by AJ Sherwood
No. Absolutely not. The man was staying awake through sheer willpower as it was. Brannigan got a good grip on his elbows and forced him out of the chair, ignoring the hacker’s flailing. “Bed.”
“I don’t have time to sleep right now!”
“Kyou, I’ve heard that excuse for going on six years now. You need to come up with a better one; I’m pretty much immune to this protest. Just a nap, okay? You’re dragging and the pandas in China are going to be jealous of your eyes soon. Maybe hit on you. Do you want to fend off panda advances?”
Kyou stumbled along in his arms, going up the stairs like a drunk with a peg leg. “I must be tired because you almost made sense for a second.”
“See?” Brannigan played along drolly. “Sure sign you need sleep. I’ll wake you in thirty minutes.” More like three hours. Brannigan estimated he needed about three hours at least.
Kyou yawned, the suggestion too much for his overwrought body, and blinked sleepily. “You made the bed?”
“I did.”
“You know how to make the bed?”
“I’m not a completely helpless rich boy, you know.”
Kyou snorted inelegantly. “Lies. Lies and slander.”
Turning down the comforter, he rolled Kyou into it. “In you go.”
Kyou didn’t even resist. In fact, he might have been asleep before his head hit the pillow. Brannigan stood over him, tucking him in, and stared at that somnolent form for a solid minute. Kyou was such a bundle of sharp intelligence and energy while awake that he seemed larger than life. It wasn’t until now, when he was still and quiet, that Brannigan realized that he really wasn’t a large man. A little shorter than Brannigan, but slender and small boned. He looked so much younger and innocent, unguarded in his sleep.
Would Brannigan ever get a chance to see him like this while awake? Unguarded and open?
Leaning in, he pressed a chaste kiss against Kyou’s forehead, lips lingering. Against his skin, Brannigan whispered, “Buonanotte, caro.”
He stole out of the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Then nearly jumped a foot when he realized that Remi was right behind him. Raised by an assassin and thief. Right. No wonder her sneaking skills were good.
She didn’t seem to realize that she’d scared him into an early greying. “Is Uncle Kyou sleeping?”
“Yeah. He went down pretty fast.”
Remi sagged in minute relief. “He’s bad about naps. Thanks. He always resists when we try to get him to sleep.”
“Speaking of, I saw that none of the beds are made up on this side. Is the other side of the duplex in the same state?”
Remi shrugged her ignorance.
“Want to help me make all the beds real quick? I have a feeling people are going to just crash later.”
“Sure.”
After that…well, after that Brannigan wasn’t sure what to do with himself.
8
Kyou
Kyou awoke to what sounded like a party going on downstairs. He groggily turned over, searching for either his phone or a clock, but neither were in the room. The light coming in from the window was muted through the curtains, but it seemed to be late afternoon now.
With effort, he rolled out of the bed, running a hand absently through his hair. He felt a little better for the sleep, but also as if he’d slept hard and was gummy around the edges because of it. Zombie-walking to the door, he opened it and stuck his head out. Yes, definitely a party going on down there. Something was cooking, and it smelled of tomatoes and garlic and ambrosia. There were voices overlapping in multiple conversations.
Just how long had they let him sleep? Thirty minutes, his ass.
Kyou made it to the foot of the stairs before Remi spotted him. She danced—literally pirouetted—to his side and hugged him around the waist. “Good nap?”
“Yeah, although someone promised me thirty minutes instead of...” Kyou’s eyes went to the clock above the stove and he squinted to read the time around the steam rising from the pots. “Three hours? Bran!”
The businessman had his back to Kyou and studiously avoided looking at him as he chopped fruit at the table.
“Now, now,” Ivan soothed with a wicked smile. “You needed your sleep. You’ll be up a good portion of tonight, anyway. And don’t worry, I brought your baby for you.”
For the second time in twelve hours, Kyou experienced pure terror. “You unhooked my computer?!”
“I am capable of unplugging things,” Ivan retorted, miffed.
“The hell you are!”
