Page 26 of Hate to Love You
“Which cousin?” Lev asks.
“Saoirse,” I reply.
“Wait… you mean the girl cousin?” Nikolai asks, his eyes wide.
“Well,” I say, clearing my throat. “She wasn’t a girl, she was a full grown woman. And she shot Pasha.”
“Technically she was shooting at you, Bro,” Pasha shrugs. “I just jumped in the way. Like the badass hero brother I am.”
“Jesus, Roman,” Anastasia shoots me a disapproving look. “What the hell happened? I mean, I literally gave you guys everything you needed. It was just supposed to be a quick job. In and out.”
“It was,” I say, clicking my tongue. “It just went a bit sideways at the end.”
“You’re not kidding,” Lev says, shaking his head. “That’s not going to go over well with the Irish. You know how they are with their kin. Especially with their women.”
“Yeah, Bro, they aren’t going to take that well,” Nikolai chirps.
Oh, for fucks sake…
“Yeah, well, regardless of what your opinions are on the matter,” I snap irritably. “What’s done is done. What I need you people to do is keep your heads out of your asses and pay attention. I don’t know how or when, but they will retaliate. It’s only a matter of time. So, you need to be on your game.”
The room goes silent.
“Lev,” I say, turning to him. “We need to ramp up the recruits. We need more men.”
“How many?” he asks.
“As many as we can get. Any man for us, is a man we take from the Irish.”
“...Or woman,” Ana says flatly, crossing her arms raising her brows at me.
“Or woman,” I concede, forcing myself not to roll my eyes. “Regardless, get on it. And get some foot soldiers out into the city. Reliable foot soldiers, ones who can observe and report without being noticed.”
He nods.
“Niko, I need you to inventory our investments. I don’t want anything to go wrong with the Walston Building deal. I’ve heard rumors that Cillian’s been sniffing around, and I want to make sure that we are ten steps ahead of them.”
“You got it, Roman,” Nikolai replies.
“Pasha, you need to check in with Ethan White,” I say pointing at him. “The shipment arrives this week, and he’s supposed to be sending a guy to handle it and make the drop off. Wesley Lee, I think was his name.”
“Wesley Lee?” Pasha snorts. “What a weird name choice.”
“Hey! Don’t be stupid,” I snap, slapping my hand on the desk to grab his attention. “Get in touch with White and coordinate the drop off.”
“Wait…I’m not going?”
“Anything with them I handle personally,” I say firmly. “You know this.”
“Boo,” Pasha groans, pursing his lips.
“Ana—”
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to tell me anything, Roman,” Anastasia says. “I’ll monitor all channels. As always.”
I nod.
That’s why she’s my favorite sister.