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39

CONOR

PRAY FOR ME - THE WEEKND, KENDRICK LAMAR

NOON THE FOLLOWING DAY

Knowing that Star had taken Kat downstairs to visit with Troy and Lyra, I started a group call with my brothers—it was time to come clean. Especially as I knew what was happening later this afternoon and wanted in.

Declan was the first to accept the call. “You heard anything from Luis Albarez?”

My nose crinkled. “Do we have to talk about soccer? I am so goddamn sick of that game.”

“Uh, yeah . Seeing as I didn’t want the team in the fucking first place but if I have to own one, then they’re not going to suck ass. Plus, for some weird reason, Shay is actually enjoying talking about it.”

“Thought he liked American football.” That was Aidan who’d just jumped into the conversation.

“He does. But I think all the time spent overseas has given him a preference for fucking soccer. I blamed Aela but she just laughed at me.”

Eoghan popped up, scoffing, “You’re lucky she only laughed at you. Seeing as it’s your fault he was overseas in the first place.”

My eyes widened. “Jesus, Eoghan. You woke up and chose war today, huh?” I cut Declan a look, but his expression had locked down.

Guilt .

Nothing better for the soul than that.

Aela and Declan had only recently gotten back together, after all. She’d kept Shay a secret for fifteen years…

“That was harsh, Eoghan,” Finn, who’d joined silently but in time to hear that , agreed.

Eoghan just shrugged, unapologetic to the last.

“If you didn’t call about soccer, what did you call about?” Declan rumbled, his expression still stony.

“More secrets.”

Brennan grunted. “What a welcome.”

Aidan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought we’d laid everything out in the open.”

“I mean, most things, sure,” I concurred, not even bothering to look at Eoghan who’d been hiding his role as an agent in a super-secret NATO organization, then there was the fact Declan had a thing for pilfering the goods from art heists, and never mind that Finn had been approached by the United freakin’ Brotherhood to become a member…

“What is it, Kid?” Brennan rasped, straightening his shoulders as if preparing for the blow.

“I kind of hacked NASA when I was a teenager?—”

Declan groaned. “We know. Da was beyond proud?—”

“Let me finish. The first time, I got in and out. But the second time, I got caught.”

“The second time?” Aidan demanded, jerking to his feet. “What the fuck did you go in a second time for? In and out!” He clicked his fingers. “In and goddamn out, Conor. Did having Padraig as a godfather teach you nothing?!”

“It taught me plenty,” I snapped. “But I wanted to gain access to a satellite.”

“Did you?” Eoghan inquired, his tone as calm as ever. Even when he dealt blows, he sounded calm—it was starting to get annoying.

“I did, but it’s now defunct.” That still pissed me off.

“What were the repercussions?” my youngest brother asked.

“The NSA swooped in and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

As one, my brothers sucked in a breath. Shocking them like that would have been impressive at another time, but this was bad. I knew it—they did too.

“What kind of offer?” Finn rasped.

“They wanted me to work for them. Test their software and ensure their hardware was impenetrable. Eventually,” I admitted after clearing my throat, “I got to be important. No one else on their staff could do what I could.”

“It gave you power?” Aidan murmured, his eyes still wide but respect creeping into them now.

“It did. I used it to leverage our family’s safety.”

This time, they didn’t suck in a breath; they just gaped at me.

For a full minute.

Okay, now I was impressed with how impressed they were.

When they carried on staring, I sheepishly rubbed my nape. “It’s why we’ve been so untouchable.”

“Not Da…?” Declan whispered.

“No.”

“Jesus fuck, that’s how important you are to the NSA?” Eoghan rumbled, the sound of his hand slapping the desk loud amid the echoing silence from my other brothers.

“Used to be. That usefulness wore out recently.”

“And that’s why you’re telling us? You’re warning us?” Aidan asked carefully.

“No. Maybe? I’m not sure. I guess it might be for the best that we're trying to behave outwardly.” I paused, reflecting on Anton and how he’d probably protect us if Star asked nicely. “I’m telling you because…” Though I’d spent last night sleepless, trying to figure out how to explain this to them in the fewest words possible, I was still coming up dry. “Okay, so…” I hesitated. “Right, I mean…” I coughed. “It started…” I sighed.

