Aoife reached over. “Congrats, honey. I bet Declan’s thrilled.”
“He is.” She pulled a face. “It’s not ideal but I’m actually happy about it. I just need to tell Shay. That’s something I’m not looking forward to.”
“There’s almost a ten-year gap between me and Victoria,” I told her softly. “It won’t be easy. I remember being pretty jealous.”
“Well, Shay’s at that stage now where he’s too cool for everything and anything. Especially now he’s at this new school and Brennan and Conor are taking so much interest in him. I’m not fascinating enough anymore,” she grumbled, but she was laughing too. “I’m hoping he won’t be that upset.”
“If he is, he is. At least he can beat the crap out of Brennan if he has to,” I teased.
Aoife waggled her brows. “I still can’t get over the fact our Brennan’s married. Sheesh. We never saw that coming, did we?” She pointed a finger at Inessa. “And you, not saying a damn thing about it? Girl, what’s that about?”
“I didn’t know!” Inessa defended herself, raising her hand to wave over the waiter.
“We kept things on the downlow,” I demurred as the server came and handed us menus. After we put our orders in, I carried on, “It was all very spontaneous, you know?”
“More romantic than I’d have thought Brennan was capable of,” Aela teased.
“They’re all romantic in their own way,” Aoife argued. “You just have to learn how to see it.”
“You won’t hear me complaining,” Aela retorted. “Just saying it how it is.”
“Look at those rings, though.” Aoife whistled under her breath as she stared at the hand I’d wrapped around Jacob’s belly.
I flushed as Innie teased, “Brennan’s version of a big stamp of ownership.”
“Well, that’s one way of doing it,” Aela said wryly, before she leaned forward. “Forgive me, Camille, but I knew one of Brennan’s girlfriends when I was still in school. She said...” She leaned over the table some more. “...he was really big.”
“Aela!” Aoife chided, but her interested gaze turned my way.
Inessa snorted when I shot her a pleading look. “Well, Cammie, is he?” she teased. “Is he rocking a Hulk dick?”
“It’s not bright green,” I grumbled. “What do you want me to do? Pull out a ruler and measure him?”
Aela snickered. “You could for me. I’ve always been curious.”
“Why?” Aoife questioned, her tone bewildered.
She shrugged. “For art.”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“Aela’s an artist,” Inessa explained. “She’s really talented.”
“You mean, you wanted to paint my husband’s penis?”
Aela grinned. “Well, I wouldn’t say no.”
“Oh my God,” Inessa guffawed. “Cammie, if you could see your face.”
“I know you want to paint the guys for Lena, Aela, but I don’t think that’s the kind of portrait she’d like,” Aoife teased, making the others laugh.
“I thought you guys would be kind of mean to me because I was the new girl and everything. I never thought we’d be discussing my husband’s dick,” I retorted waspishly, unashamed to be hiding my face by looking down at Jacob.
“Why would we be mean to you?” Aela chuckled. “We’ve got to stick together, Cammie.”
Aoife grinned. “Girl power.”
My nose crinkled. “If you say so.”
“So, is it massive?” Aela peppered.
When the others started laughing, I just joined in.
But I didn’t tell them... if it was down to me, nobody would ever know the size of my husband’s anaconda other than me.
And if that sounded possessive, well, so be it.
Forty-One
Conor
Ainsley McKenna.
A name I thought I’d never hear again.
A name I prayed I’d never hear again.
White noise.
I was used to living with it, used to its constant whine inside my skull but two words had amped up the volume.
Two words had destroyed a lifetime’s worth of calm.
Lodestar: **aCooooig? You there?**
Most people thought hacking involved sitting at a computer and typing really fast, mostly because that’s how Hollywood portrayed it. Jonesing off on big screens, all stacked up on top of each other, impossibly hot nerds whooping and cheering as they got the girl while never taking into account how fucking long it took to break into databases and websites and the like.
Any self-respecting hacktivist knew that wasn’t the way of it, but nobody I’d ever communicated with—and I communicated with a lot—had ever understood like Lodestar.
