by AJ Sherwood
“Definitely dating. Turns out, part of the reason why he refused to come near me before this was that he wasn’t sure how the family would react to him.”
“Pfft. Silly worry. I’m dying to meet him. Get rid of the O’Conner family and whatever hitman’s after you so I can do that, okay?”
“You’re always so bossy.”
“Like you aren’t dying to show him off.”
Well, she had him there. Brannigan really was. “You’ll understand why when you see him. One thing, Izzy. Did you know he’s been protecting you too?”
There was a startled intake of breath. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. He told me that this morning. I don’t think you were aware of it because you don’t find trouble like I do. He said that he’s always kept tabs on you too, though. Ever since he started.”
“Has he told you why?”
“Papà saved his life as a child. You know all of those foster kids he pays medical bills for? K’s one of them. He literally would have died without that aid. He figured, the best way to pay back that favor was to protect the children of his benefactor.”
“I’m…you know what? Put me on the phone with him.”
“You want to talk to him?” Brannigan wasn’t really surprised and stood, heading for the door.
“I do. I think I need to, for one thing.”
Brannigan headed down the stairs, smiling. “I’m not arguing.”
“And really, I find it unfair that he always talks to you. He’s been this silent guardian angel for me for years, and I don’t hear a peep out of him? What gives, am I right?”
Since he could say this while looking at Kyou over the monitor screens, Brannigan deadpanned, “Well, if you’re really serious about talking to him more regularly, Izzy, you can try your hand at causing some trouble. It’s a sure-fire technique to get him to call you.”
Kyou’s head popped up, and he stabbed a finger at Brannigan. “Don’t you fucking dare tell her that!”
“I heard that.” Isabella laughed then demanded, “Pass him the phone.”
Being an obedient brother, Brannigan promptly did so, enjoying the surprise on Kyou’s face as he took it. “She wants to talk to you.”
“Uh…why?” Kyou took the phone anyway and put it tentatively to his ear, as if afraid it might bite him. “Hello, Isabella?”
Whatever she said next surprised him, but a smile blossomed over Kyou’s face. That smile hit Brannigan somewhere in the gut. He’d rarely seen his lover smile, and not brightly like that. God, he had to see that expression more often.
Brannigan had faith that she’d shore up his declaration that Kyou would be welcome in the family, once they met him. With a smile of his own, he turned and walked to the kitchen, letting the two of them talk. The conversation, from what he could hear, both surprised and pleased Kyou. And it involved a possible double date?
Brannigan started to worry. For himself.
Making a mental note to deal with that later, he went through what groceries were in the fridge, then in the cabinets. Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches with some soup sounded tempting, as that was quick and easy, but Brannigan felt this absurd need to impress Kyou with his cooking skills. So of course, that was out.
As he stood in the kitchen, debating things, there was a shuffling noise. Aiden came down the stairs, wiping sleep from his eyes and moving like a puppet with tangled strings. He fetched up against the kitchen counter and stared hard at the coffee pot through bleary eyes for a long minute. “That’s empty.”
Taking pity, Brannigan steered him towards the table and sat him down first, then retraced his steps to make coffee. Once it was percolating, he glanced back at Aiden. “I’m making lunch. What sounds good to you?”
Aiden blinked at him, and it looked as if the question didn’t register for a moment. But then he answered, “Kyou needs vegetables.”
How ingrained was that? Aiden didn’t look awake enough to remember his own last name right then. The man still had pillow creases against his cheek, for heaven’s sake. Brannigan had a feeling that feeding his lover had just become his job. “Baked salmon, seared Brussels sprouts, baked potato?”
A dreamy smile crossed Aiden’s face. “Sounds lovely.”
“That’s what we’ll do, then.” Thinking, Brannigan asked, “Should I make it just for us three?”
Aiden shrugged his ignorance.
He’d message the others in a minute, then. He could get the oven heating now, pull things out of the fridge, and start in on the prep. Brannigan would need Kyou to talk to everyone, as he had no one else’s number.
