by AJ Sherwood
“Excuse you. I deal with wealthy, empty-headed socialites most of the time. You know exactly how ridiculous most of those people are. I’d much prefer your brand of crazy over that. Either way, die’s cast now. No changing the situation.” Brannigan slipped out of the Jeep and around to Kyou’s side, opening the door and drawing the man out. “Come on. We’ve got, what, twenty or so minutes until they catch up with us here?”
“Probably closer to thirty.”
“So that means you can have a thirty-minute nap.”
“That obvious I want a nap, huh?”
“You’re exhausted. You were obviously asleep before this shit show started.” Brannigan felt pangs of guilt about that. “Come on, inside. Is this place furnished?”
“Bare necessities,” Kyou said with a long sigh, allowing Brannigan to tow him in. “But I can’t rest until they get here. I won’t be able to. This place is secure, but we need to warn your family and people about what’s going down.”
“Shit, with all that’s happened, I didn’t think of it. I’ll call them.”
Brannigan stepped through the garage door, his hand still on Kyou’s. The hacker seemed amenable to being led along, and Brannigan wasn’t going to let go until he had to. Kyou’s hand was soft, yes, but curiously there were some calluses here and there. He did something on a regular basis to put those on his palms. He ran a little cold, too.
The house was white on white with black accents. The walls, ceilings, even the floor was a shade of white. Only the backsplash of the open concept kitchen had any hint of color to it—grey, in this case. It looked very modern, not really matching the Victorian concept going on outside. Kyou was correct that it had bare necessities, as there was a table in the kitchen, a sectional in the living area, and a TV, but not much else. It looked like a showroom.
Kyou’s phone rang in his hand, and he answered it with a grunt. “Ari. Yeah, we’re here. I don’t think we were followed, so we have a few hours to figure this out.”
Who was Ari? Brannigan only knew their code names.
Pulling out a chair at the table, Kyou dropped heavily into it, still answering questions and getting his own in. Brannigan left him to it and went to the other side of the room, carefully away from the front window, and made his own calls. First to Gideon, to apprise him of the situation.
His head of security was, needless to say, less than thrilled. Somehow telling him that K had Brannigan well in hand failed to reassure him.
With that difficult call out of the way, Brannigan went on to the next not-so-fun call he needed to make.
Mattias answered on the third ring. “Hello, my son. I hope you’re out enjoying this beautiful day.”
Brannigan winced. “I wish. I was, in fact, but something happened. I’m, ah, in a little bit of trouble.”
There was a pause. “Brannigan. The last time you said that, you were adopted by a hacker. What’s happened this time?”
“I’ve got a contract out on me.”
Mattias slipped into his native tongue and swore expressively in Italian. “Porca putanna!”
“Good news is, K’s on top of it, as usual. He, ah, came to get me himself.”
Nuance was an amazing thing. His father swore again, but it was with clear amazement this time. “Cazzo! Davvero?”
“Yeah. It still feels a little surreal. But I’m really happy, too. He’s pulled me out of the line of fire, I’m at one of his safehouses. His family’s coming to help.”
“Family?” Mattias repeated in surprise. “Wait, wait, I need to sit down. I feel like it will be one of those conversations. Alright, I’m settled. K has family?”
“Family of choice. His family includes a thief, an assassin, a mercenary, and a little girl he’s helping to raise as another hacker. I met some of them the other night. They helped protect me and my construction crew out in Roxbury. The O’Conners sent men out to rough us up and probably torch the place, and they stopped them.”
“And now, because of that, the O’Conner family is coming after you.” Mattias reached the correct conclusion without any help from him. Then again, he knew how the criminal world worked very well after having been a mafia boss most of his life. “What’s the contract for? Terms?”
“It’s for a million. Open contract.”
Mattias growled in wordless vexation. “I’d prefer you come home for this, but…”
“No one knows where K is. Or has ever been able to locate him. I’m safer with him than anywhere else.” Brannigan’s mouth kicked up wryly on one side. “And I wouldn’t want to bring this trouble to our family. It’s better for me to stay away right now.”
