Chapter 11
All eyes were on them as they entered the living room.?
There were enough spaces to sit surprisingly, but that didn’t stop Theo from pulling Vicky on his lap. She was obvious embarrassed but sat there anyway, Kraven sat beside them.
“So who is going to explain what’s going on?” Theo asked tightening his arms around Vicky, he didn’t fail to notice how his lookalike was looking at her.
“Names could be good first?”
“Forgive us. This is as big a shock to us too,” One of the older man spoke. “My name is Rene Aris, this is my brother Riche,” The French man indicated to the second older man – his twin. “This is our wife, Helene.” This time, he indicated to the older woman who had hugged Theo earlier.
“You’re both married to her?”
“Legally only one of us, but yes,” Riche told them. “Male twins and sharing a wife runs in our family.”
Rene nodded, “Our own fathers were twins.” The man wore a strange expression, but one Theo didn’t understand.
Theo was shocked to hear this but said nothing.
“This is our youngest, Gigi.” A woman in her late twenties grinned and waved. She was sat beside Devon. Theo nodded in polite greeting.
“And this is one of my sons, Tristan.”
“Hello, brother,” Theo’s twin greeted.
“And you are our other son, Tristan’s twin.”
“With all due respect,” Theo wasn’t taking the man’s word for it. “How the hell do I know you’re telling the truth?”
His twin frowned. “We are the same.”
“I have a lookalike, so what?” In truth, he did believe them but didn’t want too because that meant they abandoned him and kept his brother.
“We are what they call ‘mirror twins.’ We are copies of each other, mirror images. For instances, I have a birthmark on his left shoulder, you will have the same on your right, I have a mole near his right nipple and you the left, my heart is even on the opposite.”
Theo knew his heart was on the wrong side since he was little, but no one could ever say why.
“You know it is true.”
“So what if it is?! I was still brought up in an orphanage!” Theo snapped making Vicky jump.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you,” He whispered in her ear for only her to hear. She gave him a look that let him know she understood.
Kraven held his hand, making him feel strong. “If you’ve come because of some sort of feeling of guilt, don’t. I have a family.” He wanted to stand up and tell them to go, but he couldn’t. He still needed to know.
“It didn’t happen that way!” His twin snapped, they obviously shared the same temper.
“You went missing with our au pair. The search lasted long but with no sign of either of you, you were pronounced dead.”
“Well, great. That makes it a lot better.” Theo glared at his brother.
“He isn’t explaining it correctly!” Gigi exclaimed sounding like a bratty child.
“We were on our yacht, celebrating your births. We thought you had drowned. We put a search out for the au pair’s name in case something did turn up. But nothing ever did,” Riche explained better.
“How you ended up on the other side of the world, we have no idea.”
“Was you ever told how you ended up in the orphanage?” Rene asked.
“My mother – or at least that is what she told everyone – was new to the area. But quickly became known, especially to the police. She was found dead of an overdose and with no family I was put into the home.”
“What was her name?” Rene asked through gritted teeth.
“Gwen Dunes.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Rene stood up and left the room.
“What’s that about?”
“That’s the name of the au pair.”
“Oh… Hmm, this is all a bit much. Maybe you and go and return tomorrow.” Theo needed time to think.
“No, please…”
“Tell us about yourself.”
“Like what?”
“Everything, start from the beginning.”
He agreed and began. “Gwen was found dead, I was put into the orphanage. We lived in a town with lots of rich people and knowing my parentage I was never adopted. Kraven,” He indicated to his friend. “Was from the same background, so we grew up together, us being the only constant in each other’s lives.” He didn’t say it for sympathy, he was just telling them the truth.
“We always dreamed of the countryside and seeing horses, so in our teens, we ran away.”
He told them of Marshall and Irena Willingham fostering them, them passing and the new owner keeping them on to run the Ranch.
“She lets you have fifty percent of profit?” Riche asked in shock.
“I wouldn’t give that much to a manager,” Tristan stated, but not to be mean to them.
“We own a ranch in France, so this is unbelievable to us.”
“Yes. Not to mention she always gives us extra cash out of her own pocket to do repairs.”
“And the owner is the Hogan’s granddaughter?” Helene asked. Obviously, they didn’t know Vicky was that girl.
“Sadly. Why do you ask?”
“Her grandparents told us about her. She doesn’t sound like the same person.”
“What the hell did they say?!” Devon had snapped before Theo or Kraven had a chance.
“That she is looking for a rich husband. They tried to convince me to set her up with Tristan. But I would never do that. Especially when the woman is obviously nothing but a gold digger, title seeking harlot,” Riche spat in disgust.
Vicky stood up from the room and ran out with her head down. “I’ll go,” Kraven told Theo.
“What is wrong with the girl? Is she alright?” Tristan asked concerned, the others had similar expressions. Except Devon, who was angry as Theo was.
“Of course, she isn’t!” Theo exclaimed just as Rene reentered the room.
“Why is the girl crying?” He asked Tristan accusingly.
