Page 30 of Eyes Never Lie

Scarlett’s thumb brushed over his hand. Lucian looked down at her, and the two of them had an entire conversation without saying a word.

He sighed. “Jack is moving pieces to protect his territory. Hayes is turning his bullet wound into an anti-mafia crusade for the entire country. Boston has unions, ports, developers, old Irish money, and too many men testing Jack because the nephews he just found pledged themselves to The Syndicate instead of Boston.”

“He wants Byrnes blood visible,” Nik said.

“Yes.”

“Only you?” I asked.

Lucian’s gaze came to mine. “Just me.”

I waited for resentment to hit.

It didn’t.

Maybe I was too tired. Or maybe I’d known this was coming from the moment Jack looked at us and saw not lost nephews, but heirs.

“What about his daughters?” Lacey asked.

Lucian’s mouth curved faintly. “That’s where this gets interesting.”

“Women usually are,” Rory said.

“Jack has three,” Lucian explained. “Aisling, Everleigh, and Keira. They’ve been holding pieces of his world together for years, and the old bastard still talks as if daughters are temporary solutions until a man arrives.”

Lacey’s eyes rolled. “Charming.”

“Aisling handles lawyers, development pressure, and union contracts. Everleigh owns the high-society side: charities, galas, old-family women, social favors, and secrets. Keira’s got the streets locked down. Pubs, drivers, fighters, dock gossip. If something moves in Boston and Keira doesn’t know, it probably isn’t worth knowing.”

“They sound interesting,” Gabriel said.

“I bet they’re incensed at the lack of respect from their father,” Scarlett said.

“At Jack. And at me by extension. They’ve spent years fighting for their place, and now their father thinks a nephew he barely knows can walk in and stand above them.”

“That’s so unfair. Typical,” Scarlett groused.

Lucian looked down at her and nodded. “Jack is old-world,” he said. “He wants alliances sealed in blood and marriage. His daughters hate the word arranged even more than they hate me.”