Page 4 of Threatened

Typical. Always thinking of the best zinger after the fact.

Alone again, all her bravado vanished, leaving her aching and cold and so filled with sorrow over losing her sister that Kylie nearly collapsed to her knees. Instead, she sank down onto the couch and stared at the black screen of the TV without seeing it. The sound of running water echoed down the hall, and she finally summoned the energy to get up and wander down to thenursery. Without making a noise, she snuck inside and walked over to peer down at the sleeping babies.

Tears fell as she stroked their heads and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Chris. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when they were born. I’m so sorry you’re gone, and I never got to say goodbye. I’m so, so sorry.”

She lost track of time as she watched Maya and Brennan sleep. Eventually, she pulled her eyes from them and looked around to find the room neat, if a bit bland. All the essentials were there—changing table, supplies, a few toys, clothes. For a guy who had no track record with babies, he was clearly trying his best, taking the responsibility seriously. She felt a tiny bit of remorse for being so harsh earlier with Gage, but dammit, he’d hit too close to home with his remark about her wanting the twins for herself. Deep down inside, maybe she did. She’d come here to check on her niece and nephew and see if they really could be a permanent part of her life.

The sound of the water shutting off in the bathroom had her swiping the backs of her hands over her cheeks and stepping back from the cribs. The last thing she wanted was to let him see her crying and weak. She knew people like Gage—traditional, buttoned-up, anal—thought of her as some kind of new-age freak, and maybe she was. But she was also strong and smart and funny and caring.

Gage would fight her for custody, that much was clear now. And she’d fight right back.

Kylie had missed her sister’s funeral. No way in hell she’d walk away from the twins.

Not now. Maybe not ever.

3

Later, after a few hours of sleep and a few cups of coffee, Gage was feeling a tad more human. He checked in on the twins in the nursery then did his best to clean up the living room while not waking a still-sleeping Kylie.

She looked so peaceful lying there, snoring softly, her hair covering half her face, that Gage couldn’t help but smile. Truth was, he felt like a jerk for the way he’d blown up the night before. He owed her an apology for that. Letting her sleep in was partially an attempt to make amends…but part of him also didn’t want to wake her up just yet because he liked having his own space. He’d always been like that, even in the SEALs. The other guys on his team used to give him crap about it, calling him a finicky old lady who had to have things just so. It wasn’t entirely wrong, the having things just so part anyway. It gave him a sense of control when everything else in his life was a mess.

He’d never known his father, a sailor who had died when Gage was just a baby. Then losing his mom when he was only four to breast cancer had rocked his universe, and not in a good way. As a kid, he’d coped as best he could, living with his uncle, Derek.The guy was responsible enough but hardly what Gage would’ve called affectionate. It had also been rough to deal with the way he constantly filled Gage’s head with stories about how Gage’s father had been responsible for his mother’s death because he’d broken her heart, taking away her will to fight her illness. Since then, Gage had internalized all of that crap, puzzling it over and over in his head and still never making peace with it.

He picked up a basket of clean baby clothes from the laundry room and sat down in the kitchen to fold them. Honestly, he’d never really bought into Uncle Derek’s story about everything being his father’s fault, mainly because he still remembered the stories from his mother about his dad being a hero. In fact, the reason Gage had decided to join the Navy was to follow in his father’s footsteps. It made him a little uneasy to think about how much Uncle Derek would have hated that decision, but he’d died at the end of Gage’s first year of college, so that was the end of that.

And of any family he had.

Until now. Now, he had two children to love and look out for. It was daunting, maybe even terrifying, but he was committed to being there for them. He’d just learn as he went and hope not to make too many mistakes in raising them. No, not hope. Hope wasn’t strong enough. Hope didn’t fix the mistakes of the past. Neither did sorrow or regret. He wascommittedto doing right by the twins, no matter what. He already had too many screwups in his rearview mirror—he wouldn’t be adding the twins to that tally.