“It wasn’t me!”
“No, it was you.” Theo pointed at Riche.
“What did I do?”
“You called her a gold digger, title seeking harlot!”
Shock and realization covered their faces.
“You know fuck all about her!” Theo exclaimed angrily. “For your information, Vicky is the nicest woman in the world and would do anything for anyone. But she doesn’t want to and has never met her grandparents because what they did to her mother. Up until last year, she was brought up by her overprotective mother as a recluse. She had never had a single friend other than her mother and grandparents on her father’s side because she was kept at home and home schooled.” He knew he shouldn’t tell them her life story, but they made he so angry.
“Her mother died of cancer last year… Her only family and only friend and the only one she could speak too. When she went to speak to her lawyer afterward, she was unable to speak, had an anxiety attack and fainted. She suffers debilitating anxiety and is unable to speak to even her own cousin. Not to mention, me and Kraven were her first ever friends and the first people other than her mother and grandparents to hug her.” He stood up.
“You know what… Just get the fuck out of my house!” He didn’t wait for a reply, he made his way upstairs where he found Kraven holding a now silent but damp-faced Vicky.
“It’s okay, baby. I told them to leave.” He kicked off his shoes and climbed on the bed next to them.
“I… I’m sorry,” She whispered.
“Don’t be. You and Kraven are my life if they can’t respect you then they aren’t worth our time.”
“I don’t want to ruin your time with your family.”
“You are my family!” He held her against himself, Kraven on her other side.
None of them noticed another person enter the room.
“Dad’s sorry.” They looked to see Tristan.
“We didn’t know…” He moved closer, never once taking his eyes from Vicky.
“If you’ll come down, he would like to apologize to you personally, Mon chéri.”
“Baby, it’s your choice. Don’t let anyone pressure you.”
“I..I..I’ll g..go,” She whispered shyly, sitting up on the bed.
Tristan smiled. “Brother, are you and your friend joining us?”
“To make it clear, Kraven and Vicky are both my partners,” Theo told him standing up from the bed, as did the other two.
“Do not worry, brother, I can share with you.” Tristan turned and left the room leaving all three completely confused.
“What just happened?”
“I am not sure.”
“Just so long as he knows you and Vicky are as good as my husband and wife.”
“You remember your daddy said sharing runs in the family,” Vicky reminded them.
“Oh yeah,” Kraven remembered. “What if Tristan wants to be like your daddies and share?” He said in a teasing tone, but it was a genuine question.
“I don’t know…” They walked down the stairs and into the living room again.
“We are so sorry, little Belle,” Helene rushed over. She was tall at around six foot, but not as tall as her husband who were more than six and a half.
“Aww, elle est si petite,” She cooed bending down to pick Vicky up, making her squeal.
“Puis-je la garder?”
“Mère, a mis son bas!” Tristan exclaimed. “Vous lui fais peur.”
She frowned and put the panicked looking girl on her feet.
Kraven and Theo brought her between them in a split second.
“Deep breaths, little princess,” Kraven whispered brushing her hair out of her face.
“Sorry,” She whispered in his ear.
“Don’t be,” He placed a kiss on her cheek and Theo kissed her other.
Everyone was watching them with a sad smile, except Tristan.
“I would like to personally apologize for what I said,” Riche said moving closer.
“I should not have judged on another person words, and I was wrong.”
“Yes, you were!” Kraven growled lowly. “I don’t care who the fuck you are, say or do anything to upset either Theo or Vicky and I’ll make you regret it!” He looked to Tristan. “That includes you too, pretty boy.”
Tristan simply smirked in reply, obviously enjoying the attention, no matter the kind.
“I assure you, Kraven?” He nodded and Rene continued. “My brother has a tendency of acting before thinking.”
“Like Theo.” Theo playfully glared at Kraven.
“Ha, he takes after dad – Riche – for that. Whereas I take after father – Rene – for-“
“For his short temper,” Riche interrupts. “But don’t let that scare you.” He looked at the three stood together.
“Are you alright, Victoria?” Devon asked her, stood in front of her.
She nodded shyly. He leaned in closer and whispered into her ear quietly, but both Kraven and Theo were still stood close enough to hear. “I haven’t eaten. Let’s raid the kitchen.”
She glanced at her boyfriends as though for permission.
“You don’t have to ask, baby. It’s your home too.”
“Yes, go ahead and use what you want. We’ll head to the store tomorrow after dinner with Thomas.” They both wanted her to be comfortable and knew she probably would be more comfortable in the kitchen with her cousin than ten people in here. Not to mention it would give her the perfect chance to bond with him.
She smiled, nodded and turned to leave, but not before Kraven and Theo stopped her from stealing a kiss.
Tristan caught her eye on the way out and sent her a wink.
Once they are left the room, Theo glared at his brother. “Did you come here to find me or just steal my girl?”
Tristan frowned. “You are my brother, I came to find you,” He said sounding offended.
“Then why are you winking and staring at Vicky?”
“I think there are a few things we need to explain to our family.”
