“She’s not that wee.” Roisin gave Daisy an appraising look. “She knows what a cock is or she wouldn’t be with our Liam. Isn’t that right?”

“Um . . .” Daisy’s brain had cock on repeat and she couldn’t form any words. She’d never heard the word cock uttered once in any Patel family gathering. Nor a single swear word. She’d never even had a conversation about sex with anyone in her family, except with Layla.

“Look at her face.” Fiona clucked her tongue like a mother hen. “She’s only here five minutes and you’re already on about cocks. Give her another drink before she faints dead away.”

“He’s a young man,” Seamus said. “You can’t blame him for wanting a bit of a rightie. It’s a hardship looking as good as Liam and me. The ladies are always wanting a piece of you. Some weekends I had so many, I wore myself out.”

“Jesus Christ.” Fitz groaned. “We’re going to scare the girl away. She’ll think we’re all crazy.”

“You know what’s crazy?” Roisin said. “An ayahuasca trip. That’s crazy. The first night I took the brew I saw myself floating in Ma’s womb. And then I had the purge. In a communal tent. I had to get on all fours because it was coming out both ends and I couldn’t reach the buckets. And the force. It was like a fire hose. I ripped a hole in the side of the tent and hit a tree ten yards away. Felt like pure acid. I couldn’t sit for a week.”

“Why are we talking about Aunt Roisin’s crazy ayahuasca trip?” Brendan raised his voice in frustration. “The bigger issue here is a fraudulent marriage.”

Fitz held up his hands palms forward. “It’s their relationship, their business. Just like your aunt’s psychedelic hallucinated shit is her business even though she has to bring it up in every conversation.”

“It was all over me,” Roisin continued. “I didn’t hallucinate that.”

“I thought you just said it was all over a tree ten yards out of the tent.” Fitz crossed his arms over his chest.

“That was the second time. The first time I hit the shaman.”

Fitz shook his head. “I’m not going to ask what he was doing behind you. Why can’t you just get an office job? I would be thrilled to hear stories about accounting errors or missing pens.”

“I’m going to get Daisy a drink.” Liam pulled Daisy toward the kitchen, although she wasn’t in a hurry to leave. His family took bluntness to a whole new level.

“I’m sorry,” he said when they were alone in the pretty country kitchen. “They’re fine one on one. It’s just when they get together . . .”

“I thought my family was very open, but compared to your family they are positively repressed.” She glanced up at the door. “Do you think they bought it?”

“Honestly, they wouldn’t care except that they seemed relieved I’m not going to turn out like Seamus.”

“What about Brendan?”

She heard a snort by the door. “Yeah, bro. What about Brendan?”

* * *

• • •

“WHO the fuck is she?” Brendan swaggered into the kitchen. “I want the truth.”

Liam’s anger rose quickly, a mix of protectiveness and irritation that their quiet moment had been interrupted. “Get out, Bren. You’re drunk.”

“Is she some hooker you picked up in the Tenderloin?” He turned to Daisy. “What’s he paying you, honey? I’ll double it if you get the hell out of here.”

Liam had Brendan up against the wall before his brain had even processed he had moved. His hand tightened around Brendan’s throat, cutting off his air. “Don’t you ever disrespect her again.”

“Why? Because it’s real? Because you finally found a woman who could put up with your shit and you’re in love?” Brendan spluttered, struggling to breath. “This is fraud, and if you insist on playing this out, I’m going to hire a stable of lawyers and destroy you and your damn wh—”

“Fiancée.” Daisy slipped her arm around Liam’s waist, gently tugging him back. He released Brendan, chest heaving as his blood pounded through his veins. Why was it always like this with his brother? Why could they never get along?

Brendan glared at Daisy. “What did he offer you? I want to know. How much does it cost to destroy a family?”

Liam’s vision sheeted red. “You bastard.” He moved forward and Daisy grabbed the back of his shirt.

“Wait.” She looked up at Brendan. “He didn’t pay me anything. Do you really want to turn this into something ugly? He’s your brother. Family is what holds us all together.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Brendan gave a bitter laugh. “You obviously don’t know my brother very well, or you would understand why I don’t believe this fake engagement in the least. He runs away from everything. His family. His friends. His commitments. There’s a reason he’s never had a serious relationship. Most women can see through the bullshit to the bastard underneath.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Liam spat out.

Brendan grabbed one of the bottles from the table. “I know what’s going to happen. You’ll take the distillery like you took everything from me, and then you’ll abandon it and I’ll be left to clean up the mess.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“It’s the story of our lives.” Brendan’s face twisted in a snarl. “You spent all your time playing happy families somewhere else while I stayed at home, looking after Mom and dealing with all Dad’s shit.”

“You did nothing to help her.” Liam fist connected with Brendan’s face, knocking his brother back against the table. Brendan returned the punch, making contact with Liam’s nose. Blood poured down Liam’s shirt. Eyes streaming from the pain, he slammed his brother’s head into the cupboards and received a punch to the gut in return. Moments later, Liam felt hands on his shoulders, pulling him back as Brendan threw fists and knees, trying to get him down.