Ryan Renewed: New York Ruthless: Book 5
Ryan Renewed: Chapter 4

I groan as my eyes blink open and my head throbs with a dull ache. I’m lying on Conor’s hard body and he wraps an arm around me.

“You okay, Angel?” he murmurs.

“No. I got my very own private marching band in my head right now,” I groan.

“I told you to lay off that tequila,” he says with a soft chuckle.

I blink and look around the room. “Where’s Shane?”

“He got up about a half hour ago to make a start on breakfast.”

I push myself up and look into his eyes. “Don’t either of you ever get a hangover?” I whisper as I press my palm against my forehead.

He shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Urgh. Now I know why I hardly ever drink.”

Conor tucks my hair behind my ear and narrows his eyes at me. “You didn’t seem that drunk?”

“Well, no. I wasn’t. But Liam and Mikey… Tequila…” I groan loudly. “I only had a couple of shots.”

Conor laughs softly. “Let’s go get you some coffee and some toast and you’ll feel better.”

“Hmm,” I manage a smile. “Did we do anything while I was wasted?” I press my lips together to stop myself from laughing when I see the look on his face.

He frowns at me. “What? You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” I giggle and it makes my head throb again.

“Jessie!”

“Of course I do. I’m just playing.”

“Thank fuck,” he breathes.

“It was amazing by the way.” I smile at him and my cheeks suddenly burn with heat at the memory of both him and Shane taking me together.

“It sure was, Angel,” he says with a soft groan as though he’s remembering too.

“We can do it again sometime, right?” I whisper because he said it could only be a one-time thing.

“Yeah we can do it again for my birthday.” He winks at me before rolling out of bed.

The brothers’ Aunt Em, cousin Aoife and her husband, Noel arrived shortly after Conor and I got out of bed. I woke the twins too, who were passed out on Liam’s bed still wearing their clothes from the night before. A pint of water along with a cup of coffee and a slice of toast eased my hangover but I’m not sure theirs will be as easy to shift.

Now, we’re all sitting at the kitchen table eating pastries and toast and jelly and talking about how much fun we had at Shane’s surprise party last night.

Mikey almost snorts coffee out of his nose when we remind him that he fell on his ass after he challenged Lucia Montoya to a dance-off and decided to try a Magic Mike style dance to Pony using one of the kitchen chairs.

“You made us all call you Magic Mikey,” I giggle.

“I forgot about that too,” Liam says as he holds onto his sides.

“You’re lucky you landed on your ass, Magic Mikey,” Shane tells him with a grin. “You almost face-planted the tiles.”

He rubs a hand over his jaw. “And it would have been a damn shame to damage this handsome face.”

“It sure would,” I agree.

“We should have more parties,” Mikey says with a huge smile on his face.

“Well, as long as they’re not for me,” Shane replies as he takes a sip of his coffee.

“Aw, you loved it.” I ruffle his hair and he smiles.

“Did you have any idea at all they were planning this?” Aoife asks him.

“No,” Shane says with a shake of his head. “The four of them didn’t give anything away. These two played their parts like Broadway actors when they were trying to get me back here.” He nods toward Conor and Liam, and I close my eyes as I remember the reason Mikey used to get him back to the apartment.

“I obviously missed my calling,” Liam says as he take a bite of a pastry.

“Hmm. Assholes,” Shane says with a grin.

“What time does your flight leave?” I ask Em.

“Just after one,” she replies as she glances at her watch.

“That is some plane you guys have got yourselves,” Noel says with a low whistle.

“It’s a beauty,” Mikey replies with a smile. “And it comes in handy when you want to fly your family across the world for a surprise party.”

“I really appreciate you all coming all this way for this,” Shane says.

“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Em replies, smiling as she places her hand over Shane’s.

“Besides, it’s good to have two nights away from the tiny…” Noel starts to say but Aoife glares at him. “Our darling son,” he quickly corrects himself.

“Good save,” Conor whispers as he pats Noel on the back.

“I mean. I love him with every ounce of my heart and soul, but that kid has a pair of lungs on him that would put a world class soprano to shame.” Noel chuckles and even Aoife smiles at that.

“Is Archie with your parents, Noel?” I ask.

“Yeah. They love having him.”

“I can’t wait to see him,” Aoife says with a soft sigh.

“Yeah. Me too,” Noel agrees.

Talking about baby Archie changes the mood in the room and I feel a sense of sadness and disappointment washing over me. Liam is sitting beside me and he reaches beneath the table and gives my thigh a reassuring squeeze.

“Do you think you’ll be coming back to Ireland any time soon?” Aoife asks, unaware of the undercurrent of tension between her cousins and me that has started to ripple through the atmosphere.

