Chapter 26

Chase walked into his house shortly after noon.

He dropped his keys and wallet on his kitchen island and stripped off his clothes on the way to his shower.

He was exhausted and emotionally hammered from the roller coaster of emotions he’d gone through in the last twenty-four hours. Sleeping on Piper’s couch hadn’t helped.

But damn, he was happy.

By the time he’d climbed into the back of an Uber to come home, he and Piper had secured their first official date for the following Saturday.

Now all he needed to do was come up with something epic.

After his shower, he tossed on a pair of sweatpants and grabbed his phone.

He’d put Alex off long enough.

She answered before the first ring had a chance to end. “I was about to call out search and rescue.”

“My text last night said I’d call when I could. That’s now.”

Alex blew out a breath and paused. “I-I screwed up.”

Understatement.

“I’m sorry.”

“Good. Now we can get somewhere.” Not that Chase doubted they would. He and his sister were tight, and he never wanted that to change.

“I shouldn’t have said anything to Piper.”

Chase pulled a bottle of water out of his refrigerator and took it to his sofa. He wasn’t going to beat his sister up over the should haves and could haves. But he did need to set her straight on a few things. “I turn thirty-three this year. And at my age, I know the difference between someone I want to pass my time with and someone I might have a future with. Do you really believe that I would risk everything we’re trying to do at Stone Enterprises with a fling?”

He heard her release a long-suffering sigh. “No. I couldn’t see past the things that can go wrong.”

“You and Piper are exactly the same in that. What if it doesn’t work out? What if we ask her to leave? How will the other employees react to us dating? And believe me, she has a whole slew of what-ifs you haven’t considered.”

“Chase—”

“We’ve both fought this attraction, but that ends now. I care for her, Alex.”

“I can hear that in your voice and see it in your eyes. I’m so sorry.”

“Apology accepted. You don’t need to say that again.” Chase took a drink of his water and then pulled out the bigger news. “You trust me, right?”

“You know I do.”

Should he beat around the bush? Make sure his sister was sitting down? Or just blurt it out?

“Piper’s pregnant.”

Blurting out won.

“Wh-what?”

“Four months ago, she met someone. Remember when you and Nick went to Vegas last year?” Chase remembered all the juicy tales that Alex and Nick talked about after their sinful weekend with nameless men.

“Yeah . . .”

“Kinda like that. Only the condom malfunctioned.”

“Oh my God. The crackers. She’s always eating crackers.”

“She’s had morning sickness for weeks. Piper told me last night. While I attempted to ignore my attraction, she was more concerned about what people would say and assume if we started dating when the news of her pregnancy couldn’t be hidden any longer.”

“Oh, damn.”

“It does complicate things a little.”

“A little?” Alex said with a laugh.

Maybe more than a little, but Chase wasn’t going to concentrate on that now.

“She plans on giving it up for adoption.”

“Wait, what?”

Yeah, he wasn’t excited about that thought. But it wasn’t his decision, and unlike Piper, he’d only had a few hours to wrap his mind around where she was at.

“She hasn’t told anyone . . . except me. I’m not a woman, but I’ve lived in a house with them my whole life. If she’s anything like you and Mom, she could use a nonjudgmental ear.” Chase hoped his sister read between the lines.

“I can’t imagine how she’s feeling.”

“You can a hell of a lot better than me. Due to the fact you both have a uterus.”

“Suddenly, just dating you doesn’t feel like that big of a deal,” Alex said.

“I’m glad you see it that way. Right now, you and I are the only ones who know about this. I’ll tell Mom. But other than that, Piper will let people know when she’s ready.”

“Wow,” Alex said with a sigh. “Speaking of moms . . . ours didn’t come home last night.”

The water bottle stopped midway to Chase’s lips. “Gaylord?”

“You have a better explanation?”

Chase felt the smile on his face grow. “Wait . . . is Mom through menopause?”

“Stop. That thought is not okay.”

“It could happen.”

“Stop,” Alex said a second time.

