Currently, they seemed to be in some kind of staring contest, seeing which one could go without blinking first. Braden could always make Kate giggle, which caused her to blink within seconds. It was the best sound in the world to wake up to.

“Good morning, sweethearts,” I said, stretching and thinking about how I wished I could sleep for a few more hours. I was shocked when I saw that it was already eleven in the morning. Even with eight hours of sleep, I still felt as if I had been run over by a bus. Ever since I’d gotten sick, I hadn’t felt like I could ever fully recharge my batteries. I was always running a little low and really hoped that went away soon. “How long have you guys been up?”

“Shh!!” Braden and Kate promptly admonished me. Their little fingers covered their mouths in a highly dramatic fashion.

“Daddy’s sleeping!” Kate whispered. “He didn’t leave.” She smiled brilliantly as if she couldn’t believe he really stayed.

“Duh, Kate. He crossed his heart, remember?” Hmm, he was supposed to have been sleeping when Lane said that. Sneaky boy.

I rolled over in the huge, king-size bed and looked at where they had pointed moments ago. A cough sputtered out of my throat at the sight of Lane. Last night, he had pulled the couch across the room and pushed it flush against the side of the bed Kate slept on.

His large body could barely fit across the length of it. An average human being would have made that piece of furniture look like a normal, full-length couch, but a man built like a Greek god made the poor thing look like an armchair. One of his legs was draped over the low backside and his feet were hanging off the end. His undamaged arm was slung above his head, dangling over the end. He had the sling back on and his injured arm was cradled against his chest. He didn’t look even a little bit comfortable, and I felt bad that we had all stretched out in that magnificent bed while he squashed himself onto that plastic-looking furniture.

“He has a lot of muscles,” I heard Braden whisper. I had to agree with him there. He told me that he didn’t work for the police department anymore, but I wasn’t sure what he did now. Regardless, all of that fighting he had been learning to catch Flores really had kept his body in outstanding shape.

“That’s because he’s a superhero,” Kate informed Braden.

“I’m gonna have muscles like that too,” he told her.

“I’m sure you’ll be just as strong, buddy,” I chuckled. “Just remember you have to eat all of your vegetables. I bet Lane always eats his spinach.”

The crease in Braden’s nose crinkled and I could tell he was deep in thought. I had a feeling he was weighing the odds of leafy greens actually causing muscles in his head, which made me laugh to myself.

“Let’s let him sleep in a bit more. We can go play in the other room until he wakes up.”

“But...” Kate hesitated. “I think he would be sad if we were gone.”

“We’ll be super quiet, mama,” Braden added with an exaggerated whisper.

“Alright. Well, I’m going to take a shower, but I’m serious you two, do not wake him up.” I dumped out books from the backpack and even some crayons and coloring pages for them to share.

“Thank you, mama,” Kate murmured. My heart clenched at her words. How much longer did I get to be her “Mama”? I just couldn’t stand the idea of it being any different, but I knew things would unquestionably change sometime soon.

LANE -

Sleeping on the floor probably would have been a better choice than that tiny-ass couch. My legs were hanging off the arm of one side and my feet were asleep from the blood loss. That annoying pins-and-needles feeling poked from the inside out. I slowly twisted my feet in a circular motion and turned my head toward the tiny whispers that came from the bed.

Kate and Braden were leaning toward one another, deep in conversation.

“That’s a really good job, sissy,” Braden said.

“Thanks. I’m making it for you, and you can add it to the other pictures I made you,” she replied.

“I don’t think we’re going to get to go back and get all of our things from home,” he stated solemnly.

She shrugged and told him, “It’s okay, I like it here better. Daddy’s here.”

“He’s your daddy, not mine,” Braden expressed sadly.

“Maybe he can be your daddy, too.” She looked up at him with so much hope in her eyes, I almost wanted to be the kid’s dad just so that look would always stay there on her sweet face.

“No, I got mama and you got your daddy.”

“But, I want mama too,” she panicked.

“Don’t worry, Kate. I’m your big brother and brothers have to take care of their sisters.” I swore that little guy puffed out his chest with those words. Kate leaned over and kissed him loudly on the cheek, and he giggled while swiping his hands across his face. “Eww, Kate!” he protested while continuing to laugh.

I decided to take that moment and sit up. The laughter immediately died from both of their faces and I felt kind of bad for surprising them.

“Morning,” I said with a rasp.

“Braden! Mama said we couldn’t wake him up. He needs sleep,” Kate said in an accusatory tone.

“Sorry.” Braden looked up at me and spoke quietly.

“You guys are fine. It was about time I woke up anyway.” I glanced at the clock and groaned when I saw that it was close to noon. Charlie would be calling soon, wondering why the hell we hadn’t come back to the station yet. “I bet you two are starving, huh?”

They both stood up and flew into excited balls of energy, telling me how their stomachs had been growling all morning. The theatrics of it all made me chuckle. The silly noises caused each other to laugh as well, and they fell back down onto the bed in hysterics.

I made a request down to room service and practically ordered the entire menu—twice. I had no idea what they liked but what they didn’t eat, I would finish off. I had never gone that long without eating. Usually, I was stuffing my face every hour and now my stomach was cramping in pain from the lack of nourishment.

I heard Raegan moving around in the bathroom so I got up to go speak with her, away from little ears. On my way over, I leaned down and kissed Kate on the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around my neck before I could lift away and planted one right on my cheek. I still didn’t understand all of it, but hell, I would take all the love she had to give. She released my neck and let me continue toward the bathroom.

The bathroom door clicked open and I pushed my way inside before Raegan could make her way out.

“What the...” she grunted from my unexpected intrusion. “Rude!”

