Page 6 of Honorable Sins

We're back to this then. "Nah. It's not true. You just said you love your grandda. Is it true?"

Fitz nods earnestly.

"I don't, but I'm loyal to him." As long as he remains loyal to me. My son will never know how close I came to killing his beloved grandda. "But the only people I love—"

"Are me, my sibs and mom," my son says, interrupting me.

"That's right."

"Does it bother you not to love other people?" Fitz asks with curiosity but no condemnation in his voice.

"Nah. Does it bother you that I don't?" I ask to be sure.

"No, da. As long as you love us, I don't care if you love grandda and the others. I know you'll protect them anyway."

He's right about that.

"Am I allowed to deal with Kenny Jr.'s disrespect?" Fitz asks.

"Aye. But every action comes with a consequence."

"But not from you?"

"Nah, not from me." There's a knock on the door and I step away from the counter. "But fighting at school comes with penalties."

"And grandda might be angry. Would you allow him to punish me for it?" Fitz follows me to the front door.

It's a good question. Brogan and I settled the issue of his role in my family long ago. He has no authority over them except as it relates directly to mob business.

An altercation with the son of one of his lieutenants could be considered mob business.

That does not change my answer. "Nah."

"Mom might ground me though," Fitz says thoughtfully, clearly weighing the potential outcomes as I've taught him to do.

"Aye." Kara has her own view of acceptable behavior and as often as not, I concede to it, knowing my own moral compass is skewed.

I open the door and take the tray of cocoa from our guard before closing it again.

"It would be worth it," Fitz says with conviction, only to frown again. "But I don't want to disappoint her."

"You'll not disappoint her if she believes your actions are justified." Kara has her own streak of ruthlessness.

Six years ago, she'd asked her father to kill the woman who threatened our son's life. If Fitz retaliates against Kenny Jr. for talking shite to our son, I'll help her see the potential danger to Fitz from the kind of disloyal talk his distant cousin is spouting.

Whatever my son decides to do, I will be having my own discussion with Kenneth Shaughnessy.

There's chaos in the living room when Fitz and I return with the cocoa.

Mavie, wild with laughter, is tangled in garland and running around the tree with two of her mam's china ornaments clutched in her fists.

Kara rushes after Mavie, her own laughter hindering her attempts to catch our daughter. Cormac is on the second rung of the step ladder, clearly intent on scaling it. Holding another one of Kara's prized and very breakable ornaments, Sorcha is offering it to her brother, her expression serious.

"Fitz," I bark. "Cormac."

Knowing what I want and acting immediately, our oldest grabs his younger brother from the step ladder and sets him on the ground.

I place the tray of cocoa on the coffee table and swoop down to nab Mavie before she can make another circuit of the tree.