United and Dangerous by Cherie Benjamin (the speed reading book .TXT) 📕

“Look at the time.”  Sean said, hoping he could convince Elizabeth to go out to lunch with him.  “Do you know any good Irish pubs?”

“Yes, I do.”  She grinned, excited to show Sean her city.

“Would you like to show me?  I mean, would you like to go to lunch with me at the pub?”  Sean stuttered. 

Elizabeth had to giggle at the hard ass Don stuttering about asking her to lunch. 

“Are you laughing at me?” 

“No.  Well, maybe a little.  And I would love to go to lunch with you.”

Elizabeth took him to the little Irish pub that she went to when she missed her sister.  Mulleady’s Irish Pub was a tradition for her.  It boasted Irish fare, weekend brunch, and whiskeys galore in an elevated pub with woodwork & stone fireplaces.  They also provided her favorite, a wonderful Irish stew.  They sat with their bowls of stew and a pint of Guinness and continued to get to know each other.  At the end of lunch, Elizabeth decided that she wanted to pursue a relationship with Sean O’Leary and see where these feelings went. 

After lunch, Sean walked Elizabeth back to her door.  “I had a wonderful time.”

“So did I.”

“I guess I will see you on the plane back to Boston.”

“Yes.”

“Fuck, Elizabeth, may I kiss you?”

“Please.” 

Sean slowly moved in and captured her lips in a  sweet but passionate kiss.  Finally pulling away, he looked deeply into her lovely green eyes.  “I have wanted to do that for so long.  It was even better than I could ever dream.”

“I know what you mean.  I hope this is the beginning of something special.”

“It will be.  I see a very bright future for us.”  Sean implored.  Then kissed her once more.  “I will see you tomorrow morning.”

“Have a good evening.”

“I won’t, because you won’t be with me.”

Elizabeth smiled at the comment and went into her apartment before she asked him to stay.  She needed time to think about all that had happened.

Sean left with a spring in his step and love in his heart.  He was so lost in this red headed lass.

The rest of the afternoon, Elizabeth called Ara and filled her in on her date, yes she considered it a date with Sean and the plans for the funeral.  When she found out the amount of people who would be in attendance from the family, she broke down and cried.  She might have Irish blood running through her veins, but her family was Italian. 

When the members of the Leone/Morotti families, along with her parents, Monica and Anthony Servillo, boarded the plane, Elizabeth handed out an itinerary of the events for Lisa’s funeral, that she and her father had organized.

Prior to leaving Seattle, Elizabeth had placed an obituary in the Boston Globe.  Lisa’s body was currently being kept at O'Brien’s Funeral Home, in the south end of Boston.  Because of the time constraints and the condition of Lisa’s body it would be a closed casket.  It was planned that a mass would be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, followed by a graveside service.

Kane and Ara had agreed to have the family and Coven team members stay at the townhouse.  Sean had agreed to escort Peter, Elizabeth, and her parents, the Servillos, to the funeral home to make the arrangements. 

Upon entering the funeral home, Elizabeth became ill, and was glad she had Monica and Anthony there for support, as well as Sean.  Elizabeth and Peter selected a beautiful white casket. It would be covered in an enormous spray of pink and white roses, Lisa’s favorite.  The funeral home also suggested, due to the enormity of the funeral, that a white horse drawn carriage would be a nice touch for the procession from the funeral home to the cathedral, and then to the cemetery.  Peter mumbled that he didn’t see anything wrong with a hearse, but Elizabeth and Sean both vetoed that idea, and arranged for the carriage.  It was to be drawn by two beautiful white horses bearing pink feather plumes.

Elizabeth asked Peter if she would be permitted to access Lisa’s wardrobe to select an outfit, to which he agreed.  They picked out the traditional Irish prayer book and cards, which would be available to visitors at the cathedral entrance. 

The funeral director requested a picture of Lisa that would be used for a poster to be displayed on an easel next to the coffin at the church.  Peter acquiesced that he would provide a current photo.

After all the arrangements were made, everyone retreated back to the Leone townhome, where there would be a small reception held in Lisa’s honor.

Elizabeth was feeling extremely emotional and drained.  Monica suggested that she may want to lie down and rest for a while.  Sean said he would take her up to her room and see that she rested.  They sat for a while as Elizabeth recanted the various adventures she and Lisa had while they were growing up.  Sean listened attentively as she  reminisced about her childhood, and noticed that, after a moment of silence, Elizabeth had drifted off to sleep.  Sean placed a quilt that was sitting in a chair to the side over Elizabeth, lightly kissed her forehead, and left her to rest.

