But that didn’t mean I couldn’t ask for help now and then.
I glared back at Leander, then stuck my forefinger in his face. “There’re things about your past that need explaining.”
Leander’s face had been somewhat red from all his blustering, but at my demand, his cheeks went pale. His teeth were still clenched but he nodded. “Fine.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine. I’ll go pack.”
Chapter 8
HOPE
Leander tossed my bags into the trunk and we climbed into the taxi that would take us back to Padua.
“Okay.” I stared at Leander across the back seat expectedly and crossed my arms over my chest. “So talk. You’ve got a past and I wanna hear about it.”
“What, you wanna get into that shit here?” Leander asked, eyebrows hitting his hairline. “Now?”
“Yes. If not now, when?”
“Soon,” he said, and I could read the irritation on his face. If it had only been irritation, I might have kept pressing. But there was more. His eyes flashed towards the driver and I knew he didn’t want his dirty laundry aired with anyone listening.
Plus, he was tired. I could see that plainly too. Exhausted, really, if the dark circles under his eyes were any tell.
Even right after his accident he hadn’t seemed so ragged. Maybe it was the physical therapy he’d been doing, which he’d obviously been pushing.
It was likely just a stupid sentimental part inside me that hoped it was my absence that had him so ragged.
Even as I wanted to reject the idea as false, to say no, it was only the babies he was worried about… The way he clutched my hand while he finally dropped off in a fitful nap on the long ride back to Padua said different.
And then he murmured my name in his sleep, and a pained look crossed his brows.
My heart clenched as I looked away from him out to the passing countryside.
What did it all mean? That he actually had missed me? Me, and not just what I represented to him as the mother of his twins?
But was he the kind of man I wanted as a father to my children? A man who could abandon his own brother and allow him to serve the jail sentence that ought to have been his own? That was the action of a coward, and he still refused to explain himself or be held accountable. I felt like ever since I’d found out the facts, all he and Janus made were empty promises about giving me any answers. Always saying, “Soon, soon,” just felt like a delay tactic to put me off while they maneuvered me back where they wanted me.
The trouble for me was, it was exactly where I wanted to be too.
Because the depressing truth I’d learned in my month away from the boys was that I’d missed them all… desperately.
The twins, and yes, Milo too, with his gossipy, voyeuristic ways. He was kind of the glue that held our motley little crew together.
I couldn’t imagine us any other way, no matter that Janus had occasionally joked about just the two of us going off together. We didn’t even know if Janus was the babies’ father. He could quite well only be their uncle. I didn’t want to think of the messy legal battle that could ensue if Leander pressed the issue. It would certainly be a PR nightmare and I’m not sure if DNA can even give a definitive answer in the case of twins.
So as much as we all might want to deny reality for the sake of a tidy exit… well… we’d all voluntarily enmeshed ourselves in this. And we could all four be grownups about it or…
Leander woke up again when we were just outside of Padua as the sun was setting. He started stroking my leg as if there had never been any time apart, his thigh pressed to mine. His voice was quiet but sure in my ear. “Look, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. But regardless of what you hear, you still aren’t leaving.”
I turned to him, feeling hot and bothered for a number of reasons, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
But his grin was all flirtation as he leaned in. His breath was warm on my ear. “You’ll listen to all we have to say. If you don’t like it, you can ignore us but you’ll still stay here till the babies are born.”
I started to nod but then he kept going. “Or I could always tie you to the bed.”
My breath hitched.
“Or I could go with my first inclination and kidnap you away to an exotic island of my choosing. Don’t worry, I’ll have a doctor flown in for checkups and the birth.”
My mouth dropped open all the way open as I glared at him.