Page 27 of Tangled
“What about what Mitch said? Is it possible that all three are the same person?” Scarlett asked.
Sabina wagged her head. “The Wolf may also be the father, but I doubt he’s the pimp. There’s no indication in any of the information we have that he’s anything other than a drug lord.”
Ava exhaled, then rose from her fiancé’s lap. “Is the phone at the lab?” she asked Sabina. After Sabina nodded, she shifted her gaze and fixed Scarlett with a look. “We will figure this out,” she promised.
Scarlett gave a shaky nod. “Thank you.”
“By the time you’re feeling better, these two should be here,” Tia said, laying a hand on her belly. “So it may be a while before we host a big family gathering. But you are always welcome at our house. Even if you just want a change of scenery. It’s very, very secure.”
A few minutes and a few hugs later, Brad closed the door on everyone except Kara.
“How are you feeling?” he asked Scarlett.
Scarlett wagged her head as she retook her seat on the couch. “I don’t need to rush to the bathroom right now, but I could probably fall asleep right here.”
“Do you feel like you can eat?” he asked, hovering at the edge of the living room, ready to bring her something from the kitchen.
After a moment, she smiled and looked over her shoulder at him. “Would you mind making pancakes again?”
CHAPTER TEN
“Can you give us a minute before you start the meds?” Brad asked Kara as he clearedthe dishes from the table. Kara looked to Scarlett, who nodded.
“Why don’t you two head to her room, and I’ll clean up here while you talk,” Kara replied.
Brad murmured a “thank you,” then led Scarlett to her room. “How are you feeling after eating?” he asked.
“Better, but give me one minute.” She disappeared into the bathroom and as the door closed, he cocked his head, listening for any signs of her being sick. All he heard was the flush of the toilet and then her brushing her teeth. She smiled when she walked out, and for the first time since he’d found her a few days ago, the twinkle in her eyes was back. “I have a feeling I’m going to crash after Kara doses me up, and I wanted to brush my teeth before sleeping.”
She climbed into the king-size bed, then patted the spot beside her. He sat down, leaning against the headboard and stretching his legs out. Holding out an arm, a rush of warmth washed through him when she turned and snuggled into his side.
“I’m not referring to your stomach when I ask this, but how are you? My family can be a lot,” he said.
She rested her hand on his chest and absently rubbed the fabric of his sweatshirt. “It’s weird the way they accepted me,” she admitted. “Where I grew up, trust was hoarded—doled out in tiny bits and rarely ever without conditions. Never givenwholeheartedly. Then, doing the kind of work I did? Sure, you trust your colleagues to do their jobs, but living and working in disaster zones, where you’re on high alert 90 percent of the time? And your job is to remain the calm, steady one? There wasn’t a lot of emotional space to really connect with other people.
“But here, I basically show up on your doorstep, pregnant and with a killer after me, and your family welcomes me in like I’m already one of them. It’s nice. A little weird, but nice.”
“It’s going to take a while before it settles in, isn’t it?” he asked. She nodded. “They trust Kara and they trust me. That’s why they are the way they are.” He paused, choosing his words. “Family is the safe space,” he continued. “Between both my grandfathers, my mom, Cody, and now Ellie, not to mention the work that Chad, Sabina, Ethan, and Ava do, there aren’t many people in our inner circle. People we really trust. We have lots of friends, of course, but there aren’t many people, other than family, in that inner circle.” He paused, then brushed his fingertips down her arm. “No one expects you to reciprocate in kind, though,” he added. “Don’t get me wrong, they won’t change. They won’t dial it back or start getting more circumspect around you. But they won’t be offended if you don’t act the same way.”
Silence fell over them, and she flattened her hand across his abs as she seemed to mull things over. “Wait, your mom? I know you said her dad was a senator. And of course, I know what Cody and Ellie do—hard not to know that your brother is a country music star or that your cousin-in-law is a mega movie star. But you added your mom in that list as if you needed to protect her privacy as well.”
He ran a hand over his face, then through his hair. “Um, there’s a reason you don’t know about my mom. She invented a few things when she was in college, and they are kind ofvery valuable things. She’s worth a lot of money. Like, a stupid amount. So are we, her kids, since she put a lot of it into trusts for us. But when my grandfather was president and there were two kidnapping attempts on the grandkids—Chad and Cody—she decided to distance herself from the things she invented. And the money that came with them.”
“Because if people knew how much her kids—the president’s grandkids—were worth, it wouldn’t be good,” Scarlett finished.
Brad nodded. “She set up an elaborate system of companies and trusts and licensing agreements. I was too young to remember, but I remember a lot of hushed meetings with lots of lawyers. She said it was harder at first to keep things quiet and stay out of the limelight, but it’s much easier now. The technology she invented is so embedded and standard now that most people don’t even bother to think about where it came from anymore.”
“But I doubt the fear for her kids, and now soon grandkids, will ever go away,” Scarlett said.
Brad nodded. “Which is why it’s one of the family’s bigger secrets.”
Scarlett patted his stomach, then let out a long sigh. “It seems weird to say this, but I want to say it. I knew the Warwicks were well off. Not because I had any particular knowledge, other than Cody and Ellie. But the fact that you’re all college graduates, some with graduate degrees, and you own businesses and homes. All those things take money, so I knew you had at least a very comfortable living. As to the rest, though, your mother’s money? I want to be clear that I don’t want it or need it. Once this is all resolved, I do plan to go back to work. Ilikeworking. And while I won’t object to things that help our baby—like help with daycare fees and that sort of thing—my preference is to raise him or her with a healthy respect for money. Not as something that’s their birthright. If that makes sense?”
“I agree,” Brad said. “For the record, I never for a second thought you’d be after the money. First off, you didn’t even know about it. Secondly, if money had been what was most important to you, you would have taken a nursing job at some fancy LA hospital and found a rich doctor or lawyer to marry. Or I suppose you could have worked at a cosmetic surgery clinic and wooed a Hollywood star.”
She snorted, making him smile. Then he sobered. “We’re very privileged in that we don’t have to worry about funding our kids’ education or whether we’re going to make the next mortgage payment or have food on our table. But even though there’s a Warwick family trust, we all live on our salaries. So, yes, I’m on board with raising our son or daughter with a healthy respect for money and an awareness of the responsibilities that come with what he or she will eventually have access to.” He paused. “On a related but separate topic, as an engagement gift to Sabina, Chad set up a scholarship endowment for girls entering STEM fields that she runs with Charley and Joey. If you’re interested, I’m sure she’d love to have you involved.”
She didn’t answer for a long moment, and he glanced down, wondering if she’d fallen asleep. She lifted her eyes and smiled. “Once I don’t feel like the walking dead, I might like that.”
