Hiding With Her Twin Babies
Chapter 12

Dante glares at Carl standing at the door with the roses and chocolates. Carl frowns at Dante. What is he doing here? Are Jennie and Dante back together? He does not want to lose Jennie to Dante! Carl hates Dante. He knows Dante is attractive to women, but so is he. He uses his English accent to charm women, and it always seems to work. Especially in the states. Carl does not know that his charm does not work on Jennie anymore. Jennie is staring Carl down from behind Dante.

“What are you doing here, Carl? I would think after what happened last night, you would not even have the courage to show your face at my house again,” Jennie says.

“Jennie, please can I talk to you for a moment, alone,” Carl says, looking at Dante.

“No, what you have to say, you can say in front of Dante,” Jennie says. She is not in the mood to talk to Carl on her own.

“I have been set up! He planned it all! He was the one that paid the waiter to spike the drinks, and he booked a room in the hotel for us,” Carl throws all the blame on Dante. Jennie starts laughing.

“So tell me one thing, Carl, if Dante planned it, how did you know the hotel room number where to send the food too? Do you think I am stupid? The waiter also told me everything. You messed up, and now you are trying to blame it on someone else? How low can you go?” Jennie asks Carl. Carl thought about this excuse on his way here, and as he could not remember everything about that night, he did not know he mentioned the hotel room number. Carl knows that Jennie caught him in his lie.

‘Fine, I planned it because you pushed me too far. You did not want to sleep with me or treat me like a real man. Do you think I do not have needs? All you ever wanted was to fall back into this man’s arms like his little w***e!” Carl shouts. Dante’s fist hits his face the next moment, and Carl staggers backwards and lands on his bum on the ground.

“If you even call Jennie names again, Connor, you will regret it,” Dante says. His voice is soft and dangerous. Something in Dante’s eyes gives Carl the chills. Being a man, Carl feels humiliated and jumps up. The flowers and chocolates are scattered all over the floor. He takes a swing at Dante, but Dante dodges it easily and hits Carl on the chin again. This time Carl does not get up again. Dante’s men watched the fight as they knew not to interfere in the Don’s fights. Don Casella can handle himself in a fight.

“Take him away. I promised someone we would talk with this guy,” Dante orders his men. Dante turns to Jennie, looking at Dante’s men dragging Carl away.

“I am sorry about this,” Dante says.

“It was not your fault. Carl looked for trouble,” Jennie says. She is still profoundly disappointed in Carl. Now more than ever. He tried to blame Dante for what he did last night!

“Jennie, are you okay?” Dante asks.

“Yes, it is his parents I am worried about. They are good people, and they helped me so much in the past,” Jennie says, close to tears. Jack and Cathy Connor were always good to Jennie. She knows they saw the twins as their grandchildren and hoped Jennie and Carl would one day get married. How will she explain to them what happened, and where did Dante take Carl?

“I will not harm, Carl. I want to have a talk to him and see how we can sort this out like civil people,” Dante says. He is happy that Jennie stood up for him when Carl accused him of planning the whole thing, but he is disappointed that Carl ruined their night together. Dante wanted to tell Jennie everything. He wanted to declare his love for her. But, he knows now is not the right time.

“Thank you. I know you are a man of your word,” Jennie says. She is curious about what Dante wants to tell her, but she will wait. Tonight is not a good night to talk about their past. Dante sighs.

“I am only doing it for you, Jennie. If it depends on me, he would be swimming with the sharks tight now,” Dante says. He goes to sit with his hands in his hair on the couch. He enjoyed the day with Jennie and his children, and Carl had to come and mess it all up.

“Well, let’s eat and then you can sleep in the spare room. You can not drive back being so tired. Besides, who is going to talk with Carl? You said you promised someone the two of you will talk with Carl,” Jennie asks. Dante smiles but says nothing for a long time.

“Jayden, he wants to talk to Carl,” Dante says honestly.

“Jayden?” Jennie asks, shocked.

“Yes, he wants to protect you, and I will be with him all the time. I promise. I think he should as he feels he is the man in the house,” Dante says.

“Fine, but you stay with him all the time. Jayden can be rude with people that try to hurt his sister or me,” Jennie says, and although she does not like the idea, she knows her son will tell Carl off anyway if he sees him. He should do it when Dante is with him. Jennie does not trust Carl near her children anymore. If he can try to drug her to get her in his bed, then he can do anything. Jennie feels Dante’s eyes on her, and she looks at him. He is smiling.

“You trust me, don’t you?” Dante asks.

