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"You? You’re going to cook?"
He shrugged. "Used to help before I got too big for my boots. Ever there’s a moment where she needs her husband, it’s now."
Nodding, I made to turn away, but before I did, I twisted back and asked, "Da?"
"Yes, son."
"Did you both really want to die in that church?"
His mouth tightened. "I made a lot of sacrifices over the years to make you all untouchable, Aidan." Not Junior.Aidan. "I ruined relationships with you all, broke bones instead of building fences, and I did that to keep you safe. So you’d never have to feel what I did when Paddy and Frank died." I tensed, but he didn’t see, his gaze was turned back to the past. "You might not realize it, but ever since Jake was born, I’ve felt this..." He sighed and pressed his fist to his chest. "This ache inside. It’s strange. I’d kill for any of you, you know that. Especially after tonight. But for Jake? Now Shay?" He shook his head. "I’d burn this fucking city to the ground.
"Not just a pissant cathedral or a fucking church. Everything that made this city great would be in ashes if anyone hurt them." His jaw tensed. "I pray you never have to know what this feels like. What this fucking scream is like in my head. I know you have it, he’s your brother, but not like this. Not like what’s in your mother’s head.
"McKenna is dead, and the Archbishop who put him in my parish is dead too, but it doesn’t take away from what happened." He cleared his throat. "Revenge doesn’t take away what happened to Conor, doesn’t change the fact you saw that, that Finn did too.
"No," he rasped, his head shaking on repeat. "I pray you never have to hear this scream."
Well aware that he hadn’t answered my question, I whispered, "God takes you on his clock, Da, not the other way around."
"I know, son. I know. Don’t worry. We’ll get through this. We always fucking do, don’t we?"
His smile was tight, and as I nodded, I stepped back and away, turning my head over my shoulder as I watched him, my broken father retreat to help my broken mother... He was right on two matters. I heard that scream, but I’d never hear that as a parent because he wasn’t the only one who’d make NYC burn for his family.
My mind was racing as I started for downstairs, but before I could hobble my way back down, Da called out, "Aidan?"
Not Junior.
Was this going to be a thing now?
I straightened my shoulders. "Yeah?"
"Arrange for a meeting with Valentini in the morning. You deal with him. We’ll back him as Don."
My eyes flared wide. "You’re okay with me handling that?"
His top lip quirked up. "I think you’re more than ready for it, don’t you?"
I’d been ready for years, but he’d never trusted me before.
Stunned, I nodded. "Okay. I’ll get in touch with him now."
"Good."
As he closed the door, I started to make my way to the basement where my brothers were waiting to open the safe room together.
Frowning, and panting in pain from my fucking knee—goddamn, I had to go all the way back up those shitty stairs in a minute—I asked, "What are you waiting for?"
Brennan’s eyes were calm as he settled them on mine. "You’re the leader. You should be the one to open the door."
And fuck me, I had no idea why that meant so goddamn much, but it did.
It really did.
Finn clapped me on the back, and as I shot him a look, I realized that he’d told Brennan what had happened tonight. Eoghan and Declan were chomping at the bit, so I knew they hadn’t been informed, and I was glad about that. The fewer brothers who were aware of the night’s events, the better.
I knew why Finn had told Brennan, though.
Finn would always be my right hand man. Not just because he was the Points’ money man, either. But Bren? He’d be my second. If the difficult fucker agreed to it.
Nodding my thanks, I limped forward and pushed in the code to the safe room. We’d had a few models over the years since the drive-by on Aoife and Finn’s wedding day, but this was the most advanced. It ran under the full length of the house, and was large enough to have small bedrooms for privacy. There was also enough gear stored down here to survive a nuclear war.
When the door opened outward, I stepped inside and found the place in silence. It was dark, as if everyone were resting, only Savannah was there, pacing, and when she saw me, even though it had only been a few hours ago since I’d deposited her here, she hurled herself into my arms.
My brothers waded into the room, their women their destination, and I guessed it was a point of trust that they all knew their men would be coming for them. That they’d always be coming for them.
That was a lesson Savannah would have to learn, too.
I just had to give her time.