Aiden slipped up to his side and put an arm around Kyou’s shoulders, drawing him into the living room. “Actually, I unplugged things. He just carried them down to the car. I promise you, everything’s intact. Remi put the system back together for us while you were sleeping. You can sit and check things over.”
That did make Kyou feel marginally better. Aiden relinquished his hold so that Remi could take over, supposedly so Aiden could continue with whatever it was he was cooking. Remi kept hold of Kyou’s hand as he went to the makeshift setup. They’d taken two folding tables and formed them into an L-shaped desk, complete with computer chair. Remi had hooked it up and arranged the monitors and keyboards exactly as he always put them. As he sat down, his eyes roved over the computer and found it not only up and running, but that the majority of his usual programs were up as well.
Remi leaned into his side as she pointed at various things. “I hooked the camera feeds back up for you and turned the alerts back on. And Brannigan wrote up an out of office auto-reply, so that’s set up for his inbox. Oh, and I set up an alert too, for his contract on the website so we know if someone registers that they took it.”
The terror before subsided. Kyou had never thought he’d be so grateful to have a smart niece. He kissed her forehead. “You’re the only one I can count on, Rems. Ari! Your daughter is mine now!”
“Over my cold, rotting corpse!” Ari shot back from his position at the stove.
Remi giggled and snuggled in a little further into Kyou’s side. “What can I do to help?”
“Well, to start with, grab the laptop I was working on earlier. There’s a couple of things we need to set in motion. I want alerts on Brannigan’s family, just in case. I’ve got basic protocols in place for them, but we need to kick it up a notch.”
“Yeah, okay.” Remi darted for the laptop, still at the table, and brought it over to him.
Kyou made room for her on the edge of the table so that he could both monitor and help her. This was still somewhat of a training exercise, but she knew in theory what to do. As she booted the laptop up, Kyou stole a minute to check in with her.
“So…I take it you’re happy about Carter becoming an official dad?”
Remi lit up. “Yeah! I hoped he would. Daddy said we’d take his name after they get married. So I’ll be Remi Harrison.”
Somehow, that didn’t surprise Kyou.
“And Daddy said I’d get a puppy soon, after this job,” Remi added with utter satisfaction. “They’ve been talking about what to get me, but there’s this place that sells guard dogs and they offer training too, and they said that’s the best way to do it.”
Carter joined the conversation on the other side of the monitors. “Well, I grew up with a family dog, but I certainly wasn’t in charge of his training. Ari’s never had one. We figured it was better to get one with an expert training it.”
Kyou had heard about this debate off and on for months now. “What did you end up with? I know you were debating between about five different breeds.”
“German Shepherd. Patches, our family dog, was a GSD. So I’ve got some experience with the breed. That factored in.” Carter shrugged. “Of course, Aiden’s making sad faces because he can’t get a puppy too.”
“Yet!” Aiden called from the table, where he was making a salad. While still dressed in his scrubs, no less. “After my residency is over, we’re so getting a puppy.”
That was probably
a wise decision, considering Aiden’s shifts could go thirty-six hours at a time.
A beep drew Kyou’s attention back to the screens. He clicked on the alert window, and it took him directly to the screen in question. Specifically, the website hosting Brannigan’s open contract for a hit. It had just been accepted by two assassins. Kyou read the names and swore, loud and long.
Carter came around in a split second and read over his shoulder. “Well, that’s problematic.”
Kyou wanted to punch him for the understatement. “Gentlemen, we have trouble. When we decided to focus on the O’Conner family and not the assassins, we forgot to tell the assassins that. We’ve now got two pros to worry about.”
“Possibly only one,” Carter disagreed ruminatively, obviously thinking out loud.
Brannigan and Ari joined them, crowding into the limited space available. Brannigan seemed less worried than he should be, but there was a frown gathering like a dark cloud over his face as he read what was on the screen.
Ari, used to the layout, read through it faster. “Figlio di puttana. That’s not people I want on this. They’re good.”
