Page 11 of Fall of a Kingdom

We fell into a pensive silence. We drank the rest of our scotch, and I finished my cigar without speaking. His words resonated in my bones, and I replayed them over and over in my head to the sound of a crackling fire.

Family.

Aye.

There wasnothingmore important than family.

Chapter4

BARRETT

“I never thoughtWee Duncan would fall asleep,” Ash said as she kicked off her shoes and plopped down onto the couch of the castle turret. She pulled a blanket around her even though a wood fire had been lit and lent warmth and a cheery atmosphere to the otherwise cold stone.

“He did seem a bit fussier than usual,” I said.

“He’s teething.”

“Ah, been there,” I said in understanding.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For inviting us to stay the night. It would be much quieter for you if we went home, though.”

I smiled. “I’m their godmother. I love having them here. I love the insanity.”

“You do not,” she said with a wry chuckle.

“I do,” I promised. “And if the boys were here, it would be a three-ring circus and I’d be the ringmaster.”

“You miss them,” she concluded.

“I do.” I sighed. “The quiet is…too quiet.”

“They’ll be back soon.” She looked around my private refuge. “I love the remodel.”

“Thank you.” I had dreamt for years of filling the room with ancient texts and leather-bound books so I could spend my time deciphering history, wishing to glean insight for the future, but as the wife of Flynn Campbell, as the mother of his children, I had other duties. So I’d turned the turret into a lounge, a place to sit quietly and dream.

“Do you think it would be easier if we all lived in the same castle? The Buchanans could have a wing and the Campbells could have the other?” I asked in amusement.

“There’s a thought.” She grinned. “We do spend more time together than apart. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Probably. But I love it,” I admitted.

“Good, me too.”

Ash wasn’t just my best friend; she was the sister I never had. We’d been through so much: deaths, births, and emotional turmoil. We’d seen each other at our worst. There were things she knew about me, things I never would’ve shared with her if she hadn’t married Duncan…if she hadn’t come into this life.

We had both fallen in love with men who lived in the morally gray, and now we were bound by loyalty and history. Bonds that were too strong to be broken.

I would stand in front of her and take a bullet if I had to, just as I would for any of my own children. Or my husband. Or Sasha and Quinn, Ramsey, Duncan, and Ash’s wee ones.

Kin.

The fire crackled as flames licked the burning wood.

“Wine?” I asked her.