Chapter 27

The sound of his phone beeping reminded Julian that Grace should be on her way to pick up the twins. As he read her text message, the crease in his brow deepened. Grace hadn’t been able to get a hold of her regular babysitter and she wanted him to find someone to watch the boys at his condo while they went to dinner. She had included the address of the restaurant.

Cursing under his breath, Julian called Grace, but the phone went straight to voicemail.

“Grace, call me back as soon as you get this. I don’t have anyone to watch the boys and I can’t take them anywhere without car seats. You and I need to talk.”

Tatiana leaned on the doorframe as she held a sleeping Eli. “If you’re planning on tearing into her you know you have no ground to stand on, right?”

His frustration around Grace’s uncharacteristic behavior also involved the concern that her actions were steering them into a dangerous situation—one that would bring them all more heartbreak. “Despite everything they’re still my sons.”

“Tell her that and you’re in for a world of misery. As I said, Grace is their mom. You don’t want to piss off the mom of your kids, who happens to be a lawyer and married to your best friend who, in turn, knows your secrets and who you also betrayed by fucking his wife and getting her pregnant. Grace likes you and you want to keep it that way. Didn’t you learn anything from dealing with my mom?”

“Tatiana—”

“Shut up,” she interrupted. “If you’re dead set on going to this dinner, bite your tongue around Pete and act like nothing is wrong. Now is not the time to be making more enemies.”

“I don’t have anyone to watch the boys.”

“I’ll watch them.”

“No one knows you’re here. Remember?”

“No one needs to know I’m the one watching them. Lie. Say you got someone you know and trust from the hospital to come over. I doubt Grace or Pete will give it a second thought.”

“Eli is passed out in your arms and I’m sure Seth is just as tired. They need to go home,” he said.

Tatiana raised an eyebrow. “You’ve learned to tell them apart.”

“There are differences between the two.”

“Not that many. How do you know this is Eli?” Tatiana asked, glancing down at the sleeping boy in her arms.

“His complexion is lighter.”

“You’ve learned to tell them apart by which of your sons is whiter. I guess that’s better than not telling them apart.”

“Only you would make it sound like that.”

“Like what?”

“You know. Wrong.”

“You should know how to tell your sons apart by something other than the color of their skin. Come here. I will show you how I know which one is which.”

Julian hesitated, but he walked up to Tatiana.

“See here?” she asked, pointing to a small beauty mark above Eli’s right eyebrow. “Seth doesn’t have one.”

Julian stroked Eli’s dark curls and, without giving it a second thought, kissed the boy’s beauty mark.

“And they have very different personalities,” Tatiana added. “But I’ll leave that for you to figure out.”

“It took me forever to tell you and Sofia apart,” Julian said, his mind filled with memories that always made him smile.

“Did you ever?”

“What?”

“Tell me and Sofia apart.”

“After the first few months of living with you I did.”

“We tricked you all the time, even after you thought you could tell us apart. It was kind of a game between us. It was fun.”

Julian and Tatiana stood close together as she held Eli and he continued to caress his son’s head.

“You wish I had been the one who had died that night, don’t you?”

Her question astounded him.

“Even if you two hadn’t been sleeping together you’d still wish I had been the one who got killed,” Tatiana added. “She was your favorite.”

“That’s not true.”

Tatiana stared him down, an expression of skepticism on her face. “Go get ready. I’ll watch Seth and Eli.”

She turned and walked away, leaving him alone in the living room.

As he showered and quickly got dressed, Julian went over in his mind what he would say when he saw Peter. After their conversation in Peter’s office, Julian didn’t think his friend would mention what he had seen the night Julian had called him over to his condo to take care of Tatiana. But he worried what Grace might say. He could no longer anticipate her actions.

As Julian made his way to leave, he stopped by the playpen in the living room. Both Seth and Eli were fast asleep.

“They won’t wake up for a while,” Tatiana said. “Probably the whole time you’re gone.”

“You know my number. Call me if—”

“Nothing’s going to happen. Go to this dinner and come back. We’ll all be here when you do.”

Julian held his keys in his hand and he closed his fingers tightly around them. He felt the sharp edges dig into his flesh.

“I’m trusting you with Seth and Eli. This is me waving a white flag at you,” he said.

“You and I have hurt each other. Because of that, there are things I can’t ever say to you. Or give you.” While her words were directed at Julian she continued to watch over the sleeping boys. “But I can say and give you one thing—I love your sons. That’s my white flag.”