“I don’t like it. It’s hard trusting strangers to take care of you.”
“This isn’t a stranger. It’s K.”
“You’re a little too delighted right now,” Mattias informed him crossly.
Brannigan couldn’t stop the grin. “K said the same. I realize I’m in danger, but it’s not really impacting the bubble of happiness right now. I’ll be fine. K and his family will make sure of it. When has danger ever touched me?”
“Not as long as he’s been guarding you,” Mattias grumbled, but it had a resigned tone to it. “Alright. You tell me if you change your mind.”
“I promise I will, Papà.”
A beat, and then Mattias asked mischievously, “Is he what you hoped for?”
“He’s incredibly cute, in fact. I’m surprised by it.” Brannigan turned so that he could put his back to a wall, keeping an eye on Kyou, who was still seated at the table and speaking to someone else. “He also looks like he hasn’t slept properly in days. I’ll need to make him rest somehow.”
“I can hear it in your voice. You’ve latched onto this one.”
“Papà, I did that before I even met him.” Brannigan didn’t quite roll his eyes.
“True enough. I’ll tell your mother the news. Keep me updated, I don’t like being in the dark on this.”
“Cross my heart.” Brannigan hung up and slipped back to Kyou’s side. He was arguing hard and heavy with someone.
“—no, no you may not bring your bedsheet. You’ll get hurt. Let me be clear, if you bring your bedsheet, I will hurt you. Take this seriously, Ivan. Pretend it’s Aiden in the line of fire. That’s what I’m feeling right now. Yeah, fine, see you in five.” He hung up and dropped the phone on the table before burying his face in both hands.
Brannigan put his own phone aside to free up his hand, and then put both on Kyou’s shoulders. The hacker jumped for a second before Brannigan’s thumbs dug into his tense neck, and then the man groaned and let his head flop forward again.
“Where did you learn to do that?” Kyou groaned in pleasure.
“See? You don’t know everything about me,” Brannigan teased him. “And what’s this about Ivan and a bedsheet?”
“Long-standing argument. Ivan uses unusual tools to get past security measures. He wants to break into the O’Conners’ headquarters and wreak some havoc.”
“I’d really rather he didn’t.”
“Makes two of us. I told him not without proper backup, and right now we’re not set up for it.”
So the option was still there? Just not right now. Brannigan stared at the back of Kyou’s head, not sure what to make of this man. There was so much he didn’t know about him. The one-sidedness of their relationship irked him.
The back door opened and before it could get very far, a cheerful voice called out, “Don’t shoot, it’s just us chickens!”
“Thank fuck,” Kyou said under his breath. Turning in his chair, he left Brannigan’s hands, a tired smile dragging the corners of his mouth up. “Get in here. I’m going through withdrawals without my tech.”
The first one through the door was a darkly handsome man. He was slender and graceful, the beat-up leather jacket hugging his body, almost hiding the gun strapped underneath. He appraised Brannigan with sharp, dark-brown eyes, but there was a hint of satisfaction in his expression, too. Behin
d him was another man. This one had salt-and-pepper hair with tanned skin, and he was ruggedly attractive.
And then there was Widow.
She couldn’t be anyone else, and Brannigan was fascinated by her. She came through with a spring in her step, a large laptop bag clutched in her arms, hair the color of good butterscotch floating about her in soft curls. She was beautiful and innocent looking, her pale skin a perfect contrast to the red sweater dress she wore. Then her chocolate brown eyes landed on him, and mischief lit her expression up in a gamine expression of pure glee.
“Bran,” Kyou did the introductions with a wave, “this is Malvagio, Smiley, and Widow.”
“Ari,” Malvagio corrected, offering a hand. “We met sooner than expected.”
Brannigan took the hand, not surprised by the calluses and strength in it. “We did. Thanks for coming so promptly.”
“Our pleasure.” Ari shot a wink at him before turning. “This is Carter, my fiancé, and our daughter, Remi.”
