Thick as Thieves (The Greystone Family: Stolen Hearts #3)

Chapter 22

22

Evie

There’s a commotion at the door of the room. To my right, one of the most gorgeous men in existence lays next to me asleep.

Xander. Wow, he’s even more beautiful in sleep. His long, thick, black lashes swoop down onto his high cheekbones. So peaceful when he’s asleep, no movement. I always associate Xan with motion, as he hardly sleeps. But here, now, he’s sleeping deeply, his breathing soft and rhythmic.

I grin to myself. Maybe it was sex that he needed to sleep. But actually, on second thought, no it can’t have been. He’s had a lot of that all the time before me. I know what he is, what he does—or did. But as with anything, I can’t look back, only forward.

Maybe, just this once, I’ll think backwards about last night. The love, the consideration, the care, the worship, the joy. The emotions that poured out of us all. As if the biggest dam had been breached and, once unleashed, it was a force of its own. Unstoppable, flowing onwards, trampling everything in its path.

I touch the smooth skin on show, avoiding the welts. Thinking how much he loves me to touch him. Surely everything will be good when he loves so hard. But the doubts creep in, and regardless of the strength and depth of feeling, I know things are uncertain and the future is fraught with issues.

The door opens and in walks Kellen, the nanny behind him with the twins in their pushchair, red faced and bawling. Kell throws his hands in the air as he turns to her. “For fucks sake, she was supposed to be left alone until this afternoon. What the fuck is she paying you for? You had all the milk.”

I go to move out of bed and remember too late, I'm naked. And with lots of marks on me.

Kell's eyes widen and he shakes his head at me, trying to tell me to stay put in the bed. I can read his frustration, and it’s not aimed at me. But oh dear, Betty has not only clocked me, but also the sleeping beauty in my bed. And with my husband just walking through the door with a black eye and in his suit jacket and trousers…

Slipping back into bed, I say, “Thanks, I’ll take them. I haven’t had a drink, so I’ll be fine to feed them.” I don’t want her to think I’ve been drinking and then feeding my babies. But as Kell pointed out, that would be the least of the trouble.

I feel my milk come in and smile as I put my arms out for the boys. Kell takes them out of the pushchair, Betty being no help, standing absolutely dumbstruck behind them. He comes and hands them over. As soon as they get near me, they start to settle and latch on like they’ve been starved.

I don’t temper the frown I turn on a staring Betty. “Why are they so hungry? Did they not take the milk I left? There was plenty.”

She goes red in the face and stutters out that they would not settle, and she used the milk up but they were still really hungry.

Xan is now awake and smiles at me, as if the sun has risen with me, reaching over to touch the nearest boy’s head. He pushes up, his top half visible as he swings his legs out of bed so his back is to Betty. She gasps at the marks on it.

“Good handiwork that, Kitten,” Kell says laughing. He’s not hiding anything. “Mine’s worse.” He drops his suit jacket to show off his marks. And they are definitely worse.

“The black eye’s not mine,” I say to him as he lays next to me on the other side of the bed.

“No, that was Gabe.” He rolls his eyes as Xan gets back into bed.

I’ve totally forgotten the nanny, who is standing like a statue at the door. “You may as well go, Betty. We’ll give you a shout once these two are sorted,” says Kellen dismissively, not even looking at her.

Turning to us, he states, “I’m fucking knackered.” He moves closer to me. “What a ridiculous night. I hope you two had more fun.” I hear the nanny choke out a breath and leave, banging into the door and bouncing off it, stumbling through it before slamming it shut behind her.

“I don’t think that’s going to go well.” I nod towards the kamikaze exit and the now slammed-shut door.

“She’s signed an NDA so it shouldn’t be an issue. Maybe we need to talk to her. See if she wants to carry on,” says Xan. “But to be honest, I’m not bothered if she doesn’t. The fact that she couldn't sort out the boys for less than twenty-four hours on her own…” He shakes his head. “If I didn’t think she would do it, I’d wonder if she did that on purpose, coming in like that with them bawling and screaming like that.” He’s touching Lochi’s head, who looks up at him and smiles, coming off my breast momentarily before going back to his breakfast. Xan gazes lovingly at Lochi, but his face is serious when he talks about the nanny.

I nod at him in agreement. “I know. We’ll see. I don’t want to rock the boat, but I’m not being judged at home. It’ll be hard enough in general, but I want to be able to do what I want when I want in my own home.” My mind is spinning with all the issues, even at home I might face several.

“You’ll be able to do that outside as well. Fuck the lot of them. If she doesn’t want to work for us, then she can go. We’ll sort someone else out,” puts in Kellen. “I’m not having her telling me how to live, or making you feel uncomfortable. Let’s get rid of her. Come on tour. We love you on tour. We can all sort out the kids. You’re not due back to work for another couple of months. Or you can work remotely if you need to do some stuff on the docks. But let’s get someone who actually helps and is supportive.” He’s clearly thought about all this, his face hopeful.

“I want to see Marshall. I’ve not really spent any time at home. I want to do that for a few weeks when he and Jonno are home from Ireland. I’ll come back on tour for May and June then back to Devon for the summer. I really want to be home for the summer.” They both look at each other then nod.

“We finish the festivals in early July, in South America,” says Kell. “We can come home and go into the studio. Decide on tours into the winter and where.”

“It’s settled then. Sounds like a great plan. We get the best of all worlds.”

Sorley is snoozing as usual. I prod Kell to take him, and he sits up, picking the sleeping boy off me.

“God, he’s so beautiful,” he says, swinging him gently up to rub his back.

Lochi rolls off me, milk drunk, and Xan smiles gently and takes the boy, kissing his head.

“He looks like James,” Xan says. “When he sleeps, I can see him in his face.” He smiles over at Kellen, love making him almost glow. “I can’t wait for you to come out with these two again. It was great before, but now it will be spectacular,” he says, placing the sleeping baby down and getting back into bed.

“I smell of milk. I need to shower.” I get up and move towards the shower, both of them watch me. They’re assessing if I’m moving away from them or if I really do need a shower. To be honest, it's a bit of both. It’s a lot—a lot of firsts, a lot of decisions going forwards.

I walk into the shower and get it ready, trying to slow my mind, the jumbled thoughts pouring as much as the shower water. Just as I’ve stepped in, they both come in, stark naked. My eyes widen at the glorious bodies on show. Abs to die for, skin so smooth like silk.

“We think you need help showering.” Kell’s grinning, his voice soft, the one I love, but playful. “The two of you were all I could think about last night. I need to be with you both, don’t leave yet, Kitten.”

Washcloth in hand, Xan cocks a hip at us and asks cheekily, “So my loves, who’s first?” He grins at us both as he twirls the cloth on his fingers.