April Arrington - Twins For The Bull Rider

Dominic stepped away. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Logan cast one last look at the boys before leaving the room. Closing her eyes, Cissy sighed. Wisps of the boys’ hair moved and tickled her chin. She dropped her cheek to the top of their heads, rubbing it back and forth.

How had they ended up here? And in the middle of the night with an almost stranger?

She cringed. There was no way she could pay for her car being towed, a new tire and room and board for the night. What would Logan and Dominic do when they found out she was broke and had no place to go? Would they throw them out? Or worse, call Family and Children Services?

Clutching the boys tighter to her chest, she whispered an apology when Jayden whimpered. “It’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

And if it wasn’t, she’d make it okay.

The cell phone in her pocket buzzed against her thigh. Cissy’s hands curled tighter around the boys. The incessant vibrations persisted despite her attempts to ignore them.

Keep our boys together, Cissy.

She firmed her features. She’d make it okay. She had to.

* * *

“ARE THEY YOURS?”

“Hell, no,” Dominic spat.

He winced at the harsh words that burst from his mouth. The warmth from Jayden’s body still lingered on his right side. And it wasn’t the kids’ fault his brother had turned into a cynical ass.

It was just like Logan to come out with guns blazing. This was the exact reason he’d put off coming home for so long this time out. Dominic gritted his teeth and flicked his eyes over the room to rein in his temper.

Not much had changed in Raintree Ranch’s main office over the past year and a half. It remained organized, controlled and presentable. Just like Logan.

Shoving his fists into his pockets, Dominic stared his brother down. “Those boys have to be at least five. For God’s sake, Logan, is that what you think of me? That I’d abandon my own flesh and blood for the first years of their life?”

“I don’t know, Dom,” Logan returned, eyes piercing into his. “You just hit twenty-five. And you sure as hell left a trail in your wake. You probably don’t know what you’ve left behind.”

Dominic straightened. “Oh, I’d know. That’s one chance I don’t take.”

Logan maintained his stance behind the mahogany desk. Hands flat on the counter, head lifted. “Mistakes happen.”

“Yeah,” Dominic sneered, “and don’t you know it, big bro?”

That got a reaction.

Logan shoved off the desk, rounding it and bringing his face so close it blurred. “If you came home just to stir shit up, you can haul your ass off right now. Don’t have time for it. Some of us work for a living.”

“And I don’t?” Dominic jerked his chin up. “Whose work produced the money to build this place to begin with?”

“I wouldn’t call getting thrown on your back by bulls and buckle bunnies actual work.” Logan stepped away and narrowed his eyes. “But heaven forbid we ever forget that you still cut us a check every month.” His brows rose. “Want to see ’em? I haven’t been cashing them. Just stacking them up all nice and neat in a pile and locking them in the safe so you’ll have proof you did your part when the time comes.”

Dominic’s gut roiled. “You’re a real bastard when you want to be, Logan.”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding, “and you love it. Makes it real easy to sweep back in here and be the charming hero every couple years. Tell me, how many times did you call Pop over the past year and a half?”

Dominic spun around, then strode to the window and hunched his shoulders. “He has you.”

“He sees me every day, you know? It’s not me he wants to talk to. It’s you.” Logan’s scornful laugh crossed the room to grate over his ears. “Don’t worry. He won’t hold it against you. He never does.”

“Where is he?”

“Where do you think? It’s after eleven at night. This is a working guest ranch. We get up at the crack of dawn here. We don’t wallow around until noon recovering from parties the night before.”

Shame washed over Dominic, burning his neck. This was going nowhere.

Yanking his fists free, he stalked across the room. “You think you can put this in your back pocket until morning? I’m not feeling it right now and those kids out there are ’bout dead on their feet. All I need is a room key and I’ll be out of your hair for a few hours.”

Logan sighed then moved back behind the desk. He yanked a drawer open and rustled through it before holding out a key. “Twenty-seven’s the only one empty. Has a king-size bed and en suite bathroom. It’s on the second floor.”

“I know where it is. I haven’t been gone that long.”

“I assume you plan on staying in the bunkhouse as usual.”

The bunkhouse. Away from the main house. Away from Logan’s stifling grip. Hell, yes.

“You assume right.” Dominic swiped the key out of Logan’s hand and jerked his wallet free from his back pocket to produce a wad of bills. Tossing them down, he jeered, “Brought cash this time instead of a check. Throw that on the pile.”

His boots landed with thuds on the wood floor as he stomped away.

“Dom?”

A softening in Logan’s tone halted him. Dominic tilted his head but didn’t turn around.

“Stay awhile this time, yeah?”

Dominic looked over his shoulder. Logan’s expression was still carved in stone, but his eyes pleaded with Dom’s.

“We’ll see,” he murmured.

A tremor tore through his frame at the gruff sound of his voice. It was just exhaustion. He’d been on the road too long and he needed to recuperate. And he needed to get those boys settled before he did that.

Jerking away, he returned to the kitchen, drawing to a halt in the doorway. The boys were still knocked out, their limbs draped around Cissy. Her cheek rested on top of their heads and their bodies lifted and lowered with each soft breath that passed between her parted lips. The blond sweep of her hair had fallen to one side and settled in a silken pool on one of the boy’s shoulders.

Her expression was softer. No angry scowl or judgmental glare. Sleep had claimed her, too.

Dominic grinned. She sure was a lot less temperamental in this state. And even in her sleep, her arms were like steel bands wrapped around those boys. It was obvious she cared for them.

The grin vanished as his gut churned. Still, having kids didn’t always mean someone stuck around. He’d found that out first hand. Unlimited funds and fun was all it had taken to lure his mother away. He’d learned a long time ago that everyone had their price. And expectations.

Rolling his shoulders, he shrugged off the unpleasant thoughts and refocused on their peaceful faces.

Well, damn. He couldn’t carry all of them up the stairs. He’d have to wake her. He moved with soft steps across the room then lowered to his haunches at her feet.

“Cissy,” he whispered. He ran his eyes over the freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. Unable to resist, he touched the pad of his thumb to them and drifted it over the soft skin of her exposed cheek. His tanned hand stood out in stark contrast to her porcelain complexion.

Her eyes popped open and she lifted her head. Beet-red heat covered her other cheek. It glistened with sweat and the boys’ hair stuck to it.

“Hey.” He bit back a smile. “I got a room for you. Think you can make it up a flight of stairs?”

Blinking hard, she shifted upright and nodded. “Yeah.”

“There was only one open.” He lifted Jayden from her and arranged the boy on his hip. No response. These boys were like the dead when they slept. “It’s only got one bed but should be big enough for all of you.”