The day of the funeral dawned with bright sunshine, blue skies, and unseasonably warm temperatures.  Elizabeth felt refreshed as she arose for the day.  She heard a knock on the door, and opened it to find Ara and Monica with a tray of breakfast foods.  The three women sat on the bed chatting about the events for the day, while Ara and Monica made sure Elizabeth was supported in any way they could.

After donning a simple black tank dress and heels, along with her cross necklace, the family Bible, and rosary that she had been given by Peter the day before, she was ready to face the daunting task of saying her final farewell to her beloved sister.

Limousines were lined on the street outside the townhouse to take all the family members directly to Holy Cross cathedral.  Elizabeth rode with Kane, Ara, Sean, Peter, and Monica and Anthony.  Sean held her hand tightly throughout the ride to the church, and continued to stay firmly by her side during the greetings, and service.

Once the casket was placed into the horse drawn carriage, all in attendance followed on foot to the cemetery, which was a half a mile up the road from the cathedral.  The Boston Premier Bagpipe unit led the processional up the hill to the cemetery. 

After the Bishop gave the sermon and the traditional benediction, Elizabeth rose from her seat and stepped up to the podium that had been provided.  This was to be her only opportunity to speak for and to Lisa.  With a handkerchief in her left hand, and a rosary in her right, she began. 

“My name is Elizabeth O’Donnell Servillo, and I am Lisa’s older sister.  I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with my wonderful sister over the last couple of years, but I loved her any less.  She was my sunshine.  Lisa was a beautiful woman, with a loving and caring spirit.  Her presence among us was too short, and she will be truly missed.  I would like to say the traditional prayer of our Irish brethren.

Death is nothing at all.

It does not count.

I have only slipped away into the next room.

Everything remains as it was.

The old life that we lived so fondly together

is untouched, unchanged.

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by the old familiar name.

Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.

Put no sorrow in your tone.

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that

we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word

that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effort

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was.

There is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind because

I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you, for an interval,

somewhere very near, just around the corner.

All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.

One brief moment and all will be as it was before.

How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting,

when we meet again.

Elizabeth wiped away her tears and simply said, “ Weep nach, do tá tú i gcónaí i mo chroí.”   (Weep not, for you are always in my heart.)  As she stepped away from the podium, Sean placed his arm around her waist and held her as the mourners filed by.  The mourners each tossed a white rose upon the casket, which was lowered into the ground.  Everyone was then invited back to Sean’s home for a wake in Lisa’s remembrance.

Judith couldn’t believe she was in this tiny town that didn’t even have a Starbucks, or even one designer shop.  She was currently wearing a pair of jeans, a blouse, and tennis shoes that she purchased for $30.00 at a Walmart before she arrived in this one red light town.  She had been on her way back home when she spotted one of the members of the Leone family storming into the apartment building, and, in an instant, she knew that the idiot Donnie had been caught.  Slipping out a side door, she caught a cab and she laid on a sob story about how she was running away from an abusive relationship and the cabbie agreed to go the ATM for her, so she wouldn’t be seen on surveillance and buy her bus ticket out of town. 

The bus took six hours to get to the little town that was four hours away from Seattle.  She rented a room at the only motel/hotel in town and laid low.  She would reach out to Sebastian in a few weeks when the dust had settled, but, for now, she would just have to suffer.

After eating another terrible meal at the diner, she was walking out the door when she ran into a man.  Looking up, she became really nervous, he had on a policeman’s uniform and, when she looked at the name tag it said “Chief.”  Fuck.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”  He asked.

“Yes, I am so sorry.”

“Oh, you didn’t hurt me.  You must be new to town.”

“I am.”

“Well, welcome to Redmond.”

The weeks that followed the funeral were extremely busy.  Kane and Ara had their hands full with finishing up the plans for the Coven Commission allegiance ceremony.   The Commission members would swear their allegiance to the family, receive their tattoos, and begin designing the magna carta of the organization.  The remaining family and teams members would attend a larger scale allegiance ceremony, after which they, too, would receive their tattoo aligning them with the Coven.  Kane planned to get with Steve, his personal tattoo artist, and get the list of supplies he would need for such a massive tattoo job.  He would also have to have Steve provide him a list of the artists he was bringing in to help, and have them vetted by Simon.

Invitations were being sent to the heads of all of the American and International families. Kane had used his connections,