“Mr. Robinson, I’m so sorry.”Royal stared at the surgeon who stood in front of him with a sad expression on his face. This wasn’t happening. His brother was a loud vivacious man with the world at his feet. “He’s gone?” the words were barely croaked from his throat.“Yes. I’m sorry for your loss.”“His wife? Mindy?” He was asking questions on autopilot knowing when his parents arrived back from their second honeymoon, they had sent them on not three days ago, they were going to be devastated.The surgeon shook his head sadly, “your sister-in-law is currently on life support. We will need next of kin to make a decision.”“And my niece?”“Your niece had a fair amount of blood loss. We do need to talk about this. We had asked if there were any key pieces of information, but nobody let us know she was adopted.”“She wasn’t adopted,” he frowned at the surgeon. “She was born out of state, but she was definitely not adopted.”“Her blood type does not match either of her parents,” the man fro

Famke felt a sense of relief as the car pulled to a stop outside the coffee shop. She reached for the handle to let herself out, but he cleared his throat.“I clearly said something to upset you,” she met his gaze seriously. “I apologize.”“No,” he lifted his hand up. “It’s not you. It’s me. Please let me get your door. My mother would beat my backside if I didn’t.”“Sure,” she felt it strange to wait in the car while he walked around to get her door. She could have opened it on her own. She ignored his hand to help her out and she got out on her own accord and stepped beside him, shivering with the cold air. Winter was approaching with Christmas coming in less than six weeks. He put his hand to her low back and encouraged her to walk ahead of him. The spicy scent of his aftershave filled her nostrils and she reminded herself he was a stranger, and she was being stupid.When he held the door open for her to the coffee shop, she almost melted into the warmth of the place. It smelled de

She’d been working at Black Magic for a month and had really settled in well. The only person she didn’t really get along with on the staff was Keshaun’s wife Kara. She was nice enough, but she was a snob. She constantly made references to not enjoying living in Pittsburgh and how much she wished they could move back to New York. She complained about not having the fancy condo and talked all the time about the extravagant lifestyle they used to live with five-star dining and trips to exotic locations.Keshaun ignored her for the most part, but Famke was of the opinion, if he was being blasted like this at his place of business, he must really be getting blasted in the privacy of their home. She had learned Keshaun had experienced a heart attack at the age of thirty-two. Stress from his job had him dropping in the middle of the bullpen, as he’d called it. He’d been diagnosed with a heart condition and told to find a new job which wouldn’t cause him the stress he was under.He had told

“Jeez, knock much?” she squealed as she turned around and stuffed her arms into her blouse.“Shit, sorry. I thought you’d gone already,” Royal apologized. “Keshaun gave Precious a juice box and she squeezed it all over my shirt.”She looked over her shoulder to note the bright purple stains on his pale blue shirt. She waved to the sink, “go ahead, clean off. I’m almost done.” She buttoned her shirt up, grateful she had pants on. He had seen her in her cheap cotton bra. He’d probably also seen the stretchmarks on her tummy. She wanted to melt into the floor in humiliation.He grabbed a bunch of paper towel and began dabbing the shirt with water. He was silent as he worked, and she reached past him to collect the make-up she’d left sitting on the counter. “Excuse

By the time she got to the diner she was a certifiable wreck.Prince and Mindy were dead. Precious was the child she’d carried. Royal Robinson had known who she was before even coming to the gas station, of it she was certain, which meant it was highly probable so did Keshaun. Had it all been an elaborate ruse to fuck with her?And what was the craziness about Prince leaving a letter declaring his love? It had to be a misunderstanding. She forced herself to forget the one time he’d kissed her out of the emotions of finding out they were having a girl. He’d wanted a girl desperately and Mindy had been feeling under the weather. She hadn’t attended the ultrasound. When the technician had told them it was a girl and had left them alone, he’d been so excited, he’d kissed her full on the mouth. It had been less than a