That was why I’d sent her candy corn.
She’d mentioned once that she liked it, so, why wouldn’t I send a couple of pounds of the stuff to her?
I figured the feeling was mutual when, a few days later, a package of Lemonheads showed up at my place. If I’d have been wearing a hat, I’d have tipped it to her. A mutual kudos—she knew where I lived, and I knew where she lived—but also, she’d remembered my candy preferences too.
Despite my appreciation for her skills, for her snark, I had no real desire to talk to her—
Lodestar: **I know you’re online.**
aCooooig: **If you know I’m online, then take a hint.**
Lodestar: **When a woman sends you her body weight in lemon candy, she deserves a morning after call.**
aCooooig: **It’s not a good time.**
Lodestar: **Why not?**
aCooooig: **Because.**
Lodestar: **You’re very communicative today. *Insert sarcasm here***
aCooooig: **That’s why I didn’t answer. I don’t want to piss you off.**
Lodestar: **...**
I frowned, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean.
Lodestar: **You care if I’m pissed off?**
aCooooig: **Isn’t that what friends do? Care about each other?**
Lodestar: **Hmm. I suppose so. All right then, if that’s what we are... then what’s wrong?**
aCooooig: **I told you already. I don’t want to talk about it.**
Lodestar: **Means you should.**
aCooooig: **Since when?**
Lodestar: **Since forever.**
I growled under my breath, and as tempted as I was to kick her out of my computer, which she’d managed to break into, again, I didn’t.
I just closed my eyes a second, trying to reconcile that the white noise that had been plaguing me was a little quieter thanks to her interference.
Lodestar: **Come on. Tell me. I might be able to help. Is it to do with the Sparrows?**
aCooooig: **I guess.**
Lodestar: **Narrow it down.**
aCooooig: **I’ve got a name for a potential Sparrow agent.**
Lodestar: **Great! Tell me. I’ll hunt them down with you.**
aCooooig: **It’s not possible.**
Lodestar: **To hunt him down? Dude, we’re the fucking BEST around. Seriously, if we wanted, the Pentagon would be our bitch.**
aCooooig: **You know how I know I’m an adult?**
Lodestar: **Irrelevant, but I’ll bite.**
aCooooig: **Because the prospect of busting through the Pentagon’s firewalls no longer gives me a boner.**
Lodestar: **A proud moment in your life, I’m sure.**
My lips twitched. aCooooig: **Absolutely.**
Lodestar: **Spill the beans. Give me the name.**
aCooooig: **There’s no point.** Thank Christ.
Lodestar: **Why not? Shit, it’s like pulling teeth with you today. When you said it wasn’t a good time, you really meant it.**
aCooooig: **Surprised you haven’t figured out that I usually mean every word I say.**
Lodestar: **Hmm, fair point. Tell me the name!!**
aCooooig: **Like I said, there’s no point. The guy’s dead.”
Lodestar: **That’s annoying.
We don’t have enough ins.**
aCooooig: **No, we don’t.**
Guilt hit me when I thought about a massive ‘in’ that we had, but it would involve sharing information that we were keeping tied up.
But Lodestar wasn’t just anyone, was she?
Lodestar: **So, that’s what pissed you off?**
aCooooig: **No. Not that the fucker’s dead. Just... I used to know him.**
Lodestar: **The Sparrow agent? Well, that doesn’t come as a surprise. They’re everywhere.**
aCooooig: **Yeah. He wasn’t a good person.**
Lodestar: **Let’s hope he’s rotting in hell.**
aCooooig: **I hope the Devil’s biting his cock off then making it grow again then biting it off once more.**
Lodestar: **Ouch. I thought men were sensitive about their dicks. I’ve never understood that. You talk about the time you kneed someone in the balls, and every guy in the vicinity cups his junk and groans.**
aCooooig: **That’s because you hang out with bikers. Mobsters have more decorum.**
Lodestar: **Oh? What do you guys do?**
aCooooig: **Pretend our balls aren’t aching too.**
Lodestar: ***snorts***
aCooooig: **True story.**
Lodestar: **That was pretty graphic though.**
aCooooig: **You want graphic? I hope the Devil’s teeth are sharp and pointy. And when he gnaws down on the fucker’s dick, that it doesn’t snap off. He has to really dig those teeth in and drag it off.**
Lodestar: **Yikes. You’ve given this a lot of thought.**
aCooooig: **I have.**
Lodestar: **Did this person hurt you?**
aCooooig: **He caused a lot of problems in my family.**
Lodestar: **He did? How?**
aCooooig: **It doesn’t matter.**
Lodestar: **It does. Tell me. I won’t tell anyone.**
aCooooig: **Not even Maverick?**
Lodestar: **Is that jealousy I hear?**
aCooooig: **Maybe. But you can’t hear anything, can you? Unless you’ve hacked into my speaker system.**
Lodestar: **There’s no need to be jealous.**
I noticed she didn’t say anything about my speakers, so I made a mental note to do a sweep later.
