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4

CONOR

“Why’s my place becoming the center of operations?”

I shot Finn a tired half-grin. “Yours is the biggest plus you have the house next door.”

He grunted as he rocked back in an armchair. “You look like shit.”

“I look like an engaged man,” I retorted, my weariness fading at the thought of the ring on Star’s finger.

His brows lifted. “Only you’d propose in the middle of a siege.”

“Technically, it was after the siege, and it was a good moment.”

Finn shook his head. “I gave Aoife the shittiest courtship in history, but I think I still beat you.”

“The shittiest? Has to be better than Da’s.”

“Thanks for making me feel worse, Conor, because I don’t even know now.”

My lips curved. “You’ve got a lifetime to make it better.”

“Already fucked up too many times. I know I’m on my last chance,” he admitted, “and I don’t mind. I deserve that because she deserves the world.”

“She does.” I nodded. “Aoife’s the best. I love how she takes everything in stride.”

“Had to. Back before we got married, one day, Eoghan comes into the apartment with… Jesus, I don’t even remember who it was now. But he’d been stabbed. She offers to start sewing him up because of her training at culinary school. She’s a born mob wife. Just didn’t realize it.”

“Shame we’re turning legit then, isn’t it?” I mocked.

“That’s not guaranteed. Plus, it’ll always be there. Buried deep under the rug. Our ties weak. We need a good front and Aoife’s bakery will provide that.”

“How’s it going on convincing her to let us help her expand?”

“She’s driving a hard bargain.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning she wants royalties.”

“On her recipes?”

“Yup.” His eyes twinkled. “So fucking proud of her. I told Aidan that she’ll fuck him up the ass and he needs to thank her if he wants Shay in the White House.”

“What did he say?” I asked around a yawn.

“He said she’d be gentler than Savannah, so he’s good with it.”

Lips quirking, I sighed as I took a sip of coffee. “Tell her to add ten percent to whatever her royalties are.”

“I did.” He smirked again before, concerned, asking, “How did it go today?”

“They had it under control. Pussy patrol for the win.” At his snort, I continued, “How about with Dagda?”

“He could be better. He’s in one of our ‘hospitals.’”

I nodded. “Aoife didn’t want to see him?”

“I think she’s considering it.”

“Life’s short…”

“It is. I think she’s torn.”

“Between?”

“He killed Da and her stepmother. He’s her uncle.” He sighed. “It’s complicated and I don’t think she can handle complicated right now.”

“Understandable.”

“Yeah, I think so. I won’t push it but if Dagda codes in the middle of the night or something, I’ll tell her and she can make an informed decision.”

“Best way.”

“What are you working on?”

“Pinning Foundry’s and Smythe’s locations down.”

“You’re taking them out?”

“Star wants to and I think it’ll give her closure before we pass this to Interpol and let them handle the Sparrows.” My phone buzzed and I smiled when I saw it was a text message.

Star: Be Your Love - Bishop Briggs

Me: Still talking to Finn. Will listen in a little while.

Star: Dagda updates?

Me: Finn says it’s looking rough.

“What is it?”

“Star’s awake.”

“Unsurprising—it’s been a hell of a day.”

I blew out a breath. “You’re not wrong. Getting Troy and Lyra settled next door wasn’t easy. Sorry for wrecking Saturday dinner.”

“Don’t worry about it. Wasn’t like you wanted that shit to go down. If it weren’t for you, Dagda would be dead.”

“That close?”

He hummed.

“Fuck. I’m not sure what to say to that.”

“Why?” he inquired.

“He killed Star’s mom.” Never mind his role in Da’s death. “She wanted him dead, but I’m not sure now. She asked about him so maybe she’s changed her mind.”

“Maybe she wants to question him?”

“Could be. What did Eoghan tell you about Jorgmundgander?”

“Everything.”

“Crazy, no?”

“Insane. I thought he was talking about a Marvel movie at first.”

“How are you fuckers my brothers and don’t watch any of those movies?”

“I’ve seen a couple. I’m just not a nerd like you.” Ignoring my scoff, Finn drawled, “I’m not surprised though. Ever since Eoghan told me he worked for MI6, I knew he was involved in crazy stuff. It explains why his PTSD gets worse even though we thought he was out of action.”

“Yeah, I guess it does. The pressure doesn’t relent.” I blinked. “I wish…”

Finn took a sip of his scotch. “What do you wish, Kid?”

“That he’d had other options. That he’d never gotten into this shit. That he could have been a fucking teacher if he wanted or a goddamn chef.”

“That’s on Da,” he rumbled, his gaze on the amber liquid in his glass.

“It was. What are you going to do about Jake?”

“Give him options.”

“The Five Points will die out without an O’Donnelly at the head…”

He snorted. “If you think any offspring of Savannah O’Donnelly isn’t going to love the mob as much as she does, you’re mistaken.”

“Fair point,” I agreed with a laugh, and it was so fair that it put an end to that subject. “Thanks for letting Kat and Star stay the night, Finn.”

