1. Kieran

1

KIERAN

" W hat are you girls doing?"

Chloe looks up from the stack of papers before her, pride shining in her eyes. "Hey. We're working on the makeup line. What are you doing?"

Leaning down, I press a kiss to the top of my sister's head. I can't get over how damn happy I am that she's living here now. "Was taking a call and saw the light on. You've been working every night the past few weeks."

Cali and Scarlet get up from their seats and practically tackle me for a hug. Paisley is nowhere to be seen, though. That's a relief, but it's also irritating. Where would she be? She needs to be home and in bed, but I doubt that's the case. It's also none of my fucking business, so why am I wondering?

"We're close to finishing our first palette, and our website launches in a few days so we're doing all the last-minute things to make sure it's perfect. We're also planning an influencer party," Chloe says.

I stare down at my sister, warmth filling my chest. Until recently, we hadn't been as close as I would have liked, but that's all changing. I'm so damn proud of her. All of them, honestly. Cali, Scarlet, Chloe, and Paisley are starting a luxury makeup brand. It's been Chloe's dream for a long time.

"It's going to be perfect. I'm proud of all of you."

"Sorry I'm late. Today was hectic. I didn't even have time for lunch. But I landed the third biggest account in the history of the company so it's totally worth it. I rushed over here as soon as I could." Paisley scurries into the dining room, a purse big enough to fit a baby cow inside hanging off her shoulder.

She looks tired. Based on the time she left this morning, she's been at work for over fourteen straight hours. With no lunch? Goddamn it.

"No worries," Chloe says, smiling up at her. "You've been working a lot lately."

Yeah, way too much for my liking. Not that it's any of my business. But if she were mine, I would not allow that shit to happen.

Jesus. I have no right to be thinking bullshit like that.

"Yeah. I've been trying to close this deal, and there's a promotion opportunity coming for one adviser to move up to work directly under the CEO, so I'm trying to show that I would be perfect for the job."

"By working yourself into the ground?" I snap. Four sets of eyes turn to me, and Paisley narrows hers.

"Pretty sure it's none of your business, big guy."

I scratch the center of my palm, irritation crawling all over me like a horde of spiders. "We have leftovers from dinner. I'll make you a plate."

Chloe's mouth falls open, and her gaze darts from me to Paisley and back again.

"I am perfectly capable of making my own dinner, thank you very much. I can take care of myself." Paisley plants her hands on her hips.

The other three women must notice the fire in my eyes as I storm across the room toward Paisley because they quickly turn their attention to their work. Not Paisley, though. Nope . She doesn't budge.

Leaning down so I'm face to face with her, I speak slowly and firmly. "Just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean you should have to. Now sit your ass down while I go make you a plate."

Before she can argue with me, I turn on my heel and stride out of the dining room, ignoring her "What an asshole" comment.

While I warm her food, I pace in the kitchen. Why does she have to be such a fucking brat? She only does it to me. With Grady or Ronan or any of the other guys, she's sweet as sugar. It makes me want to kill them for it. Why, though? That's the question of the fucking year. Paisley is no one to me. She's my sister's best friend who, for some reason, gets under my skin like no one ever has.

The microwave dings, and I pull out the plate of lasagna, grab a napkin, silverware, and a bottle of water, and take it to her. "I want all of that gone. The water, too."

Craning her neck to look at me, her dark eyes flicker, and her eyebrows draw together. She's going to say something sassy to piss me off. I just know it.

"You're not the boss of me."

Letting out a growl, I take a step back so I don't snatch her up and put her over my knee in front of everyone. "Eat, Paisley."

Then I turn to leave because my blood pressure can only handle so much for one day.

"Kieran," Paisley calls out.

I glance back at her with a lifted brow. "What?"

She motions toward her food, her eyes glittering under the light. "Did you poison it?"

"No. But I should have."

The corners of her mouth twitch as she fights a smile.

"Maybe next time," I say, giving her a wink.

She loses the battle and looks away to try to hide her expression. That's okay, though. I saw it, and I was the cause of it. Good enough for me.

S crubbing a hand over my face, I try to concentrate on the conversation in the room. It's an important one. Something I need to pay attention to. Yet, the only thing I can focus on is being pissed that Paisley worked all day without eating. For fourteen hours? Not acceptable.

"Kieran," Declan snaps.

I glance up at my boss and longtime friend. I hope the irritation on his face isn't because I wasn't paying attention.

"You're good with what I said?" Declan asks.

Shit . I have no clue what he just said. He could have suggested we kill the president, for all I know.

Declan grips the edge of his desk and shakes his head, then looks at his brother—and my best friend—Bash with a smirk. "Told you he wasn't paying attention. He's distracted by the cute little goth girl in the other room."

Narrowing my gaze, I lift my hand and flip them off. "You know, ever since you've settled down with women, you've become a bunch of meddling assholes. I'm not distracted by her."

Bash coughs. "Uh-huh."

