Page 44 of Fighting His Fate
It is, you know. It is so much better.
Luke and I don’t have much family left. We wrote a will, and we’ve named you the boys’ guardian in case anything happens to us. Don’t worry, we plan on living a long, long time! But just in case, I wanted you to know the boys exist and might need you someday.
They might need you even if we’re still around.
Think about it. Think about how much we love you, how much we want you to be a part of our lives and the boys’ lives.
It must have been pretty bad over there. You left the States as my best friend, and you never came back to me. I wish I could say I don’t forgive you for that, but you know I do. I just want you to be able to live a happy life, undaunted by your demons. There’s good in the world, if only you can find it.
Loving you always,
Joni
He was crying,tears flowing silently down his cheeks, the weight of his mistakes bearing down on him like Atlas’s burden. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, the words filling the small space. “I wish I could take it back. I wish I’d opened this letter when you sent it to me. I wish I could have seen your face, could have seen you with Toby and Theo.”
He folded the letter back up and placed it inside the card. “I’ll make sure they find a good family. You don’t have to worry.” He tucked the card into the envelope. “I mean, you might have to worry a little, but I’m going to try my best.” He wiped his tears on his bicep, feeling suddenly lighter, more free. An image of Grace appeared in his mind. He shook his head as if Joni had suggested Grace was part of the solution. “I don’t think I get to keep her, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Champ!” called Razorback from a distance. “Come quick, I found something.”
Brett tucked the envelope into his back pocket and jogged down the hall, finding Razorback and Mac standing on opposite sides of the kitchen table, an open copy paper box between them, each man leafing through a thick binder.
“It was tucked in the rafters in the garage,” said Razorback. “Looks like printouts of Joni’s notes. Her experiments and findings.”
Brett stepped forward and picked up a third binder from the box, scanning the documents inside.Percentage fertilized. Genetic modifications. Sample size. Research implications.He closed the binder and put it down, then picked up the lid of the copy paper box. In Joni’s script was written, NATURE-CAGE. “What the fuck is nature-cage?”
Razorback turned the box to face him. “You’d probably have to read these papers to figure that out, if it has anything to do with the papers at all. I swear, Jackie has boxes in our attic that have labels that don’t correspond to anything in the boxes.”
Brett remembered the file in the office labeledSomeday. It wouldn’t make sense to anyone who didn’t know about and understand her relationship with Brett. There was an equally good chance they’d never figure out the meaning of nature-cage.
He turned to Razorback. “I need you to go through these and figure out exactly what she was working on. The science and who it may have threatened. There’s a good chance something in this box got Joni and Luke killed.”
And put my sons in danger.
The words were on the tip of his tongue. He lifted his chin and met Mac’s stare. It was time to stake his claim, to own the truth that would define him for the rest of his days. “The boys are mine. Joni left a note. I am the twins’ father.”
24
Grace liftedher leg from the warm, bubbly water and slid the razor over her skin. The owner of the house had graciously provided a basket full of toiletries, the richly scented bubble bath intoxicating her senses and helping her relax. A cool draft touched the air, the door slightly open in case the boys awoke.
They’d finally fallen asleep after a cranky evening, both of them wanting to be held close and rocked. She couldn’t even pretend to mind. Toby and Theo were a joy to be around, caring for their little bodies and big personalities fulfilling her on a primal level like nothing she’d ever experienced.
Brett’s words and chaste kiss had done something to her, knocking down the last of her defenses against the attraction she felt for him. There was a gentle side to that man that was her undoing, her earlier assumptions about his character having long since fallen by the wayside.
And she wanted him.
God, how she wanted him.
She set the razor aside and picked up the soap, gliding the slippery bar across her chest. It smelled of lemon and lavender, and she sighed, letting her eyes close.
A pulse beat between her legs as his words came back to her.I wanted you so much I almost didn’t give a damn that you’d never had sex before, that it would be wrong to make love to you, wrong to take something you hadn’t given to any other man, even the one you intended to marry.
She didn’t know what it would be like to make love, didn’t know if it would hurt or be frightening or feel good. She thought of the women he brought home to his apartment, virtually lined up for the privilege. If sex felt anything like his kisses, she would happily do it all day.
She sank deeper into the water and hummed softly, her mind considering what would happen when he returned. Would he touch her again, kiss her? Draw her near? More important, how would she respond to him if he did?
With my whole body and soul.
There it was, the answer in the wings, simply waiting for the question to be asked. She would love him for as long as he would allow, getting as close as he would let her, virginity be damned.
