She nods.
“Do you remember everything your teacher has taught you?”
Another nod.
“Good. Remember, Iris, you are strong. Stronger than any of those brutes that you’re about to encounter. But most importantly, you are clever. Lean into your gut. It will keep you safe.”
“You should be giving the Volkovs this advice. Not me.”
I grab her chin, more forcefully this time, to show her this isn’t a game.
“Don’t fuck around, Iris. Those assholes will eat you for breakfast if you let them.”
“You forget, big brother. I have a pretty big appetite, too,” she seethes, her razor sharp gaze never wavering from mine.
“Alexi and his brothers aren’t to be trifled with. They’re not like us. They are animals with no code of honor to speak of. If they want to break you, they will do everything in their power to do so. Don’t make it easy for them.”
She snaps her face away from my grip, her emerald eyes taking on a deeper shade, one that unsettles me.
“I’m a big girl, Tiernan.”
“That you are. Just don’t be a stupid girl.”
She snarls, her nostrils flaring in anger and resentment.
That’s another thing about Iris.
She’s too hot-tempered. Lord knows our parents tried their best to shake that trait out of her, but then again, she wouldn’t be a Kelly if she wasn’t easy to set off.
“Are you done with your little pep talk? I need to get ready for my flight.”
I swipe my hand over my face, hating that this is the last interaction I will have with her—the last memory she’ll have of me.
“Here, let me help,” I say instead of the apology she deserves to hear.
She might as well get used to men who don’t give a fuck about her feelings. If Iris is to survive in Vegas, she needs to start practicing the discipline of hiding her true emotions. Not that I’m worried she won’t be able to pull it off, since acting like we don’t give a fuck, when in reality our blood is boiling, is another family skill passed down through the generations. We can be hot one minute and cold the next. You never know what any of us Kellys are really thinking. We can be laughing and chugging Guinness with you one minute, only to slice you open the next. It keeps everyone on their toes. And frankly, I quite prefer it that way.
‘Always keep them guessing,’ Athair is fond of saying.
And that is something each one of his children have been able to do.
All but one, that is.
I shrug that thought away and pick up my baby sister’s luggage.
“I’ll take this downstairs so I can give you a moment alone.”
“I don’t need one. I’m all set.”
My forehead wrinkles in disappointment that she doesn’t want to say goodbye to all the memories her room holds. But it wouldn’t be Iris if she didn’t pull the band-aid off in one quick yank.
She trails behind me as I walk down the stairs with her luggage in hand. I drop the bags in the foyer and head to the kitchen at the back of the house, knowing that our parents are undoubtedly drinking their morning tea there, just waiting to say their goodbyes to my sister before she leaves. Iris continues to keep to her mute form as she follows me down the long corridor. Knowing she’s pissed at me is eating me alive, but I also know it’s the only way she will heed the warning I gave her upstairs.
Yet, her silent treatment doesn’t sit well with me.
I know it’s normal for siblings to fight. I’ve had the occasional fistfight with Shay to prove it. But Iris has always been different. Maybe it’s the fact she’s the only girl in a house full of unruly men, or maybe it’s because she’s the baby of the family. Whatever the reason, I’ve never liked to see her upset. And I fucking hate that I’m the reason she feels that way now.
“There’s my a stór,” our father exclaims the minute we enter the kitchen, getting up from his seat so he can hug his only daughter.
Iris’s foul mood instantly vanishes as she snuggles into our father’s embrace.
She would kill me if I ever said these words aloud, but Iris has always been a daddy’s girl. When she was younger, we could always find her glued to his hip, and in turn, Athair doted on her at every opportunity.
That all changed, of course, when the treaty was put in place.
Suddenly, we all became too busy to give her our undivided attention. Especially Athair and I. We were too caught up in trying to make sure all the families’ demands were set in place so that when the clock ran out ten years later, none of them would have reason to fall back on their promise.