Page 66 of Power Move
I paced. I wanted to scream at my sister but knew doing so only made me look like a monster. I remembered Eva’s words about my only emotion being anger and took a deep breath.
“Daphne, I plan to parent these babies—to be a good father like Dad was to us. Don’t throw that at me. It hurts. I have been there with Eva for every appointment. She fought me at first, but she’s coming around.”
“But you aren’t together?”
“Not right now—not really.”
I wish.
“Are you still sleeping with her?”
“Consistently?”
“Oh, good God, Davey! I cannot even with this!” Daphne threw her hands up. “What the hell are we going to do?”
“She doesn’t report directly to me. There are nopolicies. As well as we are clear about this, legal will look the other way. HR will, too. We just cannot fire her. But given that I’m going to be paying child support to the tune of who even knows, I think it would be hard to say I was treating her poorly.”
“But if people—people like Claire—see favoritism, you could also be in trouble.”
“That is why I am not supervising her,” I said. “What else can I do? Resign?”
In a way, that would be a relief. Suddenly, I wanted nothing to do with it all.
“Not right now. That’s everything I don’t need. No, you will take your lumps, tell everyone how much you love this woman you didn’t know I was going to hire, and move on. You will be a father to that baby. You will take time off to help her. And you will support her. After all of that, we can talk about the next steps.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “And Mum?”
“You’re left to swing in the wind there. Protect Eva. Mum is on a warpath. I told Delanie to stand by her and fight Mum if necessary. She’s not happy.”
“Eva is a wonderful woman,” I said. “She should be grateful.”
“Trust me, I’m glad you knocked up someone with a brain if you knocked anyone up, but Davey, this wasn’t what Mum wanted. It was bad enough me getting pregnant while engaged. She shit a brick. This isfarworse. Sheworksfor you. She’s not even remotely from our social circle. It’s bad.”
“She’s more than I deserve. Everyone can fuck off if they don’t want to accept her—that includes Mum,” I roared. “And you… of all people… to throw Eva under the bus? How dare you!”
Daphne stepped forward, pregnant rage palpable. “I am never going to complain about Eva, okay? I think she’sdefinitelytoo good for you, brother. However, itlooksbad. And you know nothing about her family. If you think Mum is conservative, good fucking luck!”
I didn’t know what that meant. Eva was out as bi, right? She was also close to her parents. That felt like an empty threat. It would be fine. Everyone would get on board.
“The line is that you’re in love with her. That you fell for her before she came on. The baby is an oops, but we don’t have to say that—they’ll understand it. You two are taking it in stride. You’ll plan to leave when I return to the office.”
“Daph, it’sbabies,” I said. “We’re having twins. Which means, she’s actually due in the new year.”
Daphne’s mouth dropped. “Tw-twins?”
“Yeah They missed them on the first ultrasound. But that’s what we just found out today. And while Eva is wild about it, I’m… I’m still wrapping my head around somehow being a father totwobabies instantly. Her pregnancy has gotten infinitely more complicated. We cannot just hide this. The press will find out. She’s going to behugesoon.”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I hope her body doesn’t disgust you too much, brother! Never say that?—”
It didn’t. I found her sexy as hell.
“It’s not that. Jesus! Why does everyone assume I mean the worst!? I’m speaking in practicalities, Daphne. She’s gorgeous. To me, she’s fucking perfect. That’s not it. This is for fear of reputation—of the company. I’ll take the hit personally. But we cannot slow ease into this the way I thought we could.”
“Well, you’ve got a room full of people who want an explanation. I will not speak over you. I won’t be your adversary, Davey. We need to project strength.”
“I’m quite aware,” I said. “But I must speak to Eva first. Because if I proclaim my love for her in front of our entire leadership team, it’s going to freak her the fuck out.”
“Fine,” Daphne said. “She’s in the drawing room. You are treading on the thinnest of ice, brother.”
