Keeping Katie (Syndicate Kings Book 5)

“You’re late.” Cali meets us at the front doors of her and Declan’s house, her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed.

I raise an eyebrow. “Better watch it, brat. We can turn around and go back home.”

“Noooo,” Cali and Katie whine at the same time.

I’m used to that kind of thing from Cali, but hearing it from my girl has me snapping my attention down to her. She tilts her head back to look up at me, her lower lip popped out slightly.

“I want to stay,” she says quietly.

The possessive side of me wants to go back home so I can have my girl all to myself, but the Daddy side of me wants to give her everything she wants. Especially since she had to give up so much of her life because she was taking care of her parents. I guess I’ll have to be selfish with her another time.

“We’re staying, baby. But Cali is going to quit being sassy; otherwise, I’m going to tell her Daddy that she needs a little correction from his palm.”

Cali drops her hands, but she continues to glare at me. “Snitches get stitches, you know? Sometimes, they even get a pinky cut off. Do you want me to cut off your pinky?”

Smirking, I take a step toward her. “Do you know what brats get? They get their naughty bottoms spanked and plugged. Shall I go suggest that to your husband?”

Both girls gasp, but Cali quickly turns her scowl into a happier expression.

“I’m just glad you’re here!” she says as she starts bouncing on her toes. “Can I take Katie to the theater room? Me and the other girls have been doing diamond art, and I have one for Katie if she wants to do some, too.”

I glance down at my girl, my heart bursting as she turns her wide, hopeful eyes up to me.

“Fine, yes. Go and have fun. I’ll check on you in a few.”

They take off, but I quickly grab Katie by the wrist, stopping her in her tracks. I lean in to kiss her, and she wraps her arms around my waist and hugs me as I capture her mouth.

“Be good,” I whisper before I let her go.

I give her a firm swat and watch them disappear down the hall. Declan’s shoes tap on the white marble floors as he enters the foyer. He lifts his chin and smiles. “Cali give you an earful for being late?”

“Yes. I don’t know how that’s possible, considering I never gave her a time that we would be here. I don’t think you spank her enough.”

Declan rolls his eyes and shrugs. “She gets spanked plenty, believe me. I took a wooden spoon to her ass just a few hours ago for drinking chocolate syrup right out of the bottle. If Grace had caught her doing that, the woman would have had a heart attack. Cali’s lucky I was the one who caught her.”

“She drinks out of the syrup bottle all the time,” Bash says as he walks up to us.

“And you’ve never told me?” Declan asks as he glares at his brother.

Bash shrugs. “What kind of brother-in-law would I be if I tattled on her all the time? Besides, I’ve had enough stitches in my life; I don’t want more for snitching.”

Warmth fills me inside. I didn’t think I’d ever see the day when I’d be bullshitting with my family about our girls. I also didn’t think any of us would ever be this happy. I just hope Ronan finds someone. I worry about him. He’s been in a dark place lately, at least it seems like it. I wouldn’t know for sure because he’s been closed off more than usual.

“Do you mind if we have a quick meeting before dinner?” Declan asks.

“Sure. About what?” I ask.

“I want to add Patrick to the top tier, but it needs to be a group decision since it will change the structure that’s been in place all this time.” Declan motions toward his office.

Killian, Kieran, and Ronan are already in his office when we walk in. Ronan is scowling, but Killian and Kieran look relaxed as they sip glasses of whiskey.

“You’re late,” Ronan barks at me.

I grin. “Nice to see you too, man. Got up on the right side of the bed this morning, aye?”

He flips me off.

“Dude, are you going to be in a bad mood for the rest of your life?” I ask.

Killian snorts. “He’s just pissed off right now because Paige and Tessa want to go to Scotland for a couple of weeks after graduation before they come back to the States, and Declan said yes.”.

“They have no business traveling to another country to do God knows what. They belong here, where they can be watched,” Ronan growls.

Declan rolls his eyes. “I’m sending four security guards on the trip with them. They’ll be perfectly safe.”

Ronan practically snarls but doesn’t say anything more.

Kieran sits forward and sets his glass on the table in front of him. “What did you want to meet about, boss?”

Declan glares at Kieran, and I chuckle. He hates it when we call him boss. We love to call him that when we want to annoy him.

“I know our syndicate has always kept the top tier to six positions, but I’d like to add one more. It needs to be a group decision, not just mine.”

That gets our attention. For decades, there have only been six top-ranking spots in the US-Irish syndicate. To make a change like this is big. It could also be good for us. Good for the organization.

“Who?” Killian asks.

“Patrick,” Declan answers. “He’s proven himself worthy. He took a bullet to protect our women. He’s a good leader. He’s loyal.”

I nod. “He’d be a good fit. You have my support.”

Everyone else agrees without hesitation. Declan wouldn’t have made the recommendation without considering it from every angle. We trust his judgment. He would never do anything to put our family at risk.

“Cali and Scarlet are going to be sad they won’t be able to hang out with him so much,” Killian says, chuckling.

Ronan actually cracks a smile. “Aye. But the fact that he’s survived those two says a lot about him. I don’t think I could do it. I’d have them both tied up with duct tape over their mouths within an hour and they’d still figure out a way to annoy me.”

I hold my fist to my mouth to cover my grin. Ronan’s sense of humor has been absent lately, so hearing him make a joke is refreshing. Especially since he loves Cali and Scarlet so much and would never actually do anything like that to them.

Declan grins and pulls out his phone. A second later, he looks up and smirks. “Speaking of brats. They’re in the middle of a diamond art fight. Again.”

Bash curses while Kieran shakes his head.

I squint, trying to make sense of what that means. Declan turns the screen toward me, and I get my answer. All five women are tossing tiny fake diamonds at each other and giggling hysterically the entire time. They’re making a mess. It will take forever to clean them all up. But the smile on my girl’s face, seeing her have fun, I don’t give a fuck how much of a mess it makes. If it makes her this happy, I’ll order loads of fake diamonds for her to throw around. First, though, I need to buy her a real diamond. A big fat one that she can’t say no to.