Page 50 of His Gift
On the other hand, I now firmly belonged to a wealthy and powerful alpha. We hadn’t bonded yet, but every day I could feel that ineffable something between us that was apparently the beginnings of a bond. I had gone to work for his family company and was pregnant with his baby. One way or another, I was reasonably certain that the Wythe family was more powerful than Rick Deluca.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t a little bit scared, though. I was mostly scared of what would happen when Shawn found out I’d been such an idiot. I didn’t want him to get upset over what I’d almost done.
“The coffee smells good,” Shawn said as he strode into the main room dressed in a suit and looking gorgeous and powerful. He saw me leaning both hands against the sink and noticed the queasy look on my face and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied, pushing back and forcing a smile. “I just had a wave of morning sickness or something.”
Shawn frowned as he came over to take me in his arms. “You haven’t had morning sickness so far.”
“I know,” I said, closing my arms and sagging into him, where I felt safe and sheltered. “I’ve been lucky, I guess.”
As long as I stayed with Shawn, I knew my luck would continue. He would protect me, even against people like Rick, my dad, and that entire class of nasty, slippery conmen.
“Mmm. I could stay here like this all day,” Shawn sighed, then kissed my forehead before stepping back. “But we’re in the home stretch of this event, and we need to get going to the Pullman Center.”
I didn’t want to leave my alpha’s embrace, but he was right, we needed to go. There was a lot to be done before tomorrow night. Shawn, Walt, and I had worked tirelessly for weeks to getbusinesses and job training companies to sign on and donate their services for the supper, but since the whole thing had been so last-minute, we still had to work with the Pullman Center to find places for them all. And someone had to do all the paperwork that would allow them to write off the event on their corporate taxes. That person was me.
Shawn and I were going over the to-do list in the car on the way to the venue when my phone rang. I didn’t think anything of it until I noticed Walt’s number on my screen.
“That’s weird,” I said. Walt never called any of us these days, we called him when we needed him or he sent text messages.
“What’s weird?” Shawn asked.
I answered, “Hey, Walt,” while looking at Shawn in answer to his question.
“Hi, Enzo,” Walt said, sounding incredibly nervous.
“Everything alright? Is the baby okay?” I’d developed a vested interest in Walt’s baby, since it would be a cousin to mine, but I still hadn’t told Walt I was pregnant, too. Shawn had vetoed me when I said we had to tell him. Yep, welcome to the Wythe family.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Walt said in a rush. “But I’m going to be at the Pullman Center today.” I blinked, thinking he had an odd way of saying that. Then he added. “In person.”
“Ohhhh,” I said slowly as I realized what that meant. “Today’s the day, then?”
“Yeah,” Walt sighed. “I just want you to be prepared for when the fireworks start,” he went on, bitterness in his voice. “You might have to take over everything I’ve been doing, not just for this event tomorrow, but all the other things I’ve been doing for the company, too.”
“I doubt it’ll come to that,” I said, glancing at a curious Shawn. I didn’t have the call on speaker, so he could only guess at what Walt and I were talking about.
Walt huffed sourly. “You don’t know my dad like I do,” he said. “He’ll take one look at me, at my stomach, and he’ll call security to escort me out of the building.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” I said.
“And then he’ll turn around and praise Shawn for being the good son and not getting himself knocked up by a stranger,” Walt went on as if I hadn’t said anything. “He’ll probably praise you for being an ideal omega because Shawn hired you.”
“I’m definitely not his ideal of an omega,” I said, touching a hand to my stomach. “Honestly, Walt, I think you’ve got more people on your side and more things going for you than you realize.”
“I doubt it,” he grumped.
“I don’t,” I said. I took a breath, trying not to be impatient with what I knew was real pain for him, and said, “Look, it’s Christmas. Christmas is the time of forgiveness and reconciliation. It’s the time when families are supposed to come together, putting their egos and the pain of the past aside, to just love each other.”
“You’ve obviously never spent Christmas with our family,” Shawn muttered as he turned into the Pullman Center parking lot.
I sent him a look that said he wasn’t being helpful and I was talking about him, too, as I continued with, “It’s also the time of miracles. And birth, really. So don’t give up hope about any of this. I know we’ll be able to sort everything out, get all of the family secrets out into the air, and deal with them together.”
“That sounds really nice and pretty,” Walt said, sarcastic but with a kernel of sincerity behind that, “but you’re not part of the Wythe family. Not really.”
“Wanna bet?” I asked wryly.
Walt didn’t have a chance to answer back or ask questions. At least, not on the phone call. Because Shawn pulled his sedanup into a parking space right next to Walt’s car, where he was sitting, his phone held to his ear.