Waving a hand, he dismissed, “Of course. You’re welcome to stay longer if you’d like.”

“I’m not sure what our next moves are, to be honest. I thought this was a pit stop but now I’m not so sure if she wants to take Foundry and Smythe out.”

“The offer’s there. You can stay here or at your penthouse. You have choices.” He studied me over his glass. “You trust the United Brotherhood, Conor?”

“I don’t trust anything that sits in the shadows and has so much control over the world. But , I think Kuznetsov means well, even if he makes mistakes.”

“What’s insane to me is how he let all that happen to Star when she’s his granddaughter.”

“He was trying to find her. I know that much.”

“The Sparrows hid her? Could they have learned of her family ties?”

“There’s no way of knowing unless we get one of these bastards to talk.” With blurry eyes, I skimmed Smythe’s diary for the following week. “Smythe and Foundry are the remaining two at the top of the tree. Reinier is in United Brotherhood custody.” I didn’t tell him what that entailed. “DeLaCroix was the leader so we have to assume one of those three took over the mantel once his identity was exposed and he was arrested.”

He tipped his head to the side. “After everything you’ve told me, if the end goal is to kill everyone who hurt Star and her uncle’s murderer, then DeLaCroix needs to die too.”

“He’s in jail.”

“So? Like that matters.”

Silently, I pondered the situation for a moment. “She’s okay with them rotting away in a cell.”

“She is, but this is different, isn’t it? He was actively involved in her and Aleks Kuznetsov’s downfall.”

“Think Eoghan should handle the situation?”

Finn shrugged. “If you want. It’d be a challenge for him. Nice for The Whistler to stretch his wings for once. I’m thinking he’s gotten used to simple hits.”

My lips twitched. “I’m sure he’d prefer a different kind of challenge.”

“Wouldn’t we all?” he mocked.

“True. We go where our skill sets take us.”

I let my thoughts wander a touch.

Star had never mentioned slaughtering DeLaCroix, and it wasn’t like she didn’t have vengeance constantly on her mind…

Narrowing my eyes at my brother, I drawled, “I’ll speak with Eoghan.”

“Not to be devil’s advocate here, but how much longer do you think he has left to live anyway?”

“Not long, I’d imagine. He’s bound to have enemies.”

“I know he’s in protective custody because there have been some attempts on his life,” Finn mused.

“Where are you going with this?” I grumbled.

“I’m thinking we let nature take its course.” A gleam sparked in his eyes. “And, I’m thinking we make a bet.”

“On how long he lives?”

He grinned at me. “Yup. I bet you that Rolex your grandda gave you that he gets killed in jail soon.”

Studying him, I asked, “Daily brownies for life.”

He started playing with his wedding ring. “You can have that anyway.”

“Nah. I always buy ‘em. But you have to pay Aoife in lieu.”

“You have weird priorities, Kid.”

“That comes as a surprise, why?”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“How soon?”

“A week.”

“I think… five days.”

Finn tipped his glass at me. “Five days and Star, Dead To Me, and Troy can’t be behind the trigger. Eoghan either.”

I grumbled, “You’re no fun.”

“I’m plenty fun,” he retorted. “Anyway, why do I recognize that Troy chick?”

“She was in the news about twenty years ago. She’s Altin ?ela’s daughter.”

His brows lifted. “The Kelmendi kidnapping?”

“Yeah.”

“I had a hundred thou on Kelmendi winning the Belmont Stakes,” he groused. “I was wicked pissed.”

“Happened the day before the race, didn’t it?”

“Yup. So, she’s the daughter?”

“Apparently.”

“Huh. You get around, Kid.”

My nose crinkled. “I do. But that’s it for me today. I need to crash.”

“You get what you were looking for?”

“I did, and it was a happy, albeit unsurprising surprise.”

“How can a surprise be unsurprising?”

“Because people are always idiots, but you can have faith in their common sense, and then when they prove you were right in the first place, it’s an unsurprising surprise.”

“Okay, less of the logic. What’s unsurprisingly surprising?”

“Foundry has a meeting with Smythe this week in his office here.”

Finn’s brows rose. “Seriously?”

I smiled. “Seriously.”

“Two birds. One stone.”

“Exactly. I’m sure Star will be pleased to know they’re making it easy for us.”

“You still have to get through security,” he commented. "The AG and the White House chief of staff? Ain't gonna be easy to get past their guards."

My smirk made an appearance as I logged out of my computer. “Finn, you didn’t see them today. They’re fucking unstoppable. As a team, no one can hit us and no one would dare get in our way.”

It was like being in my personal Bourne movie, but that was between the nerdy kid who still inhabited my soul and me.

Finn, however, shook his head as he got to his feet. “No one’s unstoppable. Plan accordingly. I’d hate for you to finally find her only for it to end with your asses getting arrested or worse, killed.” With that, he patted my shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning, Kid.”

As he left, I stared blindly at my blank computer screen then, with a sigh, switched it back on.

He was fucking right.

As I got to work, my only consolation was that I had the chance to listen to the song Star sent.

And it made me smile.