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5

CONOR

“How did you end up with dog-walking responsibilities?”

As we strode around the park in front of my building, Eoghan side-eyed me. “Have you ever been to New York City, Conor? What about these streets would make you think I’d let Inessa roam them with this excuse for a dog?”

His gaze was everywhere—the trees, the skyscrapers, the fucking cars.

If there was one thing I wished I could fix, it was my baby brother’s head.

Still, I hid a smirk as I looked down at Inessa’s chihuahua. “Yeah, not exactly a German Shepherd.”

“Anyway, you can’t talk. Look at you.”

I pulled a face because he had me there.

Shih Tzus.

Kat had somehow wangled two out of me—Beavis and Butthead.

“Hey, I talked Kat down from three.”

“Three. Jesus Christ. That kid’s got you wrapped around her pinkie. I’m fucking scared to know what Niall’ll be like.”

“Is it so wrong that I love ‘em?”

“Love, no, but spoiling makes brats.”

“Yeah, because you’re gonna be like Da when you’re a father,” I mocked.

He shuddered. “Don’t talk about children and Inessa in the same conversation. Swear to Christ, I’ll kill her gynecologist if she fucks up Inessa’s birth control.”

My lips twitched. “What if she wants a kid?”

He shuddered. Again. “I’ll deal with that nightmare when I have to. Fuck, do you know the statistics on childbirth in the US?”

“No, Eoghan. I just have a million sisters-in-law who my brothers happily impregnate.”

“Then you know how dangerous it is! They bleed a lot. And doctors have to stick their hands up there?—”

“Hand. Singular. And it’s not for fun,” I drawled. “They’re checking for how dilated the mom is. It’s normal.”

“Fucking normal. I’m telling you this—if men had to go through that shit, we’d have died out a long time ago.”

I hummed. “Truer words.”

“Anyway, I don’t want any doctor with their hand up there. It’s mine.”

“It’s Inessa’s. She just rents it out to you from time to time.”

His lips quirked. “I’m a great tenant. I made sure my lease was permanent. Unlike some people.”

“Star and I will get married when the time is right.”

“Inessa said you’re getting a new kid next year?”

With a roll of my eyes, I grouched, “They don’t come off a supermarket shelf, Eoghan.”

“I never said they did!”

“Inessa’s right, though.”

“How do you feel about that?”

My grin was sheepish. “Both terrified and excited. It’s another new adventure.”

“New adventure, my ass. What are Kat and Niall? Experiments?”

“Successful ones. Niall’s happy and Kat turned out?—”

“Rabid?”

“Hey! She rocks.”

“She does,” he agreed. “But she’s still rabid. You tell me she won’t be more terrifying than her mom when she’s Star’s age.”

I smirked. “It’s funny you should say that. She told me she wanted to be scarier than Star a couple months ago.”

Eoghan snickered. “I hope for your sake it’ll be another boy. You don’t wanna be outnumbered.”

I nudged him in the side. “I’m sick of guys. Grew up with too many of them.”

“I was there and remember most of it,” he teased.

“Hell.”

“Nah. You had it the easiest. Everyone treated you with kid gloves.”

“Oh, is that how I got my nickname?” I mocked.

Though he chuckled, his gaze drifted to our left-hand side as he scooped up Pebbles, tucking him under his arm. “See that car over there?”

Trying not to trip over the two Bs, who almost always managed to get their leashes twisted together, I flicked a look at the vehicle in question. “The one with the cop in it?”

Might be in an unmarked ride and wearing civilian dress, but the fucker still smelled of bacon.

“Yup. Know what they want?”

“I may be happy, Eoghan, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped doing my job.” I clucked my tongue. “They’ve been sniffing around since Brennan took care of my barber.”

“Bren didn’t kill him. I did. Made it look like a heart attack.”

I grabbed his arm. “Then why are they investigating?”

“Because he was twenty-two years old without any previous heart issues,” he drawled. “Don’t worry about it. I made it look natural.”

Rolling my eyes, I grunted, “Reassuring.”

“I live to reassure you, Kid. Don’t you know that by now? It’s pretty much my job.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I groused.

“Let the NYPD oink around. It’ll do them good to remember they’re fucking useless.” With his gaze locked on the rooftop of a nearby building, he asked, “You‘re going to Jersey tonight, aren’t you?”

Aware he was scoping out the scene for shooters, I sighed. “Yup.”

“Why?”

“We go every year,” I drawled. “You get us for Christmas Day, and they get us for Christmas Eve. It’s like we’re kids of divorced parents.”

He grunted. “You know how to put a downer on everything.”

“Well, it won’t be down tonight. They can party.”

“Who’s looking after Kat?”

“She’s coming with.”

“Is that wise? Won’t they be… rowdy?”

“What about Kat makes you think she wouldn’t feel right at home?”

“True,” he said with a huff.

“Plus, she spent a few years with them. She’s used to it. I doubt we’d be able to keep her away.”

“You’d probably have a mutiny to deal with at home.”

“Exactly.” It was my turn to shudder. “Can you imagine what the Sullivan women consider mutiny?”

He pulled a face. “I’d prefer not to think about it.”

“You and me both.”