Hiding With Her Twin Babies
Chapter 1

Dante is like Logan. He has his mother’s blue eyes, and his eyes look like he can look right into your soul. He is quiet and dangerous. Women want him as they know they can not get him, and many have tried to get closer to Enzo to meet his broody older brother. Dante does not like the women his brother mingles with and waits for the right woman to walk into his life. She has big shoes to fill. Dante loves his parents, but his mother is his idol, and his wife will have to be strong, beautiful and memorable as his mother is. Dante Casella is every woman’s dream, but they are too afraid to approach him. He does not talk to many women, and if he does, it is usually business.

Jennie Pedrov can not take her eyes off Dante as he walks to the house. He is in Russia to talk business with her brother, and he and Andrei are best friends, although Andrei is much older than Dante is. Jennie knows she stands no chance as she is not even attractive in his eyes. He never sees her, and Dante and Andrei do not talk with nerdy girls like her who study all the time. Jennie sighs as she sees Dante and her brother walk out of the house without Dante greeting her. Dante and Andrei look up as a red little sports car drives into the driveway. Dante can not take his eyes off the beautiful blond getting out of the car. She looks confident and beautiful. She looks like a model and should be one. He likes confident women that know what they want in life. Now, that is a woman he can date. She reminds him a little of his mother. She looks fearless and confident. Jennie sees how Dante looks at her cousin from her father’s side, and she smiles a bitter smile. Everyone looks at Alexandra that way. She is beautiful and confident, and men always notice her. She also knows how to attract men’s attention.

Alexandra looks at her cousin Andrei and runs to him to hug him. She does that on purpose as she wants to meet his attractive friend. Alexandra likes playing with rich, handsome men. She smiles at Dante, and Andrei has no choice but to introduce them. Andrei knows Alexandra has a reputation for hurting men with her wild ways, but he has no option but to introduce them. He can see the interest in Dante’s eyes, and he hopes his friend does not fall for Alexa’s tricks.

“Dante, this is my cousin Alexandra, Alexandra, this is Dante,” Andrei says. Jennie can see everything playing out from her seat in the living room. The living room’s doors are wide open, and Jennie is sure they can see her if they want to. She hopes they don’t, as she wants them to leave her and her broken heart alone. She knows Dante will fall for Alexa as all the men always do.

“Nice to meet you, Dante. Call me Alexa. All my friends do,” Alexa says. Jennie rolls her eyes. All her lovers, maybe. Alexa does not have friends. Her friends are fake and only hang out with her because they all shop together and are wealthy brats.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Nice to meet you, Alexa. Want to go with us to grab some coffee?” Dante asks. Alexa is jealous of Jennie as she is clever, and her grandparents always remind her of how great Jennie is. Her eye catches Jennie sitting on the couch.

“Shouldn’t we invite Jennie? She is always in front of that laptop of hers and never gets out,” Alexa says, sounding concerned. Jennie does not even look up from her laptop and ignores them like they always ignore her.

“You want to come, Jen?” Andrei asks. Jennie looks up with a grin on her face.

“I have an assignment tomorrow, so no, thank you, and besides, I have to go to work soon,” Jen says. Andrei is relieved he does not want to be seen with Jennie in public as she never wears nice clothes or dresses up. She is plain and straightforward, and he knows she hardly gets out in public because she has no self-esteem. Alexa smiles as she can see the relief on both Andrei and Dante’s faces. She got what she wanted to get a little stab in and let Jennie know that no one wanted to be seen with her. She may not be as clever as Jennie, but she is beautiful.

“Oh, let her be then. I always try to get her to go shop with me or go to the beauty parlour with me, but she is always busy with studies,” Alexa says, laughing. Andrei and Dante laugh with Alexa as they walk to the SUV and drive away.

Jennie does not understand what happened between her and her brother. They used to be so close, but he ignored her for the last few years and hardly talked to her. She knows she is not his real sister and is adopted, but it is not like his mother and father gave her any special attention. Jennie never felt that she fits in. Not in this family and not with her mother’s family. They all have their own lives, and she feels like she is in everyone’s way. Jennie keeps on working on her project, but her mind keeps wondering. It was all fine when they were younger. Everything changed after high school when she chose her university subjects. She always wanted to become a computer programmer. Boris and Loraine were unhappy as they wanted Jennie to become a doctor. She had the skills, and her grades were excellent. She even was offered a scholarship to join one of the best medical universities in Russia. Jen turned it down to chase her dreams. Boris was so angry he refused to pay for her school, and Jennie took a job at a local restaurant to pay for it herself. Loraine tried to help her, but Jennie turned her down and decided she would no longer be anyone’s problem. She can look after herself and wants to move out of the house, but this time, Boris puts his foot down and refuses that she can move out to go and live on her own.

