“He blew me out there.” My stomach twisted in a strange way.
“Did he?” Aspen studied my face.
I nodded. “But it would have been better with you there, too.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“What’s up with him lately?”
He shrugged a shoulder. I didn’t think he was going to answer, and I was luxuriating in the pure bliss of him working shampoo into my hair for me when he cleared his throat. “He’s always waiting for the next bad thing to happen. He’s always planning for the worst. Maybe... maybe he’s starting to realize he doesn’t have to do that with us. He might need to prepare for bad shit to happen to all of us, but not for us to do bad shit to him.”
“Why is he so... cold?”
He shrugged. “The world’s not a nice place. We all do what we have to in order to survive.” He kissed my shoulder.
“Aspen?” I said as he turned me and the hot water hammered the top of my head.
“Hm?”
“I don’t want to be that way. I love you. I want you to know that I love you.” It took a long time for me to finish getting clean because he kept kissing me as he washed me off, and Cillian was pacing around in the living room when I got out there dressed, with Aspen at my side.
Vail was adorable in a gray tweed suit and my heart flipped at the sight. “I love your red bow tie,” I said with a wink. “You look like a treat.”
He chuckled and walked over to kiss me. “Lor and I are having breakfast together in his room because apparently this meeting isn’t for our ears.” He stared around and only appeared mildly irked by that, but no one offered to bring him with us. “Take it easy today.”
“Yes,” I said, shrugging. “I’ll do what I can.”
Vail smoothed down my tie and kissed me. He lingered, and I was disappointed when he pulled away. He went around the room kissing everyone until he was back to me for another one, and then with a wave he was out the door. When Vail was gone, Cillian and Aspen went back into our room and came out with guns. I didn’t say anything as Aspen came over to me. He tugged off my gray suit coat and tossed it over the back of the couch, then helped me fit the shoulder holster and adjust it. I wasn’t in love with the Glock he secured under my left arm, but I knew how to use it. When he was done he handed me my jacket and I put it back on.
“Why am I wearing this?” I asked quietly.
“Ye’re going to be protecting Conall,” Rowen said. His red hair was damp from the shower and combed straight back, making him look more serious than usual, and the red in his beard glittered as early morning sun spilled into the room between the curtains. “It don’t matter ye’re on the mend yerself, if someone breaks in that shouldn’t be here, put a bullet in them. Hell, if ye’re out and someone corners ye, put a feckin’ bullet in ’em. Until ye’re better, ye use that gun before yer fists.” I was shocked that this speech was coming from him and not Cillian. He shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Yep,” Aspen said in agreement.
Cillian paced the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. The boss don’t call meetings like this often, an’ it’s going to be... bad,” Cillian muttered. “Let’s go. He’s using the dining room because there are so many of us.”
We left the suite and walked down the right side of the split marble staircase together and went left toward the extravagant dining room. I could hear Jamie’s laughter coming from there, and Corbin was standing right outside the door, leaning against the wall as he read a newspaper—he was a short guy and made me feel tall. Tadgh, who I hadn’t seen around much lately, nodded and grinned at me when we passed him going into the dining room, his red hair sticking out everywhere like he hadn’t had time to comb it before he got here. The large mirror on the far wall reflected the light from the cut-crystal chandelier and made the room almost too bright. There was food laid out on the long gold-edged wooden table, but it was all things meant to be eaten on the run. Bagels and breakfast sandwiches were piled on plates with condiments set out between them, and there were even bags laid out at one end of the table. It was clear no one was meant to hang out this morning.
Conall sat in a chair near the head of the table looking bored but smiled when I went over and took the seat next to him. He had on a formfitting black T-shirt, and his hair was up on top of his head. His red collar looked extra bright today against a fleece blanket someone had wrapped around his shoulders, and I didn’t need to ask to know it had been the boss. A maid came around and poured coffee into the mug in front of me and I had to laugh.
“Thank you.”
She nodded but didn’t smile, simply moved on to the next person with their mug out. Even the house staff seemed stressed. I’d gotten used to having tea some mornings, and that’s what I would’ve preferred, but I raised the mug and sipped the black brew.
“Looks like I’m hanging out with you.” I grinned at Conall.
He smirked. “Yeah. You poor schmuck. Sloan’s guaranteed it’s going to be a boring job for the next little while. Probably months.” He sighed and fluttered his dark eyelashes, barely rolling his eyes. I glanced around, but even though I spotted most of Sloan’s generals, I didn’t see the boss man.
My guys were all here except for Vail, and there was a blond man in a leather Kings of Men jacket sitting and munching a sandwich beside Jamie Shannon, giving him shy smiles. I swore one of the men at the end of the table was Italian, but I didn’t know his name at all. “Who’s that?” I asked Conall.
He glanced over and grunted. “Elio Folliero’s second-in-command,” he muttered. He also told me the names of about fifteen other people, and I tried my hardest to remember. When my father walked into the room along with Padraig, they took chairs far the fuck away from me, thank God. Dad was in charge of keeping an eye out for Sloan’s best interests in the Rockaway area, so it made sense he would be here. I began to get uncomfortable, though, because this wasn’t just the generals—these were people like my father, who were the next step down and also had a lot of men on the street they controlled.
Fionn and Sloan strode in together when I was halfway through my cup of coffee, and my face went warm as he came to stand behind Conall and put his hands on his shoulders. Conall tipped his head back and Sloan kissed him. Fionn sighed loud enough that I could hear him where he stood behind my chair. I wanted to slide under the table as every eye turned our way.
