The door pings open, and I blink away the thought of Ciara as I step out into the expansive living area of Kieran’s penthouse.
Everything is either matte black or metal, making the place feel cold and uninviting, which I guess sums Kieran up perfectly. The only enviable feature of his obnoxious home is the floor-to-ceiling windows, which look out over Central Park and the New York skyline.
The second I walk into the kitchen, tension radiates between Kieran and Cormac. The former is leaning against the black marble countertop with a drink in hand and his mouth pressed into a thin line.
Cormac, on the other hand, is seated at the island with his arms folded and his expression completely unreadable. I glance around to see Brennan standing off to the side, looking like he wants to be anywhere but here.
“You’re late.” Kieran barely glances my way.
“I don’t give a fuck.” I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and twist the cap off. “I was at work.”
“We were talking about Cormac’slittle adventure. But he’s still refusing to tell us what the hell he’s been doing the past two years.”
“I told you,” Cormac says coolly. “I worked in surveillance for a government agency. That’s all you need to know.”
“That’s all we need to know?” Kieran laughs coldly.
“Yes.”
“You’ve got some fucking nerve, you know that? You disappear for two years and expect us to just hand you a seat at the table now you’re back?”
“I’m not asking for anything.”
“You’rehere, aren’t you?”
I slam the water bottle on the counter hard enough to make Kieran jump. “Enough.”
Both of them fall silent, and Brennan glances anxiously between them.
“We are not doing this. Not now.”
Kieran glares at me. “You just expect us to trust him?”
“Yes, because he’s our brother.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes brothers stab you in the back.”
Cormac stands then, his dark eyes flashing as he looks at Kieran. “Trust me,brother,if I wanted to stab you, I would have done so already.”
“Try me?—”
I step between them. “Enough! I don’t give a shit what you two think about each other right now. We areSullivans, and we need to start acting like it. We’ve got enemies circling us like vultures, and you're both standing here swinging your dicks at each other like we’re in a fucking playground.”
Brennan shrugs. “He’s not wrong.”
“Damn right, I’m not. Dad’s gone, which means if we don’t start working together, if we keep letting personal grudges tear us apart, we won’t need enemies. We’ll destroy ourselves just fine on our own.”
Kieran folds his arms, but for once, he doesn’t argue with me. His gaze remains fixed on Cormac, whose jaw ticks. But he also keeps quiet, which is as much of a win as I’m going to get from those two.
I run a hand through my hair and exhale as I look at each of my brothers in turn. I was considering telling them aboutthe encrypted transactions I found today, but from the way they’re acting, I decide to keep it to myself for the time being.
“From now on, we don’t fight each other. We fightthem.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I ignore Brennan, instead turning to look at Cormac, whose shoulders are so stiff he looks as if he’s carved from stone.
“And just so you know, I don’t care what you were doing for the past two years. You have my trust, brother.” I catch Kieran opening his mouth out of the corner of my eye, and I turn to him next. “And I don’t want to hear another fucking word about it.”
