Page 93 of Mob Star

“I’m the one who drank the last of your twenty-seven-year-old Redbreast.”

“You fecker. You let me think that was Cormac!”

“I know. He was being annoying about something I can’t remember. You’d annoyed me about being a tight wad when we were at Bushmills during Dill and Mair’s honeymoon. You wouldn’t stop giving me shite that I was only willing to pay for the twelve-year-old and not the twenty-one-year-old. I didn’t like the older one. It wasn’t the money.”

All five of us went as security for Dillan and Mair while they were on their honeymoon. We were discreet and tried to always give them space while being close enough to guard Mair. Dillan should be our top priority as our leader, but the women will always come ahead of any man. We’re trained, they aren’t.

“Sure.” Shane tags in.

“Feck off. I have a beautiful woman waiting for me. You have each other. Get out.”

I flap my hand in the front door’s direction. They give me that matching shit-eating grin. I have two fists for those two throats. They let themselves out, and I head back to the bedroom. Thea’s on her phone when I walk in. I raise my eyebrows with concern.

She smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

“Okay, Mom. I gotta go. Finn’s done talking to his brothers.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Skyler had a cardiologist appointment this morning. No news is good news. The doctor said things are the same as last time. For us, that’s a plus.”

“Do you ever go to the appointments with your brother and his husband?”

“Sometimes. But rarely, since I never want their doctors to think I’m second guessing them. I only go when I know it’s going to be terrible news. News I suspected but couldn’t confirm. Their doctors are excellent both with treatment and with parents, but it’s terrifying. Sometimes it’s just nice that they have a sister who’s a doctor to interpret or reiterate what their physician says.”

I climb onto the bed, then lift her onto my lap. She still calls me Daddy, but I like her on my lap purely for the physical closeness, not because I think either of us feels she’s younger than she is.

“One thing I appreciate most about you, Thea, is you understand family comes first. Sometimes that’s hard to do, but it’s what you value and want. You get why I feel the same.”

“I do. And that’s a big part of why I fell for you right away.”

I run my hand from her collar bone, over her breast, and down her bustier-clad waist to her hip. I sweep along her thigh and back up.

“I want to do that when we’re watching TV together. When we’re cooking together. When we’re falling asleep and waking up. I don’t want to catch a few minutes in between shifts because you have to run back to your place to get things. I don’t want to miss any of those minutes because you’re on Staten Island, and I’m here. I want a home with you. If that means Staten Island, I think I can survive.”

She elbows me. “It’s not that bad. It gets a bum rap.”

I cock an eyebrow.

“Keep that up, and I’ll insist we live in Jersey.”

“At least there’s no possibility I’ll turn into a Guido.”

She nips at my earlobe and tugs. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll make you into Rico Suave.”

“Now there’s a reference I haven’t heard in like twenty years.”

She laughs. “I don’t know if there’s a Russian equivalent.”

“If there is, it’s not worth knowing about.”

Fucking pious, holier than thou bratva. The shite they’ve done to women might not have risked their lives, but it still fucked them over. They say women and children are off limits. They just mean no one will touch them. It doesn’t mean they won’t drag women into our business. Sean’s digging points in a few directions, and Pasha is one of them.

“Seriously, though. If you want me to move to Staten Island because you like your place, then I will.”

“It’s a shoebox compared to here.”

“And this place is ridiculously large for a bachelor. It’s even too big for a couple. I got it because I could. And I am the best cook out of all of us, so the guys would come here. That’s why I have the biggest TV.”

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