“Mom always joked that we were born entrepreneurs. We were the kids who would try to upsell you a turkey dinner when all you wanted was a glass of water. When we were in college, we found a way to buy a three-family home across from campus. Fixed it up. Rented out the spare rooms. A year later, we sold it at a profit of over fifty grand.”
I laugh slightly. “Sounds like real estate’s always been in your blood.”
“His, too. We started our first company when we were only twenty. We’d buy houses in horrible shape, fix them up, often living there as we renovated, then sell them at huge profits. I’d made my first million by the time I turned twenty-two.”
“That’s incredible,” I exhale, in awe of his accomplishments.
“It was. And the first thing I did was ask Sadie to marry me. In retrospect, maybe we were too young, but I didn’t care. I thought we’d be that couple who made it.”
“What happened?”
“I saw the money people were making by developing real estate from the ground up. That’s what I wanted to do. Instead of making ten or fifteen grand on a flip, we could make millions by developing unused land into subdivisions. So we started a second firm. A real estate development firm. Unfortunately, development isn’t as easy as flipping. With bigger profit margins comes more responsibilities. More hours. But I loved it. Loved traveling and finding land to develop. It was such a rush. It still is.”
He speaks with so much passion and zeal, his expression lighting up. As much as I’ve begrudged him for what he does, it’s obvious he loves it.
“And Sadie?” I swallow hard. “How did she feel about all the hours you were working?”
“I think it’s obvious.” He stares ahead, taking another sip of his drink. “I thought we were happy. We saw so many of our friends struggling to make ends meet. Not Mason and me. Every year brought more and more success our way. Everything was going so great. And when I found that pregnancy test in the trash and Sadie confirmed it, I was over the moon. Every city I traveled to, I brought back something for our baby. Learning she was carrying our child, watching her belly grow every day… Words can’t explain how I felt.”
My heart squeezes listening to him talk about having a child. A week ago, I never would have imagined Callum the type of person to want children. He seemed too much of an ass. But now, hearing the joy in his voice, seeing the excitement on his face, it makes me jealous of Sadie.
And angry at her for destroying this version of Callum.
“And then I did the math.” He throws back a hefty gulp of whiskey.
“Oh, god…”
“It took me a while. It was actually my current business partner, Daniel, who pointed it out to me. Got into a pretty big fight over it, too. I didn’t want to think Sadie would cheat on me, though. I’m not proud to admit it, but I hired a private investigator to keep an eye on her while I was out of town. After a month, the PI told me he couldn’t find any proof. That the only person he saw her with was me. The only problem was that I hadn’t been in town.” His Adam’s apple works in his throat, his voice strained. “But my brother was.”
“Callum, I…” I shake my head. I don’t even know what to say right now. How do you respond to a story of such immense betrayal?
“And the part that really gutted me was that she let me believe it was my child for over five months.” His jaw ticks, the hand holding his glass tightening to the point I’m worried it’ll shatter in his hand. “They both did. They knew. I wasn’t supposed to find that pregnancy test. But since I did, they were just waiting for the right time to tell me.”
“That’s… That’s just awful, Callum.”
He nods, throwing back the rest of his whiskey. “So there you have it. That’s why I have no plans to go to Christmas at my mother’s this year or any other year. Not when I’ll be forced to sit there and watch the little boy I thought was mine call my twin brother Daddy.”
Not caring about the consequences, I fling my arms around him, my champagne jostling slightly with my motions. But that’s the least of my concerns right now.
I just want him to feel something other than the soul-crushing despair after enduring something so horrible.
Luckily, he doesn’t push away. Just lets me hug him. To my surprise, he hugs me back in his own way, running his hand along my arm, his touch delicate, light.
But it still sends a shiver down my spine. Still has my pulse increasing.
And with each brush along my skin, his touch becomes more resolute. More determined. More sensual.
When his lips scrape against my neck, as if testing the waters, I lift my eyes to meet his. My heart pounds, my stomach doing somersaults. This man is temptation in human form.
And I’m trying so hard not to give in.
“Callum, I—” I begin, about to push away, but he doesn’t let me, his grip on me tightening.
“Don’t, Parker. Not tonight.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t fight it,” he pleads, his voice gruff but strained at the same time. “I know you feel this, too.”
