Page 414 of Lodestar

“Got it in one, Eoghan.”

Conor frowned. “She’s right.”

“Naturally,” I purred, earning myself a quick grin from him.

“Anton won’t help for the sake of helping,” Conor reasoned. “Shay will have to be a good candidate.”

“The best,” I corrected.

“And if your intentions aren’t pure, Aidan, then he won’t help us either. Let’s face it, he’s not going to be around to see Shay’s election, but that doesn’t mean he can’t set things into play for us.”

Aidan rested his chin on his fist as he settled his focus on me. “My intentions aren’t pure, though.”

“Doubt that. It’s not every day that an Irish mobster wants his nephew to sit in the Oval Office,” I retorted. “Anyone who gets a boner for politics knows that without Congress on his side, a president can’t do dick. And that’s with legitimate policies, never mind illegitimate ones.

"What power are you going to get by Shay becoming president? Never mind that he can’t run until he’s thirty-five, so you’re all going to be using walkers by that point?—”

“We’re not that goddamn old,” Aidan argued.

“Speak for yourself, Grandpa,” Eoghan retorted, making me chuckle and prompting a huff out of Aidan.

He studied me though. Long and hard. Another woman would probably have been nervous, but I just arched a brow at him and stared right back.

“Is this a staring contest anyone can join?” Declan inserted.

Aidan’s voice was a croak as he admitted, “I want to right old wrongs.”

“What kind of old wrongs?” I prodded.

“The church is corrupt. Our governments are corrupt. If we can’t rely on the church or the fucking state, who can we call upon?”

“The Irish Mob?” Eoghan drawled.

Just as Conor mocked, “Batman?”

Though the others snickered, I didn’t. I just nodded. “You believe Shay has a vision for a better future?”

“He’s a kid. He’s busy fucking his socks so he doesn’t get spunk everywhere?—”

“Jesus, Aidan,” Declan spluttered, spraying scotch in every direction.

“But he’s got more about him than we did as kids,” Aidan continued like Declan hadn’t interrupted. “He cares. About so much shit. The climate, the state of the country, racial injustices, women’s rights…

"You ask him about something that’s going on in the papers, and he’s in there, ready to debate, caring so fucking much about this godforsaken world that it makes me hurt just to look at him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever given that much of a damn about anything outside of Savvie and my family, but he’s feeling all that about?—”

A knock sounded at the door.

Each of our heads whipped to the side.

“Who is it?” Finn called out, proving that Aidan might be Manhattan’s filthy king, but he didn’t rule this particular roost.

The door popped open. “It’s me.” Shay grinned as he peered through the gap he made. When he saw the serious expressions, he blinked. “I-I… Sorry. I’ll come back later?—”

“Seamus, is Kat okay?”

“Yeah, she’s watching a movie about pants that these girls share.” His nose crinkled. “I don’t know why they just don’t buy their own.”

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