Layers Peeled (27 page)

“Trust me, you
don’t want to know what I’m thinking,” I gritted through my teeth,
imagining my face turning beet red.

“We’ll get it
cleaned up without a trace,” Tristan said. “Julian and Kendra are
taking care of replacing everything.”

I’d always
known he could read my mind.

The ambulance
door opened and hot air slammed into me.

They wheeled
me into the hospital and to the maternity ward. I knew these were
my first babies, and that they’d said it would take some time
giving birth for the first time, but I could swear my kids were in
a hurry to meet us. The pressure down there felt unreal as I felt
the need to push.

“They’re
coming,” I yelled out as soon as they moved me to the bed.

The next few
minutes passed in a haze. I saw stars flying around my head in
circular patterns, just like in the cartoons. A few bunny rabbits
jumped through the air as well. The nurses and doctors moved around
the room like a coordinated army ready for an attack.
It’s not
like I’m having sextuplets, people.
But I didn’t doubt it was
Tristan’s doing to get the best care he could for me and the twins.
Apparently there was no time for an epidural, so I added that to
the list I’d use to guilt the kids with in the future. Who was I
kidding? I knew I’d love them and spoil them for the rest of my
life. I concentrated on my contractions and pushed with all my
might until I heard the most beautiful sound in the world: a sound
I would no doubt curse within a week.

“Congratulations, you have a baby boy.”

Tristan wiped
the sweat off his forehead, as if it was him doing all the pushing.
Mesmerized by his newborn son he’d said, “For Emma’s sake, I just
hope it’s not Barney.”

But I couldn’t
pay any attention to him. The pressure between my legs didn’t ease
and within what seemed like seconds (which truthfully was a bit
longer), I felt the need to push again.

“It’s coming,”
I screamed.

“Okay, Allie,
you’re going to push one more time.”

Really?!

With a long
brace I locked my jaw tight, praying my teeth wouldn’t crack. The
agony was unreal, and as I shut my eyes, forcing with all my might,
the world disappeared from my eyes until another scream sounded.
And the pain stopped as soon as the second twin was out. It all
faded to nothing but joy. How was it possible something so little
could cause so much pain? But at this moment, it didn’t matter. I
fell back to the bed.

“It’s a girl,”
the nurse said.

“Are they all
right? They’re early. Please tell me they’ll be okay.”

“You’ll both
stay at the hospital for a while, but their Apgar scores look
normal for twins born early.”

“Thank God!”
Tristan squeezed my hand then kissed my forehead. “Are you all
right?”

“Yeah, I think
so.”

“Well, I don’t
think Emma’s expecting to be a double aunt.” Tristan hovered over
the nurses as they cleaned, measured, and weighed the kids.

“I’m sure
she’s not.” As soon as I fell back to the bed they placed the
snuggled babies on my chest, and I couldn’t think of a better
feeling in the world.

* * *

“Two! You knew
you were having twins and didn’t tell us!” Emma raised her arms.
After that, she couldn’t get a word out. Her mouth kept on opening
and closing without making a sound.

“We wanted to
surprise you.”

Emma’s mouth
was now open wide in a rare occasion of silence. I fought the urge
to take a picture.

“You know,
Emma, you’re slipping. I’m going to have to rethink some of your
training,” Tristan teased.

“What do you
mean, I’m slipping?” She whipped her body toward her brother.

“Because the
blood work you forged originally indicated higher levels of
hormones than expected in a normal pregnancy. You should have been
the first one to know we were having twins.”

“What
forging?” Mrs. Cross asked her daughter.

“I promise it
was not a big deal.” She fluttered her lashes at her mother.

“Now, Emma,
I’m curious about the baby name,” Mr. Cross asked, conspicuously
trying to protect his daughter from an inquisition.

“Well, you
told me you’d have a boy.”

“We did.”

She turned to
me, saying, “So I thought that perhaps Raleigh, after your father,
Ray Green.”

My mom choked
and I couldn’t hold back the tears either. My Emma did it again. I
knew I could trust her to choose the best name in the world.

“But I didn’t
really get a chance to think about a girl name.” She fumbled with
her fingers.

“We did,”
Tristan whispered, handing me a tissue. “How about Ammé, after the
best sister in the world, except spelled backwards. Because our
little girl is as unique and lovely and beautiful as you,
Emma.”

Once again, in
a rare moment, Emma’s mouth didn’t release a sound. But it didn’t
matter. I now had the million-dollar family I’d never expected. And
for the first time in my life, I could begin living the way I’d
always imagined: safe, in love, and blessed with a beautiful
family.

* * *

Dear Reader:

As you can
imagine Tristan and Julian haven’t spilled all their secrets yet.
If you’re curious as to what happened between the time Allie and
Tristan thought Wright was dead and the birth of their twins, book
3
Layers Off
will go into all the details. The story will be
told from the point of view of the most disturbed character in
Dazzled by Silver (prequel to the Layers trilogy), Kendra. The
Cross brothers have always had a close relationship with her and
Layers Off will explain why. Cross Enterprises may not be the
wholesome family business after all and their secrets will come
off, one layer at a time.

Look for
Layers Off
in early Spring 2014 and
sign up
for my newsletter to receive email alerts on
release dates, promotions and discounts. I will not spam, nor give
your email to anyone.

Kindly,

Lacey Silks

Author of
Erotic Romance, Lacey Silks writes her stories from life
experiences, dreams and fantasies. She likes a pinkish shade on a
woman’s cheeks, men with large feet and sexy lingerie, especially
when it’s torn off the body. Her favorite piece of clothing is a
‘birthday suit’.

When she’s not
thinking about writing steamy stories, which is a rare occasion,
Lacey enjoys camping and skiing with her family (not at the same
time of course). She’s a happily married wife blessed with two kids
who adore going to the library. She’s an early bird by nature, but
loves the nightly adventures with her hubby which provide good
content for her books.

If you enjoyed
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Work by Lacey Silks:

Short Stories

My First, My Last (Free
eBook)

Dance With Me

Teacher’s Pet

Over The Limit

Bossy Request (Free
eBook)

My Neighbor’s Will

Fantasy in Each Reality
(Erotic Shorts 1-3) Collection

Fantasy in Each Reality
(Erotic Shorts 4-6) Collection

Mistresses Series: Meet
Claire, Casey, Lexie, Paige and Amber in 5 connected shorts in the
“My Reason To Cheat” Series.

Dazzled By Silver (a
prequel to the Layers Trilogy)

Layers Deep

Layers Peeled

Layers Off

No More Regrets

My First, My Last: A
Novel (based on the free short story)

Untitled erotic
suspense