He chuckles under his breath.
“You mentioned something before…” I say, changing the subject. “You said your father sees you as a disappointment.”
“Because he does.”
“Why?”
Kian shrugs. “I was his third choice,” he says. “My two older brothers left the family. I was the last son standing. Da groomed me to be the next O’Sullivan clan leader. But I don’t think I ever rose to his expectations. Every time he looked at me, I could tell he was wishing I was Sean or Cillian.”
“But you are a don now,” I point out. “In your own right.”
“That’s the point. I didn’t really want to be don at all. Da could see that. That’s why he was so disappointed. For him, there is no greater shame than a son who doesn’t want to carry on the family legacy. I may be a don now, but he knows if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be in command at all.”
“You’re telling me you’d rather follow orders?” I ask. “I don’t buy that for a second.”
I smile. “Maybe you’re right. I want all the power, but none of the responsibility.”
“Sounds pretty selfish.”
“Yeah, well, I can be a selfish prick sometimes. Sue me.”
That makes me smile. Our eyes meet and a tiny spark flies between us. It catches me off guard for a second, and I drop my gaze instantly. “I noticed the portrait in your penthouse,” I tell him. “You look like a picture-perfect family.”
He snorts. “We’re nowhere close to perfect. But at the end of the day, we’ve got each other’s backs. That counts for something, I suppose.”
I feel a squeeze of jealousy hearing him say those words. “Must be nice.”
He smiles. “The family drama is endless.”
“Strangely, that sounds nice, too.”
“If you noticed the portrait, then you’ll have noticed the drawings, too?”
“I did.”
“All created by my sister-in-law,” he tells me. “She’s the beautiful redhead standing next to the douche with blonde hair.”
I can’t help but smile at his descriptors. “She’s very talented.”
“She is,” he agrees. “And she also happens to be the best person in the world.”
“In the world, huh?”
“That’s one thing this family is good at: marrying up.”
“Sounds like you love her.”
“Her, my nieces and nephews, my brothers when they manage to pull their heads out of their asses. My parents, too. But mostly from a distance.”
I snort with laughter and he joins in.
I’d hoped to learn something about Kian that I can exploit later. But all this conversation has done is humanized him in my eyes.
And now, with a little perspective, I can’t but help think that this was the plan all along.
Which leaves me with one simple, burning question: Why?