Page 561 of Lodestar

“Rex’s dad? Didn’t know he had an ex. Thought his wife passed away.”

“She did. But he had an affair and knocked her up. Anyway, when he died, turns out he gave her a safety deposit key. In the box, there were some rubies and some letters. Those were addressed to me.” She sucked in a breath. “You know how you were asking the other night about the link between thePauksand Bear?”

“Uh huh,” I murmured as I went to retrieve our go bags. Then, realization struck. “He told you in the letters?”

“Temperance fucking Black,” she snarled.

“What?” I gaped at nothing. “She’sthe connection?”

“Apparently. He said she approached him and offered to work with him years ago.”

“Must have been with the Brothers’ approval,” I said uneasily.

“I’ve told Eagle Eyes to bring her in. We’ll get more answers out of her.”

Finding the duffle bags, I hauled them over my shoulder and returned to our office.

“What else did Bear send you? You said there were two letters.”

“There were.” She cleared her throat. “Our suspicions were correct.”

I stilled. Then my door buzzer sounded.

“Who’s that?” she demanded.

Checking out the cameras, I murmured, “Aidan.” My chin tipped forward when I saw Brennan beside him. “Bren, too.”

She released a breath. “Thank fuck.”

“Your grandfather might like to think he’s all-seeing and all-knowing, but he isn’t,” I retorted. “He’s not due in the city until Friday. Remember?”

“After what Eagle Eyes shared with us last night, you still think that?”

I grimaced. “To be honest, I’m not sure what I think about any of this. I just know we’re in the middle of a shitstorm and nothing is making much sense.”

I released the door so my brothers could walk in and yelled, “I’m in my office.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Aidan drawled as he strolled in, a cross between James Bond and a walking advertisement for tailored suits.

Brennan, as always, looked like a bruiser. You could dress him up in Brioni, but fuck, you couldn’t take away from the fact he was the fists of our family.

“What do you want?”

“To speak with you, moron,” Brennan grumbled.

Aidan perched his ass on Star’s desk and folded his arms across his chest. “I wanted to talk yesterday but after everything with…everything,it didn’t seem the appropriate time.”

I put Star on speaker. “We’re listening.”

Aidan cast a wary glance at my cell. “You won’t like what I have to say, Star.”

“It’s that kind of day, Aidan. Hit us with it.”

“I think your grandfather is losing his shit.”

My brow furrowed. “Why in particular?”

“At first, I could okay this beef he has with the English. Don’t particularly feel Irish, not like Da, but to honor our ancestors, why the hell not?

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