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“That fine. But I boss,” Hallie says, stamping her foot as if to emphasise her point.

I hear Kellan let out a nervous laugh that turns into a groan as Mia chastises him. “See…this is why I’m worried about enrollingher in a nursery. She will have her own army by the end of the first week.”

Kel laughs harder this time, and it’s clear to see the pride written across his face. “It’s not my fault my girl’s a natural born leader.”

Esme narrows her eyes at Hallie, before she shrugs her shoulders. “Okay, but you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do,” Esme replies.

Hallie tilts her head, as though she’s considering Esme’s terms, before she nods rapidly, her lips pulling into a smile. “Okay. You work for me now.” Without another word, Hallie toddles off back to Ry, who hands her the Lego blocks they were playing with before, like nothing happened.

Kian’s the one to break the silence. “Am I the only one who is terrified of what she will be like when she’s a teenager?” he asks, making his body shiver exaggeratedly, like he’s scared of the little girl.

Everyone in the room mutters an agreement of some sort, and I can’t help but smile. Evan’s breath is on my cheek again, and I have to bite my lip to ignore the way my stomach flips like I’m a teenage girl again. “She’s quite terrifying, isn’t she?”

I turn to look at him, and his bright emerald eyes are sparkling, with a smile on his face that takes my breath away. The mask of indifference I’ve grown used to is missing, as is the anger he usually replaces it with. Instead, he looks young again, without a care in the world.

Fuck, I hate that he’s still devastatingly handsome. Life really is fucking cruel sometimes!

Things seem to flow a bit more naturally after Hallie broke the ice, and everyone introduced themselves to me. But it wasn’t long before everyone said they were leaving. It was late, and it had been a really long fucking day.

Whilst I was glad not to be surrounded by people, as each couple turned to leave, I became more and more aware that soon I’d be left here with just Evan, and I didn’t know what to think about that.

Soon after, there were just me, Evan, Liam, Bree, and Nate, left in the house. Desmond and Von had just left, and while Evan was distracted, Des asked if he could have a coffee with me sometime. I knew what he wanted to talk about, and I was glad he didn’t bring it up in front of his son. I agreed, and he seemed relieved by this as he left.

Finally, when the time comes for Bree and Liam to leave, I’m starting to get a little antsy. My heart is racing, and my palms are more sweaty than I thought possible. Something I regret when Bree takes my hands in hers, giving me a reassuring smile.

“I’m so glad we were able to bring you home, Teigan. I can only apologise profusely for how long it took us. I’m going to give you a few days to get settled in, and I will be back. We can talk more then. Is that okay?”

I nod, giving her a tight smile. “Is it just me staying here?” I ask, trying my hardest not to let my gaze flick over to Evan.

“No. This is Evan’s safe house, so he will be staying here too,” Bree replies.

“Safe house?” Now I can’t help but let my gaze travel to Evan.

He shrugs his shoulders. “We all have our own house that we use for if we need to lie low for a bit. This isn’t where I live all of the time, just what I use if I’m in danger…or need to hide out.”

As I listen to his reply, my brain is whirling with even more questions. “So where do you live?” I wince at how forward and direct I’m being.

His eyes drop to the floor and he shuffles from one foot to the other, like my question makes him a little uncomfortable, and I have to hide the smile that’s threatening to make an appearance, as I think about how endearing he looks when he’s shy.

“I’m still at the manor in Ireland, mostly. At the moment, I have a room at Bree’s house that I use when I’m in England,” he replies.

“Your house?” I ask, now looking at Bree.

She smiles and Liam chuckles beside her, talking to me for the first time. “Bree collects strays. Everyone has a room in our house. Once they stay for a few days, they never bloody leave.”

Bree lets go of one of my hands so she can playfully slap her husband's arm. “What can I say… I like having a big family around me.”

There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach as she says that, and like it always does when I think of her, my heart hurts. I’ve never had a big family, but I’ve never needed one. It was always just Mum and me against the world, and she never made me feel like I was lacking anything growing up.

She was my mum, my dad, my sibling, and my best friend, all rolled into one. She was all the family I needed, and I would have done anything—fuck, I did everything I could—to keep her in my life. But now I’m alone, just the memory of her burning a hole where she used to be.

Bree and Liam don’t catch the change in my expression, but Evan does. He takes an involuntary step closer to me, and it looks like he might reach out, but he stops himself. His hand balls into a fist instead, and he drops his gaze from mine.

I let out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding. I must have frozen, anxious to see if he would comfort me, and when he doesn’t, I feel empty again.

“I don’t mind if you want to stay at Bree’s,” I say quietly, and he quickly snaps his eyes back up to mine. I can’t quite make out what he’s trying to say with his glare.

Before Evan can say anything, it’s Bree who answers me. “Unfortunately, he can’t. At the auction, when he entered into a bidding war over you, he made a pretty powerful enemy. It turnsout the man who wanted to buy you is another leader in The Aristocracy, called The Baron. When he lost, he made it clear he wasn’t happy. He said he always gets what he wants, and that he will do whatever is needed to get you. Until we have more details, and we’re in a position to take him down, he’s a threat to both you and Evan. So, the safe house is the best place for you both.”