“Veronica, the doctor has insisted that this facility is the best place for you so that you can work on your mental health so that you can be the best mother—”
She interrupts. “And wife?”
“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure that you’re cut out for it,” I tell her. Beside me, the doctor flinches, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got her figured out. “If not seeing me for a couple of days is enough to set you on a path of self-destruction, what’s going to happen if we get together and I’m away for weeks at a time, or when the press is following you everywhere, watching your every move?”
“Oh no, I would be fine! I promise,” she begs, her eyes shiny with hope.
“The best thing for you to do would be the in-patient program so that you can take care of yourself and keep our baby healthy. I’ll start interviewing nannies and register him with the finest of Swiss boarding schools for when he’s old enough, but I need you to promise me you will do everything they ask.” My nausea rises with each of the words coming out of my mouth, but I keep telling myself that it’s necessary.
“Yes, anything.” She smiles widely, so I nod for the doctor to remove her restraints.
“And there’s one more thing. I need you to sign this paperwork.” The doctor unclips the buckles, releasing her hands, and she grabs for the paper and pen. Not even looking at it, she signs away any parental rights, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Halfway there.
“Excellent," I tell her as she looks to me for approval. Normally, I would feel guilty about manipulating someone like this, but she’s done so much worse to Kai and myself, not to mention her roommate. “I’ll return for your next visit with the obstetrician, and Kai will be coming to support us as family. I expect to find you healthy, and I want you to try to eat a little more. I don’t want our baby boy to be underweight. I know a fantastic surgeon who can always give you a little nip and tuck once he’s born.”
“Oh, that would be lovely,” she simpers, which is about all I can take. I step back when she holds her arms out for a hug, and her face falls.For the baby, Tom. Do it for the baby.
Gritting my teeth, I step forward and embrace her quickly, feeling her thin body under my hands, before stepping away. I’ll do this for my brother and the baby, but I won’t give her any moment longer than necessary for their sake.
“Work hard to please the doctors, and I will bring you something next time. Don’t disappoint me, Veronica.” After that, I hurry out, leaving the doctor behind to deal with her. I rush in the direction of the bathroom, passing Kai without a word, and push through the door. It’s by the grace of a step that I make it into the cubicle in time to lose what little I had in my stomach.
When I come out, my brother is standing there with an open bottle of water, his eyebrows turned down in a frown.
“I’m sorry, man. This is fucked.” He hands me the water and leans against the wall as I rinse out my mouth.
“It is, but I will do anything to keep our baby safe, even if I have to pretend. I’ve worked out that she likes all the attention on her. If I can distract her with shiny things for the next five months, we might come out of this relatively unscathed.”
“Harlow is going to be pissed.” He scrubs a hand through his longer hair, and we both leave the bathroom, walking back to the conference room.
“Yes, she is,” I agree, “but she’ll understand.”
After I give Forrest the forms so he can do whatever he needs to with them, my brother and I leave the prison facility.
“I know it’s early, but I need a drink.”
Kai nods. “Let’s go back to the hotel. We can drink all day to forget that clusterfuck for the moment, then fall into bed tonight without having to worry the rest of the family. We can tell them all tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I tell him, relieved I’ll get a reprieve from all of their questions even if it’s just for twenty-four hours.
ChapterTwo
Declan
The day after the gala, I’m eating an early breakfast in the restaurant of the hotel when Dad finds me. I look up from my laptop, expecting Molly and Emma to join us any minute, but they’re nowhere to be seen.
“Where are the girls?” I ask him, leaning back in my chair.
He takes a sip of his coffee and grimaces. “Neither of them are feeling very well this morning. I wanted to do the right thing and be there for them while they felt so bad, but they shouted at me to get out.”
A chuckle comes out before I can stop it. “I wonder if Chuck is having the same problem this morning. Melinda was quite the ringleader last night.”
Dad’s chuckle rings out with mine. “It’s great to have them here, isn’t it? We went out to dinner with them before the gala. It will be nice for Emma and Molly to have a friend to navigate the shark-infested waters that are our lives. The press is going to have a field day when they finally realize it’s not just you boys in an unconventional relationship. You guys have had all the focus up until now, but someone is bound to notice eventually.”
“It’s sad that we have to prepare for that kind of thing. The Ninja Starfish story took the heat off us for a while. We just have to hope that when they do find out, someone else fucks up and takes the spotlight away from you.”
“So, what are you doing this morning?” Dad nods at the open laptop in front of me.
“Well, after Forrest’s announcement that we’re expecting a baby girl, I got to thinking about our childhoods and how, despite our advantages, you still made us get summer jobs and learn the businesses from the ground up.”
