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Then Lucian and I, convinced there had to be something bigger waiting for us, left them behind and crossed the ocean to America. Somewhere along the way, chasing more became a less-than-legal life, and we kept going until we were deep in the same underworld our parents had tried to spare us from.
I remembered Mam begging us not to leave Ireland.
Da had barely said anything.
At eighteen, I’d taken his silence for acceptance. Now I understood he’d probably been scared shitless and too damn proud to let his sons see it.
I wasn’t about to move back to Ireland and start herding sheep, but I needed to go home soon.
I needed to sit across from my father, look him in the eye, and tell him I finally understood what he’d tried to do for us. Then maybe Lucian and I could start setting right some of what we’d broken when we left. But those worries were for a different time. Right now I had a girl who’d never played in the snow or seen anything more than my building, and I wanted to give her the best time of her life.
I finished dressing in black jeans, a black sweater, and boots, then grabbed my long wool coat and gray scarf.
I had just reached the entry when Isabella hurried out of the hall and stopped dead.
Well, hell.
Aria had found her a pink snowsuit trimmed in white fur over a cream V-neck sweater, with white boots and pink mittens tucked into one pocket. A quilted pink bag hung from her shoulder.
Her gaze traveled from my boots to my face and stayed there.
I leaned against the wall. “If you keep standing there with your mouth open, Mouse, I’m going to be tempted to fill it.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
“You’re impossible.”
“Yet you’re still staring.”
“You look incredibly handsome.”
Her saying it outright shut me up for a second.
Then someone knocked.
I took the pink bag from her shoulder and opened the door to find Lucian and Scarlett waiting in the hall.
Lucian’s attention immediately dropped to the bag in my hand.
“Nice bag, brother.”
“Fuck off.”
Scarlett laughed, and Isabella failed to hide hers as she stepped into the hall.
I pressed my palm to the elevator scanner, and the doors slid open.
“Come on, Mouse. We’ve got a snowball war to get to.”
Chapter thirty-six
By the time Nik’s private elevator opened into the penthouse, light snow dusted our coats, and Isabella had already decided she loved winter.
Lacey hurried across the living room before the doors had fully opened.
“You made it!”
She wrapped Isabella in a hug first, then Scarlett, before giving Lucian and me much quicker versions.
