Chapter Fifteen
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Zachary
I stepped into my twin brother’s house and immediately felt the difference. It was still pristine, still Thane—expensive, timeless furniture that had likely cost him a small fortune. But everywhere around those pieces were signs of life creeping in, little hints that he was now a father and Ashlee and Sage had softened his heart.
Sage’s drawings filled a display case that had once housed a rare painting. I didn’t remember the artist, but I loved that Thane had not only adopted my biological daughter—he had made real space for her in his life. Her toys were neatly tucked into corners, organized but present. A throw blanket was casually draped over the arm of the couch beside a stack of books I knew Thane read to Sage after dinner.
As confusing as our journey to this place had been, it felt right. Only when I put aside my anger had I begun to understand—beautiful things can come from ugly times.
I hated I had put all of that at risk.
Charlotte beamed a smile at me, pregnant and so damn beautiful I lost track of where I was for a moment. I couldn’t tell her what I had discovered when I came home the other night. I wanted to, but I wouldn’t risk stressing her or the baby.
When I thought of all the mistakes I’d made and all the times I’d stumbled, I knew I didn’t deserve her. But when she looked at me with so much love in her eyes, I vowed—again—to spend my lifetime keeping her looking that happy.
Ashlee came rushing out of the kitchen to greet us.
One hug.
Two hugs.
Lots of laughter.
She linked arms with Charlotte and led her to the couch, where they sat, heads dipping together as they caught up. Thane entered the living room looking as sharp as ever. He carried himself like a man who’d been raised in a stable, wealthy home—because he had been. I no longer resented that about him. I was a little rougher around the edges, but we’d come to a place of mutual acceptance.
I accepted his back-thumping hug, even though it was something I was still getting used to.
“How are Cookie and Brownie?” he asked, knowing Charlotte’s mini horses were one of her favorite topics.
“Good,” Charlotte answered with a smile. “We’ve temporarily hired some extra help because I’m taking the last few months of my pregnancy off barn chores. And we’ve been traveling.”
“Oh, really?” Thane asked. “Anywhere interesting?”
I met Charlotte’s gaze before answering. “We can talk about that later.”
Before Thane could respond, Sage came barreling through the hallway.
“Uncle Zachary! Auntie Charlotte!”
She launched herself at me like a tiny missile, and I barely had time to set down the bag I was carrying before catching her.
“Hey there, squirt!” I said, swinging her around. Her laughter filled the room, bright and infectious.
Ashlee laughed, flashing an apologetic smile. “She’s been buzzing around all afternoon waiting for you two to get here.”
As soon as I set Sage down, she bounded over to Charlotte and wrapped her in a stranglehold. “I missed you,” she announced.
“We missed you, too,” Charlotte said, hugging her back tightly.
“It’s been too long,” Ashlee agreed, her eyes softening as they flicked to Thane. “But you know how things are with Thane’s schedule and a five-year-old running the show.”
I grinned. “Thane, I thought you were in charge around here.”
Thane’s lips twitched. “I pick my battles.”
“Smart man,” I said.
I couldn’t imagine saying no to Charlotte or the child we would soon have.
I’m doomed.
Thane handed me a glass of wine, his movements as precise as ever. “Juice for you, Sage?”
She nodded eagerly. “With two straws, please!”
Watching Thane prepare her drink with such care was surreal. This was my twin—the guy who used to act like emotions were weaknesses and children were some alien species. Now, here he was, treating Sage like a princess and preparing her juice with flourish.
“I like this side of you,” I murmured as Thane handed Sage her juice.
“Me too,” Ashlee said, grinning.
Thane shot us both a look but didn’t say anything—though I caught a pleased glint in his eye before he turned away.
Dinner was warm and chaotic in the best way. Ashlee’s lasagna was a hit, and Sage kept the conversation lively with her endless energy and questions. Charlotte leaned back in her chair, one hand resting protectively over her belly as she watched the evening unfold with a soft smile. Like me, she had always wanted this—a normal family.
This is what we swore we’d make for ourselves.
And what I was terrified of losing.
About halfway through the meal, Sage turned her big, curious eyes on Charlotte. “Do you think the baby can hear me?”
Charlotte nodded. “Yes. They say babies can even recognize your voice later.”
Sage’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“We don’t know yet,” Charlotte said. “It’ll be a surprise.”
Sage’s face lit up like she had thought of something amazing. “You should name it Lucky,” she declared.
Ashlee tilted her head, smiling. “Why do you say that?”
Sage looked at Thane, then me, and then back to Charlotte. “Because it will have all of you—just like I do. And two daddies.”
I swallowed hard at that and glanced over at Thane for his reaction. I didn’t want him to ever feel like I was in competition for that role.