Ivan chose that moment to come in through the garage, and he took in the sight of his awake husband with pleasure. He crossed the distance in three long strides and ducked in to kiss Aiden silly. It made Brannigan wonder, how long had these two been married? He had no timeline for that relationship.
Lifting his head, Ivan said something softly, then straightened altogether to look around, as if just realizing there were other people in the room. Which Brannigan didn’t buy for a minute.
“His coffee should be ready,” Brannigan stated with a wave toward the coffee pot.
Giving him a nod, Ivan went for it but spoke as he did so. “I heard from Carter a few minutes ago. They have most of the supplies and are heading back. You are making lunch?”
“Yes. Should I make enough for all of us? Where’s Remi?”
“School. And if you don’t mind, I’ll cook dinner.”
That sounded fair, so Brannigan set about getting salmon defrosting in the microwave. Since that would take a few minutes, he took the Brussels sprouts to the table to chop and prep with every intention of subtly pumping these two for information. “You look tired, Aiden.”
Aiden accepted the coffee from Ivan with a hum of pleasure and didn’t answer until he’d swallowed a mouthful with a happy sigh. “Well, Wednesday was sort of a shitstorm—”
Brannigan nodded, as that was a universal truth in any business. Wednesday was always a shitstorm.
“—and Thursday was in some sort of competition with Wednesday, and I was high on ginseng and coffee when I met you. I’m frankly surprised I’m awake right now. What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Ivan assured him with a shrug. He pulled out a chair to join them at the table. “We’ve been buying supplies most of the morning. After I took Remi to school, I did some surveillance. No one’s figured out where Brannigan is yet.”
He was relieved to hear it. “Well, you did miss a bit. Kyou and I agreed to date last night.”
Aiden swallowed more coffee, staring at him hard over the rim. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear out of my left eye like I used to. I thought you said you and Kyou are now dating.”
Clearly, the man had been too out of it to hear them either arguing or having sex this morning. “You heard correctly.”
“Fucking finally.” Aiden sat back, a man wholly satisfied with life. Then he snapped his fingers at Ivan. “Pay up.”
Brannigan paused mid-slice and looked between the two of them. What was this?
Ivan protested with spread hands. “Milij, bet was that he’d seduce, not start dating.”
With a question on his face, Aiden looked at Brannigan, eyebrows arched.
“This morning,” Brannigan said, well able to decipher that expression.
Satisfied, Aiden aimed a pointed smile at his husband. “Pay up.”
Disgruntled (but not really, there was a smile lurking under the frown), Ivan pulled out his wallet and slapped twenty dollars in front of his smirking husband. “Why did I bet against you?”
“I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you’re a glutton for punishment. You should know better by now.” Sensing Brannigan’s curiosity, Aiden slid the money toward himself and explained, “I could tell by the way you looked at Kyou that you were itching to get your hands on him. I bet Ivan you’d seduce him within forty-eight hours. Thank you for not disappointing me.”
Brannigan snorted
, shaking his head. Was he really that obvious? The answer didn’t bother him much. “You’re welcome. I guess.” He went back to slicing up Brussels sprouts. “Ivan, you said you have most of the supplies? Then are we waiting on anything?”
“Just on Kyou’s hacking, I think. You’ve warned people off from being in Roxbury tomorrow?”
“Yeah, spent the morning doing that.” Brannigan spared him a glance. “Still think last night’s plan will work?”
“Absolutely.”
Kyou stood from his chair and made his way toward them, Brannigan’s phone now lax at his side. Phone call was apparently over. “I’ve got my end ready to go. I just have to push a button, basically. And you two did not bet on us.”
Ivan shrugged, no defense on his lips. “You should not be so obvious.”
“Says the man that didn’t think it would happen,” Kyou shot back. He did, however, close in on Brannigan’s side and let his hand graze the back of Brannigan’s unstyled hair.
“Njet,” Ivan said, mischief dancing in those grey eyes. “We all knew it would happen. I just thought it would take longer than two days.”