“Just spit it out, Conor, for fuck’s sake.”

Brennan’s use of my real name had me cringing. Not that I appreciated my nickname, but that meant he was pissed. I didn’t have a problem with annoying my siblings, but I kind of needed them on my side if today was going to end how I wanted it to.

“I’m just trying to explain how this particular ‘situation’ happened,” I defended before blurting out, “You know how I can listen in to your calls and texts?”

“No, we forgot,” Declan drawled, but unlike Brennan, he appeared amused rather than annoyed with me.

My lips twitched. “It’s a clever piece of tech. It’s adaptable for any device with an internet connection?—”

“Fuck,” Eoghan rasped, four steps ahead. “They got their hands on it? They’ve been gathering intel on us?”

“They did have it in their possession. For a short while. But they weren’t collecting data on us.

“Anyway, the clever part isn’t accessing any device. Long story short, collating that much information requires a lot of storage so I developed a new method of storing all that data.

“We were thinking of cloud storage in a strictly binary way, but I was like, what if I think in quantum…” When they stared at me blankly, I grunted. “Never mind. It’s unique. It’s what makes the system work because there’s too much to store and not enough time to trawl through what’s saved.

“It’s not something that can be replicated. So I got access to that and have seen what they’ve used my program for. We’re not featured on there, but the Valentini Capo is, so’s the new Pakhan of The Forgotten Boys, and then Dragon Head Zhao is too.”

“Why are you telling us this if we’re not in danger?” Aidan rumbled.

“I want to attend the Summit today.” A Summit that had only been called because of the recent revelations in the press.

“Why?” Brennan growled.

“In the spirit of cooperation, I think it’d be wise to give the Russians, the Sicilians, and the Chinese what the NSA gathered. There’s no guarantee that they didn’t copy what they found.”

“And, I repeat, why? They couldn’t use any information they gathered, not when it was collected illegally, and I’m no criminal attorney, but it’s likely entrapment too, no?”

I scowled at him. “You might be a bruiser, Brennan, but I know you’re smarter than that.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Is this about Star?”

“I think it’d be wise if the other factions learned she was with us now.”

Declan chuckled, but it was Aidan who smirked at me. “This isn’t ‘take your girlfriend to work’ day, Kid.”

“I never said it was,” I grumbled.

“She’d get a kick out of it,” Eoghan answered for me.

Aidan heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t disagree that it’s a wise move to share this information with the factions. What do you think, Finn?”

“I think it’ll make us look benevolent.”

“Benevolent equals weak,” Brennan argued.

“No. They’re not idiots. They, like we do, know that they’re on watch lists the country over. This appears benevolent but is giving them nothing. That’s my kind of deal,” Finn retorted. “I also think it’s wise for them to know Star is with Conor.”

I knew he was my favorite brother for a reason.

“You fucking would,” Brennan sniped.

“Hear me out.” Finn surged forward in his seat, pissed enough to startle even Brennan. “You need to back the fuck off Star, Brennan. I understand that her past is colorful, but your fear she’ll betray us to the alphabets is insane when they turned on her . You need to get over this goddamn paranoia—it’s tainting your every judgment in regard to her.

“There’s no denying that our brother is smart. That the factions themselves are aware of this too is indubitable. But the only person who has ever broken his code, who has ever breached his security, is Star fucking Sullivan.

" She’s built herself a reputation as much as he has, and for the other factions to be aware that they’re now a couple, that she’s with the Irish, is akin to bragging rights that we have them and they don’t.

“They’re a fucking powerhouse, Brennan, and if you don’t recognize it’s wise for the other factions to know that powerhouse belongs to the Five Points, to be frank, your judgment is skewed to such a degree that it makes me question if you should be Aidan’s second.”

For a moment, dead silence fell.

Even more so than when I’d made my confession.

Brennan’s line abruptly cut.

The rest of us blew out a breath.