“I have known you for most of my life, Dante. So I know I can trust you. You will not let anything happen to our children,” Jennie says. She smiles back at him as she hands him a plate of food. They eat in silence. After a while, Jennie looks up at Dante and sees he did not eat much of his food. He is sitting back with his head resting on the back of the couch. He must be tired as his eyes are closed. She can feel her heart skip a beat, and she knows she will have to try and stay away from him. He is dangerous to her heart, and she does not want to be hurt by him again. She wonders what he wants to tell her. That he knew she was pregnant, and that is why he was searching for her for eight years? It can only be that. She could not think of anything else he wanted to say to her. Jennie gets up with a sigh, and as she bends over to take Dante’s plate, he opens his eyes. Dante stares into Jennie’s eyes, and she can not look away.

“Jennifer Petrov, get a grip. The man is not in love with you. Even if it looks like love in his eyes, it is not! You are seeing things that do not exist because you want it so bad,” Jennie scorn herself in her head. Dante can not stop looking at Jennie, and he knows his heart is in his eyes. Jennie grabs the plate and walks to the kitchen.

“Dante Casella, get a bloody hold of yourself. You are going to scare her away. You will have to have patience with her as you hurt her eight years ago, and you have to take your time to win her heart,” Dante thinks to himself. Maybe it was a good thing that Carl showed up. Maybe Jennie was not ready to accept his love.

“Where is the guest bathroom?” Dante asks Jennie, who is busy in the kitchen.

“I will show you,” Jennie says as she puts the clean plates back in the basket. She will clean the rest of the stuff tomorrow morning before taking the children to school and going to work. Jen walks in front of Dante up the stairs and to the guest room. She shows him where the clean towels are and where the bathroom is. The next moment Dante pulls her closer to him and k****s Jennie. Jennie tries to fight it, but she can not as she is too weak to fight him off. Dante knows her feeling for him is not entirely gone, and he feels hope building in his heart. He also knows he can not take it too far as he does not want to scare her away again. He can not lose her again.

“I am only doing it for you, Jennie. If it depends on me, he would be swimming with the sharks tight now,” Dante says. He goes to sit with his hands in his hair on the couch. He enjoyed the day with Jennie and his children, and Carl had to come and mess it all up.

“Goodnight, princess. I will get everything I need now,” Dante says as he let go of her. Jennie is out of breath and almost runs out of the room as she feels embarrassed that she can not resist him. Dante must know this, and that is why he likes kissing her. Is he making fun of her for being weak? She will have to be stronger and show Dante she can resist him.

Dante is up early the following morning, and his men bring him clean clothes. They went to fetch some on the farm. He wants the house next door, and he has put in a new bid much higher than the other guy still bidding. He knows it is Carl, and he knows Carl will not be bitting anymore on the house next door as he is in a place he can no longer bid. Carl is in a warehouse somewhere in Houston, and today, Dante and Jayden will have their little talk with him after school.

“Good morning, Daddy. Did you sleep here last night?” Jayda asks as she comes running downstairs in her school clothing.

“Morning, princess, yes daddy slept her last night,” Dante says. Dante drinks coffee and hands Jennie one as she comes downstairs with Jayden. Dante has ordered them breakfast, and the kitchen smells mouth-watering.

“Hmmm, that smell nice. Did daddy sleep with mommy in her room?” Jayden asks. Jennie starts coughing as she almost chokes in her coffee.

“No, my son. I respect you, mother, as you should one-day respect woman,” Dante says. Jayden looks at his father with approval in his eyes.

“I think you should marry mommy, and then we can be a happy family, and I can have a little sister,” Jayda says. Again Jennie wants to choke on her coffee, and Dante takes the coffee out of her hand.

“I think the coffee is a big choking hazard today, rather have juice,” Dante says dryly.

“Mommy, can wear a beautiful princess wedding dress, and I can be the flower girl,” Jayda goes on.

“That is enough, Jayda. Eat your food, or we will be late for school today,” Jennie says. Dante wants to laugh as he sees Jennie’s embarrassment, and Jayden is laughing openly for his mommy, who is red in the face.

“Jayda, you have to wait for daddy to get his act together and ask mommy to marry him. Besides, they can not get married if they do not love each other. Do you love mommy, daddy?” Jayden asks. This time, Dante chokes in his coffee as he can not just say it outright. He has to wait for the right moment, and now is not the right moment.

“It is grown-up business, young man, and we really have to get going, or you will be late for school,” Jennie says. She does not want to put Dante on the spot, and she goes upstairs to fetch her laptop. As she comes downstairs, she hears the children giggles, and they all look like they are keeping a secret from her. Dante looks a little guilty, and Jayden and Jayda look like they won the lottery.

“I am going to drop off the children with you today, and I will take you to work,” Dante says.

“How do we get home?” Jennie asks.

“I will pick all of you up. You will have to get me clearance at the school to pick the children up. I have a surprise for the three of you later,” Dante says. As they get to the school, Dante and Jennie walk inside, and Jennie gets a clearance for Dante to pick up the children from school. The headmaster smiles as he can see Jayden and Jayda are Dante Hudson’s children. No wonder Jennie was always so secretive about the twins’ father.