Kyou sighed, apparently done with this conversation. “When the other two get back, let’s walk through—”
The garage door opened again, admitting Ari and Carter. Neither of them had anything in their hands, so Brannigan assumed they’d left it all in the car.
“Speak of the devil.” Kyou turned towards them but didn’t remove his hand from Brannigan’s shoulder. “Got everything?”
“We did,” Ari confirmed. He glanced about the table, taking them all in. “We’re all here, good. So, good news is, we have all the ordnance we could possibly need.”
Brannigan winced. Whenever someone started with ‘good news is,’ it meant there was bad news to report as well. “Do I want to ask what the bad news is?”
“We may have swung by Roxbury and caught sight of Ghostshot talking to one of the O’Conners.” Carter grimaced. “I’ve seen the man once, so pretty sure it was him.”
Brannigan’s voice was a touch faint. “So, bad news is that the assassin after me is in the city. Fantastic.”
13
Kyou
Kyou sat at the table, his hand in Brannigan’s, feeling a little nauseous. Probably stress. He wasn’t sure if he could actually eat the lunch that was now baking in the oven. The idea of someone as good as Ghostshot coming after Brannigan twisted his guts into an origami knot.
What helped him remain calm was the very capable men sitting at the table with him. Ivan had that gleam in his eye promising mayhem, Carter was level-headed as always, Ari was already planning how to deal with Ghostshot. There was nothing that this team couldn’t accomplish. They’d proven that in the almost two years they’d been together. Kyou looked at them and reminded himself to breathe.
Brannigan’s fingers were tight on his as the businessman asked, “If Ghostshot is already here, does that mean the timetable for taking down the O’Conners just moved up?”
“That’s the most sensible approach to this,” Carter agreed, stroking at his chin idly. You could practically see the wheels turning in his mind as he considered time and logistics. “After all, if the source of the hit dies, Ghostshot will drop it. No gain for him.”
“Are we prepped enough to take on the O’Conners tonight?” Brannigan’s brows were creased in a growing frown.
“Njet, not really,” Ivan said, but there was a bright, impish grin on his face. “But that just makes it more fun.”
Kyou shot him a quelling look. It bounced right off, like it had hit a force field. “Fun level aside, how much is left to do to make this feasible? Is this something where we can really buckle down, focus, and be ready by nightfall?”
Carter frowned but didn’t immediately answer.
With a look at his fiancé, Ari offered, “I can buy us a bit more time. I have an idea of where Ghostshot would set up or at least start looking for Brannigan.”
Brannigan’s eyes threatened to bug right out of his head. “You want to assassinate the assassin?”
“It’s like the ultimate version of tag,” Ari explained, and his smile was eerily reminiscent of Ivan’s when contemplating something he really, really shouldn’t do but would enjoy regardless. “Sniping the sniper. Great fun.”
Ivan bounced in his seat, practically luminescent. “Ooh, ooh, can I play too? I promise to share!”
Kyou stabbed a finger at both of them. “First of all, no. You’re supposed to be professionals, fucking act like it. Secondly, you’ve clearly spent far too much time with each other and you’re rubbing off in the wrong ways. I forbid this. I have too many troublemakers as it is. Carter, help me out here.”
With a nod to Kyou, Carter put a restraining hand on Ari’s shoulder. “Let’s save that for Plan B. If you’re hunting Ghostshot all over the city, it means you’re not here to help me with the prep to get into that building, which will delay us even further and give an opening for others to take up the contract. I’d rather not give anyone more of an opening.”
Looking as if he’d bitten into a sour lemon, Ari conceded, “That’s a point. Sorry, Ivan. We’ll have to play next time.”
Ivan flopped back in his chair in a dramatic fashion. “You all suck joy from life.”
Internally, Kyou heaved a sigh of relief. Thank god for Carter. Kyou didn’t know how much he’d needed a Carter before he’d acquired one. “So we’re agreed? We will try to go in tonight?”
The three men all nodded more or less simultaneously. “Agreed.”
Aiden lifted a hand. “Let me be in charge of dinner and Remi. I don’t have to go back in to work until tomorrow morning, so you have me until then.”