Brannigan turned to give him a sharp look over his shoulder. “You know these names?”
“Yeah. Ghostshot is one of those that’s been around so long, no one’s sure if it’s the same guy. Could be a hereditary name. He’s scary good. If he’s ever failed to get a quarry, we don’t know about it. Redmark is also good, but newer. Maybe been around as long as I have, a little longer? I’ve never met the guy in person.”
“I have,” Carter announced, still staring thoughtfully at the screen. When everyone turned to look at him, he gave a shrug. “What? I meet people. Redmark and I paired up once to get a target. Broker paired us. He is good, but he’s also…sensible, I think is the word. He doesn’t take stupid risks, and he will walk away if he feels that’s the better option. Let me call and talk to him. I think if he knew the full situation, he would back out of this job.”
That sounded viable enough to Kyou. He clicked through the pages until he found Redmark’s number. All assassins listed a secondary phone, usually a burner, so that people could contact them if necessary. Kyou held out his hand, and Carter put his own phone into it. Kyou did the necessary tricks to spoof the call and then handed it back.
Carter spoke with a slight smile. “Hey, Barry.”
Kyou blinked. Carter knew the man’s real name? He really did have the charm of the devil.
“Yeah, long time. How you been? Yeah? That’s great, man, I know you were hoping for that. Yeah, I’m good. I’m better than good. No, I’m not calling to recruit you for a job. I’m warning you off of one. I saw that you took the contract for Brannigan Genovese. No, no, you misunderstand me. I’m calling cause you’re a friend and taking this contract is basically suicide. See, Brannigan Genovese is under K’s protection. Yeah, that K. Now, what not a lot of people know is that I formed up a team about two years ago. K is a member of it. Yup, me and Malvagio and Eidolon.”
Even from this distance, Kyou heard the heartfelt “SHIT” from Barry the Redmark.
“No, it’s not a job,” Carter answered, and for some reason he was smirking down at Kyou as he said this. “K is very attached to Brannigan. He will take it personally if you attack him. You see where I’m going with this? No, no, no hard feelings. You didn’t know. I’m just calling to give you a head’s up. Yeah? I’ll tell him. Absolutely, you call me in on the next job, we’ll make it a party. Sure thing. Night!”
As Kyou watched, the contract acceptance for Redmark disappeared with an almost audible snap. “Carter, I’m so glad you make friends easily.”
“Comes in handy from time to time,” Carter agreed blandly. “For the record, he had no idea we’d formed a team and was panicked hearing about everything. He said he was very sorry, he’d spread the word about not taking the contract, and he’ll invite me on the next shindig he takes to make up for it. He’s really a nice guy.”
Brannigan drawled, “Except the part where he’s an assassin.”
“Man’s gotta pay the bills somehow.” Carter shrugged. “So that’s one down. Possibly more, depending on how many people Barry tells. Kyou, think we can scare Ghostshot off?”
“With how long he’s been in business? I doubt it. I’m not even sure I can find him easily, although I’ll damn well try. I’m of two minds whether to warn him off or not. If he is coming, I don’t want him to know how much protection Brannigan has. I’d rather surprise him.”
Ari nodded, agreeing. “I don’t think we can warn this guy off. Let’s assume we’ll have to take him out instead.”
“Is Brannigan in the same situation I was in?” Aiden inquired, wandering over from the table.
“Basically, lyubimyy,” Ivan confirmed.
Brannigan pointed towards his nose. “I don’t follow.”
Succinctly, Aiden explained, “It’s how Ivan and I first met. He was on a job, it was also an open contract, and everyone assumed I had the stamp they wanted to steal. I didn’t. Ivan had to quickly find the stamp and close the contract to get me out of danger. It was a rather harrowing week and a half. Looks like you’re in the same boat, Brannigan. The only way to get the assassins to go away is to deal quickly with the ones who put the hit out on you. How difficult is this going to be, guys?”
Kyou’s eyes lifted in degrees, practically making cranking noises as he levered them up to glare at Ivan. “You didn’t tell him?”