“I wasn’t the only one who woke up and chose war this morning, was I?” Eoghan stated, a small espresso cup in his hand—where the fuck he’d gotten that from, I had no idea.

“It needed to be said. He’s being illogical and childish,” Finn reasoned unapologetically.

Aidan rocked back, his chair squeaking with the move. He made no comment on Finn’s argument or on his threat to Brennan, just said, “See you at the warehouse. Star, too.”

When he cut the call, Eoghan and Declan did as well, though they shot me a smirk apiece, which left Finn on the line.

“Thank you for that, deartháir .”

“You’ve done more for me,” Finn dismissed. “But I meant it. It might not wake him up to the nonsensical attitude he has toward her, but it might make him cut her some slack.”

“I appreciate that.” I hunched my shoulders. “I really fucking do.”

His lips quirked to the side. “See you at the warehouse. I hope the kick she gets out of it was worth that confession.”

I grinned. “I know it will be.”

He winked then ended the call which turned out to be perfect timing because Star suddenly ambled into the room, sans Katina, Ren and Stimpy in her arms.

For once, they weren’t trying to bite her and she was muttering soft sounds at them and—was the world ending?—nuzzling them against her cheek.

“You drugged them?” I asked warily.

She sniffed. “No. They’re sick.”

“They are?”

Nodding, she moved toward her desk and dragged their bed beside it.

As she placed them inside and tucked them between the blankets, she explained, “Just went into the kitchen and saw they’d had a feast of the chicken skin we threw in the trash last night. You need to get the waste disposal repaired.”

“I’ll contact the super now,” I said immediately, pulling up my emails and shooting off a message right then and there.

With that done, I rocked back in my seat and watched as she fussed around the kittens she professed to dislike, but those cooing noises of hers made a liar out of her.

When they were snoozing, she retreated with a sigh to her computer.

I pulled a small box from my desk drawer and called out, “Heads-up.”

That drew her attention. A second later, the rattling box landed in her hand and she smirked as she tore open the Boston Baked Beans.

“Thanks, Conor,” she sang as she started snacking before plunking her ass into her chair.

Working with someone in here was new, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I’d thought I might need some space, what with how I’d lived before, but I appreciated her presence.

She broke up the silence I hadn’t realized was infesting my life.

She filled the spaces that had been expanding with time.

The thought had me sighing with contentment as I cracked on with my own work too.

An hour later, when an email came through confirming a train of thought I’d had the other night, I broke into the silence to state, “Belyaev’s sister, Yelizaveta, is still alive.”

She frowned at me over her monitor. “I never thought she’d be dead.”

“Why not?”

“Umm…” Her nose crinkled. “I genuinely forgot to tell you.”

“You mean this isn’t you holding intel back from me?”

“I promise.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I teased, deciding that giving her shit was important for keeping her ego in check.

“Troy told me that Belyaev’s brother-in-law took his place in the organization.”

“Fuck, Star. He’s a leader we missed?!”

“No, he wasn’t as powerful as his brother-in-law. The heads kept that from him. Doesn’t mean his ass won’t be in jail soon.”

I watched as she started pummeling her keyboard with some quick keystrokes. “Kat seemed to like her aunt.”

“She barely remembered her. She hasn’t brought her up since. Or her cousin.”

“She had a nightmare last night. She mentioned ‘Leo’ too.”

Star shot me a concerned look. “She did? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I handled it.”

“You did?” A strained smile danced around her lips. “Thank you for that.”

“For what… being a father figure? I never thought you were anything other than a package deal, Star. You know that, don’t you?”

“I do. You keep on showing me though, and it’s always a nice surprise.”

Nodding my understanding, I posited, “Maybe the nightmares are her brain’s way of manifesting her memories?”

Her gaze drifted over my arm and the mostly healed tattoo as she changed the subject. “Why did you go for that? And why there when you wanted it on your chest?”

I stared down at the only ink I had on my body. Indy, the Sinners’ resident tattoo artist, had designed it so that the letters were stylized to fit into the shaft of an exclamation mark. Instead of the dot, there was a star.

