Liam Kavanagh was in the office of his family's company, which he ran, but instead of doing what he was supposed to be doing, his eyes were fixed on the picture frame sitting on his desk in front of him. In it was a photograph of both his children, together and hugging. At just twenty-three, the dark-haired, onyx-eyed man was the father of a pair of twins. Though it was exhausting, he loved spending time with them or even simply putting them to sleep, as he always did. They both looked a lot like him, with the sole exception of their eyes, which were olive green—the same color as their mother's, if he could even call her that, since the woman he'd grown attached to during the pregnancy had abandoned them.
He remembered the day it all began as if it had happened yesterday.
He had graduated from high school, and everyone was going to celebrate at one of their classmates' houses. Despite his parents, especially his mother, asking him not to go, he ignored them. Knowing he would be drinking, he asked his mother's driver to take him to Ryan Maher's house. Ryan was his best friend, practically his brother, since they'd practically grown up together; their parents had been friends since childhood. He knew the place would be packed, especially because it wasn't just the senior class in the huge mansion, but other International House students as well.
As soon as he arrived and was spotted by three of his friends, including the mansion's owner, he was dragged over to the open bar Maher had set up in the sprawling backyard. The pool was heated, and several people were in it; some were kissing without the slightest bit of shame, but Kavanagh was already used to seeing things like that. He'd done the same himself. He quickly looked away when another friend called him, then smiled and walked toward him. The friend was holding a cup of alcohol.
His first mistake began with the drinking.
They'd started a competition, and Liam, a playboy who was the most popular guy in school, would never back down from one, which was why he was the first to support Connor Fitzgerald, the redhead with green eyes who had come up with the idea. He didn't find out who won, because a beautiful girl had pulled him in, kissing his lips and running her hands over his body, and the dark-haired young man had wasted no time taking her to one of the many guest rooms.
And that was the second mistake of the night.
He woke up the next day with a hellish hangover, only to realize there was a naked girl beside him. He knew who she was the instant his eyes landed on her face. She was in his class, and her name was Lillie Collins. She had light brown hair and olive green eyes, was also the captain of the cheerleading squad, and had been the only girl on the team he hadn't hooked up with yet, aside from his redheaded friend's sister, Savanna Fitzgerald, and his blond friend's girlfriend, Aurora Devlin.
He didn't say goodbye to the girl.
When he realized she was still asleep, he dressed quickly and headed straight out of the room, already imagining the lecture his parents would give him for not calling to say he wouldn't be sleeping at home. As always, he didn't care. He went downstairs and found Connor with a beautiful blonde he didn't know. He assumed she wasn't part of IH, since he'd never seen her face around the school before. He also found other classmates sprawled along the way, and since he didn't see his best friend anywhere, he figured Ryan was still asleep, probably with his girlfriend clinging to him in his own room.
The months passed, and just as he'd promised his father, he focused on his degree. He would be responsible in a way he'd never been before, but that didn't mean there weren't parties and fun with his best friends: Connor Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy, Noah Devlin, and, of course, Ryan Maher. They were all pursuing the same degree at the same college. They'd been friends since childhood, and because their parents had businesses tied together, they were being prepared to take over for each of them.
Three months passed, and he never saw Lillie again or even looked for her. He moved on with his life and forgot what had happened in one of the rooms in his blond friend's mansion. He truly thought he'd never see her again—until she showed up one day while he was working on a college assignment at the Fitzgerald mansion.
The words that hit him were: I'm pregnant.
And then his world turned upside down.
His mother freaked out and nearly had a heart attack when she found out about the pregnancy. His father was furious over his irresponsibility and forced him to get engaged to the girl, who, incredibly and surprisingly, was the daughter of the family company's accountant. He also made Liam promise that he would take responsibility for the child growing inside Lillie's belly.
And he promised.
Even though he was terrified of becoming a father, he was there for every appointment, every bout of morning sickness, and every craving. And even though he was a wreck from studying while taking care of a pregnant girl, he didn't leave her alone for a second, especially because he knew he was partly responsible for her going through a pregnancy at sixteen. Yes, she was a year younger than Kavanagh.
They got married during break, when she already had a small baby bump showing, and for that reason they decided to have only a civil ceremony. Liam was grateful for it, because he wasn't in the right frame of mind to plan a huge wedding and reception, even though he knew that was what his adorable mother wanted.
