He grumbles something that sounds a lot like “…motherfucker.”
Then he clears his throat.
“Did you bring your Glock?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I reply with a nod. “Even though I can’t imagine why we’d need fucking guns to deal with a middle-aged alkie.”
“Preparation, Cillian. We always come prepared to do our jobs.”
Something about his tone draws my attention to his face.
Underneath those intensely bushy eyebrows are dark brown eyes that set him apart from the rest of the family.
The rest of us have light eyes in varying shades of blue. When we were kids, Ma liked to say that it was because Sean was special. He was different from the rest of us.
And I tend to agree with that now. Sean probably would, too.
The “different” part, that is.
Not the special part. He’s the last person to ever claim to be special.
“I’m always prepared,” I brag, flexing my muscles. “These are all the guns I’m ever gonna need.”
“You joke too much, Cil,” Sean says with a sigh.
“And you don’t joke enough, Sean,” I quip back. “Life doesn’t always have to be a fucking drag.”
“Life is not always fun and games.”
“But it can be. If you know how to play,” I say. “I assume that’s the reason you asked me to come with you today.”
Sean frowns. “Eh?”
“You knew this wouldn’t be any fun without me.”
He rolls his eyes. “I asked you to come with me because when I become don, you will be my second.”
The weight of all his responsibility is there in his words. Makes me fucking shiver, to be honest.
But I’ve never had to carry that kind of burden. Nor have I wanted to.
That’s the benefit of being the second son.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll be your second. I’ll go to the parties you’d rather avoid. Fuck the women whose husbands you’d like to offend.”
Sean sighs. Then he stops short and grabs my shoulder, forcing me to a halt. He looks at me with a troubled expression, one that betrays more than he’s willing to concede.
“You’ve been protected so far,” he says in a measured voice. “But you’re eighteen now. You don’t have the luxury of doing whatever the hell you want anymore.”
I square my shoulders. “I’ll step up when I need to. I’m no coward.”
“You need to step up now,” Sean insists. “Right fucking now. You may not consider this a serious task, but our don gave us a command and we need to see it through. He’s counting on us.”
I gulp back the quip on the tip of my tongue.
I’ve seen that look in Sean’s eyes before. That dark, brooding look that’s telling me that now’s not the time for jokes.
“I know,” I say quietly.