Chapter 16

Damian

Josh seems surprised to see me already at the gym before he is. I have to admit, I'm a little surprised he's in this late, but the dazed look in his eyes and the way his shoulders are relaxed makes me think that he's had a good night.

"How's Olivia?" I ask with a grin.

"How's her sister?" he retorts, and I chuckle, getting back to the treadmill. "Not good, seeing as you're at the gym before me."

I snort. "She's seven months pregnant and on bed rest. What do you think I should be doing?"

Josh leans against the arm of the treadmill. "If it's anything like the old Damian Blake, getting the hell out of there is what you should be doing." He eyes me. "But you're not, are you?"

"No," I say slowly. "I'm not." I slow the treadmill down to a walking speed and sigh. "I think I love the damn woman."

Josh's eyebrows fly up his head. "It wasn't that long ago that you were cursing her name and threatening to kick her out of her own business. What's changed?"

I come to a stop and drop my head back on my neck. "I don't know. I don't know! Is there some spell women put you under when they're pregnant?"

Josh laughs and gestures me over to the weights. "I think maybe you just like her, and you don't want to curse her name and threaten to kick her out of her own business."

"Oh, no, I definitely still want to do that. Just… less than before." I squint. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

Josh tries to add more weight, hoping I won't notice in my distraction. "You're not trying to come in looking like the hero now, are you? Her husband isn't here to take care of her. She's all alone with a baby on the way and the head of a company that you think she can't run."

I don't even prepare to lift the weight at my feet as the cold wash of awareness floods my senses. Oh fuck. Is that what I'm doing? I glance up at Josh. "What the hell, man?" I manage to get out, strangely heartbroken at the realization that I'm exactly what Rachel said I was. I'm not a good man. It's what Amelia has been waiting for this entire time, and somehow, I've managed to convince her that I'm indispensable. I sit down at the weight bench, defeated.

Josh frowns. "It was a question! Don't look at me like I just kicked your dog."

"Yeah. But… you're right."

"Oh. Well, that's not good."

His gaze drifts to the doorway before he beams. I follow the direction of his eyes and spot Olivia walking towards us.

"Don't tell her about this," I mumble.

I don't even know if he hears me. She walks over and wraps her arms around his waist, giving him a soft kiss. "Hey, handsome," she whispers before glancing at me. "Damian. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you, Olivia."

"How's my sister?"

It's a trap. Amelia was talking to her on the phone as I left this morning. I give Olivia a sunny grin. "You would know. Don't trust her word?"

She stiffens. "Not really. Mellie often brushes things over. She did tell me that you were in charge of MVM for a month, and you managed to get not one but two lawsuits brought upon the company. So, I'm not sure what she's still doing letting you be in charge."

I freeze as Josh's gaze locks on mine. "Two lawsuits," he says with an amused smirk. "You didn't mention that."

I wave my hand to quell any further thought as to my ability. "Both of the cases are technically against Amelia, and it's because men think they can get away with undermining her. We fired people, they were mad, it's a whole thing." I rub my face and stand up. "I'm going home. I can't deal with you two today. I can barely stand Josh on a good day."

I turn to head back to the lockers when the Kirk twins are suddenly right there.

"Damian," Tessa says, sticking her hip out and jutting her chest forward. "We've missed you. I got a new sports bra; do you like it?"

My eyes subconsciously glance at her chest, and Olivia coughs pathetically behind me.

Tori, not wanting to be outdone by her sister, spins and looks over her shoulder. "And I got new shorts. Aren't they cute?"

I sigh helplessly. They do look cute. They'd look better on the floor of…

I give them both a weak smile. "Sorry, girls. I'm spoken for."

Tessa pouts. "Yeah, but that hasn't stopped you before."

"Yeah, what's changed?" Tori adds. She looks around us before smirking. "Is she here? No? Come meet us in the sauna and—"

"I've got a baby on the way. Things are different now."

I push past them with both of their mouths ajar. As I get to the door, I glance back at Olivia, who is smiling at me surprisingly genuinely. I think I might have just won over the sister.

"Mila?" I call out when I get home. I wonder if Olivia has already passed on the message of what happened at the gym. I know the two sisters talk often, but I don't know how they communicate. Do they tell each other everything? Or is it all face value, like Rachel was with her sister?

"Mila?" I call out again with no response.

I poke my head in the bedroom, but it's empty. I frown and glance in the bathroom, the kitchen, the office… nothing.

"Amelia?" I say with a growl. "You'd better be somewhere in this house."

There's a cough from behind me, and I spin to see Edgar, Amelia's driver, standing in the doorway. "Excuse me, Mr. Blake. I thought I'd tell you that Mrs. Garrett has gone to see Ms. Eleanor and has a visiting doctor's appointment while there."

My shoulders drop in relief. "You're not just saying that so I stop panicking about her being out of bed, are you?"

Edgar gives me an exhaled smile. "No, sir. I am just passing on a message. I was instructed to tell you something about not having your frilly panties in a twist, but I feel like maybe it is unnecessary to quote her word for word."

