Chapter 9
The twins weren”tanything like what I expected. I didn”t have a lot of interaction with kids in my daily life. They were whiny and needy little things that tended to get in the way. However, it was hard to place that description on York”s girls even as they whined at him about being grounded. They hadn”t let up since getting in the car. Even as we pulled into the parking garage and circled looking for a spot they continued to plead their case. Navy wasn”t arguing but she was making some solid points. Nyra, on the other hand, had the doe eyes and innocent look down pat. They were the perfect duo, like me and Gin.
Maybe that was why I took an instant liking to them. Was it because I was a twin too? A few minutes in their company and I was missing Gin even more than usual. There was a constant hole in my soul where my twin brother stayed. We”d been out of each other”s lives well over ten years, and I was seriously losing it. I knew Gin already had lost it, but I was barely holding it together myself.
”Daddy, we only wanted to make sure you were okay,” Navy stressed.
York cocked a single brow; his dad face was gentler than the one he pointed our way at work.
”See, they were only worried,” I helped.
The moment York turned to look at me, I caught Navy and Nyra”s gaze in the rearview mirror. They smiled at me and I couldn”t help but feel I earned a point in their book.
”Don”t fall for it.”
”But they”re so cute like their dad, how could I not?”
York”s mouth opened and closed as he stared at me with a perplexed look.
”You think our dad is cute?” Navy practically squealed.
My eardrums rang a little, but I laughed as York groaned and finally sat back against the passenger seat.
”Hell yeah.” I looked at York taking in his thick arms, neatly groomed beard, tempting lips, and dark brown skin. Fuck, I wanted to devour him.
”Paul,” York growled.
A shiver of pleasure raced down my spine. His growling was seriously going to have me pulling over and getting some road head or something. If it wasn”t for the girls in the back, I”d demand car sex in the parking garage.
”We love this song,” Navy exclaimed.
I parked the car and I turned the volume up. Eminem, “The Real Slim Shady,” came on. I lifted a brow at the girls, shocked as Nyra started rapping the intro. My mouth fell open as she hit every word without pause. I looked at York and he was no better, staring at his daughter as if it was the first time hearing it. Navy jumped in on the chorus adding in some dance moves as she hyped her sister up. Nyra put in substitute words anytime there were swear words, making it the coolest clean version of rap I”d ever heard.
I started bobbing my head, cheering the girls on as they both traded verses and kept up with Eminem. It wasn”t their first time listening to it. They”d suggested some pop bullshit when they first got in the car, but to know they had good taste in music made me like them even more.
”Oh shit.” I clapped my hands wanting an encore after that performance. I offered a high five to both girls. ”That was awesome. You two got a whole routine?”
Nyra smiled proudly, breathing heavily as she recovered from keeping on beat with the music. ”Yeah, you want to see it?”
”We don”t get to practice all the time but we have that one down,” Navy added just as proud as her sister. ”You can come up and we can show you. Maybe you can join.”
”I could be a good back up dancer.”
”When did you two start listening to Eminem?” York interrupted.
Navy tucked a few curls behind her ear. ”Mom used to play it on the way to soccer.”
York”s shoulders instantly relaxed and his face softened. He smiled at his girls. They both brightened up and jumped on the opportunity that appeared before them.
”Can Paul come up so we can show him?” Navy asked.
”Please, Daddy.” Nyra laid it on thick, batting her lashes.
They weren”t my kids, and I was already caving to the request.
”He has things to do,” York started.
”We”re sorry for messing up your date.” Navy frowned.
”What? You two didn”t ruin anything.”
”Do we get in the way of you being happy, Daddy?” Nyra asked.
”No.” York unbuckled and turned as much as he could in his seat. ”Why would either of you think such a thing? I”m very happy I have the two of you.”
”But you can have Paul.” Navy looked between us.
”Mrs. Shelly says that kids get in the way of adult time,” Nyra said.
Already, I was getting the feeling the girls didn”t care for the nanny. I didn”t like her and hadn”t even met her.
York”s brows creased as he shook his head. ”No, it”s nothing like that.”
”Promise?” Nyra asked.
York nodded, and as if she knew it was her chance, Navy pounced.
”Then can Paul come up with us? Just for a little while?”
York opened and closed his mouth, staring at his pleading girls before glancing my way. I put my hands together like the twins and attempted the puppy dog eyes.
