“Where thefuckis my fiance?” Mac roars with his phone to his ear. He pulls it away, kills the call, then redials. I’m assuming he’s trying to call Lee.
The twin that’s tagged along brings his wild and panicked eyes to mine. “Where’s Annie?”
Flynn. It’s Flynn.
He and Annie had some weird thing years ago. I’m not sure what happened but I know that she refuses to speak to him now, and he watches from a distance like a wounded puppy. One of these days, maybe when she’s happily married with kids, she’ll finally tell us what happened between them that winter. Depending on what she tells us will depend on how long we’ll keep him chained up in Dieter’s garage.
Before I can answer him, my Papa unlocks the panic room doors and Mac charges in like a pissed off bull. He almost lost her to a faulty kidney once, and ever since then he’s kept her firmly to his side… except for these girls’ nights and when she’s out with her sister-in-law’s.
“Lee? Lelonie? Baby, where are you?” The pain in his voice lances through me like a surgeon’s scalpel.
My Papa and Flynn follow closely behind him on the prowl for the other two. Dec stands beside me and hooks his pinky with mine. It’s subtle, and no one else would even pick up on it, but it calms my racing heart all the same. It only takes a minute before they come out carrying the women. Annie is clinging to Flynn like a lifeline until her eyes meet mine, then she tries to wiggle to be put down, but he doesn’t loosen his grip.
“Byrne. Let go of my sister.” I growl, letting go of Dec’s pinky and stalking over to him.
“Not a fucking chance, Fischer.” He challenges me with a raised brow.
“Jake, it’s okay. I’m fine where I am.” She buries her head in the crook of his neck and lets out a shuttering exhale. As soon as Flynn tightens his grip on her she sags into him and sobs.
How the fuck did this happen? I lived in this house my entire life growing up, and we’ve never even had so much as a sales person come knocking. My parents have always been extremely careful with our safety. Now someone breaks into their house and tries to hurt my Mama and sisters? It doesn’t make sense, but I will be getting to the bottom of it.
* * *
After we get the girls to come with us in the living room, their adrenaline crashes and they all fall asleep wrapped in their partner, except for Annie, who’s clinging to Flynn with her head on his shoulder as she quietly snores. Lee is asleep, curled up in Mac’s lap, her head tucked under his chin. Even my Mama is wrapped up in my Papa’s embrace as her head leans on his chest. Now that they’re safe with us, we need to talk about what the hell this was.
Our living room isn’t a formal space. No, this is a space that hosted countless movie nights, blanket fort building competitions, and sleepovers. The couches are large and soft, perfect for napping on. The TV mounted on the wall is large enough to host people for sports nights. And the multiple family pictures littering the walls give it the family feel my parents always made sure we had. This isn’t a museum full of priceless things you aren’t allowed to touch. This is a home where messes are made and love is overflowing.
“What do we know?” Declan, who’s sitting on my other side, asks as soon as there’s a lull in the ‘fill the space’ conversation we were having until the girls drifted off.
“Not much. Whoever he was, he was alone. He broke a window, which the girls heard and ran to the panic room tohide. He came in and searched the house for them, where he found the door to the panic room shut and obviously unable to be opened. He used an AR-15 that was strapped to his back to attempt to shoot his way in. When that didn’t work, he ran right as some of my guys rushed the property. We’ve checked the footage but he’s covered head to toe in all black. We have no idea who he is or what he wants.” My Papa answers, exhaustion ringing clear in his tone.
“Well, obviously it’s someone pissed at the Germans.” I think out loud. Almost immediately, Mac’s shaking his head.
“Not necessarily. They could have hit the house at any time, but they chose a time when Lee was here. It could be a complete coincidence. At the same time, she was left here without a guard, which is the only time she’s ever been left unprotected.”
Declan stiffens beside me. “You think this is about us?”
“I’m not saying that, but it would make sense if it was.” Mac responds.
Flynn tilts his head towards Annie while he looks between his big brothers, “Does she need a guard?”
No, idiot. She has nothing to do with your family.
“No, dumb ass. She has no connection to us aside from Lee.” Declan mutters.
I can’t help but choke back my laugh at him voicing my thoughts.
“Annie’s fine. She’s not even going to be in the state in a couple of months.” I remind Flynn.
“Right, so she’s a sitting duck at med school? She won’t even know anyone there. How will she know who to trust?” Concern is laced through his voice.
“She’ll be there with Calvin. She’s going to be fine.”
All the Byrne men turn their eyes on me at once. “Who the fuck is Calvin?” They roar almost loud enough to wake the girls, but not quite.
“Her boyfriend? They’ve been together almost a year now?” Papa and I look at them like they’ve grown a third head.
Mac makes a noise of disapproval in the back of his throat, “What a stupid fucking name.”
