I winced, not quite believing it, but hoping it was true. I touched Cillian’s hand with mine and he turned it over so we could link fingers. Whatever happened, we could deal with it. We always did. I just needed to get home to our guys. Right now, my priority was making sure everyone we loved was safe.
EPILOGUE - PART 1
CILLIAN
“Why areye standing outside these doors?” I asked the head of the security team lounging around in the Killough mansion near the suite the boys were sharing here.
I knew Irving was in charge because he was the one glaring, and everyone else was sort of shuffling around trying not to make eye contact. Irving had short brown hair, angry hazel eyes, and a curved mouth permanently set in a sneer. I put his bad attitude down to the fact that he stood almost a head shorter than me, but he was a nasty piece of work when you tangled with him. If I hadn’t already known about the shite going down with the boss, thanks to Jamie, the way the mansion was swarmed with men—and Irving’s presence—would have been the nail in the coffin on the idea that the Company was doingjust fine.
We weren’t.
Aspen nudged my shoulder, but whether or not it was to tell me to hurry up or let me know he had my back, I wasn’t sure. He stepped to my side, and I eyed him up. He’d changed into jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt that hugged his biceps before we’d gotten off the plane in New York, and he tugged on his Mets cap and nodded at me.
The boss was being cautious with who he left here protecting his pet, but was he worried about attacks from inside or outside the Company? My hackles rose and I was about ready to shoot everyone who stood between me and Vail and Fallon and even fecking Rowen. I wanted to see they were all well.
Irving grunted at me and tipped back his head. “Conall is inside.”
I paused at that news. Most of the men who worked here referred to Conall as the boss’s pet and this was an interesting show of respect. “Why? Me boys are supposed to be in these rooms.” I pointed because I was beginning to feel maybe old Irving was going stupid from the stress of standing around in a hallway. I fought not to roll my eyes.
He shrugged. “I just do what I’m told. Ronan needed to get some sleep. Conall is inside, along with his friends.”
I went to open the large black door, and Irving rested a hand on my arm. I shoved him off. “My boys are in there, and if ye don’t back the feck off ye’re going to wish ye’d never met me. It’s been a long few days, mate. I’d rather not explain to the boss why I decorated his house with yer innards when he gets back.”
Irving scowled and glanced at the men standing at alert on either side of the door. He finally nodded. “Sure. Go ahead.”
Aspen snorted, and we went inside together. I fought not to slam the door because it was late.
Staring around the sitting room, Aspen smirked. “We stay here much more and Sloan is going to start charging us rent.”
I chuckled and headed toward the closed bedroom door, frowning because the fluffy gray couches that were usually out here had vanished. I gestured at the empty spots where there was no furniture, and Aspen nodded, letting me know that, tired or not, he was paying attention to our surroundings as well.
Aspen snagged my wrist and dragged me to a halt. “Don’t wake them up yet.”
“Why?” I frowned at him, but he drew me in for a kiss, and I pressed my mouth to his, loving the attention from him. He backed off and studied my face, which heated. I hated this shite. I hated emotions, even when they came with someone I loved. “I know things will be different with everyone around, but I don’t want to lose this.” I tapped his lips with a finger. “You. I don’t want to lose ye.”
Aspen’s gaze bore into mine.
My neck and face felt like the inside of the sun. “I don’t know if I’m ready to do what I do with ye with everyone else. Ye know?”
Aspen shrugged. “I know what you mean. I’m in no hurry to force something different between all of us. We can take our time. It’s probably best if we do. I don’t know more than you about how this all works, Cillian. I just know that we have to do it together or we won’t be able to have any of it.”
All the feelings banging around in my insides twisted up. First they were bad, but then they were good. I hugged Aspen tight, and he held on just as hard. “Don’t want to lose this.”
“You won’t.” He kissed my cheek, and we stayed tangled together for a few long minutes. I breathed him in. “Let’s go get them. No one in that room is going to judge you. You know that, right? We’re your real family.”
I grunted, not willing to talk about that subject at all, even if he was right. “Why are the couches missing?”
“No idea.” Aspen beat me to the bedroom door and opened it. We peeked in.
Fallon and Rowen were sleeping fully dressed except for their suit coats, and they both had holsters on with guns in them. My gut sank like a rock. They were fecking worried, but again, I wondered if they were geared up for internal or external threats? I hoped no one in the Company was stupid enough to make a play for the hot seat. Sloan was in jail—not dead—and he would rip out anyone’s throat who touched Conall or Fionn.
He would be back eventually.
Vail whimpered in his sleep, and I started toward the bed. My cuddle bug was snuggled in only his boxers between Fallon and Rowen, lying on top of the gray comforter with them, and that expected and wonderful sight had my chest going light and my heart squeezing. The mystery of the couches was solved because Conall slept on one dressed just like Fallon and Rowen, and Lor was on the other in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms. My mouth went dry because there were rifles on the floor beside them; however, I couldn’t imagine Lor shooting a gun.
I hated the idea of it. Vail’s wee assistant shouldn’t need to have dirty hands.
“Feck, they’re worried,” I whispered to Aspen as he came up and slung an arm around my waist.