”Okay,” York gave in.
The girls squealed and high-fived as they got out of the car.
”Damn, they’re good,” I muttered under my breath.
”I feel like I got played.”
”You did, but to be fair, you never had a chance against them.” I patted York”s shoulder in reassurance.
I got out, the girls giggling and talking amongst themselves as I waited for York. The way they leaned into each other and communicated without talking was everything I missed about being next to Gin. There had been plenty of times in our lives that we were able to get a point across to each other without opening our mouths.
York shook his head at the girls, but they bounced over to him with all the energy in the world. For a second, I thought about leaving. Integrating myself in York”s life any further wasn”t the best idea. I”d already learned the informant was a woman, meaning I had my work cut out for me. I could make up some excuse, leave, and save my family.
”Paul?” York glanced over his shoulder at me and the moment our eyes met, I knew I was a goner. The girl”s innocent big brown eyes were no help.
I slipped my phone out and took a pic. ”The three of you looked so adorable together.” I jogged to catch up and showed York the picture I took on a whim. I”d probably delete it later.
York shook his head but he sported a broad smile that I was proud I helped put there. The elevator ride up to their floor was quick, and before I knew it, I was standing outside my boss”s door. In all the years I”d worked for York, not once had I found out his home address. He kept everything a secret, and I understood why. His children were obviously very important to him.
”Do you have sisters or brothers, Paul?” Nyra asked.
I nodded, catching myself before I mentioned Gin, Benito, or Enzo. ”A sister.”
”Are you twins?”
I paused staring down at them. ”Why do you ask?” Both girls gave me that feeling as if they analyzed anyone who came into their life.
Nyra shrugged, looking away as York unlocked the door and ushered them both in.
”You give off a twin vibe,” Navy said.
I laughed. ”Do I?”
”Yeah.”
York looked between us as if he was trying to see what the girls saw. I waved it off.
”I think being a twin is awesome.”
”It”s the best,” Navy said.
”Girls, there you are!” A shrill voice broke the moment of joy.
A woman came jogging over to us, her face red and her hair disheveled. Instantly, Navy and Nyra shrunk back.
”Have you lost your minds? Who told you that you could go outside?”
I stepped toward her, my smile dropping at the way she raised up against the girls. Sure, they were wrong, but York was standing right here. He was their parent, not her. I cracked my knuckles at my sides as I fought the urge to grab her by the skull and slam my knee into her face repeatedly. She was their nanny, but the girls flinched away from her.
She”s dead.
York stepped toward them, placing his hands on their shoulders. ”No harm done, Shelly. I”m sorry they didn”t tell you they were leaving.”
The nanny nodded. ”Didn”t tell me they intentionally ran away,” she corrected. “I was this close to calling the police.”
”You should have called their father,” I said.
Shelly looked at me, her nose scrunching up in disgust before cleaning her face of any emotions.
”That was my next step. I just found my phone.”
Yeah, but what about a neighbor? Or even going out to look for the girls?
”They are okay and I”ve spoken to them both about it. Girls, what should you be saying to Shelly?”
”Sorry,” they said in unison.
Shelly turned away from me, focusing on the girls. ”Girls, it”s bedtime, why don”t we let your dad and his friend have some time alone?”
”But—”
”No buts, let”s go,” Shelly said. She pulled the girls away from York and herded them further into the house.
Both Nyra and Navy glanced over their shoulders at me, shooting a pleading look my way. If it was up to me, the nanny would be out on her ass and jobless. However, I was a guest, nothing more.
York blew out a breath, watching them for a second. He opened his mouth but his phone rang. He pulled it out and instantly his demeanor changed. It was either someone from work or his informant. As much as I wanted to listen in and get more information on who she was, I knew I needed to take it easy. Any mess up and I was bound to get caught. I”d spent too many years undercover to fuck it up now just because I was a little impatient.
”Go ahead and get that, I”m not going anywhere.”
”Living room is straight down there. I”ll be right out,” he said.
I shooed him away. He went down the hall, phone to his ear. He turned left instead of keeping straight down the hall. I slowly made my way toward the living room. I took everything in, studying what I could about York. Pictures of the girls decorated the walls along with pictures of what could only be Dawn. She had a bright smile, brown skin, the same long curly hair as the girls, and bright brown eyes. They were the picture-perfect family. I didn”t know her personally, but from how York talked about her, she was more than likely a good woman.