I get up and stomp over to the liquor cabinet. "But you know, she worked all day today, skipped her lunch, and came straight here to work some more? No meal break, no nothing. Then, she acted like a brat when I told her I was making her a plate of food. She's so damn aggravating. I swear, I think I need to get my blood pressure checked whenever she's around."

My back is to everyone while I ramble on and pour myself a heavy glass of whiskey. When I finally stop talking, the room is so silent that I turn around. As soon as I do, all of them erupt into obnoxious laughter.

"Jesus, mate. You're fucking sprung," Killian says. "Never thought I'd see the day when Kieran liked a girl so much. Poor lass. She's going to need some therapy to deal with you."

Even though I'm in a room with five of my best friends—men I've known for so long we consider each other family, men I would trust my life with and give my life for—I've never wanted to kill these assholes more than I do right now.

"You all can fuck off. I'm not sprung. We hate each other. I'd be like this about any woman working that much. It's not acceptable."

Another round of laughter, and I officially hate every single one of them.

"Can we focus on what we were talking about instead of my personal life?" I throw back the entire glass of whiskey and slam it down on the counter.

Killian, the second-in-command of our syndicate, grins. His straight white teeth make me want to punch him in his pretty face. "So, you admit that Paisley is part of your personal life. Good to know. Moving on."

Declan gives Killian a fist-bump, then proceeds to start talking about business like this conversation never happened.

"Smoke is still in the wind. I'm sure he's hiding because he knows we're looking for him. Once things settle, he'll get brave and start making moves again. We need to be ready for that," Declan says.

"I talked to Knox and Angel, and they're positive that the shitty guns they've been getting are from Smoke and his crew. We need to put a stop to that as soon as possible," Killian adds.

I pay better attention this time, though part of me wants to go back into the dining room and make sure Paisley ate all the food I brought her. I don't know why I even care. And she's right. I'm not the boss of her.

"Do we need to put the girls on lockdown? Because I'd be happy to chain Chloe to my bed," Bash says with a glint in his eye.

"Dude! What the fuck. That's my sister," I snap. "Just because you married her doesn't mean I won't kick your ass."

Bash chuckles, ignoring my threat completely. He's my best friend in the world, and I trust him with my sister more than I'd trust anyone else, but still. I don't want to hear about all the nasty shit they do together.

"I don't think we need a total lockdown. Just make sure we know where they are at all times. Cali, Scarlet, and Chloe will all have their bodyguards with them any time they leave the estate." Declan glances at his watch, no doubt checking to see if it's time to put Cali to bed. The man has her on a strict schedule.

"What about Paisley? We should assign a bodyguard to her." Maybe I should be her bodyguard. Oh, she would love that.

Declan nods. "Yeah. That's a good idea. Patrick is healed up from getting shot. I'll assign him to Paisley for the time being."

Two feelings settle in my chest. The first one feels a lot like heartburn. Patrick is a good man. He's loyal, strong, and he's good with the women in this family. I don't want him spending time with Paisley. I can't tell Declan that; otherwise, it would prove their point, even if it is completely wrong.

Bash clears his throat. "I don't know that Paisley would do well with a bodyguard following her around. She seems pretty private. Even living in our house, she tends to keep to herself. Maybe have Patrick follow her when she leaves the property, but tell him to keep his distance. We could ask Cage to put trackers on her, too. He did it for all the other girls."

Fuck, I love my best friend. As if he knows what I'm thinking, Bash glances at me and winks.

Cage isn't part of the Irish mafia. Hell. We're tame compared to whatever it is that he does. All I know is that he's helped us dozens of times, and we've done the same for him. He's also immensely protective of women. Even if he is a complete psychopath. Not that long ago, we found out he'd snuck into Bash's house and put trackers in all of my sister's lipsticks. While they were sleeping in the other room. Who does that kind of shit? Cage Fucking Black. That's who.

Declan taps his phone screen, then looks up. "Got it. Sent him and Patrick a message. Now, if we're done here, I need to put my baby girl to bed."

The three men in the room who have women get up and head out, leaving me, Ronan, and Grady alone.

"They might as well wrap a leash around their dicks and give the other end to their women." Grady smirks.

I chuckle and nod because it's true. Never did I think any of us would settle down. Then, our boss found Cali and became obsessed with her to the point of stalking her for months. After that, Killian fell in love with Cali's sister, Scarlet. And most recently, my best friend fell for my sister. There have been a lot of changes lately. And if I'm totally honest about it, I love having all the women around. They've brought a sweet innocence into the family that we desperately needed.

Ronan doesn't say anything. Instead, he throws back his glass of whiskey and rises from his chair, throwing a half-ass, "Night," our way before he leaves. He's been extra quiet lately. More than usual.

"I'm going to bed, too," Grady says.

Nodding, I follow him from the office out to the large circle driveway in front of Declan's house toward our cars.

"Night, Grady."

Grady smirks. "Night, lover boy. Can't wait to watch you start getting led around by your dick too."

Fucking asshole.