Chapter 52

I rub my temples, my head throbbing and my ears ringing as I recall the look on her face when she walked out of my office. I’m such a fucking jackass.

“Here, looks like you need this,” Mason says, handing me a glass of Scotch.

Ignoring the proffered glass, I drop my head into my hands and let out a heavy sigh.

The door to Mason’s office opens, and I recognize Elijah’s heavy footfalls as he crosses the room. “I’ll take one of those,” he tells our younger brother.

Mason pours him one, and Elijah sits on the leather sofa beside me. “So, what’s the deal?” my older brother asks, cutting straight to the point the way he always does. “Or do we need Drake and Maddox to dial in?”

I shake my head. “It’s not about business.”

Mason snorts. “I figured that, bro.”

I look up, glaring at him. “How?”

“Never in my life seen you this cut up over business.” He shrugs and holds out the glass of Scotch, and this time I take it.

“So?” Elijah prods me.

“Mel is pregnant,” I blurt, in the hopes that it will be less painful. It’s not.

“Oh, fuck,” Mason mutters.

Elijah knocks back his Scotch in one gulp. “How pregnant?”

I shake my head. “I dunno. Six weeks, I think. I’m not entirely sure how it works.” Although I spent the last hour researching how many weeks pregnant she’d be given the date we had sex.

“You’ve been separated for two months,” Elijah reminds me, like I’m not aware of that fact every second of every day.

“I know.” I close my eyes and shake my head. “The day I gave her the divorce papers, we …”

“You fucked her before you served her divorce papers?” Mason tips his head back and releases a dark laugh. “Jeez, bro, that’s cold. Even for you.”

“Fuck you,” I mutter.

Elijah shoots our younger brother a warning glare. “And she told you this today?”

“Yeah, said she didn’t want anything from me and she’d prefer me to not be involved, but she thought I had a right to know and I could be part of the kid’s life if I wanted to.”

He nods. “That tracks.”

I scowl at him. “What do you mean, that tracks?”

He swallows hard. “She signed the divorce papers today. They were couriered to your office this afternoon. I asked Helen to let me break the news to you. I was going to tell you tonight. She’s not contesting the divorce or the prenup. She’s walking away without a dime.”

Mason scoffs. “Yeah, because she’s carrying his kid. Doesn’t that guarantee her money?”

I turn my scowl on Mason now. Are we all as cynical as he is?

“That guarantees her child support, but that’s for the child and not her. Certainly not for her family,” Elijah clarifies.

Mason shrugs and downs his Scotch.

“The important thing is how you feel about this.” Elijah rests a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Do you want to be a part of the child’s life?”

My heart feels like it’s being squeezed in a vise. I stare into my older brother’s eyes, and I swear I couldn’t lie to this man if I tried. “Yeah.”

He nods and raises his empty glass. “So you’re gonna be a dad. We should celebrate.”

“Yeah, well …” I blow out a breath.

Elijah gives me a knowing look. “What did you do?”

“I asked her if she was sure it was mine, and she walked out.”

Mason slaps his hand over his heart. “Ouch!”

“Will you stop?” I snap. “You’re supposed to be making me feel better.”

He pours me another Scotch and hands it over with a wink. “I am.”

Elijah holds up his glass too. Mason refills it along with his own, then he holds it up. “To the first of the next generation, bro.”

Elijah lifts his glass in a toast. “Congratulations.”

I down my whisky, savoring the burn of the liquid in my throat.

Elijah wraps an arm around my shoulders. “She’ll come around.”

I sure fucking hope so.

Sitting in the back of my car on the way home from the office, I dial Mel. Like she has the past six times I called her, she sends me to voicemail. I curse under my breath and dial a different number.

“Nathan!” Her excited voice fills my ear. At least someone is pleased to hear from me.

“Hey, Jessie.”

“Do you have another job for me?” she asks.

“Yup.”

“Who is that, sweetheart?” Shane, one of her husbands, asks in the background.

“It’s Nathan. He has another job for me.”

I hear Shane’s dark laugh. “Tell him I’m gonna put him on a fucking retainer if he keeps working you like this.”

She giggles. “Did you hear that?”

“I did. And I’m sorry to take up your time, but this is personal, and I don’t trust anyone else with it.”

“Hey, you know I love to keep busy. So hit me.”

I quickly explain that I need to know the details of Melanie’s doctor’s appointments. If Mel refuses to speak to me, I don’t have any other choice.

“Let me get this straight,” Jessie says, her tone showing no hint of the giggling, friendly woman who answered the phone. “You want me to invade your wife’s privacy after you were a complete asshole to her?”

I wince. “I know. But I want to not be an asshole in the future. I promise I’m only going to be there for support, whatever form that takes.”

“What if she doesn’t want anything to do with you? If she did, she would have responded to your calls, right?”

I scrub a hand through my hair. “Jessie,” I groan. “Come on. I know I deserve to suffer, but I promise you she doesn’t want to do this alone. She’s hurt, and that’s on me, but I’m going to be this kid’s dad.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Please?”

She sighs. “Fine. I’ll get you the details of her next appointment, but after that you’re on your own.”

I thank her and end the call, but not before she makes me promise again that I will be less of an ass to my wife in the future.