Page 47 of Twins for the Enemy

But he slowly kneels down, placing me down like a porcelain doll with my legs out in front of me. I press my hands down at my sides, preparing to stand back up, but after all of the effort with the rock climbing wall, it feels like the mattress is offering me residency, and I don’t want to deny such a kind offer.

When I let myself fall back, my hair fanning out behind my head, Kieran leans over to lie down beside me.

“Has anyone told you that you’re a handful?” he asks.

“I’m usually not,” I say. “I’m usually annoyingly docile.”

“I can’t imagine that. Who are you if you’re not constantly trying to throw yourself out windows or use an impaired ankle to climb up a wall without a safety harness?”

I frown. It’s a legitimate question. Maybe I’m not a fallen leaf with him.

Maybe I’m a fallen seed, burrowed deep in the soil, and something new could force its way out.

But I can’t allow it to.

He reaches forward, his fingertips touching my cheek. His arm leaves a faint imprint on the mattress.

We could leave a million imprints on these mattresses. I want people to know we were here. That for a moment—before he decides to reject me like he always does—that I had him. That I held enough control to keep ahold of something I wanted.

“The twins are yours,” I admit. “There was nobody else.”

“I know,” he says, a faint smirk playing on his lips. I roll my eyes.

“Well, don’t be too cocky about it.”

He shrugs. “It wouldn’t have mattered if they were biologically mine or not. I took responsibility for them the moment I took you in.”

“The moment you kidnapped me.”

“However you want to define it, the result is the same,” he says. “Blood is blood, but one of my sisters is my foster sister. I don’t see her as any less my sister than Olivia was.”

“You have another sister?” I ask, propping my head up on my hand. “I thought men who were surrounded by sisters were usually kind, gentle souls.”

“Olivia had a wild streak. Ellie’s the same. If anything, they’re the reason I never stood a chance at turning out normal.”

I smile, but my breath stops short. “Ellie? I thought Ellie was your girlfriend?”

“You’ve been sleeping with me when you thought I had a girlfriend?” he asks, a grin unfurling across his face.

“Okay, that’s not fair,” I protest, my cheeks turning bright red. “I wouldn’t even know if I hadn’t been eavesdropping.”

“You’re not helping yourself.”

I press my palm against my cheek, feeling how warm it is. “I heard you talking with that event planner. It just sounded like you loved her a lot.”

“I do love Ellie. As my sister,” he says. “And that wasn’t an event planner. That was her fiancé, Henry. That event is an engagement party for the two of them.”

I let out a slow breath, smiling back at him, though mine is tied much more closely to relief.

“So, you thought you were my mistress?” he prompts. “Should I hide you in a closet?”

“Your closets are big enough to be rooms,” I say. “At least they would have a door.”

“We’ve had sex on the stairs and in a car in a public place. Privacy doesn’t seem like a huge concern of yours.”

He reaches over, tugging on my sweatpants until they’re an inch lower. He caresses my hip, his hand drifting down my thigh. He stops midway, frowning.

“What?” I ask.

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