Chapter 13
Neither could believe they were standing face to face, staring in each other's eyes, after three long years of no contact.
Nalani didn't know what to think or even say to this man, tears springing to her eyes, not able to pull her gaze away from those emerald green orbs. They were currently darkened with anger and something else she couldn't quite pinpoint, but the anger was definitely crystal clear. Perhaps it was a mixture of hurt and confusion, maybe even bewilderment.
She never thought she'd see him again and so many emotions rushed through her, both good and bad. Though she couldn't help letting fear overpower them all and it clearly shined in her terrified blue eyes. All that stood between them was a thin screen door and Mark could easily overpower her if he chose to do so. Her heart pounded vigorously against her chest, beating a furious tattoo, and Nalani was sure it would give out at any moment because she could hear it in her ears.
Mark simply stood there and watched all the emotions cross her face, knowing she was scared to death right now. He wanted her to feel something because, for the past three years, Mark kept blaming himself for her leaving. At the very least she did it to his face, but that wasn't good enough for Mark. Deep down inside, he knew she didn't mean a word she said that night. The heartache and pain that was in her eyes three years ago was there now, which made him believe further that she really didn't want to leave.
There was no more running or hiding and Nalani knew it as she slowly pushed open the screen door, stepping out on the porch. The twins were falling asleep, she could only pray they stayed in their rooms until Mark was gone, not needing him finding out about them. Nalani gently closed the front door behind her and let the screen door close as well, the smell of him engulfing her instantly, making her heady.
"How did you find me?" She finally managed to ask, voice barely above a whisper.
Mark snorted, folding his arms in front of his massive chest, arching a slow eyebrow down at her. "Considerin' my line of work, it wasn't that hard gettin' into the files at the hospital to find out, Nalani." He answered bluntly, watching her eyes narrow.
"You had no right doing that, Mark." Nalani tried containing the anger that suddenly flooded her body, but refrained for several reasons, two of them currently trying to fall asleep inside the house. "What do you want?"
"Closure." Mark had to step away from her before he did something rational that both of them would probably regret, like kissing her senseless. "I know I shouldn't be here, but…damn it Nalani, you ran away from me."
"I didn't run away from you." Nalani argued, wrapping her arms around herself and had to take a few steps away from him to clear her mind. "I told you I didn't love you anymore and I had to leave. I told you face to face how I felt; I didn't disappear on you or anything. I didn't run away from you, I simply left you, Mark." She had to be cold toward him, no matter how much it ate away at her insides.
"You know that's a load of bullshit, Nalani." Mark growled, raking a hand through his hair, having pulled it out of the braid he had it in earlier. "There was somethin' botherin' you that night, I could see it in your damn eyes as clear as I see it now. Why do you keep lyin' to me and yourself?"
The tears were teetering on the edge of her lids and Nalani had to do something to make him leave, swallowing hard. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I don't want to be with you anymore and move on?" She shot back heartbrokenly, blinking as the tears spilled down her cheeks, not able to stop them.
"I'll accept it when you actually convince me it's the damn truth." Mark shot back heatedly; scowling at Nalani's back turned to him. "Look at me, woman." He ordered in a lower, deadlier tone, stalking over when she simply shook her head.
"Let go of me!" She whimpered softly, not wanting the twins to overhear them, feeling Mark's hand grip her arm and forcing her to turn around until their eyes met. "Mark, please…"
"Tell me you don't love me." He challenged, towering over her trembling five foot eight frame, not caring how much he scared her. "Look in my eyes and say it, Nalani. You didn't do it that night and you can't do it now because it's NOT true!"
Nalani cringed, swallowing past the lump in her throat, and managed somehow to yank her arm out of his grasp. "Keep your voice down!" She whispered harshly, more tears falling at the look of confusion crossing his face again. "You need to leave, Mark."
"I'm not goin' anywhere until we hash this out." Mark stated, watching her glance back at the front door. "Who the hell is inside that you don't want me to see? A lover? Maybe someone you're slowly makin' fall in love with ya just so you can break their heart too?" He didn't care how cut throat he was being toward her, but the woman had smashed his heart into a million pieces.
