Page 58 of Never Say Never

I nodded. "Yeah, they could use a friendly face right now."

Paul smiled slowly. "All right, I'll be there." He hesitated before he cleared his throat. "Thanks."

He disappeared and the door clicked behind him. Sighing, I sagged into my chair and shook my head. Either I was a sucker or a genius. On the one hand, I wanted Paul close because I had gotten used to him, so had my girls. On the other, I sided with that age old adage; keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If he was my enemy, I needed to see him. Feel him. Know him. Even if I prayed it wasn't true.

Sighing, I logged back into my PC. My email popped right up, and I froze in my seat at the first unread message in my inbox.

Dear Mr. Washington,

We know who you are. We know you have kids. Back off the families or die.

Anonymous

I stared at it for a while, stunned. This email was secure. Everything I did was covered in a fine layer of security, and yet someone was telling me that they had been watching me. That I had to back off. My hand clenched into a fist as I stared at the screen. It was one thing to threaten me, but to involve my precious girls? That was too damn far.

I don't give a fuck who sent it. I was going to make them suffer.

My stomach knotted. Since getting out of the hospital, York had been treating me differently. There was a distance that wasn't there before. All of my instincts screamed I needed to get out of there. Knowing that, I still found myself outside of York's door. On the other side was someone I wanted to continue to possess. He wasn't mine. I could shout it on the rooftop, yet I didn't believe it. York felt like mine.

This is why I don't get attached.

I had every plan to play with York. To finally bang the boss that had been the star of so many of my late night fantasies. And I had. Now, I wanted so much more, things that someone like me shouldn't want from someone like York.

Shaking my head, I knocked. The knots in my stomach tightened even more. I felt bad that I'd manipulated York into letting me come over but there was no other way. I wasn't ready to walk away yet. The girls were a sure way for me to walk back into his life. Even if he was still suspicious of me, it couldn't erase what we had. I knew I couldn't be the only one who felt it. There was no way in hell I made it up in my head, and now I was obsessed with a man who only saw me as a fun pastime. York wasn't like that.

The door opened, and I shoved every melancholy thought down to the deepest part of my psyche.

"Paul." Even the way he said my name felt foreign.

I pushed past the unease and weariness settling in with every passing second.

"Why are you carrying that?" I took the tray of uncooked meat out of York's hand. "Doc said you're supposed to take it easy." I felt my smile waver as York continued to watch me. "What's on my face?"

"Nothing." He shook his head, stepping aside for me to enter his home. "I am taking it easy."

I huffed out a laugh. "You? I'll believe that when cats fly."

“It’s pigs.” York sighed. “When pigs fly.”

“Same thing.”

"Paul!" Navy and Nyra ran down the hall wearing long sleeve swimsuits with their hair braided back.

"Hey, girls." I put the tray down to pick them both up and hug them.

Their little arms fit around my neck as they both started talking at once. They may be twins, but their words were bouncing off one another, leaving me confused but happy. Both girls squirmed to be let down and I released them.

"Who's who?" Navy asked.

She was on the left, although she was wearing Nyra's favorite shade of blue. I knew who she was instantly. Nyra on the right smiled brightly.

I tapped my chin. "Hmm, if I guess right, what's my prize?"

Both girls turned to each other, and like so many times before, spoke without speaking out loud. It made me long for my own twin. After all the time that had passed, I wondered if we'd still have the same connection we once did.

"Two cherries on your ice cream."

I nodded. "That's a fair trade."