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“I think you’ll have made it your business to know how to speak with each of us.”
Annoyance on her behalf filtered through me—were they trying to think the worst of her?—but she didn’t deny it, just accepted the glass, swirled it around the tumbler, then inhaled deeply.
“Notes of burnt heather, cedar…” She closed her eyes. “Chocolate and oak. Vintage oak at that.” She lifted the glass to the light and stared at the undertones. “Bronze. Unusual.Old.”
He took a sip. “Very old.”
“Expensive.” Not a question.
“Incredibly so. Rare too.”
“You bring that around for dinner with the fam?”
Aidan just smiled. “Who else would I share the bounty of wealth with if not my brothers?”
“You’re a kinder sibling than Camden was. He’d sooner put expired creamer in Savannah’s coffee than bring her something like this…” Her brow furrowed as she took a deeper sniff of the liquor. “Glenfiddich?”
He raised a brow. “You know your whiskies.”
She took another inhalation. “It was the molasses top note. I didn’t smell it at first.”
“How old is it, would you say?”
“Is this an episode of theAntiques Roadshow: Whiskey Edition? Because I didn’t sign up for this,” Eoghan muttered with a yawn.
Star, her gaze still locked on Aidan’s, ignored the interruption to answer, “Got to be at least seventy years old.”
“More like nearly ninety.” He twisted the bottle to show her then let her take it to study the label. “Only fifty remaining.”
She whistled under her breath and then returned it to him. “You might as well drink it. My mouth still tastes of Jolly Rancher.”
His nose crinkled. “What?”
“Star likes candy,” I offered.
Aidan shrugged but accepted the glass and poured the rest of hers into his. “If it weren’t seventy grand a bottle, I’d throw it out.”
“Nice to know you can think prudently,” she mocked.
His lips twitched. “Go on then. Tell us.”
“What? Our intentions?”
“No. What you know about us?”
“Aidan,” I argued. “This isn’t a job interview.”
“Yes, it is,” he retorted, dismissing me entirely. “She’s yours. You don’t think we’re going to make sure she’s the right one for you?”
“Like you asked for permission with Savannah,” I snarled. “Like any of your brides got this goddamn treatment—”
Star angled her head as she studied him. “Is this about making Conor feel like a child or out of a desire to protect him?”
“Conor isn’t a child. Conor hasn’t been a child since he was molested by that fucking priest. Finn and I stopped being kids that day too. This isn’t about making him look like he can’t make his own decisions. It’s about us protecting him. About us doing what we’ve always done—watched his back and taken care of his demons.”
“I don’t need you to,” I snapped.
Aidan’s gaze was cool as it landed on mine. “I will never know what you went through at that bastard’s hands. I will never know how it affected you because you won’t share it with us. Butyouwill never know what it meant for Finn and me to find you in that position. For us to see him do that to you. For us to witness it firsthand.