I chuckle and head to the kitchen. "Thank you, Edgar." He gives me a brief nod and turns back to the door. "Hey, wait… you want something to eat?"

He looks bewildered. "Eat?"

"Yeah. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I could eat. What… what for? Do you need me to drive you somewhere?"

I laugh. "No. I wanted to ask how well you knew Jackson, my cousin. I thought the best way to do that is to offer food first."

A soft look comes over his aged face, and he takes a seat at the island with a low grunt. "Jackson Garrett," he says with a sigh. "A lovely man. Challenging at times. I was his mother's driver, as you know, and he was very particular about not being driven anywhere. He wanted to drive. Be in control of it."

I frown. "I was under the impression he wasn't good at being in control."

"Not big things, no. MVM, definitely not. Your grandfather did that deliberately, you know? Tried to toughen him up. Forced him to take a level of responsibility he wasn't ready for."

I think about it as he takes a breath. "He died in a car accident, didn't he? He didn't let you drive."

"Right. I offered that night. Mrs. Garrett offered that night. He was insistent on driving himself. We could all see it." Edgar drifts off into his memories.

I stare at him in a moment of horror. "It was… an accident, right?"

Edgar jerks back to attention. "Oh, yes. As far as we can tell, he was going a little over the speed limit but nothing particularly dangerous. Another car ran a red light and rammed his side of the car. No sign of anything…"

He leaves the sentence unfinished, and I don't choose to finish it either. I'd had the strange sensation in my stomach that told me I knew absolutely nothing about my cousin, but I'm relieved to know that while maybe true, at least I wasn't completely in the dark.

Just as I set a plate of food in front of him, his phone chirps, and he smiles at me apologetically. "I'm sorry. Mrs. Garrett is ready."

"Take it to go," I say kindly. He nods and goes to leave, but I stop him once again. "Actually, take me with you. I want to stop by Amelia's old house on the way back."

"Yes, sir."

Amelia actually looks pleasantly surprised when I'm sitting in the backseat when she shuffles her way in, being careful not to overexert herself. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at the gym."

Once she's in the car, she leans over and kisses me softly. We're still in the driveway of Eleanor's house, but she shows no reservations about it.

"I was too busy untangling my frilly panties."

"Frilly?" she says in amusement. "Someone improvised."

Edgar coughs pathetically from the driver's seat. "It needed more emphasis."

Amelia chuckles, and I have to admit, she looks in better spirits since seeing Eleanor. "Since I'm out of the house, can we go somewhere to—"

"I thought maybe we could do something scary, but something that needs to be done."

Amelia's walls immediately come up, and she turns into the distant boss Amelia. "What? It's not to tell your mother that we're together, is it? I'd rather that be as dramatic as possible, and I'm not sure my body can handle it at the moment."

I exhale a laugh and hold out the old key to her house. "Can we try? I'm right here."

She breathes out slowly before nodding. "Okay."

I don't know if it's because she's spent a few weeks lying in bed, or if it's anything to do with me at all, but all I do is take her hand and squeeze tight as Edgar starts the car.

She doesn't let go of it the short ride there, but I hear her breath start to change the second Edgar drives through the gates onto the property.

Looking at the house again properly, I'm struck both by the size of it and the accessibility of it. When I get out, I wander around the front yard while waiting for Amelia to get the courage to step out of the car.

There's an extended porch that wraps around the exterior, overlooking a lush lawn, several oddly placed fruit trees and an area that could be easily turned into a garden. Near the back fence, I can see several more lemon trees.

I arrive back at Amelia, who looks warily over at me. "What are you planning?"

"What?"

She leans into me as I kiss her head. "You're planning something. I can see it on your face."

I shrug. "It's what I do whenever I go anywhere. It's nothing." I gesture to the front door. "What do you think? Shall we go in? Shall we get closer?"

I keep my arm around her shoulders, and we walk slowly to the front door. I help her up the steps to the porch, but she looks at me instead of putting the key in the door.

"What do you do everywhere you go?"

"Huh?"

"Just before. You said it was what you do whenever you go anywhere. What?"

I exhale a laugh. "I see what I would do with the space. That's all. I don't usually custom-build restaurants. I use existing spaces. It's just a habit. You really don't have to worry about it."

She turns to look out over the front yard. "What were you thinking?"

I blink at her. "Sweetheart, seriously, it was—"

"And I'm asking. What were you thinking?"

I scratch at my head and give in. "Well, outdoor eating area along the porch. There, closer to the fence, I would put raised beds, probably nine or ten of them, with pathways in between them so people can go have a look at them. Keep the fruit trees, but plant some more to the east side of the main building."

Amelia nods slowly. "This is technically MVM property."

"No," I murmur. "It's yours. And it will continue to be yours until you decide it should be something else."

She lets out a shaky breath and turns to face the doorway. "Okay."

I hand her the key, but she shakes her head. "I can't."

Before she changes her mind on what else she can't do, I place the key in the lock and turn it. She holds her breath as the door swings open.