Page 98 of The Merger

Jana’s eyebrows scrunched together. “But why?”

“That’s easy,” Beck began as he rocked a sleepy Gracie. “He knew about the terms of his father’s will, and probably decided to grab what he could from the company in case everything was turned over to you.”

“But why did he lock the money away? The Eastons aren’t known for their careful spending,” I commented.

Colter scoffed. “How did I miss it?” he mumbled to himself.

“Whatever it is, we all missed it. Mind filling the rest of us in?” Stryker said.

“The vodka hype built the exposure for the company. When it failed the company’s stock fell. With the money he was embezzling from the company he could purchase the stock for less than it was originally worth, and use the company’s own money to do it,” Colter explained.

“But then we prevented him from purchasing more stock and kept Malcolm at bay as well. When we scheduled a flight to Denver they knew we were going to put it all together once we got a look at Malcolm’s records,” Stryker added.

Jana walked across the room and stared out the window. I gave her a few minutes then went to join her. She wiped under her eyes. “How can you stand to be around me?”

“You did not do this,” I told her.

Another tear rolled down her face. It wasn’t like her to cry, even about something her family had done.

“Hey, didn’t you say there was a blood test we could take?” I whispered.

She wiped more tears from her face. “I’m being pretty ridiculous, aren’t I?”

I bumped my shoulder into hers. “If you can’t cry because your father tried to kill your sister-in-law and her husband, I don’t know what is worthy of tears.”

She started laughing and crying. “My doctor can probably get us in today,” she said when she was able to compose herself.

“Make the call,” I said.

* * *

“Mrs. Greyson and Mrs. Lawson, if you would follow me,” the nurse said when we arrived an hour later.

She showed us to a phlebotomy lab where a tech drew our blood before leading us into an office to wait for the results.

“This is a weird day,” I said, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Most of my days start out with dealing with my father’s crimes, and wondering if the next generation of Seattle’s tycoons is growing in my womb,” she joked.

The first thing I thought was a man his size must have been a massive baby. “Oh god, there might be a little Stryker in here right now.” My hands dropped to my stomach as I let that little bit of horror sink in.

“He’s almost a foot taller than me. Can you imagine how huge one of his babies might be? This is going to destroy my vagina.” My stomach rolled, and I wasn’t sure if it was a sign of pregnancy, or if my brain was conjuring symptoms because I’d convinced myself I might be pregnant.

Dr. Singh came in and sat behind her desk. “Jana, lovely to see you again.”

She looked at me. “Sabrina, right?”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry for the delay. I had to double check the results before I came back here.”

Jana gripped the arms of her chair. “Is there something wrong?”

Dr. Singh took her glasses off and set them on her desk. “Only if you don’t want to be pregnant.”

A smile lit up her face. “I am?”

The doctor passed both of us a slip of paper. “Both of you are. Which in and of itself makes this the oddest consultation I’ve ever had.”

---