He wasn’t the least bit bothered. Instead, he joked, “The best people come in twos. Thane and me. Jesse and Scott.”
Ashlee raised a hand in playful protest. “Stop right there.” She bent and winked at her daughter. “Or we’re so amazing the world could only handle one of us.”
Sage giggled at that.
“That’s a viable theory,” Thane answered smoothly. His expression softened as he looked at Sage. “ We’re the lucky ones because we have you.”
“I am above-average wonderful,” Sage said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious truth in the world. Then she went back to her juice, completely unaware of the emotional tidal wave she’d caused.
I chuckled, leaning back in my chair. “I can’t wait to see her as a teenager.”
Thane’s lips twitched into a rare smile. “Oh, you will. What better place for an angsty teen to escape to on the weekends than a horse farm?”
“That’s the plan?” I asked with humor.
“That’s the plan,” he answered without missing a beat.
Both Charlotte and Ashlee rolled their eyes at us.
Thane might act like he was the authority on all things, but Sage had him wrapped around her little finger. Ashlee too. I loved that for him.
After dinner, while Charlotte and Ashlee remained in the living room with Sage happily planted between them, Thane and I stepped out onto the patio. The air was cool, and the mood was light.
“She’s incredible,” I said after a moment, referring to Sage. “You’ve become one hell of a father.”
Thane stared out into the darkness, his expression unreadable. “Meeting Ashlee was the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said finally. “And Sage is the gift my heart didn’t know it needed.”
I was tempted to make a joke, but he was serious, and his words touched on something I had been feeling myself. “I never thought I’d want this—family, responsibility—but now that I have both, I can’t imagine my life any other way.”
Thane nodded and toasted without a drink in hand. “I can’t imagine not knowing you.”
“Same,” I said—and meant it.
We sat in silence for a while, the quiet broken only by the faint laughter coming from inside the house. After a moment, I turned to him. “I’m going to be a father soon. Again. But this time...”
Life is complicated.
Thane gave me a sideways glance and a small, knowing smile. “I understand.”
“I didn’t have a normal childhood like you did. I can’t fuck this up.”
“You won’t,” Thane said in a tone that left no room for argument.
I had gotten to know Thane’s adoptive father, and it amazed me how much he sounded like him. I loved my mother, but it made me hope I didn’t recreate the childhood she gave me.
“You’ll be a good father because you won’t allow yourself to be anything else.” He turned, meeting my gaze. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m figuring this out one day at a time. Parenting is rewarding, but also hard. Ashlee raised Sage on her own for a long time. We’re working it out, but it’s a process—and I’m sure raising a baby will be one as well. My best advice? Ask questions and listen to each other. That sounds easier than it is. My father raised Jesse and me in a strict household—a loving one, but an orderly one. Ashlee’s family is lively, and so is Sage. I’m learning one way isn’t better or worse than the other... and how to meet Ashlee in the middle.”
“That’s solid advice.” I inhaled deeply. His mood was about to tank. “I need your help.”
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “In what way?”
“I fucked up. You told me to wait, but I didn’t.”
“Wait for what?”
“To begin finding the twins on the list Charlotte’s father gave me. Knowing they’re out there, oblivious to what was done to them—not even aware they have a twin...”
“What did you do?” Thane straightened, his expression tight with concern.
Frustrated with myself, I ran my hand roughly through my hair. “I brought one set of twins together at an event and let them find each other.”
Folding his arms over his chest, Thane demanded, “And?”
When I first heard about the experiments and the list, I’d thought Thane was a coward to not want to find every single person involved—take down the ones responsible and reunite the others. “I may have put all of us in danger.”
The air stilled around us. “Tell me everything.”
I told him that I’d arranged for Mark to attend the look-alike event at Dylan’s ski resort. I explained my reasoning for hanging back and watching how things unfolded before stepping in with more information. “Mark is so fucking happy with his life. And then they switched places with each other for some weird go-talk-to-my-ex reason. Honestly, it was kind of sweet to watch. They seemed like they might naturally decide to stay in each other’s lives.”
“I’m not happy you did this without consulting the rest of us, but could you skip to the part that has you worried for our safety?”
I sighed. “You know the journals Charlotte’s mother gave us? The one with the list of all the twins her grandfather separated?”
“Don’t tell me you lost it.”
“I wish.” I swallowed hard. “We kept them in a safe in our basement. Someone broke in and took them.”
That rocked Thane back onto his heels. “Are you sure Charlotte doesn’t have them?”
“Positive.”
“Her parents? They might have changed their mind about trusting you with them.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed them if they had, but...” I reached into my pocket for the paper I’d found in the safe and handed it to Thane. “I found this in the safe.”