“Thanks.” Ari flashed Aiden a smile, then looked at Kyou. “She’ll demand the right to help when she gets in from school.”
“I’ll need her. I’ll have her keeping tabs on the rest of the Genovese family, just in case someone hits upon the bright idea of grabbing a hostage.”
Brannigan physically flinched. “God, you think they will?”
“Bad men are unfortunately predictable,” Ivan told him with an apologetic shrug. “But if we hit fast enough and clear out your enemy, I do not think they will try for it. Hostages don’t normally work out well. For bad guys, at least. It’s a last-ditch thing.”
He was more or less correct. Still, to reassure the worried man at his side, Kyou said the obvious. “I have more alerts on your family than I did yesterday. I’ll know if someone even looks at them cross-eyed.”
Brannigan eyed him sideways. “Is that what you were doing this morning?”
“One of the things, yes. I’ve got the bank transfer poised as well. I’ve also sent out a general alert to all of your security on the faces to watch out for. If an O’Conner comes anywhere near one of your building sites, they’ll know.”
This pleased him. Brannigan leaned in and kissed him softly. “Fortunately for me, you’re both brilliant and efficient.”
Kyou flushed a little. He wasn’t used to physical displays of affection. He really wasn’t used to them in front of an audience. He liked the attention, though.
He stoutly ignored the way everyone watched them with both amusement and indulgent smiles.
Pulling back, Brannigan requested seriously, “Tell me what I can do.”
Carter ticked things off on his fingers. “Pull everyone out of Roxbury today and tomorrow. Send them home. It’ll be something of a flag to the police when they investigate this later, but you can say you got an anonymous tip and chose to err on the side of caution. We don’t want anyone in the line of fire for this. And I trust evil men to only make bad decisions.”
“I put a stop to all construction this week, so no one’s at the work sites. I still have employees and a few managers at my bank in Roxbury. I can pull them in a few hours.”
“Good, do it. Put your family on high alert as well, double security if you can. Just in case. When Remi gets in, sit with her in f
ront of the cameras and help her keep an eye on people. You know the players far better than she does; you’ll be able to spot anything amiss.”
Brannigan inclined his head, accepting this. “Alright.”
“That’s all I can think of now,” Carter admitted, glancing at the others for their input. “It might be we’ll think of something obvious later.”
“We always think of something later,” Ari snorted in wry amusement. “Brannigan, your timer is about to go off.”
“Then let’s eat and get to work.” Brannigan stood, releasing Kyou’s hand and reaching for oven mitts.
The admittedly excellent food was served, and they ate companionably. Kyou fairly itched to get back to his computer and get to work, as he wanted this over with. But he stole a minute after people had cleared the table to catch Brannigan’s hand and pull him back in. He wanted to wipe the frown from that face. “Bran, this isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”
Brannigan regarded him, head canted, mouth quirked up on one side. “You’ve taken out Mob families before?”
“Okay, it’s the first time we’ve dealt directly with a Mob,” Kyou revised. “But tackling a well-defended house crawling with armed men? I’ve lost count how many times we’ve done that. Trust your experts.”
“Ah, caro, I trust you. You wouldn’t believe how much I do, how grateful I am that all of you are so very, very good at this.” Brannigan cradled his face with one warm palm, his green eyes affectionate and gentle. “I’m worried about people getting hurt. I’m mostly regretting the decisions I made that put you all in this crazy predicament to begin with.”
“You’re trying to make the world a better, safer place.” Kyou nuzzled into that hand, breathing in the scent of warm male. “I do wish you’d go about it differently, as you’re giving me ulcers. But I can’t be mad about your intentions.”
“From now on, you and I will sit and plan how to go about things. Okay?”
That sounded perfect. So incredibly perfect. Kyou went a little warm around the edges thinking of that future moment where he could sit with Brannigan and plan for the future, and it would be normal. Why did that mental picture make his heart ache with longing? Voice husky, he whispered, “I’m holding you to that.”