aCooooig: **Isn’t there?**
Lodestar: **No. He’s like a brother to me now.**
aCooooig: **You want to fuck your brother? Where are you from again? West Virginia?**
Lodestar: **OMG, take that back. West Virginia is an awesome place.**
aCooooig: **I’m just being mean.**
Lodestar: **I can tell. And I’m from Delaware.**
aCooooig: **With leanings to West Virginia apparently.**
Lodestar: **My dad took me to live there for a while.**
aCooooig: **Why?**
Lodestar: **Why not?**
aCooooig: **Fair point. LOL.**
Lodestar: **Fair is what I do. Okay... how about this: I’ll tell you a secret if you tell me what this guy did to cause trouble with your family.**
aCooooig: **What kind of secret?**
Lodestar: **My real name.**
aCooooig: **No way.**
Unease filled me.
aCooooig: **You could lie.**
Lodestar: **I’ll send you a copy of my driver’s license.**
aCooooig: **You take me for a fool? That will be a fake too.**
Lodestar: **Hmm, true. Okay, how do I convince you of my real ID.**
aCooooig: **You were in the Army.**
Lodestar: **You want personnel records?**
aCooooig: **Yes.**
Lodestar: **This had better be worth it.**
aCooooig: **Sadly, it is.**
Lodestar: **Which email?**
When she listed five of my email addresses, I had to shake my head at the power move.
aCooooig: **Yeah, yeah. I get it. You know my emails.**
Lodestar: **:P Just a reminder not to dick me around.**
aCooooig: **The first one.**
Lodestar: **Okay. Sent.**
I quickly switched screens to my internet browser, logged onto that particular email, and found one waiting in my inbox.
Nerves hit me, which was a ridiculous reaction, but I’d been talking with her for a while now. Anonymity, even if it was relative with someone like her, was something that we all shielded.
Even the Lemonheads had come for ‘aCooooig.’ That was thanks to my penthouse being held in a trust so no one knew who owned it. Otherwise, she’d have had my real name too.
For all that, she was the only one who’d ever breached my code. Ever. I had to respect her for that if nothing else.
When I opened the email, my brows rose. She’d blacked out the picture, but her records were there. At least, some of them. She’d censored other parts as well, leaving me with the information she wanted me to know.
Star Sullivan.
What interested me the most?
Who her daddy was.
Brows high as I recognized the name, a dash of excitement overtook the muted white noise in my ears for a second as I replied: aCooooig: **Your father was Gerard Sullivan?**
Lodestar: **He was.**
aCooooig: **Guess that explains why you moved around a lot.**
Lodestar: **Yup.**
aCooooig: **Christ. Well, I’m impressed.**
Lodestar: **Don’t be. He wasn’t the best man, but he was a brilliant dad.**
It took a hell of a lot to put stars in my eyes, but dayum. Gerard Sullivan? Excuse me while I fangirled.
aCooooig: **Lol. Candid as always.**
Lodestar: **Yep. Worst day of my life was when he died, and after what I’ve been through on my tours of duty, that’s really saying something.**
aCooooig: **I’ll bet. Mom ‘unknown?’**
Lodestar: **I’m a miracle birth.”
