Was the pressure the reason he’d been quiet yesterday when he’d called? Something was on his mind; she could feel it. Whatever it was, he’d glossed over it. That worried Heavenly.
“It’s never easy running a business. Then…Jack and Connor shocked his mom with that Gia girl in her family room. And Grace is getting married in a few weeks…” River shook his head. “It’s a lot to juggle.”
“He loves her, but her reaction to the twins sharing a girlfriend…” Heavenly winced.
“She doesn’t know about you three, does she?”
“No, and he’s trying to figure out how to tell her, but not until after her wedding.”
“Seth said you three were attending together. As…what? Friends?” River snorted. “I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that.”
“Everyone thinks I’m his girlfriend, so we’re sticking with that story.”
“Girlfriend or…fiancée?” River cast a meaningful glance at her engagement ring.
Heavenly jerked her gaze down to her finger, then looked up with a blush. “Fiancée.”
“They asked?”
“Yes, after they both got down on one knee. It was really sweet.” Never mind that they’d all been naked. “But you can’t tell Raine yet! Please…”
“You want to tell your bestie. Got it.” He grinned. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you three. So…Beck will be attending the wedding as a friend?”
“Who happens to be in town, yes. It’s not perfect, but it will work for a few days. I hope.”
“Isn’t family drama a bitch?” he drawled.
Heavenly nodded. “Speaking of drama… Did you call Pike about renting a room? He’s got that swanky Beverly Hills mansion all to himself, and since I heard Dean bought you out of the house?—”
“I haven’t called Pike yet.” River scrubbed a hand down his face. “But I gotta do something. I’m back to staying in a sketchy rent-by-the-week place starting tonight because the office sofa”—he pointed to the sleek black leather tufted couch—“doubles as a torture rack. It’s destroying my back. But I’m not sure living with Pike would be better. I mean, the guy knows performers who put on a sex-donkey show.” He shuddered. “I’m a pervert, but seriously. I don’t want to know what the fuck goes on in his house.”
Heavenly tried not to laugh. She hadn’t liked Pike…until she’d spoken to him one-on-one about Jasmine. Then she’d seen a more respectable side of him. “You still need somewhere to live. And he might surprise you.”
“Doubtful. Besides, I tried living with a ‘friend’ and look how that turned out. Granted, I took his sister’s V-card. But how the hell was I supposed to know he was related to Jasmine? That didn’t matter; Dean still screwed me over. So the idea of living with someone who’s not my friend?” River’s laugh was bitter. “Pass. And how awkward would it be living with the other guy pursuing Jasmine?”
“When you put it like?—”
The office door crashing open startled her into silence. The glass rattled before it abruptly slammed shut. Furious footsteps clomped up the stairs to the office. Heavenly exchanged a glance with River, who stood, imposing and ready to take on their intruder.
A teenage boy with a mile-wide chip on his shoulder stormed to the landing and stopped, pinning them with a glare.
Heavenly stared at his face and gasped.
He was a younger carbon copy of Seth.
Head spinning, she catalogued him. He had Seth’s sculpted cheekbones, his rugged jawline that could cut glass. The same sandy-blond hair, which caught the afternoon light streaming through the windows. But it was his eyes that really startled her. She already knew those shimmering green eyes could go from warm as summer grass to—like now—cold as a winter frost.
Her heart stuttered in her chest as the bottom dropped out of her stomach. Seth didn’t have a brother younger than Jack and Connor, so… Oh. My. Goodness.
Was this Seth’s…son?
Heavenly stared at the boy. Gaped. Seth had told her and Beck about Tristan. Surely, he would have told them if he had another son. Unless…
He didn’t know.
The thought hit her like a sledgehammer.
He was going to blindside Seth. There was no way she could call him in New York and drop the bomb about his long-lost son.