Jennie can not concentrate on her studies anymore and gets up to go and get ready for work. Loraine looks at Jennie as she walks past her. Jennie is a quiet child and never gives them problems, but she is hardheaded, and although Loraine loves her dearly, she can feel Jennie drifting away from her and Boris. Jennie also did not go to see Melody in five years. She knows Jennie feels like she does not fit in anywhere and wants to be on her own. Jennie is very proud and refuses any help Loraine offers her. It makes Loraine sad, but she understands. Boris and Andrei have been ignoring Jennie for the last few years since she decided to follow her dreams and not theirs. It must be hard on Jennie as she was used to her brother and father showering her with love. Loraine’s heart bleeds for Jennie. Jennie will never show any emotion in front of anyone, and the reason she never goes shopping for new clothes is that Jennie is too proud to ask for money. She makes enough at the restaurant as a waiter to pay for her studies, but Loraine knows Jennie does not have enough money left for anything else.

Jennie is hardly home at dinner time as that is the busiest time at the restaurant, and Loraine has noticed Jennie never eats at home anymore. So she must be eating at the restaurant. Finally, Jennie comes down the stairs after a while and is dressed in her waitress uniform, her hair neatly in a bun on her head. She is beautiful if only she could see herself as Loraine sees her. Loraine wishes Jennie will get rid of the glasses and, for once, dress up. Then she will be more beautiful than Alexa. Jennie has a beautiful body, which shows when she wears her waitress uniform. Jennie rushes past her and does not even see Loraine.

“Hey! Are you not saying goodbye before leaving for work?” Loraine asks with a smile.

“Bye!” She all she gets out of Jennie. Loraine has noticed that Jennie never calls her mom anymore. Jennie also never Boris dad or Andrei brother anymore. Did they hurt her that much when they refused to pay for her dream studies? Loraine always offered her help but never to pay for her studies. Maybe she should. She offered help buying her clothes and other things but never to pay for her studies.

“Jennie, when you come home, can we talk?” Loraine asks.

“I will be late tonight, and I don’t want you to wait up for me,” Jennie says as she walks out of the house and to the bus stop. Jennie gave Boris the car he bought her back after the fallout about her career choice.

Boris is a hard man, and he has his pride. In the heat of the moment, he through everything in Jennie’s face. He told her how ungrateful she was for not appreciating what he and Loraine did for her. She is not even their child, and they treat her like their own. Jennie’s face was pale, and Jennie said nothing after that. She left quietly and locked herself in her room. The next day she had all her bags packed and wanted to go, but Boris put his foot down and told her that she was a Petrov and would not let her leave the house.

As Jennie works at the restaurant, she sees Alexa arriving with a man she does not know. Alexa is hanging on his arm, and his hands are all over Alexa. He is blond and looks like the type of man your mother will not approve of if you are from a decent family. Jennie is happy when they are not seated in her section, and they can not see her from where they are sitting. Jennie shakes her head and thinks of how Alexa flirted with Dante that afternoon. Alexa always has to have more than one man’s attention to be happy.

The following day after her classes, Jennie gets home, and Alexa and Dante sit in the living room making out. Dante stayed with them for a couple of days, and Alexa invited herself to stay with them. She is family, so Boris and Loraine cannot say no. Jennie goes to her room and starts studying, but she can not believe that Alexa can keep two men simultaneously. It is not her problem, so she keeps it to herself. Dante stays with them for the next couple of weeks, although he was supposed to go home already. Jennie keeps out of their way and keeps to herself. She got another job, so she does not have to be home to see the blooming romance between her cousin and the man she fell in love with. Jennie makes more money now, and she starts saving some of it if she needs it one day. No one notices that Jennie is hardly home as everyone is so happy about Alexa and Dante replaceing true love. Even Andrei teases that they will become family soon.

“I hope so,” Dante says as he genuinely loves Alexa. Jennie’s heart is bleeding. She still sees Alexa with the blond guy from time to time in the restaurant when Dante and Andrei are busy. Jennie says nothing as it is none of her business, and she will not warn Dante as everyone knows she has had a crush on him since they were kids. They will just think she is jealous and that Jennie does not want to. Then one night, Jennie’s whole world collapsed. The night Dante proposed to Alexa and she said yes. The stormy night, he mistakenly came to Jennie’s room instead of Alexa’s room in his drunkenness.