Ryan Renewed: New York Ruthless: Book 5

I mix the waffle batter as the sexiest sous chef in the world stands right beside me, chopping bananas. When she is done, she dips her finger into the jar of chocolate sauce and then sucks it clean.

“That is very unhygienic, Red. What would your hero, Carl Paxton, have to say about that?”

“I don’t care,” she purrs. “Besides, you have all had your tongue in my mouth at some point this morning, I’m pretty sure if I got any cooties you already got them too.” She arches an eyebrow at me.

“Hmm,” I agree as I lean down and slide my tongue into her mouth again and she moans softly. Fuck, I wish I could take her right here on the counter.

“How are those waffles coming along?” Conor asks as he strolls into the kitchen.

“They would be quicker if your wife wasn’t distracting me every five seconds,” I tell him.

“Oh, so she’s my wife when she’s causing trouble?” Conor laughs.

“I am not causing trouble!” she protests.

“You’re always causing trouble,” Shane adds as he walks into the room too. He’s standing before us in a few strides and he wraps his arms around her waist, taking her attention from me. He’s about to kiss her but the change in her face is instant. She pushes him away from her and steps back at the same time, her hand flying to her mouth as she groans.

“What’s up?” he asks with a frown as I stare at her in confusion.

She sucks in a deep breath but then balks loudly, rushing to the sink. “I feel like I’m going to throw up,” she groans.

I look at Shane and chuckle. He goes to step toward her but I stand in front of him. “You’re making our wife ill, dude. Back off.” I hold up my spatula and he frowns at me.

“Jessie, are you okay, sweetheart?” he asks, ignoring me as he steps closer to her but she holds out her hand to stop him.

“Did you put cologne on?” she whispers.

“Yeah. The one I always wear.”

She shakes her head and goes back to hanging it over the sink. “I’m sorry, I…” She balks again but she doesn’t throw up. “It’s making me…”

“Fuck!” Shane rolls his eyes while me and Liam try our best to control our laughter, but we fail miserably.

“He’ll kick your asses if you don’t stop it,” Conor says with a smile as he walks to Jessie and rubs a hand over her back but he’s barely holding it together either. I can tell by the look on his face.

We’re all used to Jessie’s sudden attacks of nausea now. She’s not often actually sick, but she turns a deep shade of green until the offending smell is removed. First it was oregano. Then tuna fish. Then hot dogs, quickly followed by whiskey – which I found out to my own detriment one night when I had a glass of the stuff at the end of my work shift but directly before bed. I kissed her and she threw up on me after. But now, the offending smell is Shane, so I’m going to enjoy every second of his misfortune.

“I’m fine,” Jessie breathes. “Shane can you…?”

“Fuck me! I guess I’ll go shower then,” he says with a sigh before he walks out of the room to a chorus of sniggers from me and Liam.

“I’m glad you find my discomfort so amusing,” Jessie says as she straightens up, but she arches an eyebrow in that way that lets me know she’s not really mad at us.

“Aw, I’m sorry, Red,” I say as I walk over and kiss her damp forehead. “But if you didn’t have your head in the sink, you would have seen the look on Shane’s face and wet yourself from laughing so hard. I’m surprised we kept a lid on it to be honest.”

“I usually love his cologne too,” she says with a soft chuckle as she leans against my chest.

“Well, looks like he’s gonna have to get himself a new one.”

It’s only fifteen minutes later when Shane comes back into the room as I’m placing a plate laden with fresh waffles onto the kitchen island. His hair is still damp and he’s changed his clothes too and is dressed in just a pair of grey sweatpants. He makes his way straight to our girl.

“Better?” he asks with a flash of his eyebrows.

She leans close to him, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling his neck. “Better,” she giggles.

“Thank fuck!” he hisses.

“You worried it was just your general smell that was making her sick, bro?” Liam asks with a snort as he takes a waffle from the plate.

“Asshole,” Shane says with a roll of his eyes, but there is a look of relief on his face that tells me there is a grain of truth in Liam’s teasing. I mean I can’t imagine anything worse than having to keep my distance from my our horny, pregnant wife for the next four-and-a-half months.

“Shall we eat and then we can fill the boys in on developments,” Conor says as he takes some waffles and piles his plate high. It’s been nice being in here with them all and acting like a normal family. Being able to forget for a little while that someone tried to kidnap our girl and our babies yesterday, and how terrifyingly close they came to succeeding.

“Yeah,” Jessie says as she pulls out of Shane’s embrace.

I chew on the last mouthful of my breakfast as I listen to Jessie telling us about some weird fucking brotherhood. I won’t lie, it sounds like something out of Harry goddamn Potter to me. The fact that these maniacs have tried to kidnap our twice now is enough to make me want to slit their throats right now.

“So, Vlad has to know something about this then,” I agree, because how can he not? I also agree with Shane that maybe this is part of some kind of grab for power, but I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than Vlad wanting her dead. At least we know who we’re dealing with if it’s him. A brotherhood sounds all kinds of fucked up.

“Yep. So, let’s hope he agrees to meet with us,” Jessie replies as she takes her second waffle.

“He will.” I reach over and take her hand. “We’ll make sure of it.”