Page 431 of Lodestar

She tucked her chin into her chest. “Maybe.”

I sighed. “That’s why you shouldn’t listen into conversations that are for adults, Kat. Stay a kid for as long as you can. Being a grown-up sucks.”

“Conor?”

“Yes, Kat.”

“Didn’t your da know about the man who hurt you?”

“Not until recently.”

“Why didn’t you want him to know?”

Christ, that was the real question, wasn’t it?

I cleared my throat. “My answer isn’t a nice one, Kat.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “Pinkie swear.”

Her pinkie made an appearance in front of me—so close that it almost went up my nose. I lowered it a little, hiding a smile, then curled mine around hers.

“I didn’t think he’d believe me.” I hesitated. “No, that’s not true. I knew he wouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because the man who hurt me was a man he trusted implicitly.”

“What does implicitly mean?”

“In this instance, it means Da trusted him one hundred percent.”

“He was wrong to, wasn’t he?”

I choked out a bitter laugh. “Yeah, he was.”

Ren, supremely unconcerned by our distress, started washing himself on her pillow.

“Conor?”

“Yes, Kat.”

“I’m glad your brothers hurt the man,” she whispered in a rush, petting Stimpy when she jumped onto her bed and snuggled into her side.

“Me too.”

“I like them more than the others now.”

That had me snorting. “You can have favorite uncles, but you can’t make them your favorite because of something they did for me. It should be because of something they did for you.”

“You’re my family now, aren’t you? And if they’d do that for you, then maybe if anyone hurt me too, they’d do the same for me.”

“That isn’t a question you need to ask yourself, Kat. If anyonedaredhurt you, and trust me, they won’t because you’re an O’Donnelly now, every single one of us would make that person wish they’d never been born.”

She shivered. “I like knowing that.”

“Good. When you have bad dreams, you should remember that. You have a family that even the boogeyman is frightened of.”

“I do?”

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