aCooooig: **LMAO. You’re certainly something.**
Lodestar: **Just because you don’t know her name doesn’t mean she’s unknown.**
aCooooig: **I know. I was only teasing.**
Lodestar: **Come on then, tell me the truth.**
She made it sound so easy.
aCooooig: **I’ve never told anyone this before.**
Lodestar: **If you haven’t, then how did it cause your family any trouble?**
aCooooig: **Because my brother caught us.**
Lodestar: **Your brother caught you doing what?**
aCooooig: **I wasn’t doing anything.**
Lodestar: **Hmm. You’re still being cryptic. So, it was being done to you?**
aCooooig: **Yes.**
Lodestar: **Bad things?**
aCooooig: **The worst.**
Lodestar: **How old were you?**
aCooooig: **Seven.**
Lodestar: **Christ, aCooooig.**
Conor: **Call me Conor, Star.**
Star: **Conor, you’re forcing me to read between the lines here, but I can figure it out... I’m so sorry.**
Conor: **It’s okay.**
Star: **No, it’s not. It’s really not. Nothing about that is okay.**
Conor: **It is what it is.**
Star: **Who was he?**
Conor: **A temporary priest at our church.**
Star: **Fuck. FUCK. Oh, shit, I’m so fucking mad right now.**
Conor: **Star, there’s no need to be. It was a long time ago.**
Star: **A long time ago? You were seven and that fucker molested you. No wonder you want the Devil to gnaw his cock off. Okay, I’m gonna add to that. He also gets hot pokers and jams them up his asshole.**
Conor: **And he has to use the hot pokers as a stool.**
Star: **So he’s impaled on them?**
Conor: **Totally.**
Star: **Did it happen often?**
Conor: **He was there for a month while our regular priest went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. It was toward the end of that placement.**
Star: **That didn’t answer me.**
Conor: **I was naive.**
Conor: **It’s okay.**
Star: **STOP. SAYING. THAT. Unless you want me to ride into the city, hijack your system again, and come and visit you so I can shake you—seriously, stop saying that.**
Conor: **I don’t know what else to say.**
Star: **Say you’re fucking angry.**
Conor: **I am.**
Star: **That doesn’t seem angry enough.**
Conor: **I AM.**
Star: **That’s a little better. I still want to drive over to hug the shit out of you though.**
A part of me wondered if that would be such a bad thing, but I didn’t let myself dwell on it because I didn’t have time.
Conor: **Can the shit be hugged out of someone, though?**
Star: **If it’s done right, sure.**
That probably shouldn’t give me a boner.
What else could she ‘do’ right?
Star: **How did he die? Did you kill him? I wouldn’t blame you.**
Conor: **Now, I wish that I had. But no. One of my brothers found us, and he acted on my behalf.**
Star: **I’m glad. Very glad. I hope the bastard suffered.**
Conor: **I hope he did too.**
Star: **Who told you this guy was a Sparrow? Was he messing with you?**
Conor: **I have to think that he was.**
Star: **You know what this means, right?**
Conor: **Yeah. Someone knows that name would bother me.**
Star: **It’s likely. Bastard.**
Conor: **Do you feel like this situation with the Sparrows is a rabbit hole? Only, at the other end, it isn’t Wonderland but Rikers?**
Star: **For a long while, bringing these bastards down is the only thing that’s kept me going. If I end up at Rikers, I’ll be happy so long as those fuckers end up there with me too.**
Conor: **You think it’s possible?**
Star: **I’m going to give it my best.**
Conor: **The Mayor’s a Sparrow.**
Star: **Coullson? Christ! How did you get that info?**
Conor: **A Fed agent told us under duress.**
Star: **Holy shit! This is big.**
Star: **Wait. Crap, he’s the one who told you about the priest, isn’t he?**
Conor: **He is.**
Star: **Fuck.**
Some lead he was. Conor: **Yeah, fuck.**
Forty-Two
Brennan
“You’re kidding me.”
Filthy Sex: The Five Points’ Mob Collection: Four Page 41