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And then the nightmare continues.

I burst out laughing, followed by Tucker.

Who of course has a deep, low timbre to his chuckles.

I don’t remember the last time a practical stranger made me laugh, but I don’t want to go digging for that memory too much either, because the answer is probably depressing.

“Sure,” I say, nodding too once I can talk normally again. “Manny.”

Tucker lets out a happy-sounding sigh before he looks down at his phone again.

“Okay, so getting back to all this. You can let me know if your therapy sessions can be during the morning, and if not, then we can figure something out, but I think to start with we’ll need to reconvene every night anyway. After the boys go to sleep, we can make sure we’re on the same page about the next day’s plans, but I’m hoping I can get some semblance of a routine going soon as well. Hannah also said you’re interviewing for a teaching position at Luxton sometime soon?”

“Yes.” I nod and slowly let out the breath I was holding—very slowly so he doesn’t realize, hopefully. “They’re going to give me a definite date and time in the next few weeks. I still don’t know when my starting day would be if I get the job.”

“We can take it week by week for now if that works for you.” I can see he’s not super happy about that, and I hope it’s because he wants the boys to have some stability and not because of . . . anything else.

“That would work best for me right now. I don’t want to commit and then have to bail on them.”

That’s right, them.

Maybe I can do this if I remember the twins are the priority, that they’re the ones who need my focus.

And god, it does feel good to feel like I can be useful, like someone needs me.

Is that fucked up?

I’ll have to ask Dr. Natalie.

“Okay then, just to round this up, you’d have your own room, closet, and en-suite bathroom at the brownstone—you’d share that floor with our bodyguards, but it’s got plenty of space. You’d have unlimited access to the whole house except everyone’s bedrooms, not counting the boys’ bedroom of course. And I’d love it if you could start as soon as possible.”

“That sounds . . .”

Like the worst fucking idea ever.

“Fine.”

Fuck my life.

8

TUCKER

Maybe there’s a universe where the obvious reluctance in Sunny’s eyes would have me smirking. Maybe I’d be amused by how obvious it is just how much he doesn’t believe what he just said.

Why that is, well, I have no fucking clue, of course, but that’s besides the point.

Because this is not that universe.

All I can think about are his eyes.

So black and deep, with so much obviously hiding in them.

I can’t stop trying to piece together what it is, which is an impossible task, I know, but the impulse is there.

He was pretty straightforward when it came to the whole therapy thing, and honestly, just from knowing him for this past half hour or so, I already know that whatever it is he’s hiding, it’s not going to affect the boys or how well he takes care of them.

His tone suggests all of this is anything but fine when, as far as I’m concerned, this is one of the best possible scenarios for both of us. I wish I’d found someone who can help with the boys long term, but otherwise he’s perfect for what I want for my brothers.