Brannigan was mid-shake with Carter when Kyou spluttered out, “Wait, when did you two get engaged?”
“Last night,” Carter answered ruefully. “We were having a very romantic candlelit dinner when Ivan called us and said there were things to shoot. Kind of ruined the moment. We meant to tell everyone today.”
“I get to walk Daddy down the aisle,” Remi informed Kyou, excitement making her bounce on her toes. “He promised. And wear a poofy dress.”
Kyou smoothed a hand over her head, his smile gentle. “Sounds like you’re already into pre-wedding planning. Here, give me that, then say a proper hi to Brannigan.”
She promptly did so, then stuck a hand out like her fathers had done. “Hi, Brannigan.”
Brannigan didn’t feel odd taking that small hand into his, not considering the work she’d already done on his behalf. Young, yes, but she was clearly capable. “Hello, Widow. Thanks for your help.”
Remi beamed up at him. “No problem!”
It was Smiley—Carter—who voiced the concern. “What do you guys have here? Anything?”
“I didn’t even have time to snag my evac bag,” Kyou said with a groan, pulling the laptop free. “I grabbed him from an open park. What we have is what we’re wearing.”
“Hmm, that’s a problem. Two options: I can go buy some clothes to tide you over, grab some more equipment to help boost you, or we can slip back into your individual apartments and grab some things.”
Kyou threw in, “Remi did an eval before we got here. Genovese property is being watched.”
“I vote we send Ivan in,” Ari stated, tapping a finger to his chin as he thought. “He can slip past everyone and get what we need. Easier than try to buy it all. Brannigan, if you’d sit and make a quick list for him and where it’s located, that will make things easier on him.”
“I certainly will. Ah…K? Can I have him bring my laptop or anything?”
Kyou turned a black look upon him, his outrage almost a living thing. “Of course you can. I don’t do insecure connections in my safe houses.”
Brannigan spread his hands in surrender. “Stupid question. Don’t shoot. Anyone got pen and paper?”
He sat at the table and made a list of things, or started to, but he really had no idea what to plan for. His start in life was a little…interesting…sure, but that didn’t mean he’d had a hit on him before. Well, he’d apparently had, but not one he’d been aware of. Mostly because, by the time he was twenty-six, he’d been under Kyou’s rather obsessive protection. Not much got past his guard. This situation was unprecedented.
Uncertainly, he asked, “Gentlemen? How long do you think this will take to resolve?”
They all stopped and looked at each other, a query on their faces, looking about for an answer. When no one immediately spoke, Carter cleared his throat. “I’d say get at least four changes of clothes. Something you can wash and re-wear. We don’t have an immediate plan of action for this. That’ll take a sounding board session, and I’d prefer to do that with Ivan here, as he has more knowledge of the layout of our enemy’s stronghold than we do.”
“That’s fair,” Brannigan allowed. “Should we do that before I make this list?”
“Probably. Set it aside for now.”
The garage door rumbled as it opened. Remi danced toward the door and opened it. “Here’s Uncle Ivan!”
“Ah, my solnishko,” a voice rumbled in pleasure. “You look beautiful today. My Aiden has good taste in clothes.”
“It’s really comfy,” Remi allowed before closing in for a hug. “We’re waiting on you before taking out the bad guys.”
“Da, I figured you would.” The same man with the Russian accent and rangy build from the other night stepped in through the connecting door. He kept a hand on Remi, lingering on her shoulder, and gave Brannigan a welcome smile. “Brannigan, glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” Brannigan answered honestly, trying (and failing) to not sound very smug.
Kyou growled at him wordlessly.
Ivan eyed him sideways. “You’ll discover that he has no sense of humor when he gets tired.”
“Oh, that I already know,” Brannigan assured him. “And he definitely needs a nap after we figure out the game plan. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I only see one of two options open to us. One, take each assassin as they come for me and wait it out. Two, tackle the O’Conner family directly and force them to retract the contract. I’m honestly not sure which is more feasible.”