“You know why.”

“I don’t. Your handle is aCooooig . Not aCoooooig . Four ‘O’s, not five.”

“Each ‘O’ is a brother.”

She blinked.

“Uh huh.”

“But you’ll never show Finn.”

“You don’t know that. We work out together sometimes.”

“Sometimes. How about never.” She snorted. “Maybe with Brennan. The jackass.”

“Why do I think you like him the most?”

A smile danced on her lips. “I like awkward things.”

“Brennan is definitely awkward,” I retorted, folding my arms across my chest. “Since when am I?”

“Since always.” The smile was out in full force. “I bet you were born breech.”

“Nah, that was Brennan.” I winked at her. “I just took forty hours to come out.”

“Your ma told you?”

“Many times when she was wailing about how I hacked into our school computers to change our report cards so we wouldn’t get shit from her.”

“Not your da?”

“Da didn’t give a fuck about education until he realized that I had unusual smarts.” Her eyes gleamed at my use of the word ‘unusual.’ Proof I was awkward. Damn, I’d walked myself into that one. “He put us in the best schools because that was what was expected of a man in his position. Plus, the law wouldn’t have liked his kids not being educated.”

“Finn’s smart too.”

“He is. Da didn’t realize it until later. Hired tutors for his final years before graduation and after.” I folded my arms against my chest. “What are you going to do about Kat and her aunt?”

“What do you want me to do? Get her to come over for a pool party?”

“No. But you can’t keep this from her. You need to take her to a shrink like you said you were going to. I know you tried to handle this on your own, but I don’t think you can if her father was hurting her and she remembers that.”

“I’ve been researching therapists too,” she sniped. “You think I’d just google ‘kid shrink?’”

I hit send on an email I’d been waiting to share with her. “Best child psychiatrists in the tristate area just dropped in your inbox.”

She stared down at the list and scowled. “Why ask if you’d already made a list? And why make a list? You knew I was on it.”

“You’re not the only control freak in the house. You think I was going to let Kat near anyone unless they’d been thoroughly vetted by both of us? This way, you can screen the list too and pick the best of the best.”

Her brows lifted. “Vetted how?”

“FBI. Cross-referenced with the NSA’s database.”

“I had started looking, Conor. I don’t want you to think I hadn’t.”

“I never thought that. But I know you’re wary and that always slows things down.”

She didn’t deny being wary. “The NSA… You asked your handler? Or did you snoop?”

“I asked Riggs."

"Thought you didn't trust her anymore after Nimue."

I sniffed. "I don’t, but you said it yourself. She was doing her job.

"Anyway, I asked her because I liked traveling outside of the continental US and didn’t want to piss her off.”

“Thought Anton had dealt with that for you?”

“He has. But if I piss her off then she’ll find a way to rescind my passport and travel permission.”

“If I hadn’t already sucked you off this morning, I’d do it now.”

I flashed a grin at her. “For future reference, there’s no wait time on another round. But, I have a gift for you.”

“Another one? Better than this?”

I hummed. “Want to come to a Summit?” When her eyes widened, I knew I was in for a blow job later. “Yeah, I’m not teasing.”

“A Summit? Why would they let me come? Brennan barely lets me into Finn’s man cave without giving me sass.” When I chuckled at the idea of my bruiser of a brother ‘sassing’ my woman, she winked at me. “You can tell him I said that too.”

“Oh, I will. Don’t worry. And yeah, the Summit. Mostly because we need to share that Dragon Head Zhao, Custanzu Valentini, and Maxim Lyanov are persons of interest to the NSA.”

“Didn’t they know that already?”

“Yeah, I mean, they are who they are,” I drawled. “It’s not like it comes without a warning from the Justice Department. But there’s a difference between being a regular person of interest and then being targeted by my ‘radical’ bugs.”

“Who called them radical?”

“Me.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not the only one with a big ego.”

“Big everything according to you, darling .”

“See? Even your dick’s awkward. Couldn’t be a little smaller so it’d fit easier.”

“Is that a complaint?”

