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“Sir.” Tomlinson sounded a bit strained. “What should I⁠—”

“Sasha!” Avery called out. “Come on in here.”

We all stared at him.

“What?”

“You used your big voice inside,” Ellie whispered, clearly thrilled.

“That’s simply not done.” Graeme looked distraught.

Avery shrugged, then looked at both girls. “You know how I’m a policeman?”

They both nodded.

“FBI is just another kind of person who enforces the law.”

Both girls nodded again, understanding that immediately.

“Thank you,” Stone said to his brother-in-law. “That was very simple.”

Avery shrugged. “Sometimes you all overthink stuff. All kids need is the truth.”

“Yes,” Stone agreed as, moments later, Sasha Norwood leaned into the room from the archway, appearing unsure, his dark blue eyes taking in the room before settling on me. I smiled, or tried to, but seeing him made it slightly hard to breathe, and he immediately glanced away, focusing on Graeme, who he had come to see.

“Good evening,” he whispered, and only then did I notice the box in his hands.

“Oooh,” Lauren said excitedly, getting up and rushing over to him. “Did you bring donuts?”

“No, darling, that’s a bit too much sugar for this time of night, but I did bring cream puffs from my mother’s favorite bakery for you.”

She turned to Graeme. “May I have one?”

He appeared flummoxed.

“Dad?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” He turned to Tomlinson. “Would you bring us coffee, milk for the girls, plates, and whatever else is needed?”

Tomlinson squinted at him, because in what realm of the imagination did he not know precisely what to bring?

Graeme dismissed him with a wave, Tomlinson left, appearing annoyed, and Sasha went down on one knee to open the box so Lauren could see inside.

“They’re so pretty.” Lauren was in awe as her cousin joined her.

“These are called choux cream, and when I was little, my mother and I would walk to the park every day, and on the way back we would stop and each get one. I also had coffee, but that’s a whole other matter.”

Both little girls were beaming at him.

“My name’s Lauren, and this is Ellie. What’s your name?”

“Sasha.”

“That’s so pretty.” Ellie stepped closer, putting her hands on his arm and smoothing them over the leather jacket. “Your hair is black.”

“It is.”

“Are your eyes black too?” She was leaning closer, studying his face.