“Oh no, boyo. That’s your family business, not mine. I’ve got the pub and the other properties Gran owned. I’m thinking of maybe a brewery. She always wanted something with our name on it.”
“You were always good for mixing up a brew,” Kane pointed out. “And you like beer.”
“I love beer,” he corrected. “And the batches I’ve made in the past have worked out nice. But that’s a maybe, cousin mine. We’ll see. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll do what Quinn did and go to school to be a teacher.”
“He teaches college history.” The whiskey made another pass. “Or comparative something or other. I can’t tell. He starts talking and I get lost.”
“So you don’t think I’ve got the brains for it?” Sionn groused.
“I think all of us combined don’t have the brains for it,” Kane replied. “He’s got a doctorate in old shit. Makes us all look bad. You do it and Mom will be thinking the rest of us should go back to school to cure cancer or something. Want me to check on what they’re doing again?”
“No, I feel like a git.” The parka was doing a good job of keeping his body warm, but his heart stumbled in its own frozen death march. “I know he thinks of Miki as his brother. You should have seen him this morning, talking about what they’ve done and how he loves him. He was fucking freezing his tits off, and all he could think about was how much he remembered. I want that for him, Kane. I want him to have that good life.”
“Well, you’re a part of that, Sionn. Remember that.”
“Remember it? Shite, I can only hope for it.” He spat, staring out at the cloud-shrouded night. “I’m scared I’m falling for the fucking asshole, and I can’t do a damned thing to stop it.”
“That’s a big thing to say, cousin.” Kane whistled softly. “You sure about that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve not given this much of a shit about someone before. How do you know?” Sionn eyed his cousin.
“What makes you think it, then?”
“’Cause I worried about him. During that week when he didn’t come around, I couldn’t sleep,” he murmured at the passing clouds. “I’d circle around the pier, looking for someone wearing a black cowboy hat. It was driving me crazy. Leigh about kicked my ass out of the pub and told me she was going to stop answering my calls. I told her to let me know if she saw him. I guess I called too much to check.
“Then when I saw him… playing like he didn’t give a shit about anything in the world but the music, everything felt… right.” He took a breath, shaking out the tightness in his lungs. “I knew someone was trying to hurt him, and I wanted to do everything—anything—to keep him safe. And it didn’t make any sense…. I didn’t even really know him but there was Damien, wrapped up tight inside of me.”
“Oh, I know that feeling. Yeah, it sounds like you got bit,” Kane conceded. “Looks like you’re going for a ride there, Sionn.”
“Any advice?”
“Just love him. Talk to him. Tell him you’re there.” His cousin cocked his head, thinking for a moment. “Hold onto him. He and Miki, they’ve not had an easy time of it. They’ll fight anything that feels like they’re being tied down. I could see that in him. He’s like Mick in that. It’ll take him time to know love. A different kind of love than what he has with Miki. Treat him gently. Reassure him you won’t walk away. Other than that, hold on. Best thing I could tell you is just to hold on.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that. He’s a bit… wild, you know. Like something stray I’ve been feeding.” Sionn nudged Kane with his foot. “How did you know?”
“I wanted to lock him up in the house and make sure he didn’t talk to anyone I didn’t know. Hell, even people I did know.” He shrugged when Sionn stared at him across the platform. “Didn’t say it made sense. Just telling you how I knew. There was a guy dumping dead bodies all over the place, and he was coming after Miki. I knew that in my bones. I think I knew for sure when I felt better he was here… with my parents… than at his own place. And you know I’ve got to be sick in the head crazy if I wanted him around my mother.”
“Aunt B isn’t so bad.” Sionn defended the fiery redhead. “She’s come to rescue my ass more times than I can remember. Especially where Gran was concerned.”
“That’s ’cause she hasn’t had time yet to plan things out. You just wait,” Kane warned him. “She’s eyeing me and Miki up for monkey suits and rings. He’s starting to get wild-eyed whenever she’s around. Dad’s made me promise not to shoot her in the leg so Miki can get a head start when he wants to run.”