As I watch Mikey, Shane and Jessie carrying the steaming trays of food into the dining room, I can’t help smiling. Jessie has a huge grin on her face as she places the mashed potatoes and string beans on the table, and Mikey and Shane bicker good-naturedly over who is going to carve the turkey.
In the ten years we’ve been in the States, we’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving – not in the traditional sense anyway. It’s not a thing in Ireland so it’s not a part of our family history or tradition. But Jessie is insistent that we’re going to change that this year, so our Thanksgiving in July is going to be our trial run. And so, she has insisted we have a full on traditional Thanksgiving dinner, which Mikey was more than happy to put together, with the help of his sexy, red-headed sous chef. And I can’t think of a time in my life when I have ever had so much to be thankful for.
Liam sits beside me. He still has a way to go until he’s back to full strength, but he is getting there, and with Jessie’s help, his emotional scars are healing too.
Shane sets the turkey down and sits with a satisfied sigh, as though he cooked the bird rather than just carried it in from the kitchen. He squeezes Jessie’s ass as she brushes past him and she leans down and rewards him with a kiss. As she takes her own seat, he continues watching her and the smile on his face is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The two of them have worked out whatever it was that was keeping them apart, and the change in the apartment, and in our family, is pronounced. It seems like at last we are all in sync and I can’t remember a single moment in my life when I have ever felt this content.
“What’s for dessert?” Liam groans as he rubs a hand over his stomach and leans back in his chair.
“Pumpkin pie,” Jessie says with a smile. “I made it.”
“I’ve never tried that.” Liam narrows his eyes at her. “Is it sweet?”
“Very,” Jessie replies.
“Won’t be the sweetest thing we’ve ever eaten on this table though,” Shane says as he slides a hand onto Jessie’s thigh and squeezes, causing Mikey and Liam to groan their agreement while I laugh as Jessie’s cheeks flush pink.
“It’s Thanksgiving dinner, boys,” she admonishes us. “Can we keep it PG?”
Shane leans across and plants a soft kiss on her neck. “Nothing is ever PG with you around, sweetheart.”
She turns to me, as though I might be the one who agrees with her.
“He’s right, Angel,” I say with a shrug. “But as much as I would love to spread you open on this table and eat your pussy instead of your pumpkin pie, I think I’m too full of turkey and potatoes right now.”
She opens her mouth in mock horror and swats me on the arm. “Conor!”
“I have to agree, bro,” Liam groans. “But I still want some pie.”
“Pie now. Pussy later!” Mikey declares, causing everyone at the table to start laughing, which we’re still doing a few moments later when the intercom rings signaling someone is downstairs at the back entrance to our building. The one nobody ever uses, because we rarely have visitors, and if we do, they come through the club. Very few people even know about the entrance at the back.
“Who the fuck is that?” Mikey frowns as he grabs the laptop from the cabinet nearby and opens up the security system. As we all look at the screen, it is Jessie who recognizes our visitor first.
“That’s Vlad,” she says with a frown. “What is he doing here?”
Mikey peers closer at the screen. “Looks like he’s alone too.”
“Since when did the head of the Bratva travel without a bodyguard?” Shane frowns.
“And more importantly, why the hell is he here?” I snarl. I knew this fucking happy feeling was too good to be true.
“Let me talk to him,” Shane nods his head toward the laptop and Mikey presses a button that allows him to speak.
“Vlad. I’m surprised to see you here after our last encounter,” Shane says.
“Mr Ryan. I need to speak to Jessie. Is she there?”
Jessie opens her mouth to speak, but Shane holds his hand up and shakes his head and she remains quiet. “Why do you want Jessie?” he snarls.
“I have something to discuss with her.”
“You heard of this thing called a telephone?” Shane snaps as Jessie frowns at the screen.
“It is not the kind of news I want to give over the telephone.”
“You come alone?” Shane asks.
“Yes.”
Shane nods to Mikey who turns off the microphone so we can speak freely.
“What the hell has made the head of the Bratva come here alone to speak to Jessie?” Mikey asks with a scowl.
“I don’t know. But I need to find out,” Jessie replies.
“It could be a trap, Angel,” I remind her.
“I don’t think so. He was so lovely to me when we met in Central Park. Besides, he’s alone. And I don’t know. I kind of think Vlad is a man of his word. I don’t think he’s here to start something.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but it’s your call, Jessie. You want to hear what he has to say?” Shane frowns at her.
“I don’t think I can’t, Shane,” she says with a shake of her head. “For him to come all the way here?”
Shane sits back and rubs a hand over his jaw before he glances at me. I nod at him because Jessie is right. There is no way we can turn him away when he has something important to tell her.
“You’d better go let our guest in then,” Shane says to Mikey with an arch of one eyebrow.
Five minutes later, the head of the Bratva is sitting at our dining table eyeing the remainder of our Thanksgiving feast, but as we’re not sure yet why he’s even here, he hasn’t been afforded any of our Irish hospitality.
Jessie sits between me and Liam, while Mikey stands behind us and Shane sits to our left. He leans back in his chair, allowing Jessie to do the talking.
“What did you need to speak to me about, Vlad?” she asks.
He glances between me and my brothers, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“You can talk in front of them. We have no secrets,” she says as she leans forward, resting her arms on the table and I realize she would have made an excellent head of the Bratva. She is tougher than anyone else I know.
Vlad clears his throat before he leans forward too. He seems like he’s going to speak, but then he just stares at her and I sense Liam getting twitchy in his seat beside me.
“You look so much like your mother,” he finally says.
I hear the breath catch in Jessie’s throat, and it makes me wonder whether Vlad has a game plan here. Is he trying to endear to him, or throw her off by mentioning her mom right now?
His eyes dart around the room before he focuses on Jessie. “I’ve been hearing rumors for a while. I didn’t speak of it when we last met, because they were just rumors, and I prefer to deal in facts. But now I have proof, and I thought you should be the first to know.”
Jessie visibly trembles in her seat and I take hold of her hand and squeeze reassuringly, although my own anxiety levels have just ratcheted up several notches too.
“Proof of what?” she asks, and the tremor in her voice is clearly audible.
Vlad’s Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he swallows, and I know what he’s going to say before he opens his mouth, and I’m pretty sure Jessie does too.
Despite that, it still hits me like a truck when he speaks. “The Wolf. He’s back.”
