Page 134 of Sin City Lights

Beside Eve, Jannie shifted in her chair. Under the table, she’d twisted the napkin into an unrecognizable shape.

The waiters grasped the top of the box.

Jannie tossed the mangled napkin on the table, then raised her chin and stood, squaring her shoulders.“I have an announcement.”

Eve felt Adam’s leg press against hers, hard.

All eyes were on Jannie now.

She nodded to the servers.

They raised the top.

Two towers of cupcakes came into view, one pink, the other sky blue.

You could have heard a pin drop.

“What’s this?” asked Mr. Larssen.

Jannie smiled, blue eyes glowing with emotion as she looked around at her stunned family.“I’m having twins.”

Chapter 18

Eve

“I’m going to kill him.”

Eve rubbed Adam’s back and pressed a soft kiss between his shoulder blades.

The fallout from Jannie’s big announcement had been difficult to witness. Eve knew well that they were all hiding their dismay and disapproval, but this family supported one another, and she watched them go to Jannie, one by one, to offer congratulations and words of encouragement.

No wonder Adam was the way he was. He had been raised with unconditional love.

Right now, however, that wasn’t evident. He burned with a rage that was almost frightening to see.

The rest of the afternoon had been spent by the pool, the parents and Jannie lounging, Erik and Ian in the hot tub, Adam trying to do his laps in something a quarter the size of what he used in Vegas. She’d followed his strokes as he moved smoothly through the water, his speed twice the normal pace. Angry swimming, she realized, but it hadn’t helped.

Even now, after everyone had gone to bed, he still hadn’t settled. She’d never seen him like this, controlled fury making his entire body tense.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, kneading. He stiffened, but she continued working him, putting to use every massage skill she’d ever learned. After a while, thankfully, she felt him begin to relax.

“Feels good,” he said gruffly.“I’m still going to kill him.”

She tried to go the joke route.“You’ll have to find him first.”

“Oh, I know where he is. He’s here, in Orlando. Flies for Jet Blue.”

She found a knot and pressed on it, drawing a grunt from him.“Ishould have listened to my gut and never hired him.”

“He worked for you?”

“Two years. It’s how they met.”

Knowing him, Adam felt responsible. Probably the source of his rage.

She kissed his shoulder.“Let me guess. He left LarsAir for union protection.”

“He left LarsAir,” he gritted,“because he moved to Florida to be with her. It started as a long-distance relationship. Went after her with everything he had. And when she fell for him and married him, he decided he didn’t want to put up with her quirks.”

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