Page 30 of Iron Crown

Jericho, still holding a child in one arm, pulled out a seat for Aoibheann before sitting down himself, putting Jocelyn into a highchair.

Eoghan moved to another baby seat, which we assumed would be for Cillian. He strapped our son in, taking a seat beside him, but keeping his hand on the back of the chair.

I sat on the other side, so our son was between us.

Blink took a seat across from me. Just when I thought everyone was settled in, a back door beside a grand, granite fireplace slammed open, and in strode the most impressive-looking woman I had ever seen.

Tall, fit, with arms the size of my thighs, blonde hair pulled into a fishtail braid, she had a long face, prominent nose, and the skin-tight clothes of a woman who was about to go to the gym. Whatever gym she went to must have been serious, because her six-pack abs showed even through her halter.

“My baby sister,” Jericho said, flicking his hand casually to the woman. “Yuliya.”

There was nothingbabyabout her.

Yuliya Vasilieva was a powerhouse. She looked a lot like her brother, but had the angular, feminine, arched brows thatexpressed a quiet amusement at the absurdity of the world. Her angular features, long nose, and lopsided lips made her look like she was simultaneously challenging you to a fight, and making fun of you.

She grabbed a chair, the legs scraping on the ground, before she sat down. She placed her elbows on the table, arms crossed, leaning forward, making her defined arms look absolutelysculpted.

I couldn’t stop looking at her. This was the type of woman who confirmed, at least to me, that sexuality was not a choice. She was fucking magnificent! Yet, my lady parts remained unaffected.

“So, let’s start a war,” Yuliya said, her Russian accent thick, as she smiled down the table.

“For God’s sake,Aunty,” Dairo said, drawing out the last word a little too long, and the two of them smiled at each other with genuine fondness. “Let’s wait untilafterappetizers at least!”

“Oh, I apologize, darlingnephew-in-law,” she said, with a wink. “How rude of me.”

“He is not your nephew,” Jericho growled, his voice low.

“Of course he is! I am your sister, and your daughter is Rose.” Yuliya’s smile was wide, softening her features immensely. “And Rose is married to Dairo, ergo…”

“You two are insufferable. I should kick you out, so it’ll just be me, Rose, and the twins.”

Aoibheann smiled, gently, “And what about me?”

She blushed, covering her lips with two fingers, as if she’d just told a scandalous joke.

“Aoibheann can live with me,” Yuliya said, “And Dairo. Maybe we’ll go over to live with the Greens, no? What do you think, Eoghan?”

“I like having an aunt-in-law,” Dairo joked. “Marriage truly is the solution to,” he said, nodding to Yuliya, then frowned as he theatrically turned to Jericho, “and the cause of, all of life’s problems.”

“I am not stepping into this mess,” Eoghan said quietly, looking to me. “We look absolutely functional compared to them.”

I tried not to smile as the banter grew. Everyone began shouting, and it got louder and louder. The mix of hostility and amusement was tense and hilarious at the same time.

One of the twins screamed. Then the other began to cry. Cillian looked confused, his nose wrinkling at the cacophony.

“For God’s sake!” Jericho said, picking up Jocelyn, who was the one crying. He started violently bouncing her until she quieted down, her head on her grandfather’s shoulder. “Will you two—” He glared directly at Dairo, then to Yuliya. “Have a care for the little ones?”

“That might be why it’s good to not have them at the table at all,” Blink said, lifting his hand, two fingers up, as if he was in a classroom begging for the teacher to let him go to the bathroom.“Among the lot of you, couldn’t a single person scrounge up a nanny? Babysitter? Maiden aunt?Something?”

“I’m the maiden aunt,” Yuliya said with a smirk. “And I would not be alone with three children unless I was incredibly sedated, or under duress.”

She tilted her head to the side, then pursed her lips in thought.

“Actually, between interrogation or keeping three of those things alive?” She casually waved a hand at the three children at the table. “I’d rather be waterboarded.”

With as straight a face as I could muster, I looked at Blink as if appalled and said, “A babysitter I’d never met?

“We are going to get nothing done at this rate.” Blink pinched the bridge of his nose.

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