Stone
The O’Connell beach house is a magnificent property on the coast of New Jersey. Bren explained he bought the property for his ever-growing family, but it is under a false name to avoid detection; essentially, it’s a safe house. When Sienna asked him how many kids he has, he replied with too many, making me grin at his bluntness.
Out of all my brothers, I seem to have the best connection with him. We’re alike. It’s clear, even though I’m the youngest of the family. Broody and stoic, I like to sit back and watch. Maybe that’s in part because of my conditioning, but also, I enjoy watching people and taking in their reactions. That way, you can gauge their intent, witness the telltale signs of their behavior, and decide how you’re going to deal with them before you actually need to.
Oscar is like this too, but to the extreme; it’s pretty damn obvious the guy is on the spectrum.
I have two more brothers, Cal and Con. Con is the only one I haven’t met yet and, apparently, it’s because we were so close growing up that he took my death harder than the others. Therefore, they’re protective of him.
There’s not a flicker of recognition in my mind when I’m around them. No memories flood back to me like I’ve heard can happen in memory loss cases. And the truth is, I don’t care.
I don’t give a shit that I’m their brother who was presumed dead and now suddenly reappeared in their life. All I care about is Sienna and getting us some place safe so we can have a future together. If that means I have to play happy fucking families with the Mafia version of the damn Brady Bunch, then so be it.
In return for our safety, Oscar made me agree to meet with their mother, and although the entire scenario makes me angsty, I’ll do what I have to do to get what I want.
Oscar informed me that he has trackers on Azrael’s and Vector’s vehicles, both of which are heading in this direction. He even spoke with a guy named Reece, who said he’d logged into all the street cameras to find only those two cars are making their way here.
I’m not surprised; Vector has always underestimated me, so they probably expect to find me alone with Sienna, not an army of men standing by my side.
In my haste to move in on Sienna quickly, I only have a rucksack with a change of clothes, and Sienna has nothing, barring my T-shirt. I drop the bag onto the bed in one of the suites and glance around the room as if something will jump out at me and provide me with an answer as to what she’s going to wear. I scrub a hand over my head, realizing this part of my plan wasn’t thought out at all.
“Why don’t you go take a bath or something?”
She shifts from foot to foot while I avoid her eyes, despite wanting them on me more than anything. The knowledge of her being married to another man eats away at me. The betrayal has left a deep cavern in my core.
“Are they going to hurt Azrael?” she asks.
My spine snaps straight, and I give her my full attention. I could lie to her, of course, but I’ve never lied to her. She’s the only person I could ever truly be myself with. I’m not about to change that now.
“I don’t know.”
Her lip wobbles. “It’s going to start a war, . One I’m not sure will have any winners. Do you really want to have found a brother only to lose another?” She’s referring to the shitstorm that’s about to go down if the O’Connells hurt Azrael, and as much as I’d like to say I don’t care, I do. I might be made of stone, but I don’t always feel it.
“There’s plenty of ’em.” I shrug with a sly smile, referring to the five O’Connell brothers.
She rolls her eyes and swats my arm, the playfulness something I love about her, as well as how her eyes sparkle when the smile she wears lights up her face.
I step forward and cup her cheeks in my thick palms. “I don’t know what the solution is, Sienna.”
Tears fill her eyes, and if I could banish them from existence, I would. They’re different tears from when I fuck her. They’re the tears that rip your heart out and shred it.
“The odd one might have a solution.”
“Odd one?” Her eyebrow rises and her nose crinkles.
“Yeah, Mr. Personality.”
“You mean Oscar?”
“Yeah.”
She exhales, and tenderness shines in her eyes as she tilts her head. “Do you not remember them at all?”
I drop my hands from her face. “Nope.”
“Well, I can tell that they love you,” she says with conviction.
I snort and raise an eyebrow at her as I hold her gaze.
“They wouldn’t be doing all of this if they didn’t.” She waves her hand toward the door. “Besides, I can see it in their eyes.”
“Don’t want you lookin’ in their fucking eyes, Sienna,” I bark.
She spins on the balls of her bare feet and heads toward what I am guessing is the bathroom. “Go and do Mafia things while I drown my sorrows in the gold tub.” Her tone holds mirth to it, but her words are almost haunting. I can’t imagine finding someone you love in a bathroom acting on their thoughts and words.
As I head out of the door, I try to calculate the chances of my blood brothers allowing my found brother to live.
Maybe if we give them some information worth knowing, that would encourage an unlikely truce.