Page 607 of Lodestar

“I’m not,” Kat argued, straightening her shoulders and then grabbing Enzo’s hand. “And I regret telling you about him now.” To me, she ordered, “You get Niall.”

“I’m not holding his hand! I’m not a kid,” Niall cried.

“Don’t worry, dude,” I soothed, clamping my fingers on his shoulder. “That better?”

“Much better,” Niall said with a sniff, glowering at his sister who surprised us both by sticking out her tongue at him.

I hid a grin at the move becausethatwas Kat. Not this uptight Type-A chick that was dealing withsomethingsince Star had dumped the news of her inheritance and her aunt on her last night.

Why she’d waited until this moment to share that with her kid, I didn’t know. Maybe it was because Kat was starting college in the fall, or maybe she just figured it was time—who the fuck knew how Star’s mind worked?

What I did know was that Kat was dealing with the aftermath of these revelations and me being the moron who was head over fucking heels for her, I wanted to help.

Even if that only meant corralling the demon spawns that were her siblings.

As guards gathered around us and aides began to lead us toward a stage, we stayed in a pretty tight formation, which was a miracle considering how many of us were here.

The whole O’Donnelly clan numbered over two dozen now with all the kids.

To be honest, I was lucky I didn’t have to keep control of my siblings because if Kat thought Enzo was a bringer of chaos, that was nothing on my freakin’ brother, Dermot.

Even Aidan the Third was behaving, and she was a fucking nightmare worthy of Savannah and Aidan Jr.’s DNA.

Of course, with any family event of ours, there had to be drama.

When the guards suddenly shouted, “GET DOWN! SHOOTER!” and we were shoved onto the ground, men piling on top of us and the kids to keep us safe, I heaved an impatient sigh. Even Enzo, the youngest of our group, yawned.

This was life as an O’Donnelly, after all.

Especially this new version that was the hybrid Irish Mob/sports team owner/renowned kids’ books author/baker/face that smashed a thousand Sparrow and Brotherhood ships.

Around us, the mania of an active shooting situation blared to life, but to the kids, Kat and I played ‘I Spy,’ which wasn’t fun when your vision was limited to two feet on the ground but it kept them occupied until security contained the sniper.

Fifteen minutes later, Lucinda popped up, brushing us all down and making us presentable again.

“Who was it, Cin? Are they in custody?”

She tutted. “I’m not Cin anymore, Seamus. I’m Lucinda.”

Kat snorted. “What a difference a namedoesn’tmake.”

“I work with your mom now.”

“And?” Kat arched a brow at her. “Let me guess, you handled the shooter.”

Cin preened. “I can’t help it that I have an eye for these things.”

“That’s why Star hired you, isn’t it?” I questioned in a low voice. “It has nothing to do with you being a great assistant?—”

“—or the only person who’ll deal with her without wanting to strangle her,” Kat finished.

Cin smirked. “You can’t put words in my mouth. Anyway, the shooter is in a body bag and so he should be for disturbing this momentous occasion. Now, the crowd is ready?—”

“You mean to tell me that you didn’t clear out the audience?” Kat shrieked.

“Why bother? They weren’t targeting the audience.”

“So reassuring, Cin.”

---