When I turned to my brothers, they were staring at Killer like he was a mushroom—the only food they refused to eat.
I hugged Killer closer to me and pushed past them. “Stop intimidating my bunny. He’s been through a lot. He needs love, not disgusted glares.”
“Why didn’t you just get a dog?” Jude asked, the first to break the silence.
“They don’t allow dogs in the building. It was either a rabbit or a guinea pig. And I’ve always liked rabbits, so I got one.”
“Who’s hungry?” Gabriel asked, phone out, done with the topic and his mind on food as usual. Nothing held his interest for long except what he could eat next.
“We had dinner not three hours ago,” I said. “And it’s the middle of the night.”
“Your point being?” he asked and put the phone to his ear.
“How long are you planning on staying?” I ground out, feeling the hold on my temper slipping.
“As long as it takes,” Liam responded from where his perch on the kitchen chair, where he’d been doing God only knew what on his computer since we finished the pizza.
I huffed and put Killer on the floor so he could explore. “What does that even mean?”
Jude watched with wide eyes and open mouth as Killer hopped up to him and sniffed his shoes. Once it became clear Killer wasn’t going to eat him, he shook himself out of his stupor but continued glancing at my bunny from the corner of his eyes. “It means we’ll do whatever necessary to keep you safe.”
“I have one bedroom and one small couch. How are you planning on staying here?” I asked, wondering if they’d finally hit their thick heads one too many times.
“We’ll take shifts, so we won’t all sleep at the same time. Who wants tacos?” Gabriel asked with a grin before turning his attention back to his phone.
If only everything was that easy.
My other brothers grunted their approval, and he raised a brow at me. “You want something, sis?”
“I give up,” I grumbled and sank down on a kitchen chair opposite Liam. “So, want to tell me what the plan is?”
He studied me, his intelligent eyes taking me in. I knew he’d catalog every extra wrinkle, frown, and bad posture. Liam could have been anything he wanted to be. He was smarter than anyone I’d ever met. Had even skipped a few grades in high school and finished his master’s degree when he was twenty-two.
And now he was working for our family business. I knew it paid better than most jobs out there, but it was also illegal.
“We’re meeting with Cian tomorrow, so anything can happen. He’s a loose cannon. Even more so since his dad died. But you’re safe. That much I can guarantee.”
I nodded, my mouth drawn into a tight line. This would all be over tomorrow. Then I could go back to the way I liked to live my life: locked inside my apartment and talking to my pet rabbit.I’ve really been living it up since leaving home.
I nodded again. “Okay. That’s good. Who’s going?”
“Gunner and me.”
My body locked tight, and no doubt Liam would see the worry written all over my face. I didn’t like Gunner in the middle of this mess. My brothers at least had the protection of my family name. Gunner only had himself. And hopefully his team. But the Irish weren’t a small operation.
“We need to leave in a few hours. Gunner just confirmed that he set up the meet for tomorrow,” Liam said, turning back to his computer.
“And by ‘we,’ you mean you and the other two stooges, right?”
“And you,” he said, not looking up.
Hell no.I wasn’t ready to go back. “I’m not going.”
Turned out I was most definitely going. Because less than six hours later, I found myself sitting in an airplane, on my way to Chicago. And even Killer came along for the ride, safe in the cargo hold since he wasn’t allowed as a carry-on.
* * *
“Is that a rabbit in my living room?” my dad asked, glaring at Killer, who was hopping from one end of Dad’s cream rug to the other and back. He’d also taken a bite out of a corner—the rabbit, not my dad—but thankfully decided against doing more damage.
