My brothers and I were never close. With them being the oldest of eight and Darragh and me, the youngest, there are many years between us. Darragh always felt distant from them, too. But when we were surrounded by killers in Seattle right after J.P. was born, the O’Rourke jet was wheels up immediately. With not just Lachlan and the Quinlans, who were their seconds at the time, but Kieran as well.
“There’s an unusual caveat to the teaching position,” I say, anticipating these Quinlans will side with me in thinking that Ford’s demands are unreasonable. “The dean requires all full-time professors to be married. If I want a permanent spot there, I have to find a wife.”
Shea chokes on her wine and coughs out, “What?”
“He said he has to get married,” Trace says, even and controlled.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” I say. “Plenty of doctors are single.”
“And they’re hounds,” Shea hisses. “The more handsome, the more successful, the more they want to hook up. Most of them are serial daters. It’s a Manhattan thing.”
Toto, we are NOT in Seattle anymore.
“I have no intention of being a hound.” My voice cracks. “Do you think I’m ready to be someone’s husband? I’m barely a year out of recovery.”
“What did Darragh say?” Shea asks, forking through a salad.
No matter what anyone thinks, I will always trust Darragh. But this time, I have to break with that tradition. “He wants me settled, too.”
Shea’s voice softens. “And you’re going to spend more time with J.P., right?”
The blow lands between my ribs, crippling my breath. It will always come down to that. For the rest of my life. Because kids are forever.
“Yeah.” I look out the large kitchen window toward the East River, past the bridges.
Once again, a body of water separates me from my son sleeping miles away without knowing the man who gave him his impossible green eyes. Or how fucking sorry I am for how I acted when I found out he existed.
Trace grips my shoulder. “You don’t need to be in love. Just find someone you can build a life with. A good, kind woman. Someone who steadies you.”
“Sure, everyone gets to have love, but not me,” I bristle.
My sister tilts her head. “Kieran married Isabella for duty, but they fell in love. Riordan originally marriedPriscilla because she was a Russian spy, and he wanted to piss them off. Lachlan was playing knight in shining armor by stealing Katya at the altar.” Her eyes narrow. “Now they’re all in love. Every one of them.”
My throat closes, aching to taste the perfume I need in my lungs again. The face I can’t get out of my head. Scarlett.
“Oh, I gotta go,” Shea says, checking her phone. “Larke is waiting for me.”
I smile and remember how Larke flirted with me at their wedding a few months ago.
Shea attempts to clean up, but her husband stops her. “I got it, love.”
Trace makes a call to someone named Blade and tells him to drive his wife to her party and orders that he and his partner Jett stay with her.
“Report back if there’s any trouble,” Trace finishes the call.
“You got it, boss,” the voice on the other end responds.
Shea gives me a hug that settles my pulse and my brain. It’s still hard to believe that all of the O’Rourkes are back in New York together. I kiss my sister goodbye, and Trace walks her to the door.
When he returns to the kitchen, not a muscle moves on his face when he says, “You’re the man killing dealers with fentanyl, aren’t you?”
My body goes cold. “What are you talking about?”
My denial dies in my throat when Trace shows me photos on his phone ofmein an alley from a few weeks ago.
“Where did you get that?” I grab the phone. “I looked for cameras.”
“Drone,” he says with a grin. “My cousin Shane and your brother Balor have them flying all over the five boroughs. When I recognized you, Rhys and I hacked intothe ME and cross-matched the kills to the pick-up locations for more footage.”