"When I get back."
He showed me the one on his shoulder. "Brennan got one of these too."
I recognized the phoenix with its wings spread wide, a white flag with a shamrock in the center clutched between its talons.
"Do you think Keegan backed down too easily?" I asked, my tone cautious.
Ever since he’d told me he’d gotten Keegan under his thumb, I’d been concerned about that, just hadn’t wanted to add to his workload.
"I know why he capitulated," he said with a growl. "Fucker’s given me the headache of overseeing the brotherhood because he’s running his own end game."
"Which is?" I asked carefully.
"Fucker had a daughter in the Sparrows’ system somewhere. Been trying to get her out ever since he found out about her."
"Eamonn has a child? One who’s been trafficked?"
Aidan nodded.
"That’s insane."
"Tell me about it. He doesn’t know if she’s dead or alive. Doesn’t even know if she got out or is still in their system. Just knows that he wants to take the fuckers down who sold her like a piece of meat."
I whistled under my breath. "That’s some motivation."
"I should have fucking known there was blood involved. It all boils down to family, Savannah. It always goddamn does." When I didn’t disagree, he reached up and rubbed at his eyes. "Past couple weeks have been fucking hard, Savvie."
I nuzzled into him. "I know, baby." I pressed a kiss to his temple. "Do you want to chill out and get some sleep so when we land you have some energy?"
"Sure." He pressed his lips to mine. "Sorry I haven't been around as much."
"You've been around plenty," I argued, even though, in truth, I had missed him.
I didn't just love Aidan; I liked him. Slowly but surely, he was becoming a best friend as well as my husband.
I never really thought that was how marriage worked; although, looking back, maybe that made me a moron for not having figured that the fuck out.
Especially with an example like I had with my parents.
I’d been feeling on edge since Cassie had left as well, and though I’d been focused on perfecting my editorial piece on Grainne Ledger, I kept feeling as if I were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Aidan’s presence would have helped with that, but I knew what he was doing, and I knew it was important—shoring up our defenses, making us impenetrable.
He angled his seat back. "You get some sleep too. Camden will probably piss you off so you need to conserve your energy."
"He will because I need to ask him about those tickets for Katina."
"Think he'll give you shit?"
"I know he will."
"I can buy the tickets," he offered.
"Nah. The bastard can do me a favor this once. Plus, I need to get him to go on Paris and Aspen's show.
"I said I'd do it and they want to schedule something this December. He’s saying he can’t, and they want me to convince him otherwise," I grumbled, though my lips twitched before I turned my face toward the window to watch us take off.
His fingers stroked my chin as he turned me back to face him. "What was that smile about?"