All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,6

to cope with the terror of Lips being in constant danger.

I know for a fact that he’s still ripped under the charcoal tee he’s wearing though.

My stomach fills with nervous flutters at their arrival but it’s not exactly a bad feeling.

They both give Lips respectful nods but Harley has relaxed a little around his cousins, enough that he can greet them with a grin.

“We’re just here to see you off, I thought we might’ve missed you,” Aodhan says with the same rogue grin on his face that Harley has when he’s flirting with Lips. It hits me in my gut that they share just as much blood as Harley and I do, that he might not look like either of us but there are little signs of the O’Cronins there.

That would have annoyed me before but after spending time with Aodhan and Jack, now… it’s not such a bad thing. Liam and Domhnall were evil but so was Senior. We’re not our parents.

Lips certainly isn’t.

Ash glares at Aodhan but Harley and Blaise manhandle him onto the bus, laughing and joking like children.

My heart hurts just a little at being left behind but I know I need this. There’s something about this next six months that feels so pivotal to me and I know if I keep hiding behind my brother that I’ll never be who I want to be.

Senior is dead.

I can be whoever the hell I want to be without my father looming over me like an executioner about to swing a sword.

I just don’t exactly know who it is I want to be. I thought the answer to that was free. Yet now that I am free, I’m still not happy. I’m alive, I’m a billionaire, my brother is safe and loved.

What else could I ask for?

“I think if we’re quick about packing, I can get you on that bus before it leaves the state.”

I give Aodhan a glare but he only laughs at me.

“What? You look like you’re about to cry, Beaumont.”

I huff at him and turn on my heel to walk back into my house. They both chuckle and follow after me, proving Ash right in his assumptions about what they were really here for.

I wait until I’m inside the foyer before I confront them. “If Harley put you both up to following me around while he’s gone then you can leave, I want some peace and quiet.”

Aodhan shrugs and closes the door behind them. “He asked me to check in on you. I told him that was already the plan, I’m keeping an eye out for any of the Jackal’s men that were left over from his destruction. You know I’m not going to leave anything to chance when it comes to you.”

I ignore the butterflies in my stomach as I nod. That’s been my only real concern about being by myself. Lips has taught me enough to know what I’m doing but the way that Diarmuid had so easily captured me still lies heavy on my shoulders.

I train with a lot more purpose now.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?”

I startle out of my thoughts and look back over to him. I finally understand just where Lips got her jumpiness from. Trauma will do that to a person and the Jackal is still alive and taunting me inside my head.

It hurts me to think about how he must be inside hers too.

“No plans. I’m going to cook for myself, probably do some yoga and then head off to bed. I have a meeting to attend tomorrow night, as do you, so an early night would do me some good.”

Jack huffs and scratches at the scruff on his cheeks a little. He still looks rough around the edges, in need of a long shower and a shave at the very least, but I don’t hold it against him. The loss of his love and their unborn child isn’t something you just bounce back from.

“The night is early, Beaumont. How about you come to a party with us? Let your hair down a little. Why should your family have all of the fun while you stay home and do all of the work?” Aodhan grins at me and all I can see is the O’Cronin charm that must have melted my aunt Iris’s heart.

I’m immune to it thanks to Harley.

“I can’t. I hope you both have fun though, drinking and dancing in the Bay does look like a good time.”

Aodhan steps up towards me and shoves