The Squad

“Dad!” He said the one word before holding out the folder Mancini had just given to them.

The first thing I noticed was the family crest. I looked from it to Mancini, but that asshole just had a smarmy look on his face. Then I started reading through the sheaf of papers and got madder with each damn sentence. “Tell me you made this shit up.” He held his hand up.

“Scout’s honor.” By now, the others who had been alerted by my raised voice turned to look at us. “Out of all of us, you and the kid Track are the only ones who are actually descended from the nobility. He’s a little more royal than you, though.” Everyone was interested at this point but all I felt was numb. This shit has got to be some kind of cosmic joke. I hate those fucks worse than poison.

I kept rereading the piece of paper that had my family lineage going back to some fuck who had the misfortune to save some asshole British king way back when that shit meant something. The only thing is, this fuck was French, and the guy he saved was English, and everyone knows those two can’t stand each other.

“Wait, this fuck saved his enemy?”

“Apparently he didn’t agree with his country going to that particular war and decided to do his own thing. Sound familiar?”

“Eat shit, dafuq am I supposed to do with this shit?” Something caught my attention, and I jumped on that shit like a lifesaver.

“Now, I know you’re full of shit. It says here this fuck’s name was Lyon, but you said my ancestor who was part of this elite shit was on my mother’s side…” I stopped talking at the look on his face.

“About that, didn’t your parents ever tell you that they’re distant relatives?” I think I’m going to throw up.

Elena and the doc were on the island because no way was I leaving them behind when I thought we were coming here to be quarantined. I could go ask them, but I don’t think he’d lie to me about that. It’s odd that I never asked about mom’s maiden name before, but since we’ve never been close to any of my parents’ extended family, it just never came up.

I guess I just always assumed that their families were living elsewhere, and since our grandparents were already gone, it just never seemed that important to me. I need cousins and shit like a hole in the fucking head.

“How distant?”

“It’s legal, and it’s also something your ancestors and their kind did back then to keep the bloodline pure. You know how you noble types are.” This shit just keeps getting worst. “You gonna stop saying that shit?” My kids were eating this shit up while I was trying to figure out a way to keep it from leaving this room.

“Your kid is on the move.” I thought Law was trying to distract me because of everyone in the room except for my guys; he’d be the one to notice the signs that I was about to lose my shit. But when I looked at the monitor, I saw Mengele hop down from the stool she’d been sitting on and go running for the stairs that led up from the basement.

Seconds later, the door to the office opened, and one of Mancini’s men stood there. “The Flanagans just landed.” Mancini just nodded and sat back in his chair with a half worried look on his face, something I’ve never seen before. The crease in his forehead only seemed to grow deeper the longer I looked at him.

Then he cleared his throat and seemed to come to his senses. “Listen up all of you.” Each man in the room turned from what he was doing and gave Mancini their full attention. “There might be a situation here in a little bit.”

“What sort of situation?” Logan, who hadn’t said much of anything since we got here which was new for him, was the one to ask.

“Arianna Rossi…uh, Flanagan is a wild card. Her mother was one of us. Arianna was made to believe that her mother was murdered because of her dad’s connection to the mob, but the truth is she was a high-level member of our group. She’s going to find that out today. Hopefully, her husband can contain her, but…”

He left it hanging there, but if she was the one responsible for leaving that asshole pinned to the wall with an arrow through his neck, then I’m thinking he’s sugarcoating this shit.

“But what?” It was Connor’s turn to jump in.

“She’s one of us, as time goes on and the more I reveal to you about who we are, you’ll know what that means. For now, just know that she’s our responsibility. Do not make the mistake of treating her like one of your wives; she’s not.”