Exiting out of that chat and pulling up the next, I send out a slightly different message.
The Unprivileged Byrne’s
Named by two very aggravated best friends years ago.
Sully: Meeting in the movie room? In thirty?
Clara: Where are the traitors?
Flynn: Still in Rowan’s office. Refusing to listen to anyone aside from themselves.
Lee: Typical. Count me in. Can Dieter and the guys come or not?
Sully: Actually, yeah. We’ll need them too.
Flynn: No Annie. She stays out of this.
Lee: I don’t need help protecting my baby sister, Flynnigan. Thanks for your concern.
Flynn: One, that’s not my name. Two, I said what I said.
Nix: Face time me in. I’m at the hospital.
Jakob: I’m in, it’ll probably take me thirty to make it there if I leave now.
Flynn: You’re literally in the house.
Jakob: You want to come walk with the broken bones I have?
Sully: Nah, you got it, big dog. See everyone soon. And yes Nix, we’ll face time you in.
39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jakob
Iwasn’t being dramatic when I said that it was going to take me thirty minutes to get to the movie room. It took me longer to get there than the meeting lasted. Moving at all is painful, and forget taking a full breath. Once we have our plans in place, we decide to watch a movie together. With all the kids, spouses, my friends, and the twins in here, we of course pick the new movie about superhero dogs to watch. Hannah is curled into my side watching the movie with rapt attention. She’s being so gentle, but still I wince every time she readjusts.
We’re about halfway through the movie when Rowan and the others strut through the door like they were invited to come hang out with us. Spoiler: They weren’t. Declan and his brothers are being reckless. The only ones looking ateverything are the twins. So when Declan walks over and gently sits beside me, I try to act like I’m irritated, but I’m so glad to be back with him that I can’t.
He’s just trying to take care of everyone the best way he knows how. He pulls a blanket off the back of the double recliner and covers Hannah and I before pressing his lips to my temple.
“How are you feeling?” He asks quietly as his vibrant eyes scan my body. It’s anything but sexual. He’s in caretaker mode right now.
“I’m okay.” I smile at him.
“You should be in bed, you need to rest.”
“I’ll rest right here, just let me snuggle with my niece.”
My body does need to rest. I know enough from helping Declan study for years that it’s the best thing you can do when injured.
“Okay, Chaos. I’ll help you to bed when everyone else goes, okay?”
I nod along and shut my eyes. I’m not sleeping, but I don’t want my eyes open either. My mind wanders while my ears tune into conversations around me. This plan is risky and could seriously blow up in our faces. We have to do something, though.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts when what seems like everyone’s phones start ringing and buzzing. I open my eyes and look over at Declan’s phone just in time to see a news article that was sent to him. He clicks on it, and the headline has my breath stuttering in my chest.