“Just confirmation that you’re difficult. That’s why I like you. The best things in life are always difficult. Look at Kat. It’s why she’s the perfect child.”

“You didn’t say that last week when she broke your computer.”

“That computer was kidproof until she dropped a bottle of cream soda on it.” At my snort, she grumbled, “You sure they’ll let me come?”

“Told them I needed you there.”

“Why? Not like you need backup.”

I shrugged. “If they think I want you to hold my hand, they can. Mostly, I just knew you’d think it was cool.”

She bit her lip before she burst out of her seat, startling Ren into a surprised meow , raced across the office, then hurled herself at me with enough force to shove my chair back a few feet.

As she choked me in a hug that I wasn’t entirely sure was loving , she squealed as loud as Kat which keyed me into the fact that she was happy.

She only confirmed it with: “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

“Boyfriend? Hey, what’s with the demotion?” I teased, even though I loved her excitement.

“Fiancé! Mine! You get to choose whichever you want.”

I tutted. “Then you know what I’ll go with.”

“You’re not going to kill my buzz, Conor O’Donnelly!” she crowed. “You. Are. Officially. My. Penguin.”

Beaming at her, I smacked a kiss on her cheek. “If that’s the only thing I had to do to get you to admit to that then hell, I’m a moron for not thinking of this sooner!”

She dismissed that to demand, “When is it?”

I checked the clock on my monitor. “Couple hours.”

Her eyes flared. “A couple hours?! I have to get ready.”

When she took off with the same speed as she barreled into me, I didn’t have the chance to ask her what the hell she thought you wore to a Summit, but ninety minutes later, showered and changed too, I got my answer.

She wore a black, sleeveless, knit turtleneck that displayed her strong shoulders, her hair was back in a bun that was librarian chic, and she wore dark-gray tailored pants that swirled around black, patent-leather heels. Over her arm, she’d draped a black trench coat.

“Since when do you wear heels?”

Arching a brow at me, she demanded, “Do you have a problem with my shitkickers?”

“No, but…” I whistled under my breath. “Dear God, you’re hot. Where did this outfit come from?”

“Savannah, of course.” She sniffed. “She said I needed to have a wardrobe that fit my position as penguin to an O’Donnelly.”

I smirked. “She’s smart.”

“She’s a pain, but hell, I didn’t have to shop and she did so we were both happy.”

“How many more outfits did she pick?” I queried, brows high. “Do I have more surprises in my future?”

Her lips twisted. “That would be telling. Now, is the car here for us?”

“Yeah, it’s downstairs.”

She peered at me, raking her eyes over my form before she graced me with my own wolf whistle. “We look like mobsters.”

“No, I look like Clyde. You look like Bonnie.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I mind that. I definitely don’t mind this .” She took in the dark-navy suit with a slimline pinstripe that Finn had insisted upon the last time I was at his tailor. I’d gone the whole nine yards and even wore a vest. “Is that a pocket watch?”

I smiled as I slipped it from the purpose-made pocket. “My great-grandfather’s.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“Da.”

She frowned. “He did love you in his own way, didn’t he?”

“‘His own way’ sounds about right.”

“What else did he give to you?”

“Jewelry wise? Just the ring and the watch.”

“Was your great-grandfather a mobster?”

“Of course. Not as successful as the Valentinis who were behind Capone getting, well, Caponed.

"On the O’Donnelly side, that is. The other one was neck-deep in the IRA and the ECD.”

“Your roots would horrify the average woman.”

I swooped her down into a kiss that would have had the ‘average’ woman shrieking. She just moved with me, hovering over my arm as I murmured against her lips, “Since when are you average? If I’m awkward, you’re atypical.”

She smacked a kiss on my mouth. “We’re just full of compliments today.”

“Expect more when you go around looking like that. You know Brennan will be there?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t make him fall at my feet.”

“That’s my job.”

“I love that you know I meant I wouldn’t kick him.” She grabbed my ass. “More reasons for blow jobs.”

When she started to drop to her knees, I gaped at her, then at my pocket watch, and rasped, “Fuck it.”