Page 17 of Scandalous Kingpin
“Not in front of the women,” he warned.
“Yeah, fucker,” Aiden said with a smirk, shoving my hand away.
My eyes darted to the door, where Ivy stood staring at us, an indecipherable expression on her face. Davina, Wynter, and Juliette were there too, wide eyes darting between us.
“Just one night of peace,” Aemon hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Is that too much to ask?”
“Maybe you should attract better clientele.”
“I agree.” Aemon glared past me, at my cousin and brother, a note of warning in his voice. “I suggest you Italians find another club in Dublin to stir up trouble in.”
Basilio shook his head. “Nah, we like it here too much. Right, cuz?”
“Right.”
“Besides, one Callahan for the day was quite enough. We shouldn’t fuck around with another one,” Dante chimed in, smiling smugly. “Fuck, hopefully we didn’t hurt Tyran’s feelings.”
My brows furrowed. Dante had to be messing with Aiden. He wouldn’t be so foolish to start a war with the Callahans. Nobody was that stupid.
“If you laid a finger on Tyran, I’ll skin you alive, DiLustro,” Aiden growled, his warning increasing the tension in the room.
Basilio chuckled. “The manwhore that he and his twin are, I didn’t have to.”
Aemon sighed heavily. “Why in the fuck do all the crazies come here?”
“This isn’t over,” I warned, locking eyes with Aiden before turning to leave.
“Oh, I’m fucking counting on it, Priest.”
Aiden’s chuckle followed me out of the room.
Chapter Eight
IVY
Ilet my vision blur as that familiar grief returned and sadness dominated the room. Whenever I thought of him, my chest squeezed painfully and fire ignited in my veins, hungry for revenge. Sofia Volkov was on a lot of radars, but she was a very difficult woman to find.
The business of Athair’s will had lingered over us for months, and the day had finally come. Why it took so long, nobody seemed to know. A part of me was also terrified that Athair’s secrets would be revealed today.
My brothers sat around me, but I didn’t look over. I couldn’t. Ever since Athair’s passing, they’d been smothering me, so I could only imagine how they’d act if I told them my chest felt tighter than it ever had and that I also might be sick in the potted plant to my left.
Thanks to my eavesdropping, I knew they feared retribution for his involvement with Sofia. Hence, I was practically a prisoner in my own home. Everywhere I went, bodyguards tailed me or I had one or both my brothers breathing down my neck.Even my birthday was a disaster—one that still gave me goose bumps whenever I thought of it.
So, most of the time, I kept to the walls of this fourteenth-century castle like some medieval maiden waiting for a knight to swoop in and save me.
Aemon sat on my right, while Bren and Caelan boxed me in on my other side. It was the time to read the will. My guess was Aemon would get most of it, and Bren and Caelan the rest. I doubted I’d even be listed—as was customary in these old families. My brothers would inherit the Murphy fortune, our enemies, and the responsibility of caring for me.
Our family lawyer sat uncomfortably at our athair’s desk, rifling through his briefcase to locate the paperwork. I just wanted to get this over with.
It’d been six months already. My brothers were busy handling the Murphy operation and cleaning up the mess left behind while I twiddled my thumbs, calling my girlfriends and living vicariously through them from dreary Ireland. My friends hadn’t been out to visit since my birthday, which left me bored out of my mind and lonely. Not to mention, I had way too much time on my hands to think about Sofia Volkov and the mysterious twins, wondering what it was that Athair even saw in her.
Although, this lonely spell was about to end.
My brothers promised I could visit the States after this business with the will was behind us.
The lawyer glanced at his watch, then at the door, and unease slithered through me. What was he waiting for?
“Can we get this started?” Aemon snapped, just as impatient. Ever since his meeting with the Callahans, he’d been on edge. Sometimes he’d look at me, and I swore there’d be pity in his eyes. But then he’d mask his expression and be the same old big brother I’d always known.
