Page 32 of Silver Fox's Twin Babies

When the door swung open and I heard whistling, I almost jumped. Jacob held me more tightly and I felt his head turn.

“What’s going on?” Evan asked, standing in my doorway. I turned my head and pried myself from Jacob’s firm loving grip.

“Uh, nothing,” I sighed, swiping at my eyes. “We can talk about it tonight over dinner.” I forced a smile, but it probably looked like a frown.

“Jacob?” Evan asked, but his face contorted into a scowl. “What are you doing?”

“Evan—” The angry snip of Jacob’s tone startled me. I’d never once heard him be cross with anyone, although he did get grumpy from time to time.

“I can’t believe this.” Evan backed out, slamming the door, and I stood there in shock wondering what just happened.

I looked up at Jacob who rolled his eyes. “Go clean yourself up,” he said, “I’ll take care of this.”

All I could do was wipe my eyes and watch as one brother chased the other down. I didn’t understand what unspoken things passed between them, but it didn’t seem friendly at all. Evan seemed angry to see Jacob here, which could be interpreted a million ways. It made me all the more confused and anxious—so ready to get this over with and have a peaceful life back.

20

EVAN

Walking into that office, seeing what I saw gutted me. Amber all wrapped up in Jacob’s arms was an insult. She clung to him the way she should’ve been clinging to me, and she didn’t even have the nerve to tell me what was going on. Something was going on. I knew that much. She’d been distant and evading my questions. Every time I asked her to come to my office she brought Shelby with her, and though we had dinner plans tonight, she’d been hesitant to give me that response.

Now I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Jacob was the grumpy one, not me. I knew, however, that if I was in a room alone with her, face-to-face, I’d probably snap at her. I didn’t want that. I just wanted answers.

I paced the office and raked my hand through my hair. The sight of them all cozy and cuddled up made my blood boil instantly. I’d slammed that door so hard, the windows of every office in this hallway rattled. Gavin had looked up at me through his window as I stormed past, and I slammed my office door just as hard, before remembering that it wasn’t my office. It was Jacob’s.

Jacob’s office, his job, apparently his woman. I wondered if this entire time I’d been here, I was just a stand-in for my big brother. I would never have thought Amber capable of such callous lack of emotion or respect, but maybe she was. Maybe I had her all wrong and it wasn’t my brother who was the problem. My mind was mixed up, my emotions running rampant without the facts to hedge them in.

“What the heck was that, Evan?” I hadn’t heard the door open, but Jacob stood there over the threshold with a glower on his face. His eyes were narrowed on me, his chest puffed out.

“You tell me. What was that?” I didn’t want anger to come spewing out of me like this, but I felt out of control. I was in love with the woman who my brother had some unnatural obsession with, and neither one of them wanted to tell me what was going on.

“You’re out of control.” I hated how he could be so calm. The expression on his face was anger, not calm. His forehead was bunched together, lips pursed deeply. He shut the door and walked into the room past the table where I’d shared meals with Amber. Past the chair where we had sex, right up to the desk where I thought we had really connected in an intimate way. I had been wrong.

“I’m out of control?” I said loudly. “You’re in there with her…” I couldn’t finish. Saying the words out loud would make it real. It couldn’t be real. Amber and I were going somewhere. Jacob wasn’t about to come back into this office and take that from me. I loved her.

“Have you spoken with her?” Jacob asked. He rested a hand on his desk and scowled at me. My mood shifted to defensiveness. I didn’t understand why it had to be my responsibility to talk to her. Why wasn’t he telling me what I needed to know?

He wanted to shift blame, to make me seem like the bad guy. He’d done that our whole lives, making me seem like the younger, irresponsible brother. He was always a step ahead of me in everything—school, sports, with girls…I wasn’t taking it anymore.

“Does Erin know?” I asked, going on the offensive. My blood boiled with rage at the idea that this man was playing one woman against the other. “Did you tell her how cozy you are with Amber? Does she see the way you hold her and treat her like the love of your life? The way you go out of your way for those innocent kids?”

The creases in Jacob’s forehead deepened, and I watched his fingers curl into a fist. I was pushing buttons he didn’t want pushed. I liked it. “What happened, Jake? Fire went out, so you found someone new?” I stepped closer to him, puffed out my chest more. He gritted his teeth and his lips pursed harder. The muscles in his jaw flexed, bulging out along his jawbone.

“Cat got your tongue? You had an affair and you’ve been covering it up…So what…She’s mine now. I’ve been seeing her. We slept together about a dozen times or something now.” I had no idea how many times it had been but smearing my brother’s nose in the truth felt good. “Right here on this desk even.” I stepped closer still, pushing my chest into his. I wished he’d hit me so I could unleash on him.

He held his tongue, but the fire in his eyes told me I was on to something. His nostrils flared as I said, “You don’t even get it do you? The way those kids look just like you…Erin has to know by now, Jake. Just come clean. Move on.” I was starting to calm with his silence. He wasn’t denying anything, which in my experience with him meant he was having his ass handed to him.

“You’re wrong,” Jacob said, and he pushed his chest into mine, making me take a step backward.

“I’m not wrong. Just look at their faces. It’s as obvious as the buttons on your suit.” I reached up and almost pushed him, but he grabbed my wrist with such fury in his eyes, I thought he might spontaneously combust.

“The kids are yours, Evan.” His grip tightened as his words smacked me in the face. His chest was heaving, eyes wide, hand like iron on my arm. “You were irresponsible, she got pregnant. You went off to Europe at my command, and she knew how much you wanted it. It was all you could talk about—the European women, the culture, living your best life…”

I tried to take a step back, shaking my head, but his hand clamped down harder. I thought he’d break my wrist. I didn’t want to hear this. It was just another lie. He was covering his tracks and making me the scapegoat. If it was true, Amber would have told me.

“She found out after you’d been gone a few months. I never knew you two were even together. She was shocked, and her whole life turned upside down. I was there for her just like I promised Chester I would be.” I shook my head, finally wrestling my wrist from his grasp.

“You’re lying …”

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