“Taking on the assassins will mean a very long game and keeping you under tight security at all times. It will be long, tedious, and eventually someone will slip up at the wrong moment.” Ari shook his head firmly. “I’m not a fan of this plan. Speaking as one, this is exactly the sort of waiting game assassins excel at.”
“Also not in favor of this,” Carter admitted sourly. “But I’m not sure I like the other option better.”
Ivan bounced on his toes, eyes alight with glee. “I do!”
Sitting hunched over the laptop, Kyou sighed a decade’s worth of sighs. “Of course you do. The O’Conner family doesn’t keep anything like a roster, but from what I can tell they have about twenty-three people left here in Boston. Their main house is very heavily secured and, frankly, it would take Ivan to get through it.”
“Security was a bit tricky,” Ivan allowed. He rubbed his hands together briskly. “Best fun I’ve had all year. Can’t wait to do it again.”
Brannigan watched him with keen curiosity. He knew nothing about Ivan other than the obvious—he was Russian and a very good thief. But he must be exceptional if the entire group was confident he could walk in and out of secure places without being detected.
Still, this idea was a bit alarming. And by a bit, he meant very. “Mobs are…not rational. They’re family oriented and usually run off of fear more than anything else. Fear and loyalty. You will have to kill a lot of the O’Conner family in order to convince them that the cost is too high to win this. Is that really preferable over taking out their assassins?”
“Assassins are disposable to them,” Ari pointed out, although there was a grimace of distaste on his face. “They’ll be willing to go through dozens before rethinking their strategy and trying something else. It’s no skin off their nose if multiple people lose their lives trying to get to you. If we make this personal, we have a better chance of forcing them to back down.”
“Bran, I know this makes you uneasy.” Kyou lifted both shoulders in a tired shrug. He really did look five minutes from crashing. “But really, we’ve been headed in this direction for a while. Ever since you bought up their territory, they’ve been yearning to stick a knife in you.”
Brannigan groaned but couldn’t deny it. “I’d naïvely hoped to negotiate their departure. Eventually. When it got too expensive for them to stay. I suppose we’re past that option at this point. Alright, then is everyone in agreement? We’re really taking out the O’Conners?”
“At least this branch of them
.” Carter canted his head, eyes trained on the ceiling as he thought it through. “This will take a bit of planning, I think. Better plan for at least a week. Possibly two.”
Brannigan mentally adjusted what he’d need on that list. “Alright. Ivan, do you mind picking up a few things for Kyou and me?”
“No, not at all,” Ivan assured him blithely. “And we’ll need to pick Aiden up and have him stay with us here. I do not want him to be a soft target on the outside.”
“I’d prefer that over trying to keep a sharp eye on four locations,” Kyou agreed. “Fortunately, he seems to take the crazy things you do in stride.”
“He is supportive husband that way.” Ivan seemed to think it was a given Aiden wouldn’t argue with him about this.
Kyou had briefly mentioned Ivan was married and to a man. He’d not mentioned a specialty that Brannigan could remember. “I’m sorry, Aiden is…?”
“My husband.” Ivan turned to him to answer, and his expression had that honeymoon glow to it. “He’s a pediatrician and still doing his residency.”
Brannigan did not expect that answer. “Wow. I was expecting something…else. How did you end up married to a doctor?”
“Oh, is fun story,” Ivan promised, visibly gearing up to tell him the full tale.
Kyou jabbed a finger at him. “You have things to get us. Don’t start in on that now; you can tell him later. Carter, we need food and supplies. I’d rather not be doing a lot of takeout here.”
“Yeah, my thought too. I’ll go do some grocery shopping.”
Brannigan made that list, requesting a few things from Carter from the grocery store as well. He had a feeling he’d end up doing quite a bit of cooking while the men did the legwork. Taking out irate Irish mobsters wasn’t quite in his skillset. That done, he went upstairs and discovered that the beds were set up but not made. With some hunting, he found sheets, pillows, and a comforter in the closet. He quickly made up a bed and then came back down. People were dispersed at this point, each on their own errands. All except Kyou, who seemed intent on staying perched at the table.
