Shattered. Joan Johnston

told him about Shaw he would stay. But that would mean telling Jack who’d really fathered the twins. He was going to learn the truth sooner or later, and surely it would be better if he heard it from her than found out some other way.

      “Jack…”

      “Hmm,” he said as he nuzzled her throat.

      She leaned her head back to give him better access, feeling the shiver roll down her spine as he sucked on the tender skin beneath her ear.

      “I have a confession, too,” she whispered.

      “Hmm,” he said, trailing kisses across her cheek, headed for her mouth.

      “I…”

      He caught her lower lip in his teeth and nibbled gently. She returned the favor. Soon, Kate was breathless, as desire spiraled upward through her body.

      “I have to go, Kate,” he said. But he sought her mouth with his, and they were caught up once more in the pleasure of kissing and touching each other.

      With the sixth sense every mother has, Kate heard the front door opening. She pulled free of Jack’s embrace and pressed a quick hand to her mouth before she turned to greet her sons with a bright smile.

      “Mom, we’re home!” Lucky said as he flung the door open.

      “Hi, Jack. How’s Ryan?” Chance said.

      The twins had met Ryan at Christmas and talked about him often. According to Jack, Ryan had been jealous of the twins spending time with “his” father and had rebuffed their attempts at friendship at first. But before the holiday was over, the three boys had become “Best Buds.”

      “Ryan’s fine,” Jack said. “In fact, I’m glad I have this chance to let you boys know I’ll be living with Ryan for the next couple of months.”

      “You’re going to Kansas?” Lucky asked.

      “Ryan and his mom are moving back to Texas,” Jack said. “I’m going to live with them in Houston for a little while.”

      Kate held her breath, hoping Jack wouldn’t mention Holly’s pregnancy.

      Chance frowned and glanced from Jack to Kate. “I thought you and Mom liked each other.”

      “We did,” Jack said. “We do,” he corrected. “But Holly’s—” Jack stopped and looked at Kate, seeking guidance.

      “Ryan’s mother is pregnant,” Kate explained. “Jack’s going to live in Houston to help her out until she has the baby.”

      Kate waited with bated breath for one of the twins to ask how Ryan’s mother had gotten pregnant, but neither did.

      “You’re coming back though, right?” Chance asked.

      Jack playfully ruffled his black hair. “You bet!”

      “There are chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen,” Kate said, hoping to distract her sons and prevent more awkward questions.

      The twins gave a yell and headed for the kitchen.

      “Be sure to leave your book bags on the counter,” she called after them. She turned to Jack and barely stopped herself from walking right back into his arms. “We’ll miss you.”

      “I’ll miss all of you, too.”

      Kate waited for a last kiss, a final hug. But Jack was keeping his distance. She needed to tell him about Wyatt Shaw’s ultimatum and ask for his help. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

      “Can it wait, honey? I need to check in with my captain before I leave town and I’ve got some packing to do. We’ll have three hours to talk while I’m on the road to Houston tonight. If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to want to hold you again.” He grabbed his Stetson from the table by the door and settled it low on his forehead.

      Kate was torn. Her fear of Wyatt Shaw warred with her fear of what Jack would think of her when he knew the truth. “Jack, I wish—”

      “Goodbye, Kate.” He kissed her hard and walked out the door.

      And ran right into Wyatt Shaw.

      5

      “Did my father send you here?” Wyatt snarled at Jack, as the two men faced off on Kate’s covered front porch.

      “Hell, no!” Jack retorted. “What are you doing here?”

      “None of your damn business,” Wyatt said.

      Kate’s blood ran cold as she watched Wyatt and Jack face off like vicious junkyard dogs claiming the same territory. She was shocked by their verbal exchange, which suggested the two men knew each other.

      Wyatt shot Kate a veiled look, then said to Jack, “You tell D’Amato to keep his nose out of my business.”

      “Tell him yourself,” Jack said as he backed his way down her front steps, never taking his eyes off Shaw.

      Kate felt like she was watching a movie in a foreign tongue with no translation under the picture. She was both confused and terrified. It seemed Wyatt thought Jack, a man wearing the uniform and badge of a Texas Ranger, took orders from his father, the mob boss. And Jack was playing along.

      The explanation came to her in a flash.

      Jack is on some kind of undercover assignment for the Rangers. Wyatt has seen him talking in private with D’Amato and made the assumption that Jack is on his father’s payroll.

      It was the only thing that made sense. Jack had to be working—or pretending to work—for D’Amato, collecting enough information about the mobster’s criminal activities to put him behind bars.

      Why hadn’t Jack simply told Shaw that he and Kate were romantically involved?

      Because if Jack is working undercover for the mob, it might put me and my sons in danger.

      Kate shuddered at the thought of what D’Amato might do to Jack—or to those Jack loved—if he learned the Texas Ranger was still one of the good guys.

      “Did he hurt you?” Wyatt asked.

      “Of course not!”

      “Did he ask you any questions about the twins?”

      “Why would he?”

      Wyatt frowned. “You said you were dating a Texas Ranger. Is he the one you’re seeing? The one you’re planning to marry?”

      Kate’s heart pumped a burst of adrenaline into her bloodstream. Should she tell Shaw the truth? Or lie? She decided on the literal truth. “I may have exaggerated my relationship to Jack,” she said. “Under the circumstances, it seemed safer to say I was involved with another man.”

      “You’re not engaged?”

      “No. I’m not involved romantically with anyone at the moment. Jack’s just a friend.”

      “What was he doing here?” Wyatt demanded.

      “He came to see how I’m doing, now that I’m home from rehab. Jack and his parents were kind enough to take care of the twins at his ranch while I was in a coma and for the past six weeks while I’ve been recuperating. You do know that I was shot in the arm and the chest last October, and that I was in a coma for four months?”

      He nodded curtly. “I assumed your parents kept the twins.”

      Kate shook her head. “My mother was in delicate health—pregnant with a late-in-life baby—so Jack stepped in.”

      Wyatt followed Jack’s progress, his eyes narrowed, till he reached his SUV, then turned back to face her. Jack shot her an anxious look behind Wyatt’s back that asked, What the hell is he doing here?

      Apparently, he couldn’t stay and demand answers