Irreplaceable (Underneath it All Series: Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Ava Claire Page B

hallway, knowing that she'd heard my question and was likely just as ready to leave this place as I was. I wasn't a New Age kinda guy who believed in auras and feng shui and energy, but even I was tempted to burn some sage and clear out some of the demons that wreaked havoc on The McLeods.
    The walls were bare, covered with smudges from fingertips and the wear and tear that comes with a house with memories. That wasn't what drew my eye. In the center of the hallway, halfway in between the three bedrooms, was a single portrait hanging on the wall. I smiled when I saw the cluster of women, all wearing different shades of green dresses, all smiling as a Christmas tree twinkled behind them. The family resemblance was uncanny. I started with the matriarch who was sitting down, her face creased with the lines of age. Nothing dimmed the playful spark in her powerful, ivy green eyes.
    "The grandmother," I murmured to myself. That made the other McLeod women easy to determine. A younger woman with that same mischievous spark stood to the right of the grandmother, her hand perched on the older woman's shoulder. At the grandmother's knee was a pigtailed cutie who was smiling like she was moments away from making a face at the camera. The other child had her mother's confident stature and quiet smile, her hands resting on the elder's shoulder. They all had varying shades of red hair and heartbreakingly beautiful smiles. They all looked happy.
    "Let's pack that too."
    Sadie was leaning against the door jamb of one of the bedrooms, watching me.
    "That's quite a family you've got there," I whistled, plucking the picture off the wall and tucking it into the bag at my feet.
    "They're alright," she winked, something unreadable dancing in her emerald green eyes.
    I reached for the bag handle. "Ready to-"
    "Let's leave them here for now." She disappeared into the room and emerged with her bag and a plaid blanket. She dropped her bag beside mine and cocked her head toward the front of the house. She draped the blanket around her shoulders. ”I want to show you something in the backyard."
    The minute my feet touched the ground, I was transported back in time. Even in the pitch black darkness and my heart swimming in my chest I couldn't help but remember nights just like this. Nights when I snuck out of bed, ready for an adventure.
    The escape was part of the thrill. Creeping out of the bedroom, one step at a time. Making sure that the parents door was closed and the noises that filled the midnight silence were snores and slumber. My excuses were at the ready; I was thirsty, and was headed towards the fridge. I was even prepared to go full on bullshit and claim that I couldn't sleep because I was so amped about homework or a test and wanted to make my ‘parents’ proud. I didn't need either lie and once I'd snuck out the back door and quietly shut out the rest of the world, I finally relaxed.
    In the twilight, I didn't need to be tough. I wasn't Jackson Colt, smart ass foster kid with a chip on my shoulder. I was just a kid with a dream. It should have magnified my loneliness to be in the dark when the rest of the world was sleeping, but I curled up in the grass and stared up at the stars and I did something I'd never shared with a soul...I made a wish. I wished that some way, somehow, I'd find a family. I wished for happiness.
    With Sadie's hand in mine, stars twinkling above our heads, my heart lodged in my throat, I realized something.
    I'd wished for Sadie.
    I had no idea where we were headed and I didn't care. I just enjoyed the ride. I smiled as she came to a hard stop, a giggle floating from her lips to my ears. That sound was something I wanted to protect. That sound was happiness.
    Freedom.
    Love.
    I could barely make her out, her body all shadows and soft curves. When she let go of my hand, I waited and closed my eyes until she returned to me, both hands climbing up the sides of my body and uniting when she reached my neck. She roped