“I’m sure she’s fine.”

He could tell by the way Alex groaned, she was concerned. “Do we have any news on Max?”

“Nothing. Stuart is painfully silent. I’m not sure he’s doing much of anything.”

“Why didn’t he insist on knowing Max’s name the second he ended up in the will?” Alex asked.

“If Dad didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t. You know how he was.”

“Aren’t we getting the list of all Dad’s assets and bank accounts soon?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Chase said. “We need to go in this week and sign signature cards at the banks.”

“Maybe we’ll find something Piper missed in the bank statements.”

“She searched them better than we could.”

“True.” Alex paused. “It’s weird, isn’t it? Knowing we’re inheriting everything and actually having access to it . . . they’re different things.”

“Hell yeah.” They were about to gain access to more money than they could count. And the responsibility that came with that wealth.

“Payroll is going to start cutting us checks. I told them to cut whatever Dad was making down the middle.”

Seemed unnecessary, but Chase knew how companies worked. Even though you owned the company, you needed to make a salary for the tax benefits. “What do you want to do with what’s in the safe?”

“Damn, I almost forgot about that.”

“It’s not easily forgotten once you see it.”

“I don’t need it sitting in my house, I don’t have that kind of vault,” she said.

“Seems wrong to just leave everything in that house to be picked off by the Melissas out there.”

“I wonder if she knows about the safe room,” Alex said.

“If she did, she wouldn’t have lifted the watches that weren’t even in a keyed drawer.”

“You’re right.” Alex sighed. “I should probably see this thing.”

“Yeah, it’s impressive. Between the cash and the guns, I wouldn’t be surprised if we found a kilo of cocaine buried in there.”

Alex laughed, and then they both grew silent.

“You don’t think—”

“No. Dad preyed upon women; a drug lord would have chewed him up,” Chase said.

“All right, then. After the lawyer and the signature cards, we can go by the house.”

Chase knew this wasn’t as easy for Alex as it had been for him. “You’re ready for that?”

“Need to pull the Band-Aid off sometime. Every day we’re at the office, it feels less like his place and more like ours.”

Chase knew what Alex was saying. “I think we should start implementing some of the stuff Piper has suggested. Bring up a design team and reconfigure the executive floor. Shift some parking spaces around.”

Alex laughed. “Tired of parking your truck on the lowest level?”

“I’m bringing my entire staff over, and my management needs space. Might as well plan ahead. When we’re done mixing things up, there won’t be a lot of Dad left around to haunt us.”

“Is it wrong that I like that idea?”

Chase heard the melancholy in her voice. “He’s the one that missed out on our lives, not the other way around.”

Piper arrived to work early.

She knew from Chase’s good-night text that he wasn’t going to be in the office until Tuesday. He was informing his shipping business employees about the change in address and needed to hang around for the aftermath. Chase had also let her know that Alex had been told about the baby and their future dating status.

And because of that shift in their relationship, Piper was determined to work harder than anyone on the executive floor. No one would be able to accuse her of preferential treatment because she was kissing the boss.

When Alex rolled in just five minutes before the hour, Piper had already been there for thirty minutes.

“Good morning.”

Alex paused at Piper’s desk and smiled. “Morning.” Alex looked around and then nodded toward her office. “Let’s chat,” she whispered.

Right.

Get any awkward conversation out of the way.

As soon as the door to the office was closed, Alex turned to Piper and grasped her hands in hers. “I am deeply sorry for what happened the other night.”

“I understand where you were coming from, Alex. You don’t need to apologize.”

“Oh yeah, I do.” Alex walked over to the couch and encouraged Piper to sit beside her. “I knew the second the words were out of my mouth that I messed up. My own insecurities do not need to be projected on you.”

Piper offered her a free pass. “Our insecurities are a lot alike.”

“Chase told me as much. Which makes me feel worse.”

“Please don’t. One of the things I like the most about both of you is the lack of bullshit. At least with me. You don’t sugarcoat the crap and pretend the obvious isn’t staring you in the face. You called me out, and that’s fair.”

