Jamie’s laughter grew louder, and he ruffled Hunter’s hair, earning a glare from his partner. The entire exchange was damned adorable, and I longed for that. The easy camaraderie, the teasing and love. Cillian didn’t understand my need for this type of thing because his definition of a relationship was based on sex and how to get off. We were built different that way, and I didn’t know how things went pear shaped. He hadn’t always been so driven by his cock. There were times when we were teens when we’d talked about finding a partner.
Then one random day he came to me and told me he was moving to Dublin and wanted me and his brother, Eamon, to go with him. And we decided to join him because that was what brothers did for one another. His da had been angry, told us not to let Cillian lead us into sin, but we thought he’d get over it. He didn’t. That didn’t stop me from sending Cillian’s ma money. Cillian still wouldn’t tell me what happened, years after, and he hated that I had anything to do with them.
“Ya look fine,” Jamie whispered, breaking me out of my reverie as he leaned over and kissed Hunter on the mouth. It was a sweet touch of lips that had me craving Vail.
“We should go,” Cillian grunted out, discomfort on his face as he tugged at the sleeve of my suit. I hated the fancy clothes because they scratched in the most awkward spots, but Sloan liked seeing his men in them, so I’d changed before our meeting.
Jamie raised his eyebrows at Cillian and grinned. He knew exactly how uncomfortable Cillian got around affection. “Deal with the lecturer or we will. For the time being, we’ll talk to some friends and see if we can figure out who raided his apartment.”
Cillian’s mouth twisted in frustration, but he nodded, spinning on his heel and stalking out of the door one of the house staff had opened for us. I followed him outside and into the fresh air. The smell of the ocean reached us and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. I’d never been the guy to like a beach, but it was quiet and secluded here at the boss’s house, and that was nice. Nothing but the sound of nature.
“Come on, motherfucker. We’re not here for a vacation.”
I rolled my eyes and let Cillian lead me to the Expedition. Sliding into the passenger side after he opened it, I fell back against the leather seat. He slammed the door hard, then went around and got in. He gunned the engine and roared down the long driveway that led to and from Sloan’s mansion.
“Are ye mad at me?” I asked when he veered the SUV onto the road that led out of the swanky neighborhood filled with tall, wide homes owned by multimillionaires—the kind of people I had no intention of wanting to know. Even though our house was beyond nice, I was used to living Ireland-style, in a small home with rooms we had to share because there were too many of us. In the mornings we would always smell the breakfast Ma was cooking, and that’s what would wake us up. I missed those days, when everything was easier.
“What do ye think?” He sneered, shooting me a dirty look. “Never in all me years working for Sloan have I ever been in that position. Never. And then because ye were thinking with yer dick, I was fucking reprimanded like a schoolchild.”
“Ye chose not to say a thing to him, either, Cillian. Ye had a choice,” I argued.
“Feck off. Ye told me not to tell Sloan. Said ye would handle it. How is that handling it? Someone took information about us. Valuable fucking information.” He slammed his hand against the wheel. “Ye fecked up, Rowen, and I did, too. It won’t happen again.”
I stayed quiet and turned to stare out the window. It was easier to let it go. I knew Cillian, and when it came to work, he had high expectations of himself. He was right. We’d never been raked over the coals like that, and it fucking shook him, and me, too.
“I’m dropping ye home,” he said, glaring out the windshield. “I’m gonna give Aspen a break from Reed and have a go at him myself.”
I nodded. “I’ll make dinner tonight.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be home. I’ll probably do the night shift,” he said, lowering his voice.
The message was clear—he wanted to make up for the fuckup, and that meant spending the entire night beating the crap out of Reed, getting that information Sloan wanted. It was his way of apologizing to the boss.
By the time six came around, Aspen had arrived home. He didn’t say much to me, but I didn’t expect him to. He was a quiet man anyway, with the only people he talked to often being Jamie and Cillian, but I also had a feeling he didn’t like me much. His stare was like a bullet to the chest, sharp and killer as he strode past me toward the stairs. He would lock himself in his room and likely wouldn’t come out until morning. I didn’t question it or him. I respected Aspen’s privacy.
Half an hour later, I was already midway through preparing the food, searing duck breasts, when Vail and Fallon walked through the door. Vail had an extra bounce in his step. His cheeks were pink and his mouth wide with a smile, a brown messenger bag clutched at his shoulder as though it was a lifeline.
“What happened?” I asked, turning the knob on the stove to a higher heat before I flipped the breasts.
Vail stopped at the kitchen island and stared at the food I was cooking as he dropped his messenger bag on the floor. “That smells delicious. Is that chicken?” His voice was still strained from what Cillian had done to him.
I grinned. “Duck. We’re having seared duck breasts with blood oranges.”
“Oh.” His brows knitted together and he pouted thoughtfully, making his mouth look even more delectable than it already was. “That sounds fancy.”
Fallon snorted from behind him. “Rowen loves cooking for someone. He stopped making us the good shit months ago.”
“That’s because I didn’t get any appreciation for me hard work,” I said calmly. “All ye three ever gave me was grunts as ye ate the food I slaved over.”
“Sorry about that,Mom.” Fallon, theeejithe was, smiled playfully. I could see what guys liked about him because he was handsome. His face was chiseled and the shoulder-length blond hair framed his cheeks perfectly. He had a dazzling smile, and years of fighting meant his abs resembled granite—hard and taut. There was also his flirting, which he excelled at, and it always won him the man. And hell, he’d spent all day with Vail....
“Ye should go help Cillian.” I gave him a pointed look.
“I just got home,” he whined, falling onto a stool on the other side of the island. “I’ve been out all day watching Vail’s back, like you told me.”
“Good, and now ye can go help Cillian. Ye know where he is.” I grinned at him, and he snorted, shoving himself to his feet and muttering under his breath as he grabbed his keys again and headed out the door.
Vail tilted his head, watching as Fallon stormed along the hallway. He jumped as Fallon slammed the garage door behind himself. “Was that necessary? He could have had dinner with us.”
