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Nash turns his head toward the phone. “Good morning to you too, Ronan.”
“Good morning, Nash. I accessed the building’s security cameras.” There’s a brief sound of keys clicking in the background before he continues. “Daniela Norris entered the apartment.”
Nash’s sleepy expression disappears. “The woman who came into your office?”
“Aye.” I shift off him and sit against the headboard. Daniela and I attended two charity events together. I never touched her, never promised her anything, and gave her no reason to believe there was a relationship between us. Her having access to an apartment leased through an offshore company makes even less sense than her sending someone to photograph Nash.
Nash pushes himself upright beside me. “You’re sure there isn’t anything else between you two that I need to know about?”
“I told you everything. Two events. Nothing more.”
“We’re meeting at Mom’s in an hour,” Ronan says. “Breakfast will be ready, and we found more than the connection to the photographer. We’ll go through everything when you get there.”
The call ends before either of us can answer. Nash stares at the phone for a second, then looks at me. “Does he always hang up on people like that?”
“Aye.”
“I’m going to teach your entire family phone etiquette.”
Considering my family, I doubt he’ll get far, but I keep that to myself as Nash climbs out of bed and starts gathering his clothes.
Chapter 26 Nash
We step inside the house to laughter echoing through the foyer, and I follow Duncan toward the kitchen with a smile already pulling at my mouth. It’s a good thing the room is enormous because nearly every Murphy seems to be here. Most of them I recognize from the office, although a few I’ve only seen on social media. Conor is leaning against the island with a mug of coffee while another massive man stands beside him, Ronan has Ollie perched in his lap at the table, and Liam is stealing bacon from a platter every time Alessia turns her back. Declan and Xavier are arguing about something that apparently isn’t serious enough to stop either of them from eating, while Kieran watches all of it with the expression of a man who has accepted this level of chaos as normal.
The conversation dies the moment Duncan and I reach the doorway, and suddenly every person in the kitchen is looking at me. Well, this isn’t awkward at all. I lift a hand because standing here silently while the entire Murphy family stares at me seems worse. “Hello. I’m Nash.”
Before anyone answers, Ollie spots me from Ronan’s lap and throws both hands into the air. “Ash!”
A grin spreads across my face, but Liam immediately points at me and laughs. “Ha! He called you ass!”
Ollie clearly doesn’t appreciate the joke. His little face scrunches into a scowl as he stares at Liam, and a low growl comes out of him that has no business coming from someone that small. Before anyone can stop him, he grabs a fistful of oatmeal and hurls it across the table, hitting Liam square in the chest.
The kitchen erupts while Colton reaches for a napkin. “Ollie, we’ve talked about this. You need to stop throwing food.” He catches the little guy’s hand before he can grab more ammunition and wipes the oatmeal from his fingers while Liam works on cleaning his shirt.
I try not to laugh. I really fucking try, but watching a toddler launch breakfast at a grown man for insulting me is too much. There had been gossip about the two of them at the office. “I thought the rumors about him not liking you were exaggerated, but he really does hate you.”
Ollie proves my point by turning toward Liam and blowing the loudest raspberry his tiny lips can manage, sending everyone into another round of laughter. I’m still laughing when I ask, “What the hell did you do to traumatize the poor kid?”
“I was born.” Liam shrugs before sticking his tongue out at Ollie, and the little guy immediately twists around in Ronan’s lap with his bottom lip pushed out.
“Ack… ass, Pa. Hurt.” He points an accusing finger at Liam, and I nearly lose it again.
Ronan turns toward his twin with that completely blank expression of his, and Liam lifts both hands before he can say anything. “He started it, Ronan.”
“He’s a baby, Liam. You’re supposed to be the grown-up.”
Liam mutters something under his breath while Ollie watches him from the safety of Ronan’s lap. The second Ronan looks away, a tiny, triumphant grin appears on Ollie’s face. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing again because the little shit absolutely knows what he’s doing. One pout and an accusation are all it takes to get his papa involved, and judging by the people surrounding him, he’s only going to get better at it.
Colton offers me his hand. “I don’t know if you remember me or not, but I’m Colton, and this little menace is Ollie.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you.” I shake his hand while Ollie continues watching Liam as though he expects another offense at any moment.
“We think his problem with Liam is that he has Ronan’s face but isn’t Ronan,” Colton explains. “At least, that’s our theory.”
I look at the identical twins and then back at Ollie. “Poor Liam.”
“I can hear you, you know!” Liam calls from across the kitchen, making me laugh again before Conor brings over the man who has stayed close to him since Duncan and I walked in.
