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Chapter One
Nick
“I’m heading out,” I said to the receptionist as I passed the front desk of my fitness club.
“Hey, brother,” Leo greeted me. He was just coming in. “You’re leaving already? Short day, huh?”
“Yes. I’m going to visit Allison and the kids.”
“Right. Okay.”
All of my brothers trained at my flagship gym, and I usually liked to hang around with them after the training to catch up. But I’d promised those kids I’d see them today, and I didn’t want to disappoint them. Ever since my best friend, Jim, and his wife, Nora, passed away, I tried to see the little ones as often as possible.
“How’s Allison doing?” Leo asked. Allison was Nora’s sister. She immediately took the kids in, moving them into her home to live with her.
“Coping.”
“Still as hot as I remember her?”
I frowned at my brother. “You’re engaged.”
“What’s one thing got to do with the other? I wasn’t asking for myself, obviously.”
I groaned, shaking my head. “Whatever, bro. I said I’d drop by with dinner, and I don’t want to keep them waiting. Have a good workout.”
With that, I left. Leo knew me too well. If I lingered, he’d figure something out.
Obviously, I’d noticed Allison was hot, but I’d never had much to do with her over the years. I saw her maybe three times total before the tragedy. These days, I saw her at least once—sometimes twice—a week.
The first time I met her was at Jim and Nora’s wedding. She’d looked stunning, so of course she caught my eye. But I’d always been a player, and she was Jim’s sister-in-law. Therefore, she was off-limits. These days, even more so.
I helped out whenever I could and tried to keep the ogling to a minimum. I focused on the kids as much as possible when I visited. Damn, they’d been through a lot.
Allison owned a house in South Boston. It was supposed to be a starter home—“plenty of space for one person,” as she put it. But with two small kids, it became a little crowded. Annie and Jack were four-year-old twins. They’d been everything to Jim and Nora. The whole situation was just gut-wrenching.
I dropped by the pizzeria two blocks from Allison’s house and ordered everyone’s favorites. Annie liked cheese, and Jack loved a lot of bacon on his pizza. Allison favored the extra mushrooms.
A half hour later, I pulled up in front of the house. It was a two-story building plus an attic and a basement. The lower part was painted white, the upper part exposed red brick. There were three wide windows on each floor and two in the attic.
As I walked up the stairs to the front door, I heard Annie’s and Jack’s voices, which meant they were in the backyard. I went back down the steps and around the house, heading straight to the back.
“I come with pizza!” I announced.
The twins yelled with joy and immediately came to me, hugging my knees.
“Cheese?” Annie asked.
“Of course, and extra bacon for Jack.”
“You really are their favorite person,” Allison said. Her voice was soft and melodic. She was always calm and composed, which totally amazed me. With all that she was juggling now, Allison took things in stride. No wonder the kids felt so at ease around her.
As usual, I took in a deep breath before looking at her. Yeah, that was right. I’d been coming to this house with dinner twice a week and still had to brace myself to look at this woman because she wasthatdamn hot. She had long, thick brown hair. Usually, she wore it loose down her back, and it reached all the way to her ass. I’d fantasized more than once about fisting her hair and tugging her head back just so. Tonight, she’d pulled it up, so it only hit her shoulders. Her green eyes were large and enchanting. You could easily tell that Annie and Allison were related, as they looked so much alike.
“You know, they’re starting to think that Wednesday is pizza day,” she said, taking the boxes from me.
“Isn’t it?” I asked.
She laughed, throwing her head back.