59

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Odran stood waiting for me at my room door and just straightened his white shirt to then run his hands through his dark hair while I turned to Mandy again, who, like the others, was still fast asleep.

I breathed a soft kiss on her forehead, pulled the blanket over her shoulders and grabbed my cell phone from the bedside table to disappear into the hallway together with Odran.

"Rian should be there," he said, taking a deep breath, and after we had taken the stairs down, I stopped for a moment and looked out through the window front to the sea.

The sun was already high. The waves went very calmly and somehow this beautiful sight fascinated me.

I wanted to anchor this image deep in my mind. Take in the calm completely and I also knew why that was the case.

Because there would be changes.

Changes I didn't want to believe, even if after a few hours of sleep I really had to give in and agree with Keeva.

We all had no place here. Having two brothers was fine, but now there were three wonderful women and the bravest, cutest girl in the world.

I guess we all needed more air to breathe...

"Are you coming?"

I reluctantly tore my gaze from the light blue sky, quickly pulled a thin red jacket over my black t-shirt and then followed Odran outside, who eyed me critically for a moment.

"What?" I wanted to know when he looked at him and he immediately pointed to his second car, the Mercedes.

"That thing sucks. I want my Porsche back!"

"Yeah, alright. Jake's bringing it over today," I reassured him, rolling my eyes the faintest bit. "You do realize that there are people who can't even afford a bike and you complain about driving a Mercedes."

"I've worked hard for it, Senan. Not physically, but mentally, and I deserve to sit on soft, comfortable leathers while feeling the road beneath my ass."

I guess he was right...

Without further discussing the cars, we got into the Mercedes and immediately drove off to the pub where the funeral was to take place.

No graveyard... No mourning... Just lots of strangers drinking schnapps on the deceased and dancing to loud Irish music.

That's how it was with us.

Lost in thought, we rushed through the wide streets of Dublin and while Odran kept staring at his cell phone, I watched these carefree people on the sidewalks, walking around the world laughing with their shopping bags, as if life wasn't exhausting for them at all. I would have liked to have been so carefree.

When my cell phone then gave a short beep, I turned my gaze from the window and looked down at myself.

I pulled it out of the pocket of my black jeans, unlocked it a moment later and immediately saw a message from Mandy flash up.

I hope that you are doing well and that you and your brother get through this day well. M

Grinning stupidly at my cell phone, I sent her a heart smiley back, which unfortunately couldn't have expressed in the slightest what I felt for her.

"What's there to grin about?" Odran suddenly asked from the side, elbowing me slightly in the process, which made me immediately look at him in defiance.

"Where do you get that much energy from. Thought after last night -"

"Pssssst," he interrupted me with a raised eyebrow and then gave a short laugh. "A gentleman enjoys and is silent."

"Seriously?" I said amusedly and gave him a skeptical look. "I wish you had had that realization last night."

"You idiot," he punched my arm and I really had to pull myself together not to fire more spells at him.

Otherwise he would surely throw me out of the moving car, because if there was one thing Odran didn't like, it was when people talked about his sex life...

and when you ate your muffins.

Somehow with these two characteristics he reminded me slightly of the Cookie Monster.

"I'll stop...crumbs," I replied with a grin and enjoyed his stupid facial expression while he parked the car on the side of the road, I saw the decorated pub in front of us and the good mood was somehow behind us now .

"Do you think he's watching us from above?" Odran asked, slightly worried, and I immediately shook my head and opened my door.

"If then from below," I answered him and yes, I hated myself being like that to him right now, but that was my way of dealing with such things. I'd rather let my stupid jokes out than look for the next drug dealer here in the back streets to somehow cope with it.

"He'll surely haunt you," Odran said dryly to my statement and after we got out, I looked at him over the car roof.

"He would be much too fine for that."

"You're right."