I made my way further into his place; the living room was nothing like mine. I had basic furniture picked out of a showroom with no touch of my own. His was mismatched furniture, a pink single seat that oddly paired well with the huge blue L-shaped couch. There were knickknacks all over, some that made sense, and others I knew had to be the girls. There were beads on the coffee table along with strings. A half made bracelet made me smile as it dragged up memories of the time Gin had made us matching teeth bracelets. A few guys in our school had tried to pick on Enzo and we”d taken a baseball bat and golf club to each of them and their older siblings. Gin thought it was cool to collect their teeth and make matching bracelets. We”d worn them for six months straight, until Benito flushed them down the toilet. Something about evidence or another.
We”d been kids, but no one fucked with our family.
I moved over to the kitchen, keeping an ear out for York. The fridge was covered in art and report cards. Both girls were on honor roll and had perfect attendance. Hushed words caught my attention, and I headed down the other hall off the kitchen.
”You two have greatly disappointed me. What would your mother think of you right now?” Shelly asked. ”This is why every child needs a mother. You two have been without one for too long.”
Who the fuck does she think she is?A mother was great, but any parent that was actively doing what they could was better than the shit ones out there in the world. From what I could tell, York did everything he could with his girls in mind. It was why I could get over the fact he”d shut me down so hard at work. Security for his family came first. I could respect that about him.
”Daddy said?—”
”Don”t talk back. You two need to go to bed.”
”But, Da?—”
”I said that”s enough. You two are already turning out to be entitled little monsters.”
All right, that”s it.
I knocked on the door, slapped on a huge smile, and reminded myself not to kill the nanny. ”You two ready for a movie?”
Navy and Nyra lit up the moment they saw me. Nyra was quick to wipe away her tears. I wasn”t one to be moved by kids” tears, but the sight of sweet Nyra crying had me forgetting all about not blowing my cover.
”They have school in the morning.”
”That”s great. They will be in bed after a movie.”
Navy grabbed Nyra and they moved over to me. It spoke volumes that they were more willing to be near me, a virtual stranger, versus the woman who was supposedly taking care of them.
Shelly squinted at me. ”I have been watching over the girls for the past six years?—”
”And today you took a long-needed break. Why not continue?”
Shelly”s mouth fell open as she stared at me. ”I didn”t get your name.”
I nodded, offering my hand like the good gentlemen I was pretending to be. ”Paul Gallo, nice to meet you. Thanks for getting the girls dressed but we planned on a movie night.”
”Well, Mr. Washington hasn”t said anything to me.”
”Oh? I was under the impression you didn”t care what York had to say. You were telling the girls as much.”
Nyra and Navy both grabbed my hands and squeezed. I needed to calm down but I wasn”t a fan of how she spoke to the girls. They were young and only lost their mother a few years ago. Being worried and making sure they were okay should have been her first course of action, instead, she went into calling them spoiled monsters.
Shelly”s face reddened as she tried to come up with something to say.
I turned with both girls and headed toward the living room. If she said something to York, I was going to need to figure out something. They weren”t my kids, and intervening probably wasn”t the best choice.
”Thank you,” Navy whispered.
Any slight regrets I had about what I just did flew out the window in an instant. I held her hand a little more securely.
”What kind of movie are we watching, anyway?” I asked them both. We plopped down on the couch, Nyra grabbed a blanket from a basket before scooting all the way to the corner. ”We have to convince your dad to let me come over more often.”
Navy smiled. ”Sure. If you work on getting us that ice cream.”
”You bargaining with me right now?”
She nodded, not the least bit ashamed.
”I don”t know, he seemed pretty determined on that front. How about a late night movie and popcorn?”
The girls looked at each other, no doubt communicating in their own twin way. I lounged back, waiting for them to come to their decision.
”There”s cake in the fridge. If we can get some, then we have a deal,” Navy said.
”You eat dinner already?” That”s an adult question, right?
Both girls nodded, smiling as if they had me in their pocket already.
”Deal.” I held out my hand and Navy shook it. Nyra scrambled out of her corner on the couch and shook my hand too.
I sat back just as York”s light footsteps headed our way. He stopped short when he noticed the girls on the couch.
”What are you three planning?”
I placed a hand on my chest. ”What? I did nothing wrong. Do you have such little faith in me?”
York stared at me and then the girls. ”Why are they smiling like that?”