“No plans to,” Shane replies with a shake of his head.

“Oh no. Really?” Aoife asks.

“Aoife,” Em says with a warning look.

“I know. It’s just that Patrick is dead now…” she says quietly and it’s as though even the mention of his name brings his ghost into the room with us.

The brothers all stiffen. Conor clears his throat. Noel shakes his head softly and Em shoots me an apologetic look.

“Ireland is beautiful,” I say with a smile. “I loved it there, but now we have the jet, I’d love to visit the rest of the world. We went to the Caribbean for our honeymoon. Have you been there? The sea is the most incredible shade of blue.” I sigh. “Like something from a movie.”

“No. I’d love to though,” Aoife replies and I can tell she is thankful for the change of subject.

“We had an amazing time, didn’t we?” I say.

“That was a fucking incredible vacation,” Conor says and his brothers agree and suddenly the mood is a little lighter again. I mean how could it not be? We spend two weeks on a luxury yacht doing nothing but lying in the sun, eating incredible food and having super-hot sex.

“Jessie wore nothing but a string bikini for two weeks,” Mikey says with a wistful sigh.

“Mikey!” I admonish him as everyone else around the table laughs.

“What, Red?” he winks at me. “Anyway, speaking of vacations, that reminds me…” He looks at Liam who leans forward in his chair.

“Oh, yeah,” Liam replies with a grin. “We have a proposal.”

“This sounds fucking dangerous already,” Conor says with a groan.

“Did you come up with this proposal last night while you were juiced on tequila?” Shane asks.

“Yeah, but it’s still perfectly valid,” Mikey replies.

“Yeah,” Liam agrees.

“So put us out of our misery,” Conor says.

“We want a Jessie-cation,” Mikey proudly announces.

“A what now?” Shane asks with a frown as everyone else around the table looks at them in confusion.

Liam grins at his oldest brother. “Conor got the road trip from Arizona. You got your time alone in Ireland. Me and Mikey should get a trip with Jessie too.”

“A Jessie-cation!” Mikey declares and I can’t help but laugh.

“No way,” Shane says with a shake of his head.

“Shane!” the twins shout in unison.

“I think this is our cue to leave.” Em laughs softly and she stands. “Thank you so much for arranging all of this. It’s been wonderful to see you all.”

Shane gets up and walks around the table to give his aunt a hug.

“This discussion isn’t over,” Mikey says as everyone starts to say their goodbyes.

When Em, Aoife and Noel have left, we head back to the kitchen to start clearing up.

“We were serious about some time alone with Jessie,” Mikey says as he loads the dishwasher.

“A Jessie-cation?” I arch an eyebrow at him and he smiles at me.

“We’ve never had that and you both have,” Liam reminds his older brothers.

“They have a point, bro,” Conor says with a sigh.

“But…” Shane starts to say but then he looks at me. “What do you think?”

“It sounds good to me,” I admit. I mean I get a vacation and some time alone with the twins. What’s not to like?

“How many days?” Shane snaps as he stuffs his hands into his pockets.

“Well, you both had four and there’s two of us, so eight?” Mikey suggests.

“Fuck, no!” Conor snaps and I giggle.

“One!” Shane offers.

“Um. No,” Liam replies.

“How long then?” Mikey asks, his face serious now.

“Two?” Shane suggests.

“Fuck that, Shane. Be serious,” Mikey replies.

“Three?” Conor suggests.

“Four and it’s a deal,” Liam adds.

I jump up onto the kitchen counter and watch the four of them negotiating over me like I’m a car or something. I should probably hate it, but I don’t.

Shane narrows his eyes at them. “Where are you taking her, first?”

“The lake house,” Liam replies.

Shane visibly relaxes when it’s clear we won’t be traveling far. “Can we visit?” he asks with a grin.

“No!” Liam and Mikey reply.

“Do we have to agree to this, Con?” Shane groans.

“Kinda,” Conor says with a shrug.

“And it’s all fine by me by the way,” I pipe up. “In case any of you were wondering.”

Mikey grins at me and walks over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to him until he’s standing between my thighs. “Jessie Ryan, would you please come to the lake house with me and Liam for four whole nights so we can worship and adore you all to ourselves?”

“Yes,” I whisper as even the thought makes warmth spread through my core.

“When is this Jessie-cation taking place?” Conor asks.

“End of the month?” Liam suggests.

I see Conor and Shane working the dates in their heads. That will be a few weeks after ovulation time.

“Fine,” Shane eventually agrees.

“Yes!” Mikey punches the air. “This is going to be fucking epic!”

Liam laughs softly while Shane and Conor roll their eyes.

“I can’t wait,” I whisper.

“Me neither, Red,” Mikey growls before he seals his lips over mine.