“Hey, hey, no harm intended,” Kian says quickly. “I’m just saying, you’re not prepared for this.”
“Says the cripple in a cast.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Have you had any combat training?”
“Uh… no.”
“Taken any self-defense classes?”
“Not exactly.”
“Used a gun? Aimed a gun? Ever even held a gun?”
She sighs. “Okay, I see your point. But like I told Cillian, I’m a fast learner.”
Kian’s about to say something, but I jump in.
“Brother, she feels strongly about this. And she’s not going to stay locked up in a room until the coast is clear,” I say. “She wants to be here. We’re going to respect that.”
Kian stares at me for a moment and then nods slowly.
“Alright then. I guess it’s up to the two of you.”
Saoirse smiles gently as she turns to me. “Thank you.”
“Hold on a second before you go thanking me,” I say. “Kian’s right—you still have no training and no experience in a situation like this. You want to be here. That’s one thing. But you’re not gonna be on the front line.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you stay by the gates, behind my men,” I tell her. “And before you lecture me about gender roles and equality, it has nothing to do with you being a woman. You’ve never been in this position before. They have. It’s about protecting them from you as much as protecting you from the enemy. Got it?”
“That’s a fair compromise,” she acquiesces with a squirm.
I breathe a sigh of relief. I was sure that the battle to get her to accept that bargain would be nastier than anything the Kinahans could bring.
“Thank God,” I say. “For a moment, I thought you were gonna be all stubborn.”
She glares at me. “Asshole.”
I chuckle and grab her, squeezing her ass in the process.
“Cillian!” she scolds, sounding completely mortified. She pushes me off her and then looks around to see who might have seen that.
Kian just shakes his head at the both of us. “You two gonna be able to keep your head in the game?”
I turn to my brother, realizing that he’s probably going to be the harder of the two to deal with. He’s sure as hell not gonna like what I say next.
“Brother…” My tone gets his attention.
“What?” he asks, hostile right off the bat.
“You might have to sit this one out.”
“You fucking kidding me right now?” he growls. “Christ. I knew you’d try and do this.”
“Try and do what?” I demand. “Save your fucking life?”
“I can handle this. I’m good as new.”