“Hey, I wanted to talk...” Crap... I hadn’t planned my invasion very well. Raegan stood about six inches shorter than me, so I hadn’t noticed at first because her head only came up to my chest, but... she was only wearing a towel and her heavy br**sts created a magnificent swell, poking out from the top.

She hiked her towel up higher, but it didn’t help one bit. It only caused them to jiggle and made the scenario even more difficult for me. I shifted, in case I needed to hide a growing problem.

“Lane… stop!” she breathed out.

“I’m sorry,” I chuckled. “I swear I’m not usually this juvenile.” She quirked an eyebrow up at me in apparent disbelief. “Okay, I’ve got it under control,” I said. Fuck, she was hot. I so did not have it under control. I forced my eyes to her face. When I quickly looked over at the cut on her head, I immediately sobered.

“Shit, Raegan, your head.” I searched frantically for something I could use to clean up her cut, which was bleeding down the side of her face. What the hell were these stitches doing if she kept bleeding out of them? I applied a gentle pressure with a wad of tissues. She sucked in air and I jumped to apologize, “I’m sorry. I just need to get the bleeding to stop.”

She moved to grab the tissue, but then realized that she needed both of her hands on the towel so she relented and mumbled, “Thank you.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Still dizzy and tired, but I think that’s normal.”

“Can I ask what happened now?” I requested softly, as if I were approaching a wounded animal.

“Can I answer when I have my clothes on?” She looked up at me through long eyelashes and I was gutted by those green eyes.

“I prefer you like this... but I guess for the kids’ sake, it’s more appropriate.” I tried giving her my sexiest smirk.

I slowly retreated backward out of the bathroom. “Oh, don’t even try that playboy smile on me. It won’t work, mister.”

I clutched my chest. “Playboy smile? I’m offended!” I exclaimed teasingly.

She shrugged her shoulders in a knowing fashion, the action causing her br**sts to rise and fall heavily. I wanted to pounce on her.

I started to speak and she held up a finger to stop me. “You’re probably about to defend yourself, but I don’t need you to. Guys who look like you are playboys. I knew guys like you before...” She paused and seemed to consider her words carefully. “I just knew guys like you.” Her sexy smile told me she was messing with me, but I could tell she still believed her words.

“I’m sure you didn’t know anyone like me,” I had to add.

“Oh yeah? Tell me this, Lane, when was the last time you had sex?”

I cringed instantly. I knew I had just given myself away, but I still didn’t want to answer. I couldn’t tell her that I had actually been in bed with a girl when I got the call to go to Mexico.

“Wow, that recent, huh?” She chuckled at my unease and gently pushed me out of the bathroom so she could finish up.

With the door quietly closed in my face, I had to think hard about why I didn’t like her knowing I had been with another woman not so long ago. She didn’t know me. Hell, I didn’t know her. I shouldn’t even care. I had Kate to worry about right now.

A knock on the hotel room door pushed my battling thoughts into the back of my mind. I greeted the gentleman and allowed him to push the full-service cart through the doorway. He lifted up the tablecloth to show me that there was more underneath. We both laughed at my over-eagerness as he backed his way out of the room.

I had the kids set up at the table with all of their choices and glasses of milk before I decided to take two more plates into the other room.

“Raegan and I are going to be in the other room eating, is that okay?” I asked the two of them.

“Yep!” they simultaneously responded with chipmunk-cheek smiles. They really were hungry. I shouldn’t have let them go that long without something to eat.

I heard Raegan turn on the blow dryer as I made my way into the connecting room. I figured I had a few moments to myself since her hair was so long and decided to use that time to finally call Audrey back, even though I was dying to shovel food in my mouth. I had gone long enough not talking to her. I knew she would be pissed at me and it made my stomach churn at the idea. I hated when people were upset with me, but Audrey... I just couldn’t let it go any longer.

I picked up the phone receiver next to the bed and dialed Audrey’s number that I had memorized by heart long ago. She wouldn’t recognize the number, but I hoped she would still answer.

After three rings, I heard Jace’s brusque voice ask, “Hello?”

“Quit being so damn overprotective and hand her the phone,” I laughed.

“You wouldn’t want me to be any other way.” He had a point. I could sleep easier when I left knowing Jace would protect Audrey better than I could. But that was only because he slept with her. “You may not want me to hand the phone over to her right now...” he warned with humor in his voice.

“Who is that, Jace?” I heard Audrey’s familiar voice call. Jace didn’t answer so I knew he had to have been giving her a telling look. “Give me that phone right now,” she practically growled.

Yeah, I had some explaining to do and she wasn’t going to let me off easy.

“What would you have done if I refused to answer your calls or texts for days?” she bit into the line.

“Doll, I need to tell you something very important right now,” I soothed.

“What would you have done, Lane!?”

I sighed heavily, knowing what she was doing. “I would have tracked you down and counseled you on the danger of being out of touch. I would have been out of my mind with worry.”

“Don’t you ever do that to me again. And no, I don’t care that you sent Jace a text. I needed to hear from you.”

“Doll, I need to tell you why I always disappear.” My words sobered her rampage and she fell silent. “First, I want to tell you I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the past couple of days, and I’m even more sorry for not telling you where I’ve been going for the past couple of years.”

“Are you a drug dealer?” she whispered.

“What?! No. God, Audrey. That’s what you thought?” In the background, I heard Jace hoot with laughter.

“Lane Parker…” Shit, I didn’t like it when she took that tone. “Does Jace know where you go?” Well, that halted Jace’s cackling in a hurry. Good, he was in trouble now too.

“Yes.”

“Tell me,” she growled.

“I have a daughter.”

“What!?” she shouted. “How in the hell? You have a daughter that you’ve only gone to see a handful of times a year? Lane, I will kill you.”

“Audrey, when she was only a baby she was kidnapped from my apartment in New York.”