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Her hand went to my cheek, and she smiled so sweetly. Her eyes shined brightly. “The way you were with Colleen. She trusts you in a way she would trust a parent. You are more than an uncle to her. You are safety. Protection. It’s why she called you the night Brian tried to break in. She knew you would be there for her.”

Her hand fell gently to her lap. “Speaking of Brian. What will happen to him?”

“When we find him, it all depends on how much he cooperates.”

“He saved my life, Duncan.”

“He was part of the reason you were there in the first place.”

“When you find him... can I speak with him?

“That will be up to Sal.” She nodded, and I didn’t want to see the sadness. I thought about what Lannie said and asked her, “So, how many babies do you want?”

Her smile turned seductive, and she answered, “As many as you will give me.”

Epilogue

Freyja

Jeffrey was waiting for us when we landed in Boston. He dropped the others off and then took Duncan and I home.

“We’ll need to take a trip into the city and pack up your things.”

He hadn’t actually asked me to move in. Just assumed I would. And well, what was there to question? Lucille was never wrong.

“Ok, I can have Jeffrey take me home, and I’ll go through my things. See what I want and what I don’t, then I’ll hire some movers. It should only take two or three days.”

Duncan grabbed me from behind, and his mouth went to my neck. “Not a chance in hell are you going without me.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Doesn’t matter. I spent six weeks without you. I’m not spending another night without you in bed beside me.”

He turned me in his arms and sealed his mouth to mine. I loved it when he kissed me. Everything he felt about me was in his kiss.

Pulling back, I regarded him. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

“When we walked into the clubhouse yesterday, you said Darcy’s name. You looked spooked.”

Duncan let go of me and walked away. “Do you want a drink?”

“Do I need one?”

He shrugged. “I fuckin’ do.”

“What happened, Duncan?” I followed him to the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen. Climbing on to the stool, I waited for him to talk to me.

He poured some whiskey into a glass and drank it in one gulp. I was trying to be patient. I had an idea of what happened but I needed to hear it from him.

“I don’t know,” he said, setting the glass down. He splayed his hands out on the counter and took a step back.

“How long has Darcy been talking to you?”

His head whipped up and his eyes sought mine. “What?”

“You heard Darcy at the clubhouse, didn’t you?” I sat as still as I could. My hands clasped on the surface in front of me. I didn’t want to scare him.