Page 413 of Lodestar

I just mocked, “Conor, I think your brother has low blood sugar. Give him some candy.”

He snickered and tossed him a Jolly Rancher from the treasure trove of candy that was his pocket, which Brennan batted away with a scowl. Then, he answered, “The types of questions we should ask Shay so it doesn’t seem like we’re interviewing him for the most important job in the world.”

I chuckled. “Most important job in the world? Doesn’t meeting my grandfather put that into perspective?”

Conor grimaced. “True. Hell, even that fucker Sheridan Reinier had more power than Davidson.”

My moue of distaste didn’t go unnoticed by him and he grabbed my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles.

Surprised by the tender, affectionate act in front of his siblings, I stroked my thumb over the fingers that still held on tight to mine.

“Is he in debate club?” I asked Declan.

“Sure is.” He sipped his scotch. “And the little fecker can run rings around me already.”

“That’s because you weren’t made for debating,” Aidan retorted. “That’s Brennan’s specialty.”

Brennan gaped at him. “What?”

“It is. You’re great at arguing. You listen and let people fall into the belief that you’re not interested then you trap them with some insane bullshit that always proves them wrong.”

Conor’s nod came slowly but it came. “He’s right. I never thought of it that way. I’m used to you always keeping quiet because of Da.”

My sniff said it all.

“You have a problem?”

“Yeah, I do. I know exactly what you did when you were a teenager, Brennan.” His tension flooded the room at my words. “And that’s baloney. Your da blaming you like you were a foot soldier for what happened to your mother says more abouthimthan you.”

He scowled at me. But that was it. No comeback.

Aidan’s gaze darted between the pair of us. “You know what happened?”

“Of course I do.”

Conor shrugged when he found himself at the center of his brothers’ attention. “She’d have found out anyway.”

“Not if you didn’t tell her,” Aidan retorted.

“Since when was it a family secret?”

“Since forever.” Declan rolled his eyes.

“I don’t see why it’s so bad that she knows that dipshit over there is only a dipshit because he’s emotionally stunted.”

“I think you mean repressed,” I corrected.

Conor snorted. “Same difference.”

“If we’ve finished psychoanalyzing me,” Brennan growled. “Can we return to the topic at hand?” When everyone stared blankly at him, he prompted, “Shay? And whether he wants to be the goddamn president of the United States before we go to the trouble of handing the position to him on a platter?”

Eoghan grumbled, “Whatever you do, don’t phrase it like that. He’s too fair for his own good.”

“Eoghan’s right. He’ll want to win the race fair and square,” Declan said uneasily.

“There’s no reason he can’t win on his policies,” I tossed down. When they peered at me like I’d started talking in Latin, I sighed. “My grandfather might be a kingmaker, but he believes that he’s a righteous man. It’s bullshit to me, but it’s not to him. He believes in the Brothers. He believes their cause is a noble one.”

“You mean he doesn’t like to be tarred with the same brush as the Sparrows?”

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