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JESSIE
Stepping out of the shower, I wrap myself in a towel before walking back into Conor’s bedroom. He sits on his bed, as his eyes roam over my body.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his face full of concern.
“I’m fine.” I smile at him and how much he cares about my welfare.
“Good,” he says with a sigh. “Because Shane wants to see us. Like, right now.”
“Okay. Let me go get changed.”
“Here,” he says, handing me a white shirt and a pair of black lace panties. “I grabbed these for you from the laundry. He’s pissed, and you know he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“Fine,” I reply with a roll of my eyes. I put the clothes on, eyeing Conor as I do. I’ve never seen him looking so nervous. But then, I suppose we all just made one huge clusterfuck of epic proportions. Deep down, he and the twins want nothing more than to impress Shane. I’m learning that he’s much more like a father to them than a big brother.
A few moments later, Conor and I walk out of his bedroom to find the twins waiting for us outside.
“Ready?” Conor asks.
“Fuck, no!” Liam groans with a shake of his head.
“Hey. This is on all of us, not just you,” Mikey says, placing a reassuring hand on his twin’s shoulder.
“He’s right. Now let’s get this over with,” Conor adds with a sigh.
I follow the three of them down the hallway toward Shane’s office and the tension hangs in the air as though it is something tangible I can reach out and touch. I’ve seen Shane Ryan pissed plenty of times. It seems to be his default setting. But I have never experienced this level of anxiety from his brothers before. It’s coming from them in waves. I swallow as I wonder just what the hell we're walking into.
Shane is pacing up and down his office when we walk in, the four of us sticking close together as though it offers some sort of protection.
He looks up as he hears us come in. “Sit!” he barks at us with a scowl.
Like naughty kids who have been summoned to the principal’s office, we do as he tells us. I sit between the twins, taking some comfort from the warmth of their bodies pressed against mine on the small sofa. I place my hand on Liam’s thigh and squeeze, and he gives me the faintest hint of a smile. Shane sees it too, and he scowls at me.
“Who’s going to tell me what the fuck happened?” he snarls, his teeth bared like a rabid dog.
Liam sucks in a breath beside me, but it’s Conor who answers. “We fucked up, Shane. One of them was already in the bar when we got there, but, we didn’t know. Then, when the others came in, they saw us and got suspicious. When one of them walked into the office and pulled a gun on Jessie, we had to act. We were sloppy and we got distracted.”
“Who was supposed to be Jessie’s lookout?” Shane snaps.
“I was,” Liam says quietly.
“So, why the fuck weren’t you doing your job?” Shane snarls as he walks toward where the twins and I are sitting, leaning down so his face is close to Liam’s.
Liam opens his mouth to speak, but I act first. “It was my fault, Shane,” I say, my voice trembling. “Please don’t blame your brothers. This is all on me.”
Shane’s head snaps toward me and he frowns. “You?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Liam adds. “I was the lookout.”
“It’s on us, not Jessie,” Conor says with a sigh.
“Yeah,” Mikey agrees with a nod beside me. “Jessie was just doing what we asked her to.”
“No. I was the distraction. You were only looking out for me, and if you hadn’t been, none of this would have happened,” I say as I glare into Shane’s dark green eyes and my pulse thrums against my skin. I swallow as he narrows his eyes at me as though he's trying to see into my soul.
“Are you lying to me, Hacker?” he snarls.
“No,” I snap. “Your brothers messed up today, but it was because of me. I was the one who created the problem, Shane. I take full responsibility.”