“I told him!” Ivan protested, turning to his husband for validation. “I told you O’Conner family, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know who they are.” Aiden shrugged his ignorance. “I just assumed they were bad guys.”
“Ivan, you can’t expect him to know the names of all the families in the criminal underworld just because he’s married to you.” Carter shook his head. “Aiden, we’re talking Irish Mob.”
Aiden’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Shit! Seriously?! Oh man, now I know why you guys are worried. Uh…babe, I’m due back on shift in twenty-something hours. Is this going to be handled before I’m back at work?”
“Depends.” Ivan gave his friends a hopeful smile. “We play soon, da?”
“I want a good plan before we go in,” Carter cautioned them all. “But yes, I vote the sooner the better. We can’t give this situation much time. It’ll blow up in our faces.”
Ari headed back to the stove. “Let’s eat first, then plan.”
9
Brannigan
Brannigan stood at the sink, washing dishes, keeping a sharp ear on the planning session happening at the table. The men were talking with so much lingo, so many acronyms, and shorthand phrases, that they were like their own language. He could only catch about half of it.
What he did understand sounded alarming. Kyou wanted to hack their bank accounts and run them dry so they couldn’t pay anyone, halting any contracts in their tracks. Carter was all for setting charges and blowing the place sky-high. Ivan wanted to sneak in and take them apart piece by piece, like chasing mice through a maze. Ari seemed to waffle between Ivan’s and Carter’s methods and was somehow trying to marry the two ideas together.
Were they always like this?
Aiden stood on the other side of the dishwasher, wiping down the counters. He was still in scrubs, his auburn hair escaping the gel he’d put into it God-knows-when. He kept casting wry, amused smiles at the table, like he was watching four little boys plan an epic battle against a Lego castle.
Brannigan leaned in and asked in a low tone, “Is this typical?”
“Pretty par for the course,” Aiden confirmed cheerfully, the smile lighting up his face and turning his clean-cut appearance into something that hinted at impish amusement. “Sometimes they do this just for the fun of it. Pick out some insane target and theoretically plan how they’d take it on. Right now they’re serious, though. Ivan’s just enjoying it.”
He probably should have left it there, but Brannigan was far too curious.
“You said a little about how you and Ivan met?”
“Ah, yes. That’s a story in and of itself. The short version is, he can be utterly charming when he puts his mind to it. I didn’t stand much of a chance.” Aiden laughed saying this, hazel eyes sparkling. “He moved to protect me very quickly, and I ended up spending a lot of time with him and the others. I liked them. Ivan unapologetically seduced me, which I happily went along with, but it was the package as a whole that did me in. Having him, and Remi, and amazing friends who automatically have my back. I’d never had that before. I fell in love so fast I’m still a little dizzy with it.”
“And it never bothered you once that you’d fallen for a thief?”
“No. Because, you see, my family stole everything from me. They did it through bribing judges and lawyers, so it was completely unfair, but they got away with it. They were worse thieves. At least with Ivan, he was stealing for me. He never steals from someone who can’t afford the loss. It’s a moral grey area, but I’m pretty comfortable with it.”
He had to be, if he was married to Ivan.
Aiden’s eyes sharpened, studying Brannigan with unapologetic frankness. “Does it bother you? What Kyou does.”
“Hell no. I’m from criminal roots myself, although we’re legit now. Kyou’s saved my hide far too many times for it to bother me. I’m not sure if Kyou’s convinced of that, though.”
That satisfied Aiden, and he went back to being the genial, smiling doctor again. “I’m glad. Kyou’s not good at peopling. Just be persistent, that’s my advice.”
“I’ll take it.”
Aiden cocked his head at him in question. “I’d half-expected a business man like you to be in the thick of the planning.”
“I know absolutely nothing about staging a full-scale attack on a Mob family. Part of being a businessman is knowing how to call in experts and letting them do their jobs.”
With a nod, Aiden agreed, “That’s sensible.”
From the head of the table, Kyou called, “Bran. I think we’ve got a plan.”
