Page 398 of Lodestar

“No. Just because you’ve been training her to say that didn’t mean she was going to say it,” Jennifer retorted, but she was laughing as she swept out of the hall into the open-plan space.

Her happy gaze darted around the room, then it faded as she saw the guy standing at my side.

She clutched at the baby in her arms who was propped against a burgeoning stomach that told me Luciu Valentini, her husband, had a breeding kink, then like a wall had come down between her and the rest of us, she tipped up her chin. “I have to go and tell Luc. He’ll be pissed that he missed her first word.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Savannah warbled.

“Did you arrange this?” she hissed at the woman who was practically my sister.

“He’s here for me,” I said calmly.

“For you?” Jennifer frowned. “Who are you?”

“She’s Conor’s girlfriend, Jen,” Savannah rasped, her hands pleating together.

God, didn’t she know that was a dead giveaway?

I understood she wanted to mend fences here, but you didn’t get that by burning bridges.

Huffing, I muttered, “I’m his fiancée, actually.”

Jennifer’s brows lifted. “He proposed?”

I waggled my hand. “Got a ring and everything.” Swaggering deeper into the room, I settled my ass on the couch and was immediately joined by the cat. “Come on, Paddy.” I flicked the other woman a look. “Tell me something about Conor that’ll embarrass him later. Something that only a godfather would know.”

Paddy’s chuckle was wary, but he peered between the three women in the room and, seeming to sense that I was his best chance of survival, edged toward me and planted himself at my side.

I knew the whole story about how Jennifer was Paddy’s kid with some two-buck whore, and when he’d done his disappearing act, he’d left his daughter in a lurch.

Savannah claimed Paddy didn’t know about Jennifer, but who the fuck knew withthatgeneration of O’Donnellys?

I wasn’t sure why, but Kat had removed her headphones and was studying us with interest as Paddy reasoned, “I don’t go around embarrassing the boys unless they deserve it.”

That made me snort. “Katina, you won’t be so lucky. I’ll tell your boyfriends about the embarrassing shit you do.”

“Hey! That’s not fair.”

I winked at her. “More reason to behave like an angel at all times.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

The twinkle in her eyes made me glad she still needed adult supervision.

Behind us, I heard Savannah and Jennifer whispering furiously at each other. I didn’t know if they were angry words, but when Jennifer didn’t storm out, I figured that was phase one of Savannah’s plan underway.

“I won’t use whatever you tell me as ammunition in a fight,” I vowed.

Paddy’s brows rose. “Ammunition in a fight? Jesus, poor Kid. He’s got himself a handful with you.”

I showed him my teeth. “I’m sure that aligns with what you’ve heard about me.”

“True, it does.” He cleared his throat, and his chest rattled—he was a smoker. “Okay, well, Conor wasn’t the brother with the most embarrassing stories.”

Interest pricked, I asked, “Which was?”

“Aidan.”

That was all he had to say for Savannah to swoop in. “Oh?”

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