Page 5 of The Prince's Secret Twins

In fact, now that he really considered it, he’d been so busy with trying to reorganize the military and take over the defense issues in order to ease some of his older brother’s, Khal, burden, that he hadn’t texted Tila in…well, months! Even in the beginning, she’d been pretty quiet, ignoring his phone calls and text messages.

He’d thought about her, of course. All the damn time! Plus, the dreams he’d had about her had made him ache to holdher. But the past six months or so had been absolute chaos. With Khal marrying Tasha and punishing the bastard who had tried to take her away, plus the military and his new responsibilities…!

Joran grinned, thinking about the abused face of Senator King at that last campaign rally. The man had tried to pretend that his bruised face was because he’d been attacked while trying to protect a woman. But the police were questioned and there was no report made about an attack.

Then the videos came out. Oh, that had been brilliant timing! Tasha was safely away from the vile man. So, the videos of King and another man talking about illegal activities, including one conversation about a murder, had been the perfect retribution. The police immediately looked into the conversation and connected the clues, tracing the conversation back to a specific murder. King was currently in prison, thanks to Tasha’s recordings. The other man on the video had been a contract killer. Khal had sent two of his guards to find the man. He’d been secretly imprisoned and would remain in prison for the rest of his life.

So, in reality, it had been about nine months since he’d last seen Tila. Seven months since she’d last responded to a text message from him, and…!

“Boss,” Algar hissed, looking around with a stunned, thoughtful look, “are these your babies?”

Joran was suddenly wondering the same thing. Could these be his sons? Had Tila given birth over the past…how long had it been?

He looked around at the messy space. The toys, the cribs, the laundry everywhere…!

All three men came to the same, stunned realization.

“Let’s not panic until Tila wakes up,” Edin whispered. “But I’ll head outside and…?”

Joran nodded, his arms tightening slightly around the baby in his arms. “Yeah,” he rasped, numbly nodding. “Get more security in here. If these…aremy children, then…!”

Edin slipped out of the house as silently as possible.

Joran and his men weren’t supposed to be here! As crown prince, if he were discovered in a foreign country, the danger was high. The Uftar government wasn’t openly hostile to Lativa, but the bastard ruling the country wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation if Joran, or his babies, were captured here.

They needed to get out! They needed to get back across the border as quickly and quietly as possible. Joran needed to get Tila and his babies back to Lativa, into the palace, as soon as possible.

Edin came back inside, standing alertly by the chair. “More guards are on the way. But we should…!”

“I know,” Joran interrupted. He stood up and handed the baby to Edin. “I’ll talk to her. Start getting ready to leave.”

Edin started moving. He set the sleeping infant down on the sofa, adding a pillow to keep the baby on the couch.

Joran went into the bedroom and stared down at Tila. She looked so beautiful and so clearly exhausted. She hadn’t moved since he’d set her in the bed. Her hands were still cradling her cheek and those dark lashes lay against her pale skin.

Which made his job even more painful. But it had to be done.

Kneeling beside the bed, he shook Tila’s shoulder gently.

When her lashes fluttered open, Joran’s heart stopped as a dreamy smile broke over her lovely face. “Am I dreaming?” she whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. “I must be dreaming.”

“Tila, love,” he started off, holding her hand in his own. “Are the babies my children?”

“Yes. They’re cute, aren’t they?”

Then her eyes fluttered shut again.

Joran pulled back, stunned by her confirmation. He had a child? Correction, two children? Two babies. Two sons!

He remained kneeling by her bedside for several long moments, too shocked to move. So, it was a surprise when Tila jerked upright, nearly screaming as she stared first at him, then around at her messy room.

“Rafi!” she gasped and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Laith!” Then she ran out of the room. “My babies!”

Joran followed her with his eyes at first, but when his brain was able to process, he jumped up and followed her. He ran into her, literally, as Tila came back out of the second bedroom.

“My babies are gone!” she gasped.

“They’re fine, Tila,” he assured her. “You don’t remember greeting me at the door?”

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