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“The good thing is she can do her work anywhere.” Léonie was an artist who had moved to Glasgow to do a one-year postgrad program at the Glasgow School of Art. During that, she’d successfully exhibited at a gallery in the city. Heather had told me Léonie’s parents were incredibly wealthy, and money wasn’t really the issue in her decision. I’d been concerned about that, but Taran said I had to trust Heather’s judgment. If she loved Léonie, it was for a reason. And she didn’t come across as a pretentious, spoiled brat. In fact, she was incredibly warm and down-to-earth and clearly head over heels for my daughter.

“I spoke to Aodhan about the plot of land he owns near Mornish Beach. He said it’s not big enough to do much with, so we could get it for very little. We’d definitely get permission to put an art studio on it, and it has views of the smaller islands.”

Taran craned her neck to look at me. “Did you tell Heather?”

“I was planning on surprising them with it later, but I wanted your opinion first. I don’t want to put too much pressure on Léonie.”

“I think it’s an amazing idea.” She reached up to stroke my face. “Our kids are lucky to have you.”

I leaned down to press a kiss to her pert nose.

“Are you two being mushy over there?” Angus asked, reaching for another doughnut.

“Mate, leave a few for us, eh.”

He gaped at me, mid grab. “Dad … pick your battles. I’m here on a beach, enduring a scene out of a cringy rom-com instead of firing a paintball gun at a Formula 1 driver. At least give a man his doughnuts.”

For not the first time I wished my son wasn’t so bloody funny. It made it hard to be authoritative. Taran choked on a laugh, her shoulders shaking against my chest.

“Fair enough,” I replied, lips twitching.

My son’s answer was to aggressively bite into said pastry and pretend to glare out at the water.

“More, more, more!” Isla yelled, almost toppling as she tried to splash her big sister and Léonie. In answer, Heather picked her up and spun her like a helicopter. My youngest’s giggling was the sweetest sound in the world.

Taran sighed contentedly, melting against me. “It’s a good life, Quinn.”

“The best.” I kissed the top of her head.

“I love you. So much.”

I squeezed her and closed my eyes, grateful for every second of our life together because we knew all too well what it felt like to be without each other. “Through life and beyond, mo luaidh. Through life and beyond.”

RAMSAY

I walked around the house, doing my nightly checks. Windows, doors. Inside my office, I pulled on a book that was a hidden lever that opened a part of the bookcase that was actually a hidden door. The space inside was small, a replica of the one in my old place next to my workshop. Monitors revealed the live feed from the cameras I’d installed around Stòr as well as our house. I’d built the new place a few years ago, knowing Silver wanted to start a family and our old place wasn’t big enough.

A scan of the cameras revealed nothing of concern, so I closed the bookcase and finished checking the rest of the ground floor. We lived in a one and a half-story. The eaves were a bit of a pain in the arse for a man my size, so the house was spacious. Only three generous bedrooms and en suites upstairs. The extra room was a guest room that got used more than I’d like when our friends deliberately stuck themselves on the island with us.

It made Silver happy, so I put up with it.

Slowly, so the sound wouldn’t wake her, I edged Maura’s bedroom door open and crept over to her bed.

My four-year-old slept like her mother, arms and legs sprawled, mouth wide, completely abandoned to sleep.

Overwhelming emotion tightened my chest at the sight of my child safe and asleep, dreaming hopefully of fairies and magical trees and all that nonsense I wanted her to hold on to for as long as possible.

With a brush of my knuckles against her baby soft cheeks, I crept back out of the room, satisfied she was safe.

When I stepped into our bedroom, my wife was on the end of the bed, the room lit with our bedside lamps.

She wore only her bra and knickers, her hands splayed at her back. Her breasts were huge, spilling out of the bra that no longer fit. I knew she’d ordered new ones. The small, round swell of her stomach made my cock throb. It was unexpected the first time Silver fell pregnant. Not the pregnancy but my reaction to her pregnant body. I hadn’t expected to be so aroused by it. So fucking possessive.

A leftover gene from caveman times, I reckoned.

Now that she was pregnant with our second child, here I was, hard just at the sight of her.

“Did you do all your checks?” she teased.