Page 22 of Nico
Nico felt as if he was suffocating. It was as if they were discussing a business transaction. Lives were involved here, a little girl who was going to be torn from her mother, the only family she ever knew. And no one seemed to care.
"Nico?"
"What?" He lifted his head and stared at his father.
"Any thoughts?"
"Why should I have any?" He knew it was unfair for him to dump his anger on the men inside the room, but that's what he was. Angry and helpless. As if his life was being ordered for him. "Youand Mom have more or less taken care of all the details. It seems to me that I'm inconsequential."
"Nico-"
James held up a hand to cut off his friend's response and gave his son a cool look. "What we're trying to do is make the best of an unusual situation. You were the one who slept with the woman without ensuring that you were careful. We drummed it into your head enough times for it to stick."
"Yeah." Shoving to his feet, he felt self-loathing coursing through his body. "You're right. It's my bloody problem, isn't it? I was the one who was careless, and now there's a child involved." He waved a hand. "Please go ahead without me. I need some air."
"Son-"
James bit off a sigh when the door slammed shut behind him.
"This has to be a great shock to him," Jeffry murmured.
"He's involved with someone."
His friend nodded. "I saw the young woman at the function. The photos in the papers had them looking happy. The speculations were also rife."
"He's going to have to find a way to tell her about this latest development."
"Were they heading towards an engagement? The paparazzi seem to think so."
James barked out a laugh. "Those damn nuisances. They would suck blood out of a rock. He happens to be very private and has not even had the young woman over for dinner. Said she needs time." Sitting forward, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Linda is in her element."
Jeffry nodded. "She seems quite taken with the child."
"She's been hounding Nico to settle down and start a family." He shook his head. "It's not the way we would have wanted it, but here we are." He gestured to the document. "I'd like to take a read."
*****
He went into the gardens and sat by the stream. The peace did not mirror his mood. His mind was in chaos. He was not accustomed to the uncertainties and anger flooding through him. He was used to calm and peace. It was what his work did for him. Now he was turned around. And he just could not settle.
His phone had messages from her, from the woman who had come to mean the world to him. He owed her an explanation, but what the hell was he supposed to say? "Oh honey, guess what? A woman I had been involved with two years or more ago got pregnant. I now have a daughter. Pass the salt."
They had never discussed children. He knew he was heading to marriage and long term, but that had never been discussed. All because he had been waiting for a sign from her.
He had asked her to move in with him and she had hedged, told him she wasn't ready. He knew she cared. But was that it? Was it just intense attraction for her? And if that was the case, how could he ask her to be involved with a daughter he only just met? A little girl who looked so much like them, it was uncanny.
A little girl who would be losing her mother. Was it fair to have another woman thrown into her life? No, he could not see it happening.
His heart wrenched as he realized he was going to have to step back. His mother was taking full responsibility of the little girl. Gracie. Her name was Gracie. She was going to be Gracie Coulter, his own flesh and blood. And one of the many things that had been drummed into him since he was a child was a sense of responsibility.
He heard footfalls and stifled a sigh, his frown not wavering when he saw his sister.
"Thought I would find you here." Her eyes searched his face as she took a seat next to him. She had come straight from the research facility as soon as she heard the news. And gotten a look at the toddler. And fell headlong in love with her. She was a Coulter all right, undoubtedly. "We used to come out here to think, or you used to sit right here and paint or sketch. I thought you were a nerd."
"Still am. I want to be alone."
She placed a hand over his, tightened her grip when he would have shifted. "It's a lot to take in."
"That's the understatement of the century." His expression was harsh and cold as ice. She had never seen him like this before. She was used to her brother being easygoing and genial. And she knew him enough to know the internal struggle he was facing.
