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“Nah. It’s good.”
Her gaze softened. “He loves his Uncle Kid. He didnotappreciate being kept away from you.”
“And I love him.”
When Aoife approached Finn and settled herself on his lap, my brother’s grin was both smug and contented. As his hands curved around her waist, the deepest, bittersweet, most excruciating dose of envy stirred to life inside me.
It made it easier to say, “I’m going to be leaving the US soon.”
Finn stiffened. “What?”
Aoife placed her hand on his shoulder. “Where are you heading? On a vacation at long last?” she teased.
Lying, I nodded.
“What’s going on?” Finn griped, clearly not believing that story.
He knew me too well.
“I’m taking your advice, Finn.”
“What advice? And why are you taking it on this occasion when you usually ignore me?”
I arched a brow at his agitation. “Why are you so stressed? You weren’t this freaked out when Aidan went to Florida for Thanksgiving. Declan’s heading to Europe soon—”
“They’re them. You’re you.”
“What does that mean?” I grumbled. “I’m perfectly capable of traveling on my own. I’m not a child.”
His unease was annoying, but its source was genuine. “You don’t leave.”
His words had me blinking. “Huh?”
“You don’t leave.”
Aoife sensed the rawness in his voice, too, because she cuddled into him. “It’s okay, Finn. Conor needs a vacation.”
“He's not going on vacation. Conor’s a workaholic,” he argued, still stiff with tension. “And I didn’t advise him to go away. I advised him to go after what belongs to him.”
“Which is?” Aoife queried, darting a wary glance between us.
“Lodestar,” I said simply.
“That was when I thought she was in goddamn New Jersey! Not fuck knows where,” Finn sniped, raking a hand through his hair.
“She’s in Russia.” I cleared my throat. “I think.”
“Russia,” he yelled. “You want to go to motherfucking Russia?”
Jake stirred, but he only nuzzled his face deeper into my throat. Finn grimaced apologetically as Aoife tutted him, but even she was starting to appear anxious.
“I don’twantto go. Ihaveto go. I’m sure she’s involved in that bombing in Moscow.”
His eyes flared wide then immediately shuttered. His fingers raked through his hair again before he started drumming them on Aoife’s knee. “Maxim Lyanov is in and out of Moscow.”
“You’ve been watching him?”
“Of course. He has influence over there. Maybe if your ass gets locked up in a gulag in Siberia, I can put pressure on him to have you released.”