”Maybe they’re happy.”
York looked between us again. ”No.”
”You haven”t heard the proposal yet.” I waved at the girls, letting them know it was their turn.
”Instead of our routine, Daddy, we want to watch a movie with you and Paul.” Navy already had the remote and the movie up on the flat screen.
”It”s your favorite,” Nyra added.
”I”ll make popcorn, and both girls already ate dinner. We could have some cake to make our meeting sweeter.” I air quoted “meeting.” We both knew the so-called meeting was closer to a makeup date.
York looked at all three of us as we held our breath. ”One movie and then bedtime. And tomorrow, you’re both grounded. I mean it.”
The girls shouted in triumph. Shelly stepped out, and York turned to her.
”Let me walk her out. The girls will show you where the popcorn is and the cake.”
The moment both of them were gone, the girls jumped up and we high-fived. We made quick work of getting the popcorn in the microwave and the slices of cake on each plate. York joined us as I helped Nyra with the last bag of popcorn.
”You like kettle corn or movie butter?” I asked.
”Kettle.”
I made a face but passed over the white bowl with sweet, nasty-ass popcorn.
”Want one or two slices of cake?”
”None.”
”Daddy doesn”t like cake,” Nyra supplied.
I stared at York. ”You will eat that stuff but not cake? Who hurt you?”
He shook his head at me and headed toward the couch, popping a few kernels in his mouth. The girls were quick with their cake, hopping onto the couch and snuggling up to their dad. Navy took one look at me and switched over to York”s other side. She winked before settling back.
That is one smart little girl.
I took up a seat next to York, not too close. The last thing I needed was York freaking out and ending the movie night. We all settled in as York grabbed the remote and started Men in Black.
Should have known.
As the movie played on and we ate our popcorn and cake, I found myself relaxing even more. It was almost normal. In another world, where I wasn”t born into a crime family, I might have met a man like York, and fit into his perfect world with his wholesome family. But right now, all I could do was live like Paul until I couldn”t.
By the end of the movie, my hands were greasy. York”s leg was pushed up against mine and our shoulders were a hair away from each other. The girls were out cold, the cake abandoned.
”I”ve seen that movie maybe a handful of times,” I said.
”Really? I remember seeing it in theaters when I was a teen.”
I bit my lip. ”I was in elementary school.”
York stared at me. ”Stop talking.”
”So what, you”re robbing the cradle a little. Nothing wrong with that. We”re two consenting adults.”
”Shut up, Paul,” York said, laughing.
He was up stretching, shutting me up instantly with such a delectable distraction. York moved over to the girls, looking between the two of them with a fond smile.
”Need help?”
He hesitated for a second, and I stayed still, not pushing it.
”Yeah. Grab Nyra for me, please. When they”re out, it”s like trying to wake the dead; they don”t budge.”
I scooped up Nyra. York led the way with Navy as we headed toward their room. I placed her down on the twin mattress and pulled the covers up.
”Dormi bene, piccola piantagrane,” I whispered.
I backed out of the room, leaving York to say his good nights. I lingered around a bit. Even I was tired after the movie. The week had been a shit show after the bad bust. York joined me after a few minutes, closing the girls’ door after making sure their lava lamps were turned on.
I wasn”t ready to leave, but I wasn”t sure what York would agree to without the power of the twins. Our eyes met, and I moved without thought. I grabbed the front of his shirt and did what I wanted to do since the park.
Our lips met and liquid fire poured over my body. My groan was swallowed the moment York opened his mouth. His tongue came out to play as if he was just as needy as I was. They twisted together as desire and lust stroked the flames between us. I couldn”t get enough and tilted my head slightly to deepen the kiss further. I mapped out every inch of York”s mouth, tasting the kettle corn that still lingered. For some reason, it wasn”t so gross when it was mixed with York.
We pulled away, panting and gasping. ”Can I stay the night?”
York stared at me. ”It”s late.”
”We don”t have to have sex. I”ll have you know I”m a damn good cuddler too.”
York didn”t seem convinced, so I tried one more.
”I”ll be out before the girls wake up.” I kissed him again, taking his mouth and fell prey to the passion between us. ”Say yes, one night.”
”Paul.”
A shiver overtook me. He was making this no sex thing hard when he said my name like that.
”One night.”
York chased after me, his lips seeking out mine the moment we parted. “Fine.”