THISHADTObe a bad dream, nothing else made sense. Any moment now she’d wake up in her lovely bed, she’d yawn and stretch and long for coffee. The boys would rush in, pile on top of her and start chattering.
Three, two, one...
But...no, her life was a trainwreck. Her brothers had almost walked in on her and Angus kissing. Would’ve seen Angus’s hand under her dress. Kissing? That was such a small word for what they’d done; they’d consumed each other. And yes, he was right, dammit, their chemistry was off the charts. Hot, crazy, inexplicable.
And, worst of all, shestilldidn’t know why he was in South Africa. Their one night together wasn’t reason enough for him to cross continents, she wasn’t a femme fatale who lured men across oceans. And he couldn’t possibly know about the twins...
The twins! Thadie resisted the urge to put her face in her hands. Angus was theirfather. And he was here.
In the months and years after the birth, she’d often cursed the fact that she’d lost his business card, the only means she had to contact him. She’d tried to find him but had had no idea where to start. All she had was his first name. She often wished she could tell him that he’d helped make the extraordinary creatures who were her sons.
What would have happened if she had? On hearing that she was pregnant, would he have offered to marry her? Even if he hadn’t, she couldn’t see him running, leaving her to cope on her own. She could’ve given up her internship in New York, stayed in London, maybe at his place, maybe at her own. Hewould’ve attended antenatal classes with her, been with her when she went for check-ups, and been in the delivery room when she tried, and failed, to push out his sons. His would’ve been the first face she saw when she came around after her C-section, him holding both babies, introducing her to his sons. He would’ve helped with nappy changes and midnight feeds, rocking to sleep.
Would he have been there for her...? And, more importantly, been there for Gus and Finn.
Unlike her parents, who’d had as little to do with her as they possibly could. She recalled so many occasions when she’d demanded their attention, and their promises to stay home more, or take her to the movies, to the beach, or simply to spend quality, family time with her. She couldn’t remember one promise they’d kept, any time they’d spent with her, or them taking her on a family, kid-centric holiday.
As a result, she’d dreamed of what she’d never witnessed, a couple raising their kids, shared responsibilities, double the joy. She’d imagined a strong shoulder to rest her head on, someone to listen and to love her, to make her the centre of his world. Being the focus of someone’s love and attention...
But after the twins had come along, she hadn’t had the time and energy to dream any more. Her entire life was focused on her boys. She’d done everything herself, feeding and changing nappies, rocking two howling babies to sleep, one in each arm, constantly tired, increasingly overwhelmed. She’d come through it and her rose-coloured glasses had been ripped off.
She was a mum and her wants and needs weren’t important, her sons came first.
And now their father, theirrealfather, was back on the scene and she had no idea how Angus would respond to that bombshell. More importantly, would Angus even want to playan active part in their lives and, if he did, would he be a good father to Gus and Finn?
Hold your horses, Le Roux.You are still assuming that Angus would’ve wanted to play a part in the twins’ lives, assuming he would’ve stepped up to the plate. But you don’t, actually, know.
She’d made so many mistakes with Clyde, she might have made wrong assumptions about Angus too. What she wanted to believe wasn’t necessarily the truth.
Angus did have the right to know about the twins, but his rights would always take second place to what was best for her sons. He’d dropped back into her life not even an hour before. She needed some time to think, gather her emotions and, most importantly, find a way to stop herself from throwing her very willing body against his.
Jago’s irate voice penetrated her hurly-burly thoughts. ‘Will someone tell us what on earth is going on?’
When her eyes met Angus’s, his were unreadable. ‘I’m not quite sure what Angus is doing here, to be honest,’ Thadie told them truthfully. ‘We met years ago, and earlier he rescued me from a press mob outside Dodi’s salon.’
‘The press knew she was going to be there. She’s being followed. Or tracked,’ Angus said. ‘The personal protection officer who works for me—what you call a bodyguard—should never have taken her there. It was a stupid move.’
His eyes held no warmth and Thadie felt as if he’d caught her shoplifting or joyriding. He had an air of authority that had her bossy brothers eying him with caution. Her brothers were international businessmen, and few people managed to put that hint of wariness in their eyes.
Micah’s eyebrows rose. ‘YourPPO officer?’
‘My name is Angus Docherty, and I own Docherty Security. Thadie is a client through my Johannesburg branch.’
Thadie watched as Angus crossed the room and held out his hand. Micah shook his hand, and then Jago did the same.
‘You own the security company?’ she demanded. His surname meant nothing to her. She’d never known it. When she’d been looking for a bodyguard, she’d taken her brothers’ recommendation to hire someone from Docherty Security, reputed to be one of the best companies in the world, without looking into it too closely. She’d been desperate and she trusted her brothers.
In the world...
Which meant he owned and operated a huge, multinational company.
If she’d paid attention to anything other than his spectacular body and sexy face, she would’ve noticed the fancy watch on his wrist, his designer shoes and his expensive haircut. But no, all her focus had been on when next she could taste him. No one, before or since, made her feel so out of control.
She wasn’t, she admitted, a fan of the wild emotions he whipped up. When her parents had been around, they’d fought often and with wild abandon. Volatile was too tame a word for their top-of-their-lungs fights. As a result, she did not enjoy feeling anything less than calm and in control. Especially now that she had kids. How could functional relationships be tempestuous, irrational, and loud? That was why she had felt safe with Clyde—he was the least volatile person she knew. Even when he’d been breaking things off with her, he’d been completely calm.
Sneaky and deceitful? Sure. Stormy? Never.
How could relationships be a wild wind and a tempestuous sea and still be considered healthy? No, she had danced on the banks of those rough winds, and she knew what she was talking about. Thanks to her parents, she believed love and passion involved shouting and objects being thrown. Ugly words hadbeen followed by her parents slinking upstairs, hostility having turned to passion. Yelling and shouting had turned them on, but neither of them had given a thought to the little girl sitting at the bottom of the stairs, crying and confused. She would not do that to the twins, to herself. She would not raise them in a house where they felt bewildered and scared, unable to identify what love, like, and respect looked and sounded like. Clyde was a coward, but he was never sarcastic or ugly and he never raised his voice. She’d spent so little time with Angus and she had no idea of the person he really was. Until she figured that out, she’d keep the twins a secret from him.