Page 129 of Northern Stars

Connor raked his hand through his dark brown hair. “What’s crazy to me is that I’ve seen all your movies, seeing how my wife is obsessed, and I never noticed it before, but you and Damian look insanely alike. It’s almost scary, and it also makes me fear that my wife might have a crush on Damian, too.”

“Could you blame her? I am remarkable,” Damian dryly replied, making me smirk.

“You two do look alike,” Jax chimed in.

Damian and I stared at one another and blinked before shrugging. “I don’t see it,” we said in unison.

“You two could be twins.” Connor laughed.

Just then, a little girl came in with a box in her hands. She set it in front of me and waved. “Hi, who are you?”

“I’m Aiden, Damian’s brother.”

“Uncle Damian, you have a brother?” she exclaimed.

“Yup, sure do.”

“I’m Elizabeth. That’s my daddy, and my mom is helping cook.” She pointed at Jax before opening her box and pulling out some makeup. “Can I do your makeup and nails now?”

“Oh, uh, sure?” I questioned, uncertain what to say.

“Elizabeth, what did I tell you about using makeup on strangers?” Jax called out.

“Only use non-waterproof mascara, and use a beauty blender to add highlights,” she replied.

“Exactly.” He held his hands up to show his hot pink=painted nails. “She wants to open her own makeup and nail salon when she’s older. I’m test dummy number one.”

Connor held up his neon green nails. “Two.”

Damian held up his black nails. “Three. Think of it as your pledge to become a part of our self-made fraternity.”

“Well, by all means, beautify me,” I told Elizabeth. She went to work as the guys taught me all about themselves. Connor and Damian were in the real estate business, and they were slowly but surely trying to convince Jax to take on the role at their real estate branch in the south.

“I’m a plumber,” Jax argued. “I don’t sell toilets. I unclog them.”

Fair enough.

After my nails were properly painted and everyone was juiced up for the night, Damian took me to the spare room I’d be staying in. “Thanks again for letting me stay here.”

“Of course, it’s not a problem. Also, Stella would’ve killed me if she knew I had you stay at a hotel.”

“She’s a good one.”

A small smile slipped out of Damian. The first smile I’d seen him give. “The best one. Let me know if you need anything. My room is two doors down.”

“Thanks. I do have a question for you, though.”

“What’s up?”

“Do you happen to know where I could find Catherine? She didn’t leave an address or anything, but I figured I could see her in the morning before I head to the airport maybe.”

His brows knitted, and he grumbled to himself. “You sure you want to do that?”

“I just feel it’s a part of my story, and once I face her, I can officially close out my past.”

“Yeah.” He blew out a hot cloud of smoke. “I get it. Lord knows I had to take on my own adventures of shit in order to get to this stable place now. Do what you need to do to get closure. I’ll get you her phone number, and you can reach out. Can I give you a word of advice as your older brother?”

“Go for it.”

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