Page 30 of Nanny for My Billionaire

“Evan!” I gasp.

“No, no, let him be,” he says. “From his view, that’s very truthful, eh? I’m Detective Benzo, by the way. Vitto Benzo. I’d like to give you both my card in case you might be able to help me out. The two boys I’m trying to locate were born to my client’s ex-girlfriend, but he did not know they existed until recently. He says these boys would have been born in late spring five years ago. The woman’s name is Maria, but she probably would have changed it when she left. Let’s just say she would rather not be found since she made off with a few items while she was at it.”

“Uh, sure, thanks,” I say, taking the card from him. “I’m at home most of the time myself, but you never know. I mean, I’m sure now that the kids have started school there might be opportunities for play dates. Maybe these twins you’re looking for will end up coming to me.”

He nods. “I’ll be grateful if you would let me know whatever you might find out. I promise that the father is a good man who simply wants to be a part of their lives. I think a father should have the chance to see his sons, especially if he has done nothing wrong.”

I smile and nod at him. “Yes. I think so too.”

After the boys and I have eaten I take them home, though I still watch to see if Vitto is following us again. Instead, he seems to be lingering behind. I noticed as we were leaving that Megan had gravitated back to his table. Although I suppose he could easily find out where the boys and I live from my sister, who is a lot less cautious than I am, I feel like we’re at least safe for the moment since he hasn’t rushed out to his car right behind us or in any other way acted like he’s worried about us leaving.

Still, I can’t help racking my brain trying to remember just how long Adam and Gena were married before she’d birthed the boys. Was it even remotely possible that Adam is not the actual father of the twins? I feel slightly sickened by the notion, but soon convince myself I am just being unrealistic, and I need to calm down.

There is no way Gena and Maria could possibly be the same woman.

Chapter nineteen

Adam

WhenIgethome,I can tell something is clearly bothering Melissa, but she just smiles sweetly from the bed and opens her arms to me as I join her there. I only know she is troubled because whenever she’s upset, she gets a little twitch in her right eye, and that bad boy is quivering at the moment.

“Did everything go well at school today?” I ask with a worried frown.

“The boys did fine,” she answers. “It was what happened after that seemed a little weird.”

I cock my head as I roll toward her, running a palm down her side until it is resting on her hip. “Spill, will you? This is too tense.”

She gives a harsh giggle. “I was just curious if Gena was pregnant before you married her.”

“Wait, what? Does that make a difference for some reason?”

“Not exactly,” she says. “I just wondered because some detective is in the area trying to locate a pair of twin boys who are the same age as Evan and Ethan. He told me their mother ran away when she became pregnant and never told the father, but that he’d recently learned they were somewhere here in Concord.”

I chuckle. “No, we were married about two months before she got pregnant,” I assure her. “Whoever that guy was, you can be sure it’s not my boys he’s looking for.”

“At least, not if he’s telling the truth about his interest in twin boys in the Concord area,” she agrees, although her tone still seems suspicious.

“Do you think he was lying?” I ask. “More to the point, just exactly when were you talking to this guy?”

“At Alice’s Diner,” she explains. “I stopped there after I picked up the boys because I thought this guy was following me. He didn’t even deny it when he followed me inside, and blatantly told me all about why he did it. Well, assuming he was being truthful, he’s looking for other twin boys with dark hair. Thing is, though, Evan told him that there is another pair of twin boys in his class. I know it must be those two he’s looking for, if not another pair entirely, but it still just—felt strange, somehow, I guess.”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” I agree. "But as long as the guy doesn’t bother you anymore, I think we can probably write that whole thing off. There’s nothing we can do about it if another set of twin boys in the area are having parental issues too. I mean, I feel bad that it’s statistically probable that two sets of twin boys of the same age in the same town are both going through it, but that’s just the way the world works these days.“

“He did give me his card if you want to speak to him,” she added. “I’ve got it in my wallet.”

“We can worry about that tomorrow,” I say. “Let’s just try to get some rest.”

Curling into each other more fully, we settle down to sleep. I am determined that as soon as daylight hits and a decent hour arrives, I’m calling this guy and demanding to know what he thinks he’s doing, following my family around and upsetting my fiancée. I’m even contemplating giving Gena a call to see if she has set some goon on the kids.

Just because this guy says he’s a detective investigating some other kids doesn’t mean he’s not just feeding Melissa some sort of bullshit to throw her off his scent. If I know Melissa and her sister, they probably talked way too much. He most likely has all the information he needs now.

The next day, Melissa gives me the guy’s card, but he’s not picking up. I come along with them when Melissa takes them to school, and I try the guy again on the way there. When he answers, he knows exactly who is calling even though I’m using Melissa’s phone.

“Mr. Barlow, I wondered if I’d be hearing from you,” he says.

“How did you know it was me?” I ask.

I see a man in the car to Melissa’s left. He’s in the passenger seat and he waves as he says, “Because I can see you, of course. I didn’t want to alarm the ladies yesterday, but I wanted to warn you about sending your kids to school until I’m able to resolve some trouble.”

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