a sudden rash of goosebumps sprang up when the tip of his tongue reached my earlobe. One hand remained on my hip while his arm slowly started snaking its way across my stomach until his fingers started digging in.