“Still not my place. Your personal life is your own.”

“Not when it involves the boss. And not when that boss is your brother and partner.”

Alex shook her head. “I trust my brother, and I’ve learned that you’re just as trustworthy. Which means I need to butt out.”

Piper wasn’t going to argue with her.

“If you feel my performance is waning or our relationship is interfering with my job, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“You have my word on that.”

“Good.”

Alex placed a hand on the seat between them. “How are you feeling?” When she asked the question, she glanced at Piper’s stomach.

“Better . . . actually. It’s been a rough few weeks.”

Alex tilted her head to the side. “Chase said you haven’t told anyone about the baby.”

She shook her head. “My closest friend here is Julia, and if I told her, the entire office would know by noon. I have a couple of friends back home, but if I told them, word would get back to my parents.” Piper looked at her hands resting in her lap. “I can’t have that.”

“Are you scared?”

“Petrified!” The word came out with a laugh.

“Chase told me you’re thinking about adoption.”

Piper nodded and shrugged at the same time. “It’s not like I don’t want to be a mom one day. I just don’t see how I can do this alone. Day-care costs would eat my paycheck, and I don’t have much of a savings.” Piper lifted a hand in the air and shook it in Alex’s direction. “This isn’t me looking for an ‘I’m accidentally pregnant’ pay raise. It’s just the reality. Getting fired shortly after I realized I was pregnant really hit home how ill prepared I am to be a parent. Adoption makes the most sense.” She’d crunched the parenting numbers and knew she could skim by with her salary, but that didn’t change the fact that she had zero help and her parents would disown her.

Silence stretched for a moment.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re a hundred percent convinced.”

Hearing Alex voice a thought that swam around inside Piper’s mind brought a swell of tears.

She lifted her thumbs to her eyes and tried to hold back her emotions. “This is getting old.” She attempted to laugh. “The hormones are awful.”

Alex jumped up, moved to her desk, and returned with tissues.

“Thanks.” Piper dabbed her eyes and nose. Took a deep breath.

“I thought I was pregnant once,” Alex said as she sat back down. “Longest eight days of my life.”

That helped lift the heaviness in Piper’s chest. “It’s been a little longer than that for me.”

Alex reached out, touched Piper’s hand. “I’m here to talk . . . or listen. Or eat ice cream,” Alex mused.

Piper felt the control of her emotions returning. “I need that.”

“Good. I’m sure my brother is going to dominate your weekends, but maybe we can grab a lunch now and then.”

“I’d like that.”

Alex nodded with a smile. “Actually, Thursday, Chase and I have appointments with the estate attorney and a couple of banks. Then we plan on going to the house to secure a few things.”

“Secure?”

“Apparently, there’s a very detailed list of my father’s household assets. I guess some of the art on the walls is Christie’s auction house–worthy. I’ve invited my friend Nick for moral support.”

Piper leaned back. “Is Nick a boyfriend?”

“God no!” Alex exclaimed. “No. Nick and I play on the same team.”

“Oh.”

“We’ve been best friends since high school. You’ll love him. Anyway . . . we’re going to rifle through our dad’s stuff, drink copious amounts of alcohol, and roast on the man. Wanna join us?”

Piper placed a hand on her belly. “I’m already a victim of tequila, but the rest of it sounds great.”

“Perfect. Plan to break off early, around three thirty . . . and we’ll meet you there.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Alex stood, opened her arms for a hug.

Piper accepted the gesture. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Your acceptance.”

Alex leaned back, looked her in the eye. “My brother is one of the good ones.”

“I know.”

Alex stepped back and clapped her hands together once. “Okay, let’s get to work. We need to hire a design team. Change some things around here.”

“I’m already interviewing people for the third floor.”

Alex swirled a hand around in a circle. “I mean for up here. Out with the old, in with the new.”

The corners of Piper’s mouth lifted. “I’m on it.”