Every one of his friends helped however they could and always supported him. He wasn't surprised that none of them pulled away even after it was confirmed he would be a father. That was what would have happened if he were still in contact with the basketball team, because he didn't truly trust any of them.
In the fifth month of the pregnancy, Lillie and Liam found out they were having twins, and it completely changed the woman, who hadn't been doing very well with the pregnancy to begin with. Kavanagh couldn't understand how she could be so unhappy, even after seeing their children on the black-and-white screen. He felt an overwhelming fear, but unlike her, he felt proud when he saw their image and always carried a copy of the photograph in his wallet.
At seven and a half months, the twins were born.
The weather was rainy, and they had barely managed to get Lillie to the hospital because of the traffic. But by the end of the day, everyone in both families had been able to meet the children they'd been waiting for so eagerly. Even Andrew, who had been furious when he discovered his youngest son was going to be a father, had been eager to meet his grandchildren. Lillie didn't want to choose the names, so Liam did it: Natalie and Thomas Kavanagh.
With every passing day, he fell more in love with his children. Lillie, however, grew increasingly resentful, especially because of her body, which she constantly complained had changed and never gone back to the way it was before. Liam tried to understand her, but he couldn't. He'd thought she wouldn't breastfeed the children, but she did, which relieved him. After all, finding a wet nurse would have been complicated.
A year passed, and Liam noticed another change in Lillie.
She played with the babies and took care of them during the day while her husband studied. In the afternoon, she left both of them with him so she could begin the modeling course she'd always dreamed of taking, and her husband fully supported her. Her babies no longer depended on her as much, so she thought it was time.
Then, almost six months later, she began to grow resentful that nothing ever worked out. She started blaming her own children for her inability to model and blamed her husband even more for getting her pregnant and, consequently, leaving her with a horrible body. That wasn't true, but she no longer believed Kavanagh's words—not when she couldn't get accepted as a model or even get a photo shoot.
Liam remembered the exact day Lillie had left him alone with two babies barely over two years old to raise. He'd left for college early because of an important exam, but not before warning his wife about it and asking her not to take the children out that day because of the bad weather. When he returned home, there was a woman he barely knew—he only knew she was an old friend of Lillie's from high school—and he discovered through a letter she'd handed him that his wife had left him because she wanted a better life.
At that moment, Liam had only one thing on his mind, despite being at work—something, or rather someone, who worried him: the nanny for his children. It was her first day, and she would be alone with them for the next few hours, without even the housekeeper, who had asked for the day off because her youngest son had fallen ill and she had no one to stay with him at the hospital. That was one more reason for him to worry about the three of them. In fact, he was worried about what both his children might do to drive the new nanny out of their lives. He had no doubt it could happen that very day.
Knowing them as he did, he truly feared for the woman.
It had been almost a year since the twins had been cared for by their beloved grandmother, Ivy Kavanagh, simply because she and his father were always traveling now that Liam was running the company with his friends. And he had to admit they both deserved to enjoy themselves. So the moment his parents decided to take advantage of life now that one of them no longer had to run the company, he began searching for experienced nannies who could take good care of his most precious possessions.
There had been six so far, and unfortunately, none had managed to last more than a month because of his little brats. One of them, he could admit only to himself, had deserved it, since she'd been rude to his little girl, and his son, protective as he was, had thrown her into the freezing pool in the middle of an intensely cold winter afternoon, leaving her with a terrible cold. She hadn't come back the next day, and Liam had expected as much.
As for the others, he'd only found out from both children what those nannies had done to them, which was why the children had taken revenge. But Liam knew them well enough to know that even if the women were good people, they would still do whatever it took to drive them out of their lives.
For that reason, he was tempted to call home and ask about both children—and, of course, the latest nanny—but he had important things ahead of him and couldn't afford to skip the meeting that was about to begin just because he was afraid of what his children might be doing to the young woman.
He hoped they wouldn't give her trouble this time. After all, he'd liked her.
He'd asked them to behave, but he didn't know whether they actually would. Knowing them as he did, he already imagined the answer and shuddered just thinking about what might happen next. They were strong-willed children, and he knew what they were capable of. That was what made Liam wonder whether he should call and find out if everything was still okay. Maybe he should. Or perhaps he should ask his brother to check on them. Or...
Liam was worried. He wouldn't be able to work with that worry on his mind, but before he could get up, the door opened rather forcefully.
"Sir? I'm sorry to come in like this, but it's about your children."
Liam let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, already prepared for whatever was about to come out of his secretary's mouth.