Gage sighed and shoved the past away. He had plenty to focus on in the present, and the future was just plain crowded.One step at a time, he reminded himself as he methodically stacked folded baby outfits on the table—pink ones for Maya and blue forBrennan. Gage had reached the bottom of the basket when he heard a squeak from down the hall. The twins were up. A smile rose to his lips unbidden.

Before he could get on his feet, though, Kylie sat up on the sofa, looking far too adorable for her own good. Her hair stuck up all over and one side of her face was red and covered with crease marks from where she’d slept with it mashed into her pillow.

“What the…” she said, her sleep-roughened tone sending a blast of heat through him straight to his toes. She blinked and squinted around the room then over at him in the kitchen. “What are you doing? It’s…well, I guess it’s morning, but it must still be early.”

Gage stood and set the laundry basket aside, giving her a bland smile. He was used to getting up at the ass crack of dawn from his time in the military. Habits like that didn’t just go away simply because he’d retired. “Morning, sunshine.” He meant for his tone to be sarcastic, but it came out more pleasant than he expected, surprising even him. What was up with that?

To distract himself from pursuing that thought, he walked into the living room and over to the toy basket in one corner. Having something to amuse one twin while he got the other ready for the day had proven to be useful. Between the items that had been sent over from Christine and Tucker’s after the funeral and the new stuff he’d bought for the twins himself, they had enough toys to entertain a small country. Still, when he stared at the assorted stuffed animals, fabric books, and stackable cups, he felt more than a bit overwhelmed. He’d never been good at connecting with people and the twins left him constantly at a loss despite his dedication to them.

“Try the pink giraffe,” Kylie said from behind him. “I used it with Maya last night, and she seemed to like it.”

“Okay.” He grabbed the small stuffed toy then hazarded a glance back at Kylie on the sofa. She’d managed to get herself situated now, though the neck of that floaty top of hers was hanging down on one side to reveal a creamy shoulder. Out of nowhere images of her in his arms and him running his tongue down said shoulder popped into his mind. Oh, boy.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

After taking a deep breath he headed for the nursery where the twins were now wailing up a storm. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“Yes,” she said from behind him, stopping him in his tracks and making him turn around to face her. Her smile seemed to brighten the already sunlit room, and it was at that moment that Gage knew he was in a world of trouble. “You do.”

After walking into the nursery and picking up Brennan, he held the giraffe out to Maya and was surprised to see she quieted immediately after grabbing hold of the toy. Maybe Kylie was better at this than he’d imagined. On the other hand, it could have been luck.

“Need any help?” Kylie asked from the doorway. Her clothes were rumpled, her hair messy, and she looked like she wanted to go back to sleep. So why did his thoughts about them together clog his head again?

“No. I got this,” he said, not daring to glance at her again for fear he’d do something stupid like walk over there and kiss her silly. God. He needed to snap out of this. He had things to do today and babies to watch. He didn’t have time to lust over a woman who’d flat out told him she was here to check up on him andpossibly fight him for custody of the twins. He needed to get her packed and out of here as soon as possible. Gage inhaled deeply before saying. “Go ahead and get ready for the day. We’re fine.”

His words had stung. “We’re fine,” clearly excluding her. But Kylie did feel minimally better after a shower that helped to rinse away some of the jet lag. Fresh clothing improved her outlook, too. She’d left Japan in such a rush that she’d stayed in her work clothes, which were fancier than what she usually wore to bum around the house. Dressed in comfy jeans and a “Keep Calm and Feng Shui On” sweatshirt, she headed back out into the living room to clean up her bedding from the night before. Honestly, she’d love to rearrange his furniture to better harmonize the energy in Gage’s home. Everyone would be happier and more peaceful with the sofa against the wall and a good scrub down of the windows, but she wasn’t going to push her luck by suggesting that to Gage. Not yet, anyway.

Gage was in the kitchen getting bottles ready for the twins. While she’d been getting ready, he’d managed to get both babies dressed . Color her impressed. Maybe he wasn’t so bad with kids after all. But that didn’t change the fact she planned to be more involved in the twins’ lives going forward.

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