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That had curiosity filtering into her gaze. “He’s been better since Star started those poker games.”
“He has, hasn’t he?”
“Drinking less,” she confirmed. “Happier. Still has his days. I can’t walk into a park without him seeking out sniper’s nests, but generally, he’s more upbeat than before. This favor of yours…”
“Won’t hurt his progress.”
She hummed. “I’ll hold you to that.”
I grabbed her hand and raised it to my mouth so I could kiss her knuckles. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“The real tragedy is that this dress is being wasted on my brother-in-law and not my husband,” she grumbled. “How long is this favor going to take— Wait. This is why he had Brennan pick me up, isn’t it? Dammit, he isn’t coming at all, is he?”
“Unlikely,” I admitted.
“What a jackass move. I swear, you O’Donnelly brothers think you can get away with murder because you’re all so damn pretty.”
My lips curved into a grin. “I’m not sure that’s why we get away with the stunts we pull.”
“Maybe not with the cops, but definitely with your wives.” She stacked her hands on her hips. "Brennan told Camille to tell you that he and Declan are dealing with some soccer person.”
“That’s the president of a very important soccer club, Inessa,” I chided.
“If you say so.” She sniffed dismissively. “I suppose we’re both messengers for our in-laws tonight.”
“You’re better at it than me though.” I winked at her. “Lisandra’s here, isn’t she? I seem to remember Star mentioning something about you enjoying dancing with her…”
A twinkle gleamed in her eye. “I see where you’re going. I think I will take this as an opportunity to dance and get drunk with Camille and Lisandra.
“The best part is Brennan will keep all the men two feet away and I don’t have to deal with his angry growls tonight, Camille can!” Before I could utter a word, she patted my cheek. “Best brother-in-law ever.”
As she waltzed off, I called out, “Save that for Brennan later.”
Without turning back, she waved a hand in the air, evidently on the hunt for Lisandra and Camille now that she had a game plan for the evening.
Though Eoghan was doing Star and me a favor, I smirked because Inessa deserved to let her hair down for a night and Eoghan was a jackass for leaving it to me to tell her he wasn’t going to make the gala.
With a glance around the massive event hall, I knew Star would be happy to hear that I agreed with most of her decorative choices. She’d ultimately won the ‘no ice sculpture’ argument as well as the other fight for more ‘environmentally friendly’ options.
Each of the tables had a pruned herb bush in the center, for example, which should have been both ridiculous and hilarious but was actually damn smart because the air was scented with their perfume and it added to the aura of the so-called ‘winter wonderland’ theme, especially as what appeared to be powdered sugar frosted the leaves.
Massive snowflakes hung overhead—no cheap tchotchke either. These gleamed with crystals that I knew a place called Swavski or something had donated to the cause.
And with the white dress code and the sparkle of the women’s gems, the place felt frosty. Ice sculptures or not.
Snagging a canapé that was shaped into a small mound and topped with goat’s cheese—white was an unfortunate theme with the food too—I accepted a glass of white wine as I cast a glance over the busy party and hunted down my woman.
I’d arrived late because Star had to show her face here while I had to work behind the scenes.
We’d spent the past week preparing to crash the Pauks’ servers and said crash was due to happen in less than twenty minutes, which meant engaging with Anton was imperative before he figured out what we’d done.
Which, essentially, was destroy the drone footage he had of Star, Dead To Me, Troy, and me in the Catskills with three missing VIPs.
The asswipe had collected evidence on us.
Yet another reason of, oh, around ten thousand, that he needed to be erased.
I was hoping that once we were in the Pauks’ database, we’d have more of a rundown of who was a Brother, but the timing was key.
