“Safe and sound.” I press my lips to her temple.
“Daddy’s always safe.” Rhett pipes up happily while he leans his head against mine.
“Just like he promises.” Maeve squeals in laughter as she leans her head on my shoulder. Yeah, I’m right where I was always meant to land.
10
Chapter Ten
Declan
My head is sitting in my hands as I brace for the next meeting. I’m tired of these fucking meetings. It’s so mundane, and I’d rather be doing anything else aside from sitting behind a desk and stroking egos all day. I mean, really I’d like to be in the back of an ambulance helping people, but that dream burned up along with my life at twenty-three.
Next up is Aleksandr Novikov. The new head of the Jersey Bratva. He took over after Nikoli Pavlov was murdered by none other than my younger brother for having his hands in our parents’ deaths. Years later, he had a man inside our organization who was feeding him bullshit, trying to get Nikoli to take the five of us out, but the biggest kicker? That man was our head of security and Rowan’s childhood bestfriend. Now Kieran balances the roles of enforcer and head of security because we don’t trust anyone anymore.
Well, I guess that’s not completely true. Our guards that are on the women and children of the family are trusted to the fullest extent. Killian, Ryan, Cormac, Alec, and Ian are some of our most trusted men, and they help Kie with security when their schedules allow it. Regardless, we’ve been on shaky ground with the Russians ever since, so I abhor these meetings.
The door swings open just as I open my eyes. It takes me a moment to realize that instead of Aleksandr standing in the doorway, I’m staring into a pair of furious ice blue eyes. My brow furrows in skepticism as I watch him shut the door and flick the lock.
“Can I help you?” I ask him as sarcasm drips from my words, attempting to hide the way my heart kicks up a few notches and my cock twitches in my pants at how sexy he looks, especially with the fierce expression on his face.
“Yeah, you can call off your fucking guard dog.” He slams his hands down on my desk and leans over it so we’re only about six inches away from each other. It’s close enough that it would take minimal effort to seal my lips over his.
Get your shit together, Declan. He’s not there yet…
I raise a singular eyebrow and try to hold back my smirk at how handsome he looks when he’s all riled up. “I can assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about, Jakob.”
“Oh, bullshit. You mean to tell me that Rowan came barging into my office, threatened me about, and I quote, ‘fucking with your head’, and you just have no idea?”
Well, that’s interesting.I didn’t know, nor did I know that Rowan knew anything about Jake and me. I mean, he maynot and just meant our bickering was messing with my head, but either way, I didn’t know.
“I had no idea until you just told me.”
“And you expect me to believe that? He came into my business, Declan. I don’t want or need the fucking head of the BOCG coming to my business to give me shit. I’m in German territory for a damn reason. Just in case it isn’t clear enough, that reason is so I’m left the hell alone.”
He has a valid point, and I don’t want people coming into his bar to fuck with him either, especially not if he ever moves past his shit and realizes he’s just as into me as I am to him.
“You’re right.” I’m watching him fume with nothing but sincerity in my gaze and tone.
He stops short of pacing in front of my desk.
“What?” His expression turns confused and I can see the anger evaporating from his body.
“I said, you’re right. You don’t need to deal with my brother barging into your office. That’s not the life you signed up for. I really didn’t know about last night, but I’ll talk to Rowan.”
“You’re not at all worried that he basically implied that he knew you’re into me and wants me to stop playing games?” He’s looking at me like he may try to commit me to a psychiatric facility. Which is funny because I’ve wondered before if I actually need that shit.
A smirk that I know infuriates him pulls at the corner of my lips. “No, Chaos. I’m not worried.”
“Dec, do you know what they’ll do to you if everyone finds out?” His eyes widen in panic.
“My brothers? They aren’t going to care about who the hell I spend my time with.”
“Not them, Declan. Everyone else, let’s not act like thefucking mob is inclusive all of a sudden.”
“I’m not worried about everyone else, Jake. If they have a problem, they can come to me directly or get the hell over it. I wish Rowan wouldn’t have put my shit out like that, but he’s not wrong.” I watch his eyes carefully as they squint in question and then widen in surprise and what I could argue is a hint of lust.
His eyes look down at my lips then back up. A smile I typically reserve for my family covers my face.