"No!" She exclaimed, stepping in front of him when Mark went toward the front door, shaking her head. "There's nobody inside, it's just me! Why are you being like this?!" Nalani began to panic, knowing if Mark saw the twins, he would instantly put two and two together.
"Then let me inside so we can talk about this more comfortably." Mark had lowered the octave of his voice, making it even deeper and hypnotizing, those entrancing green eyes devouring her whole. "Come on darlin', it's cold out here and ya look chilled to the bone. Just let me in." He coaxed, watching her slowly take a step back only for him to take a step forward, until her back hit the screen door, trapping her before him.
"You're not coming in here." Nalani's voice shook, but it was still firm, narrowing her eyes at him to slits. "I'm not chilled, it's beautiful out here and I don't want to go inside."
An evil chuckle escaped his sensual lips as Mark's head swept down, his hot breath right on her ear and neck, feeling her tremble more. "Then why are you shakin'?" He asked, placing a hand on her side and Nalani swore it seared her skin right through the thin fabric of her nightshirt.
"Mark…" Her tone filled with warning, but the feeling of his man so close to her, his body heat, smell and hot breath made her mind spin. "Please stop…" She wasn't above pleading and pressed herself further against the screen door, but that didn't stop Mark's lips from capturing her soft flesh in his mouth.
"Mmm…" He rumbled huskily, having missed her more than he'd ever admit, a soft growl shortly following. "So soft, just as I remember. Come on Nalani, let me in darlin' so we can make up for lost time." He tried coaxing again, smirking when she shook her head against him, trying to fight off the temptation as much as she could.
Nalani's breathing became erratic, her chest rising and falling faster with each breath, but still held her ground. It was shaking, her entire foundation was crumbling, but Nalani had to fight him tooth and nail. If she didn't… "No." She murmured, shaking her head, trying to break the contact of his lips against her neck. "Mark, I said NO!"
She pressed her hands against his chest and, with as much strength as she could muster, pushed him away from her. It wasn't much, but it gave Nalani enough space to properly catch her breath, already opening the screen door. Not wasting a second, Nalani ripped the screen door open, the tears falling even faster than before, but Mark stopped her before she could open the actual door to the house.
"Nalani, what are you afraid of?" He demanded somewhat petulantly, not believing how much resolve this woman had inside of her.
Three years ago, it didn't take much to make Nalani submit to Mark, but now she had a new fire and fight inside of her. Something was driving her away from him, scaring her, and Mark wished she would just tell him so he could protect her. Whatever it was, they could work through it, but he could clearly see the love shining in her eyes for him, even if her words said the opposite.
Before Nalani could answer him, the front door suddenly opened, causing both heads to snap in the direction. "Momma?" A very soft angelic voice resonated out on the porch, causing Nalani's eyes to instantly close tightly shut.
"I thought I told you to stay in bed, Megan." Nalani scolded just as softly, the little girl biting her bottom lip, lowering those unmistakable blue eyes to her pink slippers.
"I got scared…" Megan whimpered, slowly looking up through the screen at the large man who stared back at her in shock. "Momma, who dat?" She asked, the three year olds curiosity getting the better of her.
Nalani had to keep calm as she immediately lifted Megan in her arms, turning around to face Mark reluctantly. "This is my…friend Mark Calaway. He came in from Houston for a visit and we saw each other at the hospital. He was just leaving, sweetheart." She explained, watching as the little girl instantly tucked her head beneath her mother's chin, putting her finger in her mouth.
Mark couldn't believe what he was seeing and blinked back at Nalani, wondering what the hell was going on. The little girl had beautiful long auburn curls that framed her angelic face with Nalani's blue eyes. No other woman had a shade like that and Mark knew instantly Megan was her daughter. He went to say something when the screen door pushed open, a young boy stepping out, this time a spitting image of Nalani with honey blonde hair and those same eyes.
"Momma, okay?" Matthew immediately went to her side, clinging to her leg while those blue eyes narrowed up at the giant before them.
"Yes Matthew, everything's fine. This is my friend Mark Calaway. He was just leaving." She reiterated to her son, who simply stared back at the man, not believing the little boy's courage.
