The Untouchables by J.J. McAvoy

ages.
    “He caught one. He was just getting over his trip from the hospital and still a bit weak. I was surprised he caught anything. I just wanted him to get fresh air and relax. We camped out by the lake, but when I woke up in the morning, Liam was gone…”
    “Sedric!” I slapped his arm.
    “Ouch. Damn it, woman!” he yelled, holding onto me tighter. “I found him, didn’t I? The little brat took the boat, went out on the water and fished until he caught eighteen fish. Kid was half frozen, his fingers were cut from the wires. I never wanted to kick his ass so much!”
    I could see how now, years later, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the memory of it.
    “He was so determined to out-do us all. He could have stopped at ten, but no, the damn kid had to double it. He was so proud of himself, even though he reeked to high heaven,” he added.
    “That sounds like our Liam. He has to be number one, and everyone has to know it.” I laughed.
    “Yeah.” He kissed my head. “It’s how I knew he was the one who was going to take over. Liam could barely stand to bow down to me. If it were Neal or Declan, I know he would have broken away or killed them. Never in my life was I more grateful to Neal than when he accepted it without question.”
    “That’s because he’s like you and never wanted to be in charge. He hates working under pressure.” I would never admit it, but Neal’s fun craziness came from me.
    “Your biggest success was finding Mel, you know that, right? Liam would not be half the man he is now if it weren’t for her,” I added.
    “Both a good and bad thing. Good for the family and the company. The world may just hate me for it. Liam feeds off of her, and she him. They both like to out-do the other and it’s scary. Liam would have killed Shamus, but Melody pulled him back.”
    I could see it in his eyes. Pride. They were finally growing.
    “What are you going to do?” I asked for the third and final time.
    He kissed me before sitting up. “I’m going to have a talk with my father.”

SEDRIC
    There comes a time in every child’s life where they have to look their parents in the eye and say enough.
    I always wondered when that time would come. Or how I could look my demon of a father in the eye, whilst standing with my head held high with no fear. We are all afraid of something or someone. Shamus had always been that person. Yet, as we walked through the back woods behind our home, I felt nothing…and nothing was a familiar feeling.
    It was how I spent almost thirty years running the family. There were brief moments of relief; the moment I met Evelyn, the moment each of my children were born, and the moment Evelyn came back to me. But that nothingness was always there eating away at me.
    “I didn’t seek company,” Shamus spoke in the darkness, as the wind blew the leaves above us.
    “I didn’t seek your presence,” I said to him, moving to stand beside the tree. I hated coming this far back in our property, but I still made the trip once a year with Evelyn, just to see the tombstones that rested right under the tress. One for my mother and one for the daughter we never got to raise.
    “I told you that boy of yours was going to cock-up everything I’ve built.”
    I didn’t reply for a moment, enjoying the chill of the wind as we stood.
    “Why are you back here, Shamus?”
    “Because death is coming,” he replied. Turning to me, I noticed for the first time he held a gun in his hand. “You have no idea what you did when you arranged for their marriage. There are rules even we have to follow.”
    “Any rules I broke was because you failed to teach,” I replied. “Are you truly going to kill me out here, in the woods, in front of my own mother and daughter?”
    “Not you,” he said before turning the gun onto himself.
    Before I could blink, the shot echoed through the night. His body fell onto the leaves, and I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not even a little