Page 2 of Twins to Tame Him

Before he could ask Ani, she walked the few steps off the patio toward her guest. Her guest...

She must know this was his residence. And yet, she was here, willingly. Why?

Did she imagine he’d forgotten that she had stolen from him, that she had blackmailed him to stop him from coming after her? She’d been clever enough—no, brilliant, actually—to get one over him, and in staying under the radar for the next three years.

“Ani, what’s going on? Why is that woman here?” He hated that he couldn’t hide his urgency.

Xander stared at the approaching woman and then back at his wife, scowling. He cursed, finally picking up on the tension radiating from Sebastian. “Ani, agapi, what did you do?”

While she’d been near sobbing with Sebastian, Annika glared at her husband, her crotchety temper of late flaring. “I did what I had to do, Xander. I’d like to see you handle something like this. It’s not always black-and-white, you know, and I’ll thank you to consider—”

In a public display that still shocked Sebastian to this day, Xander pressed his mouth to her temple and said, “Breathe, pethi mou. I would never question your intentions.”

Nearing them enough to hear the marital spat and the miraculous making up, the woman hesitated.

This close, the woman’s amber eyes—intelligent and incisive—glinted like rare gems in the sunlight. As did the golden flecks in her hair. For all that she dressed without the minimum concern toward fashion or basic hygiene—there was an orange stain near her breast—there was that same vitality about her that had drawn Sebastian to her three years ago.

She was beautiful in a way a feral creature that stalked the woods was beautiful—without artifice, and with all her ragged, sharp edges intact. Even now, with anger thrumming through him, he noticed so much about her.

A tremulous smile wreathed Ani’s lips. “Laila, welcome to our home.”

Laila... Her name resonated through Sebastian like a gong.

The woman’s smile came out a mix of a grimace and a baring of teeth.

Ani extended her hands, as if afraid Laila might be spooked enough to flee if she didn’t tether her. “I’m so glad you came.”

“I wasn’t sure I would. Not until the last minute,” Laila said, rubbing her belly in that nervous gesture he remembered so well. “I don’t like decisions made on instinct, but...” She shrugged her shoulders, and with an implacable practicality he found fascinating, she straightened her spine and kissed Ani’s cheek. “You’re well? I have missed our chats.”

“Yes. I’ve been ordered bed rest and haven’t left the estate in three weeks.” Ani’s smile grew wider, genuine affection replacing her dark mood. “I’ve been so...eager for you to get here.”

Alexandros threw him another glance before pulling a chair out for Annika. Sebastian did the same for Laila, who wouldn’t quite meet his gaze and walked around the table, just to avoid being near him.

And yet, there was no doubt that her sudden appearance had everything to do with him and their encounter.

“This is Alexandros Skalas, my husband,” Ani said.

Laila shook his twin’s hand. For the first time since she’d walked up, a smile touched her lips. It felt like a slap to his face. Her body language was relaxed, easy around Xander, as if she were a porcupine that had retracted its prickles for the moment. “Ani said very few people can tell you apart, especially when you don’t want them to know.”

“Can you?” Alexandros asked, clearly digging.

Laila blushed and it was incongruous next to her serious expression. “Oh, I’d never mistake you for...him. You’re serious and thoughtful and almost coldly logical, from what Ani tells me. Like me. Now, I can see it in the set of your mouth. Your brother, on the other hand, has a...” Then, looking thoroughly mortified at what she’d been about to say, she turned away.

“You know Sebastian, of course,” Ani said, as if she couldn’t let a moment’s awkwardness land.

Laila finally met his gaze. Panic, nervousness and then a steely resolve flickered through hers, as if someone was changing channels to her emotions. “Hello, Sebastian.”

The huskiness of her voice only made him angrier. “Come, Ani, finish the introductions,” Sebastian said. “I’d like to know why it was so important that I meet your guest.”

“You kept your promise,” Laila said, looking shocked.

Ani floundered, then recovered, her cheeks a dark red. “Yes, well, this is Dr. Laila Jaafri, a statistics scientist. Laila got a PhD when she was twenty and has won so many awards in her field that it will take me the whole day to list them out.”

“And why is she here, at our home?” Sebastian asked, rudely interrupting his sister-in-law.

“That’s for Laila to tell you,” Ani said, standing up.

For just a second, Laila’s face crumpled, as if Ani was abandoning her at the cave’s mouth to the big bad lion.

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