Conspiracy Game

“You’d distract me,” Jack said.

“From what?”

“I watch Ken’s back. Now I’ve got two of you to look after.”

“How about this,” Briony suggested. “Ken can dance and we’ll both watch out for him. And don’t worry, Ken-if one of the ladies starts groping you on the dance floor, I’ll be all over it in a heartbeat. But then, Ken can watch out for us while we dance. Ken, you could do that, couldn’t you?”

“It’s a deal, as long as you let the ladies grope me.”

Jack threw his hands into the air. “So this is how it’s going to be. You’re going to double team me, aren’t you?”

Ken and Briony exchanged a grin and nodded, unrepentant.

CHAPTER 13

“Briony, look at the monitor,” Dr. Casey instructed. “Jack, do you see what I’m looking at.”

“Two hearts,” Jack said.

Briony went still, the color draining from her face. She reached for Jack’s hand for strength. It wasn’t possible. She’d never considered having one child-let alone two. She was beginning to think she was in the middle of a nightmare and just needed to pinch herself very hard to wake up.

Jack bent close to her, close enough that his lips brushed her ear, but his words were in her head, not spoken aloud. Don’t panic on me, baby. We’ll get through this. His fingers tightened around hers.

Briony swung her head around slowly and stared at the small screen. There was a black cone and a lot of swishing and not much of anything that she could see. “No way. Don’t even joke like that, you two. I almost had a heart attack.”

The doctor pointed and made a small circle first over one spot and then over another. “You’re definitely carrying twins.”

What’s wrong, Jack? I can feel Briony from here. She’s very upset.

Don’t go shooting the doctor. He just told her we were having twins, and she’s not prepared for the news.

She’s very distressed.

I’m aware, Ken. I’ll deal with it.

Jack brushed the hair back from Briony’s face. Small beads of sweat dotted her brow, and her skin was clammy, so pale it was nearly translucent. One hand fluttered to her throat.

“Jack. No.” She shook her head, her gaze desperately clinging to his. “I’ve never held a baby in my life, let alone changed diapers. I don’t know the first thing about babies.” What if they cry and I freak out and throw up everywhere? I can’t be with anyone when they’re upset. A baby can’t control that. I thought with one, I could, you know, take a breather every now and then, but not with two. Jack, I can’t do two.

The doctor held on to his smile, looking cheerful. “I know it’s a bit of a shock, but many women have twins and do just fine. Everything looks good. You should be able to carry without any problems. We’ll want to keep a close eye on you.”

Briony nearly crushed Jack’s fingers. “Are you absolutely certain? Two babies?”

“Yes. I heard two heartbeats, and you can clearly see them on the sonogram. If you’d like more clarity, the hospital has a newer model and you could have it confirmed on their machine. I can set up the appointment.”

Jack pressed his free hand into Briony’s shoulder in warning. “That won’t be necessary.” We don’t need more of a paper trail than necessary. Let’s just stick with Dr. Casey as long as possible. “It’s a shock, that’s all, but a welcome one, isn’t it, baby?”

She swallowed the fear crushing her and hung on to his tender tone. If only he really loved her that much- wanted her that much. A woman could put up with a lot to have a man love her so much. How could he fake that look? That caressing tone? He actually sounded happy about the babies. She wished she had Jack’s strength.

The doctor casually wiped the smears of gel from her stomach. Jack pulled down her shirt. “Thanks, Doc. We’ll go celebrate. Do you have a nutrition expert who can give us advice on what she should or shouldn’t eat?”

“Ask the receptionist for our comprehensive tip sheet and don’t forget to take your prenatals,” Dr. Casey advised. “Any more questions?”

Briony shook her head. The man had already said a mouthful.

“Is there any reason why we can’t make love?” Jack asked.

Briony bit back a squeak of shock. Her gaze jumped to his face, but he was looking at the doctor.

“I’d like to know what we can and can’t do,” Jack added.

Briony closed her eyes. Just the thought of Jack touching her was enough to get her wet, make her body go into hormone overload. What was he thinking, bringing that up when they already had so many problems avoiding it. She should have influenced the doctor to say they couldn’t have sex, but no, he was going into great detail and Jack was just soaking it up. She lifted her hand limply as the doctor left.

“What were you thinking?” she hissed.

“I’m taking precautions. If you’re with me, Briony, it’s going to happen. We both know it, and we need the answers. I don’t want to take a chance on hurting you or the babies.”

She let Jack help her into a sitting position. She wasn’t going to go there. Not now, not when there were other, much larger problems. Babies. “What are we going to do? One baby I might be able to take care of, but two of them? Do you have any idea what this means?” She couldn’t disappear with two babies. It would be nearly impossible to protect two children from Dr. Whitney. “Can you see me running with a front and back pack, fighting enhanced soldiers off? This is getting worse and worse.”

Jack’s jaw tightened. “What do you want to do? The doctor said you’re eleven weeks along. What’s the cutoff time?”

Her breath caught in her throat, and both hands covered her stomach protectively. “For what? I’m not having an abortion, Jack. I might not be able to take care of my children myself, but I’ll be damned if I’ll have an abortion. They feel a part of me already. No.” She shook her head. “No way.”

“We’ll take care of them together the old-fashioned way, by ourselves.”

“Jack, you’ve never seen me around people without you there to buffer me from all the emotion.”

“I watched you perform. I didn’t protect you then because I wanted to see and feel what your life was like.”

She shook her head. “You did protect me. Not all the way, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as usual. You weren’t even aware of it. I’m just so afraid that if the babies get sick, or are upset… ” She looked up at him. “What if I can’t take care of them?”

“You performed night after night because you loved your family that much, Briony, why would you think you’d do any less for your children?”

She couldn’t pull her gaze from his. He was so certain, not in the least ruffled by the news. She was impacting his life in ways she hadn’t expected, and he was the one handling it, not her. “Okay. You’re right. We’ll just do whatever has to be done-one day at a time.”

Jack’s fingers circled the nape of her neck. “We can do this.” He flashed a small grin. It faded quickly, but fascinated Briony all the same. There was no softening of his hard, weathered features; rather, his eyes went from dark to light. Her stomach somersaulted in response, proving she was still way too susceptible to him. “And we always have Ken to do diaper duty.”

“Aren’t you worried about Whitney’s men finding us?”

“They’ll either come for you or they won’t, baby. We can’t stop living our lives because Whitney may find out where you are.”

Jack didn’t leave the room as she got back into her jeans; in fact he didn’t even avert his eyes. “You’re incredibly beautiful, you know that?”

“No, I’m not, but it’s nice of you to say so.” She tried not to blush as she zipped up her jeans. It seemed natural