"Sleepy…" Megan yawned, snuggling into her mother's shoulder while Matthew continued standing beside her, almost as if protecting his family. For a three year old, the boy was incredibly bright and aware of his surroundings.
"Momma crying." Matthew grunted, folding his little arms in front of his chest, lips pursed together tightly. "Momma hurt?"
"No sweetheart, momma's just fine." Nalani smiled down at her protective three year old, bending down to lift him up in her other arm, kissing his forehead. "You two should be in bed, it's way past your bedtimes."
Matthew sighed and nodded, understanding what his mother said. "Sorry momma." He muttered, though his eyes still never looked away from the stranger before them.
"Sorry mommy." Megan murmured quietly, already falling asleep against her shoulder, her entire body relaxing which made her heavier to Nalani.
Mark could see Nalani struggling and immediately stepped forward, breaking out of his shell shocked state. "Let me take her." He rumbled, causing Nalani's eyes to widen slightly. "I won't hurt her; you can't carry both of them, darlin'."
Seeing the truth shining in his emerald eyes, Nalani knew Mark was right because Matthew was slowly nodding off himself. "Alright." She whispered, allowing Mark to lift the little girl in his arms very carefully, tears shining in her eyes. "Come on angels, time to go back to bed."
"M'kay…" Matthew mumbled, Megan already fast asleep against Mark and he blinked when the little girl actually snuggled against him, sighing deeply.
"Which room?" Mark whispered, causing Nalani to swallow hard before reluctantly pointing toward the purple painted door, going into the blue painted one that was Matthew's room.
Mark walked inside the room and gently lowered the little girl to the purple comforter, glancing around with a small smile. The little girl was in love with the color purple apparently, her TV was even purple. He managed to pull the comforter back before laying her down, covering her up with it, just staring down at the beautiful angel before him. A wisp of auburn hair fell over her forehead and Mark couldn't help reaching down to gently move it away, so many emotions flowing through him.
How old were these kids and when did Nalani have twins?
"Good night, little darlin'." He rumbled soothingly and slowly backed out of the room, closing the door silently shut.
Meanwhile, Matthew wasn't going down so easily. "Who dat, momma?" He kept asking, frowning when his mother simply smiled at him. "Momma…"
"Not tonight buddy, okay? Momma will talk to you tomorrow about it."
She hoped the little boy forgot, though he had a memory that nearly matched Mark's, which made her believe that he was the father of the twins. Nalani would never know though and she had to come up with some kind of story to tell Mark to make him believe these were not his children…without telling the truth. The truth would ultimately kill him and Nalani didn't want to relive the horrible ordeal she'd gone through.
It wasn't that horrible because two beautiful angels were possibly born out of it, though it still haunted Nalani's dreams, turning them into nightmares.
"Just go to sleep for mommy, okay?"
When Matthew nodded, his eyes already drifting shut, she smiled and kissed his forehead before walking out of the bedroom the same time Mark walked out of Megan's. Nalani immediately looked away from him and walked away from the doors, Mark following her in hot pursuit and she could feel it. His feet were catching up with her as they entered the kitchen, Nalani needing to get some cleaning done without waking the twins. They were heavy sleepers, which she was thankful for, even when they were infants.
"How old are they?" He demanded in a quiet low voice, not wanting to wake the kids up, folding his arms in front of his chest. "What the hell is going on, Nalani?"
Nalani could already feel the tears sliding down her cheeks, not able to stop them, and felt weak, which angered her to no avail. "That's none of your damn business, Mark." She finally growled, beginning to scrub a pan as hard and fast as she could, wiping her tears away angrily with her sleeve. "Don't worry, they're not yours."
That just about cut Mark's heart completely open, his eyes narrowing to slits and stood right behind her, his hot breath once again on her neck. "What?" He took the sponge from her hand, forcing her to turn around as their eyes locked again. "Woman, you better come clean to me right now before I force the damn truth outta you."
As much as this killed Nalani to say, she had no alternative, remembering what was at stake. "Just what I said, Mark, they're not yours because I cheated on you three years ago." Nalani lied, trying to do it as smoothly and convincingly as possible. "That's why I left you. I cheated on you with someone else and they're not yours."