Page 434 of Lodestar

“No. Maybe? I’m not sure. I guess it might be for the best that we're trying to behave outwardly.” I paused, reflecting on Anton and how he’d probably protect us if Star asked nicely. “I’m telling you because…” Though I’d spent last night sleepless, trying to figure out how to explain this to them in the fewest words possible, I was still coming up dry. “Okay, so…” I hesitated. “Right, I mean…” I coughed. “It started…” I sighed.

“Just spit it out, Conor, for fuck’s sake.”

Brennan’s use of my real name had me cringing. Not that I appreciated my nickname, but that meant he was pissed. I didn’t have a problem with annoying my siblings, but I kind of needed them on my side if today was going to end how I wanted it to.

“I’m just trying to explain how this particular ‘situation’ happened,” I defended before blurting out, “You know how I can listen in to your calls and texts?”

“No, we forgot,” Declan drawled, but unlike Brennan, he appeared amused rather than annoyed with me.

My lips twitched. “It’s a clever piece of tech. It’s adaptable for any device with an internet connection?—”

“Fuck,” Eoghan rasped, four steps ahead. “They got their hands on it? They’ve been gathering intel on us?”

“They did have it in their possession. For a short while. But they weren’t collecting data on us.

“Anyway, the clever part isn’t accessing any device. Long story short, collatingthatmuch information requires a lot of storage so I developed a new method of storing all that data.

“We were thinking of cloud storage in a strictly binary way, but I was like, what if I think in quantum…” When they stared at me blankly, I grunted. “Never mind. It’s unique. It’s what makes the system work because there’s too much to store and not enough time to trawl through what’s saved.

“It’s not something that can be replicated. So I got access to that and have seen what they’ve used my program for. We’re not featured on there,butthe Valentini Capo is, so’s the new Pakhan of The Forgotten Boys, and then Dragon Head Zhao is too.”

“Why are you telling us this if we’re not in danger?” Aidan rumbled.

“I want to attend the Summit today.” A Summit that had only been called because of the recent revelations in the press.

“Why?” Brennan growled.

“In the spirit of cooperation, I think it’d be wise to give the Russians, the Sicilians, and the Chinese what the NSA gathered. There’s no guarantee that they didn’t copy what they found.”

“And, I repeat, why? They couldn’t use any information they gathered, not when it was collected illegally, and I’m no criminal attorney, but it’s likely entrapment too, no?”

I scowled at him. “You might be a bruiser, Brennan, but I know you’re smarter than that.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Is this about Star?”

“I think it’d be wise if the other factions learned she was with us now.”

Declan chuckled, but it was Aidan who smirked at me. “This isn’t ‘take your girlfriend to work’ day, Kid.”

“I never said it was,” I grumbled.

“She’d get a kick out of it,” Eoghan answered for me.

Aidan heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t disagree that it’s a wise move to share this information with the factions. What do you think, Finn?”

“I think it’ll make us look benevolent.”

“Benevolent equals weak,” Brennan argued.

“No. They’re not idiots. They, like we do, know that they’re on watch lists the country over. This appears benevolent but is giving them nothing. That’s my kind of deal,” Finn retorted. “I also think it’s wise for them to know Star is with Conor.”

I knew he was my favorite brother for a reason.

“You fucking would,” Brennan sniped.

“Hear me out.” Finn surged forward in his seat, pissed enough to startle even Brennan. “You need to back the fuck off Star, Brennan. I understand that her past is colorful, but your fear she’ll betray us to the alphabets is insane whentheyturned onher. You need to get over this goddamn paranoia—it’s tainting your every judgment in regard to her.

“There’s no denying that our brother is smart. That the factions themselves are aware of this too is indubitable. But the only person who has ever broken his code, who has ever breached his security, isStarfuckingSullivan.

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