I nod and dab a napkin under my eyes. “I really am. Just… happy you guys are here.”
She gives me a soft smile. “Whatever you need. You just have to ask.”
Just then, a waitress from the upstairs dining room appears with a tray full of food. She slips the plates on the bar in front of us with a friendly smirk. “Boss says to eat.”
We all look up at the camera in the corner.
“Has he been watching you this whole time?” Sloane snorts.
Lennon shakes her head and gives me a knowing look. “Stick a fork in my brother, he’s done.”
Sloane sighs wistfully as she dips a cracker in melted cheese. “So romantic. You two make me sick.”
We laugh and Lennon says, “Don’t worry. You’ll find your Mr. Right one day.”
“Honestly, I’d settle for Mr. Wrong with a big dick that he knows how to use.”
“Setting the bar low, huh?” I ask around a bite of cheese and strawberry.
She shrugs. “You know what they say, ‘Better to be pleasantly surprised than sorely disappointed.’”
“God, that’s jaded,” Lennon chastises. “You can’t settle.”
Her grin widens. “I’d settle for being sore.”
We groan and shake our heads. But as I shift on the chair, feeling the ache between my legs from Killian’s very thorough attention last night, I can’t help but secretly agree with her.
Chapter 38
Killian
I’m sitting in the monitoring station, watching the girls at the bar. I’ve already sent Pat to warn off two men who were eyeing them with too much interest. Sam is laughing at something Sloane just said. I feel a smile tug at my own mouth. It’s good to see her laugh. It lights up her whole face. Feckin’ hell, she’s beautiful.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I reluctantly pull my gaze from Sam as I dig it out and look at the screen. Da. Finally returning my call.
“Hey, Son.”
“Da. How we gettin’ on?”
“Grand. We got the east side deal settled this week.”
My gaze drifts back to Sam. She’s reaching for one of the crackers. I grunt in satisfaction. I don’t know why, but taking care of her feels better than anything I’ve ever done in my life. “Fair play.”
“And Bran has asked Maeve to marry him finally. She wants a summer weddin’.”
“Bet Mam is happy, yeah.” Maeve is the Boston boss’s eldest daughter. They’ve been getting to know each other long distance for six years.
“She’s already plannin’ for the grandbabies.” His deep chuckle comes through the line. Then a sigh. “So, what’s goin’ on in Florida? Problem with The Lucky Sinner?”
I glance at the monitor that shows Rona sleeping peacefully in my bedroom, her tiny arms wrapped around a stuffed bear. A fierce protectiveness rises up in me. “How do ya feel about goin’ to war with the Amato family in New York?”
There’s a beat of silence and then Da chuckles. “This about Dr. Sam, yeah?”
I pull the phone from my ear and stare at it, then shake my head. “How the bloody hell did ya know that?”
A long sigh comes over the line. “Wars start over money, power and women, Son. And you don’t have a power or money problem. So, what’s goin’ on?”
I lean back in the chair and rub the St. Michael’s medallion that used to be my granda’s. “Sam has a daughter. Her name’s Rona and she’s two. Conceived through rape by this cocksucker named Michael Barone in New York.” I tell him the whole story, including Barone’s value to the Amatos, and by the time I’m done my blood pressure is through the roof again, and I’m ready to go hunt down this arsehole myself and put a bullet in his brain.