It was a list with all of our names on it as well as those close to us. My mother, Thane’s wife, his father, her uncle, Scott’s parents... everyone.
Thane read the message beneath the names aloud, “ Your silence is the only thing keeping these people alive. Go to the police and they die one by one. I’ll clean up the mess you made this time, but if you search for another set of twins... your family is next.”
Neither of us said a word for several minutes.
Eventually, Thane asked, “How did they get into your place? How did they know where you had the journals?”
“I don’t know. Nothing was disturbed. I wouldn’t have known the journals were even missing, but I keep a little extra cash in the safe and went in to take some out. It was still all there, along with this note.”
“This was the only message you’ve received?”
“Yes.”
“Does Charlotte know about it?”
“No. I didn’t want her to worry.”
“I’ll increase my security to watch over your family as well. They’ll sweep your house for hidden cameras.”
I nodded. Having any money as well as people in my life who’d grown up wealthy was still new to me. “Thank you.”
“I’ll talk to Scott and Jesse—not to cause panic, but to make sure everyone is watching over the family.”
I’d done a lot of things in my life that I wasn’t proud of, but my regret over those didn’t begin to compare to how bad I felt about this.
“Thane—”
“I know,” Thane said firmly.
“I don’t think you do.”
I wasn’t looking to excuse my behavior, but I needed him to understand it.
“Outside of my mother, I never had family. And I spent time knowing what it was like without even her. I understand if you regret bringing me into your life, but I don’t regret bringing you into mine,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t take your advice and wait. But I couldn’t do nothing when I thought there might be someone out there feeling alone the way I did...”
Thane’s stance softened. “You weren’t wrong to want to bring the twins together. I just wish we lived in a world where good things like that could happen without consequences. Simmons couldn’t have done what he did on his own. So, yes, he’s gone, but whoever he worked with... they’re probably wishing he’d erased all of us.” His jaw tightened, his eyes hardening. “They’re not as smart as they think they are, though. They could have burned down your house, and we might have wondered if it was related. Instead, they were bold enough to threaten us. That implies an arrogance we can exploit. And we will—until we discover who they are.”
“And then?”
“And then we show them what a mistake it was to underestimate what we’re capable of when it comes to keeping the people we love safe.”
“Yes,” I said with conviction.
Thane reread part of the note. “I’ll clean up the mess you made this time...” He folded the note and pocketed it. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Me neither.”
“Tell me everything you know about Mark and Dylan.”
After I did, he gave my shoulder a pat. “Stay close to Charlotte. I’ll handle this.”
I tensed beneath his hand. “You have just as much to lose as I do. I can’t let you do this alone.”
Thane’s hand dropped away. “Jesse will tell you there’s no arguing with me once I’ve made up my mind. I’d love to say you were wrong to seek out Mark and Dylan, but I haven’t slept right since I learned about the list. I don’t blame you for wanting to help them. I should have made the same choice. None of that matters now, though. They threatened the wrong family. Now step back and let me do what I do best.”
“And what is that?”
“Neutralize the issue.” When I first met Thane, I thought he was a straight-laced rule-follower. At times, he came across as uptight and proper. But that facade had fallen away, and I didn’t doubt for a second the man before me was capable of vengeance. Oddly—perhaps because of the dark corners of my own soul—I found that reassuring. At our core, we were more alike than we were different, despite how we’d been raised.
On the drive home, I was tempted to tell Charlotte everything, but if things went badly, I didn’t want her involved. So instead, I told her I had confessed to Thane that we’d contacted Mark and Dylan, but I left out the disappearance of the journals and the threatening note.
She laced her fingers with mine and brought my hand up to her lips for a kiss. “I’m glad. Do you know how amazing you are? Not many people could survive what you have and remain as strong, loving, and honest.”
I ducked my head before saying, “Not sure I’m much of any of those things.”
Her hand tightened on mine. “You’re absolutely all of them. Mark and Dylan deserve to know about each other. Don’t doubt yourself. You don’t choose the easy path—you choose the right one. That’s the kind of man I want to raise this baby with.”
I’m not an overly emotional man, but she nearly had me in tears then. I said, “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too.” She smiled, then pointed at her stomach and joked, “But language! The baby is listening.”
I whispered, “I shouldn’t say I love you?”
She laughed. “That wasn’t the part you should whisper, but okay.”
My grin was shameless. “I’m a work in progress.”
She leaned over, resting her head on my shoulder briefly. “ My work in progress.”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel. I didn’t say the words aloud, but I thought:
I would die for this woman and our child.
Kill for them.
I hope it doesn’t come to that.
But if someone comes for them, Thane won’t be the only one with blood on his hands.