“What about Lana?” she’d asked. “We live in the same city. Someone is going to realize I’m an identical twin at some point.”
“Don’t worry about it until we need to,” he’d murmured, yawning widely. “Do you trust your sister to keep our arrangement to herself?”
“Of course I do, but she can a bit scatterbrained at times.”
“It’ll be fine, Natalie. Worst case scenario, we have to quickly come up with a reason why you didn’t tell your parents about me over the last what, year or so we’ve been together?”
He made it sound so easy to take care of when the time came, but Natalie spent part of the night wide-awake and staring at the ceiling. The nagging still in her gut at lunch that afternoon was a bad omen she tried to ignore.
Too bad it only made her sick to her stomach and reminded her how easily her life could take a turn for the worse.
* * *
Another week passedand Vincent and Natalie acted more like a couple who had been together for years rather than weeks. They could barely keep their hands off each other, but it was more than that. Each day, he saw a new side of her as she continued to open up to him, and he in turn let her into his life more and more. The Friday they were leaving for the country arrived, and Vincent rushed to get back to the house. He’d packed last night, as had Natalie, both anxious to get out of the city and to the ranch. He worried about the two-hour drive, but if he could keep her mind focused on other things, she would survive. Once she saw the open land and the old house surrounded by gardens tended to by his mother for decades, the stress would be worth it.
Natalie’s sister was swinging by the house before they left so she could tell Lana about how the marriage was going so far. At first, he feared he would see Lana and mix them up, maybe suddenly regret he’d married Natalie after all, but when he reached the house and stepped into the kitchen from the garage, one look was all he needed to know he’d married the right twin for him. Lana was beautiful, of course, but after spending so much time with Natalie, he could tell them apart with a simple glance.
“Hi, babe,” Natalie greeted him and hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek. “I’d like you to meet my sister. This is Lana Jenkins.”
He held his hand out to her and she shook his tentatively. “Pleasure to actually meet you this time.” Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
“I’m sorry about the mix up. It was all my idea and I thought it would be good for her,” she rambled until he held up his hand, shaking with laughter.
“I was mad at first, I’ll admit, but stranger things have happened to bring two people together, I think. I’ve been meaning to thank you, actually.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes. If you hadn’t been such a hard ass, I might not have found my wife.”
“So you two are happy. This isn’t an act for the cameras and stuff?”
Natalie rolled her eyes as Vincent tugged her close to his side. “Not even close. I love your sister.”
“Love? Holy shit, Nat, way to go.” Lana clapped her hands then bounded to her sister, squeezing her so hard, Natalie’s eyes bulged and she shoved at her sister’s arms, pleading for her to put her down before she cracked in half. “Oh, that reminds me! I brought you a present.” She pulled a gift bag from her tote purse on the kitchen table.
“What the hell is that? Wait, never mind. I don’t want to know so take it back.”
“Screw that. You need this, trust me. Did you pack already for your honeymoon?” She wiggled her eyebrows, bouncing on the balls of her feet in the exact same way Natalie did when she was excited.
“Yes,” Natalie replied slowly.
“Well, you need to repack. You stay here,” Lana ordered Vincent. “Lead the way.”
Natalie groaned, gave Vincent a martyred look, then took her sister’s hand and led her upstairs. He listened to their banter all the way up to the second story, planting his hands on his hips and nodding in confirmation to himself. Yes, he definitely married the right twin. Lana seemed nice, but the fire in her eyes was different, and she lacked the same sense of adventure that came with Natalie. He debated pulling Lana aside to have a quick chat with her in case any reporters came up to her, but when he heard the twins laughing upstairs, he decided not to ruin their fun. He puttered around the kitchen before taking a quick look around his study to ensure everything was tucked out of sight and the safe was locked under his desk.
Steps raced downstairs, and he exited his study to see Natalie hugging Lana at the door. “Bye, new brother-in-law!” Lana yelled, waving behind Natalie’s back.
“Bye, Lana. Come back anytime.”
“Oh, I will, don’t you worry about that.” She squeezed her sister’s hand and left.
“Did you two have a nice visit?” Vincent asked as Natalie reached for his hand and fell into his body. “Is she always that excitable?”
“You have no idea. Usually, she’s worse.”
“So, what did she bring you?”
Natalie jumped back, her cheeks vibrant red along with her ears and every other bit of skin he could see. “Nothing, nothing at all. Um, I’m going to finish getting ready and then we can leave, right? Yeah, we’ll be good then.”
“Natalie, what did she buy you?”
“Nothing, nothing,” she called back down the stairs.
He had one foot on the bottom step, ready to go take a peek for himself, when the doorbell rang. Accepting the surprise present would have to wait until that weekend, he peered out the window of the front door to see a squat man standing there, a fedora hat perched on his head and a cell phone in his hand. Vincent cleared his throat and opened the door with a smile. “Can I help you?”
“Mr. Cunningham, I was hoping to catch a few moments of your time.”
“And you would be?”
“Hank Butcher, writer for the Houston Press,” he said, and Vincent stood to his full six-foot-three-inch height. “I have some questions I would like to ask you, if you have the time.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t. If you would like to leave them with Billy Ross, he handles all my interviews. Sorry you had to waste your time.” He tried to close the door, but the man had the gall to put his foot in the way. Vincent nearly went through with slamming the door shut and smashing the man’s foot, but being written off as a man who abused the press was not a good way to start his campaign.
“I’m afraid I will not continue to be turned away, Mr. Cunningham,” the man snapped.
“If you’re referring to my wife shutting you out the other day, let me tell you, off the record, I do not appreciate anyone trying to force their way into my home,” he growled. “I certainly don’t appreciate you doing it to my wife.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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