Satan's fucking balls, my brother had one hell of a hard fist. We'd fought a lot over the years. Mostly over girls, which was why we'd come to an agreement about sharing the ones we both liked. I didn't mind sharing women with Ronan, and he felt the same way.
Sharing was way easier than knocking the hell out of each other in a jealous spat. It wasn't like the girls stuck around for a long time, anyway. The minute they made noises about wanting a commitment, he ran for the hills.
This was why I didn't want him involved with Verity. Not only was Verity Thea's sister, for fuck's sake, which was a bad idea for many reasons, but she wasn't like the usual girls he fucked.
If he hurt her, she'd fall apart like a house of cards. I didn't have a degree in psychology, but even I could see how vulnerable she was. Like I'd told him, she deserved better than his fuckboy ways.
I hadn't forgotten the dead look in her eyes the night she walked into the ocean and we dragged her out. Although she'd never admitted it, I knew she'd gone to a dark place.
But I couldn't dwell on it tonight. Not with Declan breathing down my neck like a fucking dragon on crack.
"If one of you doesn't explain why the fuck you've trashed my kitchen, I'll not be responsible for what happens next," our older brother stated while cracking his knuckles ominously.
I swallowed hard. Next to me, Ronan did the same.
We were both in the shitter.
"We had a minor disagreement," I replied, forcing a smile while wincing as my bust lip split all over again.
"Nothing serious," Ro added. "Just…twin shit."
"Did it have anything to do with Verity?" Dec skewered us both, getting to the crux of the problem with zero effort. I swear the bastard could read our minds sometimes. Or, more likely, he knew us too fucking well.
"Erm no?" I inwardly rolled my eyes. Ronan was terrible at hiding stuff from Declan. The number of times he'd landed us in trouble because he couldn't lie or at least pretend we hadn't been up to anything.
"Please tell me you haven't done anything I might not like."
"I took Verity to the shooting range." Declan's eyebrows shot up at my announcement.
"And?"
"And Ronan doesn't think it's a good idea, so we argued."
Shooting lessons were the trigger, but the discord ran a lot deeper. However, explaining that to Declan was a big no-no.
My older brother looked thoughtful. "Why don't you agree with Con's idea, Ronan?"
Ronan scowled. "She has us. She doesn't need to know how to kill people. That's my job."
"She needs to know how to protect herself when she leaves," I reminded himagain.
I had an idea that would be sooner than I'd like. Today, in the kitchen, my angel had had the skittish look of a deer preparingto flee the wolves. And given all that had happened since she arrived, she would be safer if she flew back to the US.
"She's not leaving." My brother's stubbornness knew no bounds.
Declan sighed and eyed the mess. "She'll be leaving at some point, most likely when the authorities arrest her father again."
"Any news on him?" How hard could it be to track down an old man with no cash or assets?
"No. The bastard has gone to ground. They can't find him, and so far, neither can Milo nor any of my contacts."
"He must have left the country." If I were him, I'd have fled to a country without an extradition treaty with Italy, such as Jamaica. Given how his empire fell apart, I doubted there was much left for him in Italy.
"Yes, it's possible, but there's still a risk he'll go looking for his daughters."
"I feel sorry for him if he finds Thea," Ronan snorted. I grinned despite myself. Yeah, the old bastard would definitely regret it if he crossed paths with her. If Thea didn't kill him, Kyril or Dario most definitely would.
Declan half-smiled for a moment before his gaze snagged on the mess we'd made.
