Chapter 44

44

Zara

"Smart thinking, offering her a job," Isla says after Abby has left.

Solene, too, signs off—after asking me to keep her posted on the results of the pregnancy test I promised I’m going to take as soon as I fire-fight the fall-out from the impromptu sparring session that my brother and my boss—who’s also my lover—indulged in.

"That old adage about keeping your enemies where you can see them? It’s a technique I’ve used more than once." Not that Abby is my enemy. Far from it. The girl almost fainted when I offered her a job as an executive in my agency. A step up from the unpaid intern position she’s held for the past six months. She thanked me profusely and promised to do her best. I took her up on the offer by telling her to research all media mentions—if any—from the earlier incident. I lean back in my seat and place my hands over my stomach, which hasn’t felt very steady over the past ten seconds.

Isla levels me with another look of concern. "Do you think you really are?—"

"Pregnant?" I force myself to say the word. "I haven’t taken the test yet, but my instincts are screaming that I am. Considering I’m already a week late."

"It might just be all the stress you’re under."

"I thrive on stress. I’ve never had a day that hasn’t brought with it new stress, and I’ve never been late."

"Hmm." She taps her fingers on the armrest. "Will you tell him?"

"I don’t know," I say honestly.

"I suppose it’s opportune that he proposed to you?"

I scowl at her. "I’m not going to marry him just because I’m pregnant."

"It’s as good a reason as any."

"When—if—I marry, it will be because not only am I in love with the man, but I also see him as a partner in every way."

"And you don’t with Hunter?"

I squeeze the bridge of my nose. "I don’t know."

"I think you do know, but you don’t want to accept it."

"Eh?" I lower my arm and stare at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You’ve been prejudiced against Hunter from the beginning. You’ve held his background against him."

"No, I haven’t." I gape at her.

"Haven’t you?" She half-smiles. "It’s normal, though. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are, and a part of you resents that he seems to have gotten everything so easily."

I squirm in my seat. Is that true? Do I begrudge Hunter his success so far? Have I held him up to a standard of my own making and found him lacking? Just because he was born into money... Do I hold that against him? Is his success less credible because he, seemingly, didn’t have to jump through the hoops to get to where he is, unlike me? I lower my chin to my chest. "Oh, god, Isla, do you think I’ve misjudged him? Do you think I'm holding him up to a standard that he could never match?"

"Zara, I?—"

A knock on the door interrupts us. Then Liam pops his head through. "Everything okay in here?"

"Hey, babe," Isla beckons to him. Liam walks over to Isla and leans a hip against her armrest. The two of them kiss, and they’ve only been separated for half an hour. Gosh, they’re so sweet together, it’s almost too much.

I hear footsteps before Hunter enters the room, followed by my brother. Cade sports a shiner, which only adds to his good looks. The two of them stop halfway inside the room, then glower at each other. O-k-a-y, so apparently, whatever they were discussing didn’t go down well.

Isla rises to her feet. "I think Liam and I are gonna leave now." She walks over to me and kisses my cheek. "Keep me posted on everything," she says in a low voice. I nod and hug her back. She steps back, then heads for my brother.

"I’m Isla, Zara’s friend."

Cade’s features break into a smile. "My pleasure." He brings her hand to his lips and kisses it.

Liam instantly closes the distance to them and wraps his arm about Isla. "Well played on your last innings. That was some record-breaking century you made." He’s referring to the last cricket match, where my brother scored enough to win the tournament for his team.

"Thanks, man!" He releases Isla’s hand, and nods in Liam’s direction.

Liam holds out his hand, "Liam Kincaid."

"Cade Kingston."

The two men shake hands.

"Looking forward to seeing you play at Lord’s next month." Liam refers to the upcoming match at the well-known cricket grounds.

"Can’t wait to play there; it’s my favorite venue," Cade acknowledges.

"We’ll be off then." Liam heads toward the door with Isla in tow. He and Hunter exchange chin jerks in the manner of friends who know each other enough to say a lot to each other without saying anything. The door snicks shut.

I glance between the two men who are resolutely not looking at each other. Which means both of them are glowering at me. I blow out a breath. "Care to take a seat? Or do the two of you prefer to stand there and ignore each other?"

"Prefer to ignore each other," they reply at the same time.

A dull ache stabs behind my eyes. My stomach jumps in response. I rub at my temple and resist the urge to rub at my stomach. Oh, god, I can’t really be preggers… And if I am? Best to wait until I have a positive test before I begin to panic, though truth be told, a part of me already knows.

"Zara, you okay?" Hunter’s voice reaches me. I open my eyes, take in the concern on his features.

"What do you think? My boss beat up my brother, and you’ve probably made tabloid headlines with that asinine stunt."

My brother winces. "It’s not pleasant to get on her bad side," he says in a conversational tone.

"So I’m learning." Hunter’s lips twitch.

They finally look at each other, twin expressions of wariness on their features. Apparently, they’re in agreement about something, and naturally, it involves their opinion of me. I make a sound at the back of my throat, and both men look at me in alarm.

"You sure you’re okay, Z?" My brother—the clunkerhead asks.

"Don’t keep asking me that as if I am an airhead who needs to be mollycoddled."

Cade raises both his hands. "Just brotherly concern, is all."

"And where were you all these months? You take off touring the world on your job, then show up at a gala. You could have told me you were going to attend."

"I didn’t know you would be here," my brother protests.

"The biggest event of the season, with influencers, entertainers and politicians in attendance, and you didn’t think my job would demand that I be all over it?"

My brother drags his fingers through his hair. "You’re right. I should have thought it through. Should have reached out and checked how you were doing. I took the easy way out and stayed away so I wouldn’t have to visit the folks. And calling you would have reminded me that I haven’t been in touch with them, either." He raises a shoulder. "That was cowardly of me; I’m sorry."

I deflate a little. It’s tough when your sibling is being all reasonable.

Hunter looks from Cade to me, then back to Cade. "How did I not spot the similarity?"

"Probably because you had your head stuck up your arse?" I retort.

Cade whistles. Hunter seems like he’s having a difficult time controlling his mirth.

I glower at him. "You won’t be laughing when your reputation is all over social media, and the two of you become a meme."

He leans forward on the balls of his feet. "No phones in the ballroom, remember?"

I scoff. "Do you think everyone in there followed the rules? There’s bound to have been someone who had a phone stashed away. Someone who, at this very moment, is uploading footage from your faux pas to the internet, as we speak."

The knobhead grins. He actually grins. "You forget, I have the best PR manager in town who will, undoubtedly, stop anything like this from happening," he murmurs.

"You could have saved me the headache and simply used your grey cells—which I assume you have, considering you’re vying for the topmost post in the country—and stopped yourself before landing that first punch," I snap.

Hunter draws himself to his full height. "I saw a stranger with his hands all over you. What the hell would you have me do?"

"You should have trusted me."

"I cannot look the other way when my?—"

"Stop," I bark, darting my brother a glance. Thankfully, like most men, he’s clueless enough about the undercurrents in the room. If anything, he looks uncomfortable.

"Uh, Abby’s waiting for me outside. I think it’s best I leave so the two of you can sort things out."

"No," I burst out.

"That would be a good idea." Hunter nods.

Hunter and I glare at each other for a few seconds.

This is when the penny drops for Cade, for he suddenly squares his shoulders. "Hold on, are you—" He glances at Hunter. "You’re not—" He looks at me. "Are the two of you— Are you?—"

"No," I snap.

"Yes." Hunter nods. "Your sister and I are in a relationship. In fact, I asked her to marry me."