We move in for a hug. Artem slaps me hard on the back. “You better come back at some point,” he tells me. “I need my right-hand man.”
“You did fine without me,” I point out.
Artem shrugs. “Yeah, well, there was no one to distract or annoy me, so what do you expect?”
I burst out laughing and we head out of the room together. As we make our way downstairs, he hands me the keys to his Wrangler.
“You never let me drive the beast,” I say in surprise.
“Some things change.”
“Most of them stay the same, though.” I smile. “You really did miss me.”
“Shut up, you sentimental bastard.”
* * *
It takes me half an hour to get to Byrne’s, and then another fifteen minutes to get to the bar amidst the throng of people crowding up the place.
But I recognize Kian immediately.
And I freeze for a moment, just to take him in.
My little brother.
He certainly isn’t little anymore.
He must be at least six-three and filled out with lean muscle. That ruffled brown hair looks exactly the same as it did when he was a boy. But the lines in his shoulders and back show the shape of a man.
He must sense someone watching him. He turns and catches sight of me.
His eyes spark with recognition, but they don’t betray anything else.
Just like Da’s. Only dark mysteries swirling in his irises.
I sidle forward and take the empty barstool next to him. “Hey, kid. Fancy running into you here.”
Kian smiles. The smile reminds me of Sean—on those rare occasions where he wasn’t glowering or grimacing or frowning at everything under the sun.
“You look like Ma,” Kian says.
“You look like Da.”
He scoffs. “Insults right off the bat, eh?”
I smirk. So he’s funny, too.
I’m thankful for that. You can’t get through life—particular the mafia life—without a sense of humor.
“I never believed Artem when he said you were dead,” Kian informs me softly.
“He believed it.”
“But I didn’t,” Kian fires back. “Call it brother’s intuition. I always knew I’d see you again.”
“Who told you?”
“That you were alive?” Kian asks. “I was informed the moment you barged in on Artem’s meeting. The clan has its way of getting information.”