Page 6

The Russian leaned on the wall, picking dirt from his nails with a large knife. Fucking creep.

“You know it’s true, Russian git.”

“Then you cannot stay here. Neither you, nor your family.” His deep, flat voice made me bristle. That accent, which seemed to grow thicker each time he wanted to make a point, was like the breath of death on my skin.

Had I been a dog, the fur on the back of my neck would have stood up straight.

“Your home has been infiltrated.” He put the knife away, and it made an audible schunk as it slipped into the sheath at his hip. “You will come to our house, and we will use your men to double the guards.”

Who was he to give me orders in my house?

“Absolutely not! I wouldn’t trust you to organize a piss up in a brewery, much less with my family.”

The corner of Jericho’s lip tilted up. Just one corner. “Do you trust your cousin, Dairo?”

I straightened. I trusted Dairo with my life. Everyone knew that.

“He lives at my house more than here, since my daughter chooses to spend her time with her family and not this…” He waved his hand around to indicate the house. “Not this creepy place.”

“Considering your gothic mansion, I don’t think you have the right to call anyone else’s abode creepy ,” I retorted, lifting a brow.

His house was a castle worthy of the crumbling House of Usher. Though, I supposed the foundation may be more stable, now that Aoibheann had breathed life into it.

Jericho pushed off the wall, taking one step towards us. I placed myself between him and my family, as if he was going to snatch them out of my grasp.

“Your house was just infiltrated. Burn it to the ground. It is no longer secure, Irish !”

“I won’t trust my family in your home, Russian!”

“But he’s right, Eoghan.” Aoibheann’s soft voice made us both swing our heads in her direction.

Her wide, green eyes stared at me with worry as she placed a slender hand on Kira’s shoulder.

Had she forgiven me for what I let happen to her?

What my father had done to her? Aoibheann was not a woman who lied, even though she was certainly adept at keeping secrets.

Her eyes never lied… even when she had been the cause of my father’s death.

Her green eyes were a window to her intentions, and she was scared for my family.

“It’s best if you all come with us. We consolidate assets, double the protection.

” She looked between me and her husband, as she made promises she knew he would keep because she was the one making them.

“We can go to a safe house, hire extra security. The more protection around the child, the better. It’s no less than what I would want for our own. ”

Her free hand went down to her belly. As if the child in her agreed, it kicked, her belly contorting and a visible footprint pressed out, then disappeared.

Were it not for Aoibheann… were it not for what my father did to her…

Were it not for my pledge to do right by her from now on…

“I’ll consider it, Aoibheann.” I looked at Kira. She was staring at Jericho, mistrust coloring her warm, brown eyes. Neither of us were convinced. “Thank you, for your kind offer.”

“That’s all I ask, Eoghan.” Aoibheann smiled sweetly. “We’re family, no? If not by your father, by Rose and Dairo. We have many bridges to build. I’m willing if you are.”

Christ, it was better than I deserved. Her, Shiny… I had failed the people who should have been in my care.

“I’m willing.” I lowered my head in shame. “We’ll come. But I must set this house in order first.”

I couldn’t just cut and run. My Army trained here. My people were here. Abandoning them wasn’t an option. If there was a snake in our nest, then I had to cut off its head with my own iron blade.

The comms in my ear crackled before Shiny’s voice came through. “We need you, boss.”

I could also hear her voice in the hallway, and her jaunty, sharp footsteps alerted me to her approach.

She was still in my earpiece when she popped through the door.

She flicked her thumb out the door, telling me she needed a private word.

“We’re still figuring out what happened, but I think you need to be there. ”

I nodded, moving to leave the room when my Muse’s voice halted me in my tracks.

“Wait!” Kira put our son on the ground. He lifted his hands, closing and opening his fists, wanting to be held again. “Sweety, can you stay here with your Aunt—uh—Grandma Aoibheann?”

Kira looked at Aoibheann, wondering how she preferred to be addressed. I was curious about the answer myself.

Aoibheann smiled, and shrugged. “I think Aunt might be best. I’m not quite ready to be a grandma.”

She was my age, so aunt felt better too. Though, she had been married to my Dad, and was technically Dairo’s mother-in-law, if only through adoption and marriage. What an incestuous lot we were becoming…

We needed new blood before our family tree started looking more like a wreath.

“Stay with Aunty Aoibheann for just for a second? Mommy has to do something,” Kira instructed.

Cillian looked… angry. He pouted, his arms crossed, and he stomped his right foot.

It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I felt like the Grinch, my heart growing three sizes, ready to burst from my chest.

Kira turned to me. “I need to know how we’re securing my son. I need to know–”

“You don’t need to justify yourself to me, wife.” I reached out a hand to her. “Come, if you like. You don’t need my permission.”

I swear, Aoibheann placed her hands over her chest as though I’d just made a romantic gesture. Jericho rolled his eyes.

I did not care. Kira and I had so much to say to one another, so much to discuss. She understood me so little, and I yearned for her to know me.

My arms were empty without her in them. Couldn’t she see that?

Every time I thought that we could finally talk, something always got in the way. Like an explosion, or a high-speed pursuit…

Christ, what I would do for a moment of peace.

“Come,” I beckoned her with the curl of the fingers of my outstretched hand.

To my relief, she placed her palm in mine, holding on tight.

Together, we walked down the hall, Shiny striding ahead of us.

“Every second end table in this hall has a gun,” I said quietly to Kira, tapping one of the end tables as we passed it. “Open the drawer, the bottom comes out.”

She looked appalled.

“We can’t have that when we have a son! He’ll get to them, and…" Kira shook her head. “We cannot have unsecured guns around a house with a child in it.”

Fuck . Mafia life was truly not conducive to having tiny humans. I clenched my jaw.

I was not ready to be a father…

“I’ll have them removed, then. But we must be able to protect ourselves against attack.”

Like today, we needed weapons stowed around. I refused to be defenseless.

“An unsecured gun in a house is more likely to kill the occupants than an invader,” she said.

I scoffed, “Right, if we were any other family , I would agree. But we are Greens, sweet Muse. We cannot be–”

“Biometrically locked weapons safes in the walls.” She cut me off. “We have a generator that kicks in, in the event of a power loss, right?”

“Aye.” It was an inappropriate time to get hard at the thought of her competence, but I wasn’t fighting it very much either.

“I can install them myself.” She let out a small sigh. “Fingerprints at a minimum, but biometric and retinol scanners are better. You can’t just have them in drawers…”

“As you wish,” I whispered, squeezing her hand and leaning down to place a kiss on her temple. “I’ll see to it.”

“Thank you, Eoghan.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m always prepared for a fight, when you haven’t fought me on anything.”

Relief went through me, cooling my skin.

“Does that mean you’re willing to work with me? Willing to trust me?”

“I have to.”

“Hardly the enthusiastic consent I had hoped for, but I’ll take what I can get.”