Lodestar: **Actually... I know what you mean. You’re right. I don’t know why I said that. Sorry.**
aCooooig: **You don’t have to apologize.**
Lodestar: **Don’t I? You ever say shit and don’t mean it? It just flows out of your mouth?**
aCooooig: **Like diarrhea?**
Lodestar: **Lol. Yes.**
aCooooig: **I know what you mean. I do it with my brothers. Sometimes, I prod them just to get a reaction. I don’t really know why.**
Lodestar: **To test them?**
aCooooig: **Maybe.**
Lodestar: **You sure you don’t know why?**
aCooooig: **It’s just something I’ve always done.**
Lodestar: **I’ve had a lot of expensive therapists in my time. They all said that I tried to get reactions out of people to test them.**
aCooooig: **Why?**
Lodestar: **To push their limits. To make sure that they were loyal. That they’d remain true to me no matter what I said or did.**
aCooooig: **That because of your mom? Her murder?**
Lodestar: **I guess. I do it even more now. I think it’s what victims do.**
aCooooig: **Hate that word.**
Lodestar: **Really? Survivor is more fitting tbh.**
aCooooig: **Now I’m humming the theme tune to Survivor. Thanks.**
Lodestar: **Lol. You’re welcome.**
aCooooig: **I promise, Star, when I have your gift, I’ll send it to you.**
Lodestar: **I’m looking forward to receiving it.**
aCooooig: **:D**
aCooooig: **You never did tell me how you knew exactly when to call me during that mini-siege.**
Lodestar: **Mini? Deal with sieges every week, do you?**
aCooooig: **Allegedly.**
Lodestar: **That goes hand in hand with where I bought the dog statue.**
aCooooig: **You didn’t see it, but I just rolled my eyes.**
Lodestar: **The nerve!**
aCooooig: **What have you hacked and do I need to patch it?**
Lodestar: **Nope. Not on your system. *smirks* You can’t control satellites, Conor.**
aCooooig: **You hacked into a satellite?**
Lodestar: **You haven’t? Comes in handy.**
aCooooig: **Jesus. How aren’t you in jail?**
Lodestar: **Because I’m very, very, very good.**
aCooooig: **No one’s that good.**
Lodestar: **True. I know people in high places. Allegedly.**
aCooooig: **God? He up there with the satellite?**
Lodestar: **Lol. You’re funny.**
aCooooig: **I try. How am I supposed to sleep knowing you’re watching us on a satellite?**
aCooooig: **How am I supposed to resist the urge to go and make snow angels butt naked?**
Lodestar: **Has snow fallen?**
aCooooig: **Has here.**
Lodestar: **I wouldn’t be averse to seeing that. O.o**
aCooooig: **Consider it done. Merry Christmas, Star.**
Lodestar: **Merry Christmas, Conor. <3**
Forty-Six
Aidan
"You’re sure you want her? I mean, I love her, but I kind of have to. She’s very nosy. This Sparrows’ thing is just the tip of the iceberg."
"Dad! OMG. Mom, tell him!"
I laughed, despite myself, despite the weird feeling I had that Dagger Daniels was actually trying to avoid giving me her hand, and I reached over, hauled Savannah under my arm and murmured, "I already know you’re nosy, remember?"
Lorelei Daniels, ironically enough, was Irish. Da’d have semi-Irish grandbabies through us if we were so blessed. She was also unimpressed by her husband’s fame, and when she smirked at Dagger, I got chills down my spine because I knew, point blank, I was looking at my future.
Mother and daughter weren’t very alike, their hair color was different, their eyes too, and Savannah had a more heart-shaped face in comparison to Lorelei’s angular one, but that smirk? Savannah channeled that something fierce. It was clear to see that Dagger was owned—I knew that’d be me down the line as well.
Sometimes, you could be a Hall of Fame rockstar. Sometimes, you could be the King of the Five Points. But the right woman still made you own up to being a jackass when you were being a jackass.
"You just want to think she’s still a virgin. I don’t understand where you get off being all repressed."
"Yeah, Dad. You’ve had more groupies than I’ve had hot dinners."
"Which is a lot!" Aspen called out in the background.
Savannah squinted at her. "Are you calling me fat? Just you wait, you little shit, I’m going to bust your ass when we’re in front of a hoop."
She didn’t just like watching basketball, she played it too?
Now wasn’t the time to get a boner, but, if fate was going to be unkind, well... might as well take advantage of it.
"You’re perfect," I rumbled and below the desk where the computer was perched, I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my cock.
"Leave your sister alone, Aspen," Dagger hollered, peering over his shoulder at her. The movement revealed a room which was more befitting of a house in Boston at Christmas than Hawaii, with a massive pine tree and red wreaths and swags of scarlet draped over a bannister.
"And we don’t fat shame in this family." Lorelei shook her head, and shot her daughter a scowling glance. "What’s come over you, Aspen?"
"It’s that bitch Manda," Paris chimed in.
"Is Aspen the one you said got hooked on speed?" I whispered in Savannah’s ear, trying to keep up.
"She has an eating disorder now," Savannah confirmed, a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "Who’s Manda, Paris?"
"That supermodel." Paris made a gagging sound. Unlike her sister, who was Miss All American, Paris clearly took most of the rocker genes from her dad. "She totally posts about how great it is on her website to starve herself."
"Leave her alone!"
Lorelei shot me an embarrassed glance. "Girls! Would you stop showing your sister up, please? Aidan’s just asked your father for Savannah’s hand in marriage!"
Paris cackled, "Does Camden know?"
"Do I know, what?"
"How could he know? He’s been at the gym,” Lorelei chided.
She tipped her head to the side so that Camden could dip down and press a kiss to her cheek. As he did so, I caught a glimpse of a face I’d seen on way too many billboards over the years.
Lorelei grabbed his chin as he swooped out of the camera, and asked, "Did you get into a fight?"
Dagger frowned up at his son, and ground out, "You went out without security?"
"Jesus, Dad, I went to the fucking gym."
"And got beaten by your PT?" Savannah queried, scooting closer to the screen so she could see more.
One of the main reasons I knew Savannah was even okay with being here was because she’d argued with her brother, but now he turned and revealed a black eye, apparently that memory had flown away with the wind.
"It’s okay. I’m okay," Camden muttered. "And no, my PT didn’t beat me up."
"Then who did?" Savannah hounded, her brow furrowed. "Did he hit you with brass knuckles?"
I kind of loved how she shot me a look that asked for confirmation.
I also loved how un-normal violence clearly was for the Daniels. Talk about a luxury that wasn’t available in my world.