Page 3 of Broken

“Two would be ideal.”

“An heir and a spare, huh?”

His lip curls in a sneer. “Don’t be vulgar.”

“And when does this happen, Dad? I just knock up the first woman I find? Is that it?”

He shakes his head, his cheeks growing red again. “Of course not. You’ll marry a suitable woman and then she will bear your children.”

“Oh.” I throw my hands into the air. “So now I’m getting married too?”

He glares at me, his jaw clenched tight. He’s entirely fucking serious. “This is the one thing I’m asking of you, Nathan. The only thing I will ever ask.”

I bark a humorless laugh. “Getting married and having a couple of kids is a pretty big ask, Dad.”

Sighing, he runs a hand through his thick gray hair. “I always knew it would be you. You’re not my firstborn, but you’re the child I most see myself in. You were born lucky, son. Just like I was. You can take any situation and make it work. It’s not like you’re ever going to fall in love, so what are you really giving up? A couple years of meaningless encounters?”

“What if I don’t want kids, Dad?”

He scrutinizes me with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you?”

I swallow hard. Damn him. I’ve always been honest about wanting a family of my own, and now it’s about to bite me in the ass. “Of course I do. One day.”

“Then make one day come soon. While I’m still here to enjoy my grandkids. What the hell are you waiting for?”

“To find someone who wants to have kids with me would be a good start.”

He gives me a triumphant smile. “Don’t worry. I have that covered.”

Chapter

Two

MELANIE

“Tea, Melanie?” my mother asks with a saccharine smile as she holds the bone-china teapot aloft.

“No thanks, Mom. I better be heading home soon. I have an early start tomorrow.”

Sunday afternoon tea at my mother’s house is a torturous weekly affair. My penance for being such a terrible daughter—at least in my mother’s eyes. She regards me with disdain. She hates my job, thinks it’s beneath me. Well, not necessarily beneathmeas much as beneathherto have a daughter who works as a veterinary nurse.

Her lip curls with the faintest hint of a sneer. “Bryce has something to discuss with you before you leave.”

My heart rate kicks up a notch, and my eyes dart around the room. “Bryce is here?”

“He does live here, darling,” she replies with a sniff.

I grit my teeth. “I know. He’s not usually around is all.” And that’s exactly how I like it.

She gives the tiniest shake of her head, like she’s dusting off any suggestion that my older brother isn’t my favorite person in the world. He doesn’t even make the top twenty. “Well, he has some good news for you. He’s managed to perform a miracle.”

A miracle? Has he had his own head surgically removed from his ass?Pressing my lips together, I stifle a snicker. I glance at the clock on the mantel and groan inwardly. I have plans with Tyler at six. He’s going away tomorrow for eight weeks, and I want to spend every second I can with him before he leaves. But what my mother and Bryce want, they get.

I place my cup onto the intricately patterned saucer and drum my fingers on the table.

“Stop fidgeting, Melanie,” my mother admonishes me.

I roll my eyes and blow out a breath. Thirty years old and still being chastised like a teenager. “Is Bryce going to impart this wonderful news any time soon?”